National Library
January 8th, 2006 -- Posted in memories | 2 Comments »Yesterday was one of the most ordinary yet ‘extraordinarily pleasant’ Saturday.
Sunsun and me had a drive around sending Annie to her singing class, rushed back home to pick up a free sampling package, back to pick Annie up and then headed to the National Library for her to return some books.
Now this National Library was new to me. It wasn’t the same old red bricked library between National Museum and the S11 kopi thiam (one of the famous chain of open-air hawker food centers). It was now a HUGE building of glass and steel next to Bugis Square. I know this new Library had been built and in operation for a while already, but I just haven’t gotten the chance to visit the place in person… until yesterday.
That was a weird moment, when I was pointing to a picture of that red-bricked building to Annie and telling her how I used to hide in the reference books corner for hours while waiting for our late Mom to run her errands… the building that is now no more. It was also a meeting landmark during my teens… the days of The Substation where my bandmates and I used to hang out… the days when we enjoyed the glory of local rock scene.
... Now what’s our band name again? ‘Blitzkrieg’ was it?
Anyway, it just felt weird as it reminded me of how Mom used to point at pictures of Singapore streets during her younger days, of how Plaza Singapura used to look with the huge fountain pond in front. And how we always need to pop our heads when driving past the side of Istana gate to show the number of people in the car to the police officer.
It is now my turn to point out to a younger generation how different the landscape has changed from my time.
What else will change in years to come? Who will remember the landscape we used to roam on foot and public transport, before we started travelling on personal cars?
