Traders at Kampong Coronation

The Indians

In my last posting, I described about cattle breeding at Kampong Coronation. The cattle herders are all Indian and Hindus and therefore their cattle are meant only for milk production. I noticed that the other ethnic Indian villagers who are not cattle herders were engaged in trades closely connected to the cattle. After milking the cows manually, John the chief herder and his wife Pangemah, will transfer the milk direct into aluminum containers. They will bottle the milk themselves and John or sometimes others will distribute or deliver the milk on their bicycle.

   

Other ethnic Indian villagers of Kampong Coronation will collect cow dung. They will mix the cow dung with some earth to make manure or fertilizer. They will load the mixture onto the carriage of a small lorry, usually right to the brim of the carriage. The lorry was equipped with cangkul (hoe) spade and pungkis (rattan basket). About 4 or 5 men will sit on the heap of cow dung and they will make their rounds along the more affluent Coronation Road West and Bin Tong Park area with the horn blaring and continuously shouting ‘Cow dung! Cow dung! Taik lembu! Taik lembu!. On the days when there are strong wind blowing, the smell of cow dung from the lorry lingers even after the lorry was out of sight for a while. Children likes to imitate the lorry men shouts and make fun of them but after the lorry men threw several lumps and hit the kids, the teasing stops. The other ethnic Indian villagers work as grass cutters for the cow herders.

Another group of Indian villagers at Kampong Coronation are Muslims. The Indian Muslim operates provision shops or what we call ‘Kedai Mamak’ or Mamak Shop. They are Tamils or Malayalee ( Malabari) . On the latter, I recalled a limerick  ‘Di mana ada matahari, di situ ada Malbari’ (Where there is sun , there is a Malabar) which actually refers to the presence of the Mamak Shops in every nook and corner of a place.

There are 5 or 6 Mamak shops along Coronation Road about 20-50 metres apart from one  another. All the Mamak shops are known by the name of one of the shop keepers.All carries a Muslim name  such as ‘Kedai Mamat’ ( Mamat’s Shop), Kedai Abu ( Abu’s Shop), Kedai Karim ( Karim’s Shop) and Kedai Kaka ( Kaka’s Shop).Some Mamak shops are well stocked and like the Chinese provision shops, they also sell wet market produce like fish and vegetables.

Without fail all of them will close their shops from 12 noon to 2pm every Friday so that they can go for their Friday prayers at nearby mosque. All of the shop keepers are males and they wear sarongs with shirts or singlets while tending to their  shops. They live at the back of their shop which they partitioned as their living quarters. They sleep, cook and eat at their shop.  All of them speak fluent Malay with some even speak in Hokkien and Cantonese dialect. Every other day  they will receive letters from India in the form of aerogrammes. Whenever I run errands for my mother to the nearest Mamak shop to our house, Kedai Mamat , I will look at the the corner where Mamat or his partner, Abu sits to do their account and see whether there are any unwanted aerogrammes or envelopes with stamps and I will ask them to give it to me. I think since I was the only one who ask them for the stamps, they keep for me the stamps whenever they received letters from India and  overtime, I have a lot of India stamps in my collection.

Once a year, one of the shop keepers will return to India.Someone else will come and take over  his place and although  completely a new face but somehow the relief shopkeeper has no problem of communicating. I used to wonder how the relief shop keeper could pick up the villagers’ language so quickly  and not until I started work and my job brought me to Sembawang Malay Settlement at Andrew Avenue where I met Abu who was operating a provision shop similar like his shop at Kampong Coronation.Then only I realise the strong network that these Indian shopkeepers have among themselves.  

Being away from their family in India,  understandbly the shop keepers are lonely men.I heard many stories about the shop keepers obtaining sex favours from some female villagers in exchange for easy credit or some groceries but personally have not come across any but I observed one of them from Kedai Karim and it was Karim himself who took advantage on his young customers. Karim operates alone because his shop is  the smallest among the other Indian provision shops at Kampong Coronation and he is selling titbits, ice balls and other brics and bracs. Karim  likes to to touch and caresses young school girls who stop at his shop to buy ice balls or titbits. Karim also sells frozen plastic syrup drinks which we called ‘Ayer Batu Malaysia’ or Malaysia’s Ice Water. The frozen styrup drinks are called  such name  because at that time, Singapore was still part of Malaysia.Karim was the most lecherous among the many Mamak shop keepers as far as I can remember. Few others are equally as  ‘gatal’ or flirtitious by ‘accidentally’  exposes their private part when they lifted their sarong for easy mobility.

The Chinese

Kampong Coronation Chinese villagers are mostly self employed working on their small plot of land planting bananas, tapioca,sweet potatoes and other fruit trees like rambutan, jackfruit,papaya and vegetables.Some rear their own pigs as well for the meat and almost all rear chickens and ducks. A few of them who own quite a substantial piece of land also operates provision shops.

Provision Shops Operators

There are about 8 to 10 Chinese provision shops at Kampong Coronation.Almost all of the shops are family operated.Similar to the Indian shops, the Chinese provision shops are also known by the name of the family leader or the eldest son such as Kedai Chu Toh ( Chu Toh’s Shop), Kedai Bok Seng ( Bok Seng’s Shop), Kedai Kee Ting ( Kee Ting’s Shop) and so on.

