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| Outram Jail, circa 1950s |
| Kandang Kerbau Hospital, circa 1950s |
I was the baby
of the family
There were Pa,
Ma, Mal, Yat and me
I was born on
the eve of Independence
At this maternity hospital called the Oxen Pen
Along with the
birth of a new nation
Made up of the
FMS and the Straits Settlements
After four and
a half centuries of foreign domination
When Ma was heavy
with me
Pa was incarcerated
into the Penitentiary
Framed for
supplying fire arms to the Radical Lefties
That shook the
sensibilities of my grandfather, the Selangor Mufti
Who arrived in
Singapore in his maroon Mercedes
Driven by his private chauffeur, my third Ami
Siddi’s presence lent credence to his eldest son’s
defence
And swayed the
court verdict to a prison sentence
Ma worked her
bones to feed and shelter her family
And buy Pa his
pack of Players when she visited him monthly
Her loyalty to
her husband was admirable
In spite of
her brothers and sisters’ disapproval
They were all
the support system that she had
Her mother had
died of miscarriage when she was eight
And her father
expired when she was a young bride
When
I turned six
Pa
was released
He
moved us from the one-bedroom barrack next to the cinema Central
To
his godfather’s two-bedroom house in the village at the Foot Hills
But
there was no decent job for a sworn enemy
And
he can’t feed his family with fervent pleas
So
across the border, and into the interior, he set off with his buddies
To
clear acres of land and grow some paddy
When
the field of grains turned golden
It
was the start of the harvesting season
Pa
took us to visit
And
witness what all the months of toil had yielded
Alas,
he ran out of funds to pay the villagers
Whom
he hired as daily harvesters
When
they refused to show up for work
Pa
and his buddies could only watch
As
tracts and tracts of paddy stalks began to rot
Anak Merdeka - Independence Child
FMS - Federated Malay States
Mufti - Grand Cleric
Ami - Paternal Uncle
Siddi - Paternal Grandfather
Paddy - Rice Grains
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