Another Memory Lane

The birth place. The old distinctive house is still sitting next to the river. A place with lots of sweet memories from the past, many weekends were spent here, times spent during childhood fishing and watching brave adults swimming in the river. Not that there were no crocodiles here.

Before electricity reached this village, the nights were only lighted up with kerosine lamps. I remember the lamps were always very bright. They were the pressured type, they had a fuel tank at the bottom with a small pump to pressurise the kerosene.

I noticed the old fire extinguishers are still hanging on the wall outside the house. The expiry date clearly shows that they have been 27 years overdue for servicing. Nobody bothered to remove it. But it is a clear sign from the past when the British has still an influence in the running of the country's administration. Meticulous. Safety was already considered then.

My old grandma is still around, healthy and well, although over a 100 years old now. The grandpa passed away 7 years ago at the age of over 120 years old. He didn' t have a birth certificate to prove. But he was born 10 years before a British Resident was put in place in the country.

Today I drove around the village. Some old houses are still recognisable from the past, tucked in-between newly built and modern houses.

These areas were flood-prone in the past and still are. Some clearing work apparently been done to the river to alleviate the repeated flooding. In the past, the only way to reach this place during the raining season was by boat or walking on the flooded roads as the whole areas were flooded. It normally took an hour to reach this house. Those were the days.