From the ashes of our dreams, concrete was piled and rose up to be the two-storeyed Willow Secondary School.
Though many suffered greatly, the floods and the riots were not in vain. The PAP government learnt a lot from what had happened. In terms of the floods, the government made it a priority to improve the drainage system in the country. Despite grumpy Ah Gu’s insinuation about politicians making empty promises, there were those who did keep them. Prime Minister Lee immediately called for tenders to get a construction company to start creating a viable drainage network that would deal with our heavy tropical rains. Mak was pleased when I told her that Koh Construction had won the tender, as she was a Koh herself. The floods also showed the government that it was imperative that people in the villages should all be moved to safer housing, where we wouldn’t be so vulnerable to floods and potential fires. The riots taught the government that racial harmony must be a top priority in our country. Only when we all lived happily with each other and worked to build our country together could we be united.
This was in keeping with Prime Minister Lee’s sentiment which he voiced a while back, “We are going to have a multi-racial nation in Singapore. We will set the example. This is not a Malay nation; this is not a Chinese nation; this is not an Indian nation. Everybody will have his place: equal; language, culture, religion.”
Year the Metal Dog
(1970)
THE Dog occupies the 11th position in the Chinese zodiac, which follows the cycle of the moon. The Lunar Year begins in the season of spring. Traditionally, the Lunar New Year begins with the birth of the new Spring Moon and the celebration ends 15 nights later, on Chap Goh Meh, the Teochew and Hokkien term for the 15th Night. At this point, the moon would have waxed to its fullest and brightest, a true lover’s moon if seen in the Northern hemisphere. The extended feasting is wrapped up with a big family dinner. Prior to this, on the eve of Chinese New Year, the most important meal of the year is held. It is called the Reunion Dinner, where all families get together in the home on the male side of the household. In China, this need to congregate for this special annual meal causes a huge exodus from cities to outlying villages.
Here in Singapore too, there was a surge of movement of people, mostly workers going back to Malaysia. Coach-buses, trains and flights were heavily booked during this period. A stampede of cars, motorcyclists and cyclists could be seen crossing the Causeway at such a time. Now that passports were required for going into Malaysia, massive traffic jams at the immigration posts were created whereas it would have been free-flowing before, when Singapore was part of British Malaya, and later when we were Malaysians. As we have a high majority of Chinese in our country, it meant that many shops and businesses were shut, at least for the first three days of the Chinese New Year.
Legend has it that the Emperor of Heaven called for all the animals to come and pay obeisance to him. Then the lunar calendar was constructed and named in the order that each animal had turned up. The 12 zodiac animals in their order are: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat (Sheep), Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. Therefore, each cycle of the Chinese zodiac animal comes round every 12 years. This means that a person will be sixty years old when his astrological sign reaches the fifth cycle from his birth. This is the person’s Golden Year. Each zodiac animal has its own characteristics and is accompanied by one of the five ruling elements, Wu Xing, in Mandarin. The five elements are—Jin (metal), Mu (wood), Shui (water), Huo (fire), and Tu (earth), and they are said to influence certain prevailing conditions in the person as well as the environment.
Chinese immigrants brought this tradition to Southeast Asia. Though we do not have four seasons in the tropics, we still celebrate the Chinese New Year as a Spring Festival. The spring allusion works well, as the New Year is all about new beginnings.
In 1970, Chinese New Year would begin on 6 February of the Gregorian calendar and would be the Year of the Dog. Its ruling element would be Metal. Each year, the element varies as does the date the Chinese New Year falls on in relation to the Gregorian calendar. The Zodiac Dog is like the proverbial house pet, often faithful, loyal and sincere. Each Chinese astrological sign has two Allies and one Secret Friend, and one astrological sign that will be in conflict with yours. The Allies and Secret Friend help to add another element to your astrological sign. I am a Zodiac Rabbit and according to my Chinese age, I was born on the 2nd of the 11th Lunar month in the Year 4649(!), or March 1951 in the Gregorian calendar. My Allies are the Zodiac Goat (Sheep) and Pig, and my Secret Friend is the Zodiac Dog. Therefore, I should be protected in 1970, so long as I did not have to confront the Rooster, who is my conflict Chinese Zodiac sign.
Chinese New Year in Singapore had been celebrated with great gusto and aplomb for many years. The colour red is a symbol that is believed to ward off all evil. Hence it is the ruling colour for Chinese New Year. Houses would be dressed in red banners; clothes, curtains and cushions would be made in red. All the department stores started stocking red clothes and accessories way before the New Year was due. However, those in mourning could not wear red.
“It’s nearly three years since your father passed on,” Mak said to my siblings and myself, “we can stop mourning now and celebrate this Taon Baru.”
Taon Baru is
