A Different Sky, A Different Era

I have just finished reading Meira Chand's "A Different Sky".  A tale of Singapore in the tumultuous years prior to Independence, the story starts in the mid 1920s, takes us through the Japanese Occupation to the early years of self-government.  Told through the stories of three main protagonists - a Chinese girl of good family, a Eurasian boy and a young Indian businessman - we read how each person is shaped by the events they live through even as each, in their way contributes to the Singapore story.

In the same way, the book tells the story not only of Singapore during these critical years, but of the larger events in the world beyond.  Indeed, what I like best about this book was the way it portrayed how the nationalistic movement of the pre-Colonial period, and the growing threat of communism, influenced politics and society here in Singapore.

Of the three protagonists, I found Raj, the pragmatic but warm hearted Indian capitalist, rather endearing.  His self-serving actions (including collaborating with the Japanese during the war) contrast with his many acts of kindness to those around him.  The other two were less interesting and I felt that they were created to fit a certain "mould" -   Howard, the Eurasian civil servant, who grew up with a chip on his shoulder; Mei Lan, the war heroine who became a lawyer fighting and protecting abused women.  But a number of the minor characters, I felt, played an important role in livening up the tale.  Rose, Howard's mother, a widow making a living for herself and two young children.  Mei Lan's second grandmother, tyranising her slave girls, smoking her opium and dabbing on her Schiaparelli perfume.  Raj's brother-in-law Krishna, freedom fighter and rabble rouser.  Their stories, too, formed part of the rich tapestry of "A Different Sky".

But overall, the story was indeed that of Pre-Independence Singapore.  A tale of life under the British, and then under the Japanese.  A tale of political awakening, of a nation beginning to arise.  A tale of individuals and families passing through tragedy and terror, to live again and love again. 

In the broad sweep of history, 50 years ago is not a long time at all.  Yet for many of us, it is indeed a totally different era - a time and place totally outside our experience of life in Singapore today.  This book gives us an insight into these days gone by, and leave us the wiser for it.

My Favourite Kasut Manek Photos

Kasut Manek, a gallery on Flickr.

Well, I did promise that I had a few new posts in the pipeline. And so I do, except of course that this particular one may not be particularly exciting to anyone as it is really an excuse to update on the status of my Kasut Manek project, of which nothing has been heard for months.

But first, let me share a number of lovely kasut manek photos which I've found on Flickr. These are a mixture of old shoes, new shoes, and shoes in progress.  More information can be found in the gallery itself (and more updated photos, as and when I find them).

Now back to my own personal kasut manek.  Indeed, it has been slow going. I am now at the widest part of the shoe, so the rows progress slowly. But there has indeed been some discernable movement (after all these months there had better be!) as the little pink beads move further down the canvas, light pink shading down to medium and then to dark metallic pink.

For those who have requested for my pattern, I ask you for your patience. I don't really have a scanner and will need to photograph the existing pattern, clean it up etc etc. Am rather busy (as the slow progress on my shoes also indicates) and will need to find time to do this as well.

Growing up in Katong

I was surfing on the Perankan Association website and was immensely pleased to find a rather charming article by Cynthia Wee-Hoefer on Katong in the 1950s and 60s!

Just my kind of thing, and a very nice article to link to from this blog. 

But there is also a link from this article to this blog.  Cynthia mentions that she used to live in an obscure little lane off East Coast Road ‘after the Joo Chiat traffic lights, the small lane on the right, opposite the Shell station.’ Well, am pleased to say that  I have in fact written an earlier short post about the very same street!  She describes it also much better than I did, with her description of

"...neat rows of raised terrace houses with curlicue frescoed fronts, patterned mosaic steps and a narrow veranda. The houses were pretty and deep to accommodate three bedrooms, a living room, a dining room, and a kitchen covered by a zinc roof. There was a toilet (originally of the bucket system but modernised years later), a bathroom, and an airy basement that worked as an additional storage space, sleeping quarter and hide-and-seek playground."

For more on Cynthia's story, do read her article on Growing up in Katong.

Good home cooking - Little Nonya Express

I've been awfully lazy about updating this blog, but worry not!  A few entries are in the offing.  What inspires me to write this post, however, is a rather tasty lunch last Sunday.  Little Nonya Express is a new eatery on Jalan Kembangan, at the end of a small little strip of shops in the midst of residential housing. 

Helmed by veteran chef Baba Jolly Wee, it is a new little restaurant specialising of course in nonya cuisine.  Baba Jolly used to lend his expertise to Spices Cafe in Concorde Hotel (the former Meridian Hotel on Orchard Road).  But he has now moved far closer to Katong.  Besides supervising the kitchen, we saw from the posters on the front wall that Chef Jolly also gives cooking lessons. 

The food is truly nonya comfort food.  The tender, juicy beef rendang came with a fragrant rendang gravy.  The chap chye too was cooked in a flavourful stock (with haebee lending a dash of umami to the dish).  The sambal sotong was less tasty than the other two but the sotong itself was cooked just right.

We finished off the meal with durian chendol.  Here, a slightly jarring note was struck.  The ice shavings were a little large.  One had to crunch the ice a little between ones teeth.  But all in all, a good meal and friendly service.

Pie tee and love letter makers, and assorted cooking equipment

What a fun time we had shopping in Malacca!  Our first stop (as always) was at the antique jewellery shop where we bought a couple of pieces.  But I'm saving the pictures for a future post so I'm not putting them here.

I also managed to get myself a pair of dancing shoes, custom made, at Ah Lan's on Heeren Street.  We visited Ah Lan's last year and then it was just a simple shop which sold shoes.  Now it has expanded its range to include some clothes as well.  This time, I decided to get a pair of dancing shoes made.  I am not exactly a ballroom dancer but I do need a nice pair of evening shoes and these fit the bill nicely.  Ordered on Friday, picked them up on Sunday.  Of course, we trawled the kasut manek shops to see what was current.  But since we make our own (or in my case, in the process of doing so) we did not buy any.

But the find of this trip had to be the cooking equipment shops in Kampong Jawa.  Now, the thing about nonya cooking is that it can require some special equipment.  For example, to make chendol you need a tray perforated  with holes so that you can push the gel through to form the jelly "worms".  Pie tee, on the other hand, requires a pie tee mould which is dipped into the batter and then into the hot oil.  Some of the kueh-kueh also have their own moulds (bangkit, bangkus etc).  Not all of this is easily found in Singapore and so  we thought we would take the opportunity to get this equipment in Malacca.

First stop: the concierge desk at our hotel.  That's when we found out that we were probably not the only ones looking for such things. They directed us quickly to Kampong Jawa and got us a taxi to take us there.  We wandered around and found a few shops with all the stuff we were looking for - and more!  Chendol trays, pie tee moulds, also love letter makers and jelly and apom moulds (featured in the photo on the left).

I must say that this was the first time I've ever seen some of these unusual pieces of cooking equipment, such as the love letter maker (see photo on the left) which are essentially tongs with a pair of disks at the end which have the pattern engraved on them.  I can't believe the amount of effort it takes - to pour the batter over the disks, holding them shut above a charcoal fire, opening up the disk and removing and rolling the love letters up into a roll.  It would not have been the job of just one person, but of a number of people dividing the work between them.  I can't see myself doing it, except that I once said that about pineapple tarts and now I turn up the nose at anything not home made!

Anyway, for the record, I didn't buy all these pieces. My friend did as she felt that some of these may not be available in future and it would be better to get them when she can.  I just got the pie tee maker and the chendol tray.  So maybe, there will be a future post on how I made use of them....