The Chinese provision shops are very well stocked with dried and canned goods, Before rice are sold in packets , all provision shops either the Indians or the Chinese will display several types of rice still in their big gunny sack. The gunny sack will be arranged in such a way as a prominent display which you can’t miss. Some of the Chinese provision shops also sell fresh vegetables and sea food which they bought every morning from the big market like Tekka or Batu Empat ( Si Ko Pasat- 4 miles stone Bukit Timah Market).

My family are regular customer at Kedai Chu Toh or its official name Ng Hoe Seng Provision Shop. The shop was located Coronation Road West and exactly opposite the junction of Jalan Siantan.The shop is run by the Ng brothers. All of them answer to their nicknames. The eldest are Chu Toh and hence the name of the shop known by the villagers. Chu Toh also runs a stall at Batu Empat selling pork. He will be around at the provision shop around noon everyday after he closes his stall. Before he attends to customers at the provision shop, Chu Toh who cycles, will go direct to the family’s large house about 20-30 metres away from the shops to wash himself clean first. I think he was quite sensitive that many of his customers are Malays and Muslims and they will be uncomfortable if Chu Toh were to serve them  if he comes direct from his pork stall.

The second of the Ng brothers is Ah Kow who is the book keeper and also handles cash.Next is Koh Yak but most customers call him Koyak who are responsible of bringing  fresh goods every morning. He was assisted by youngest brother  Ah Ter and his nephew whom the villagers call Botak despite his long and unkempt hair. Botak who is the eldest son of Ah Kow are the jack of all trades at the shop and although he is about 4-5 years older than me, he did not attend school while his younger siblings and attended nearby Chinese High or Nanyang Girls High.

Almost all of the provision shops either the Indian or the Chinese owns, extends credit to its regular customers. This is how the provision shops records their transaction on credit. At the shop there are always huge and thick book for the current transaction with several more on the shelf. Regular customers who are on credit will be given a small note book with the number 555 printed on its cover. The book is popularly known as Buku Tiga Lima’ ( Three Fives Book) .After getting the groceries , the customer will present the 555 note book instead of cash. The shop keeper will turn his big book to the page where the customer’s name and his/her records of transaction are recorded..Although the entries are in Tamil or Chinese for the items but the date and amount are always in Romanised. In the customer 555 book, the entries will be the date and amount  and sometimes one or two items from the list of groceries.Some customers will come everyday to the shop for the veggies and fishes but others like my family about once or twice a week. At the end of the month, Mr Ah Kow will ad up all the transactions for the month plus the unsettled amount from the previous months if any.Sometimes my family’s transction could reach up to a hundred a month. Upon settling all or part of the amount, the cycle starts again.At the end almost all villagers staying close to Kedai Chu Toh will be in debt with them.God knows how much interest they charges or how high they marked up the prices when customers buys on credit.

Mobile Vegetables & Fishes Hawkers

Another common sight at Kampong Coronation are mobile hawkers selling vegetables and fishes on motorcycles or bicycles. The hawker fixed a big basket on the carrier of his bicycle and two more rattan baskets hung from the handlebar of the bicycle.The basket is stock with vegetables, fishes, tau kwa, noodle and in the handlebar basket  dried goods such as onion,garlics , ikan bilis,dried prawns, dried chillies,assam and belacan.The hawker is a mobile provision shop. Two of such hawkers who come to my home compound daily is a man we simply call ‘Towkay’ and another one ‘Ah Bu Sayor’ or Ah Bu the Vegetables man.  Both of them are related and they also extend credit to the villagers using the same 555 book.

One hawker who is on a  motorcycle with a side car specialises in vegetables. He introduced himself as Bah Bee but the way the Malays pronounced it sounded as  ‘Babl’  or a pig.Well Mr Bah Bee will ride his motorcycle bare footed and he always wear black trousers or something like a trouser as actually it is a piece black baggy home made trousers with no buttons or zipper.Bah Bee will just tie a belt around his waist and the top of his so called trousers will just spread like flower petals.His white shirt which almost change to brownish is baggy as well.He smokes the self rolled cigarette or ‘Ang Hoon’ emitting terrible smell.Since Bah Bee comes always in the late afternoon, his leafy vegetables already wilted are not in the best  condition. He didn’t weight the purchase although he carries the weight scale of ‘timbang’  . He just look at the amount of the veggies and yelled 10 cents or 20 cents.

Tau Kwa Maker

A large compound and and house along Coronation Road  next to Karim Shop belongs to a Chinese family whose patriach is known as Gi or Ji. Mr Gi or Ji and his family produces tau kwa or tofu.The Malays called it ‘tauhu or ‘tahu’ I recalled Mr Gi’s tau kwa is orange or yellowish in colour. I could not recall Gi produces soft white tofu, beancurd or soy milk but I believe he does. I came to know about Gi tau kwa production when I was in primary 1 or 2. My school is located just across the road fronting Gi’s big compound.  One day, my friend and I strayed into Gi’s compund where I saw a large hoarding of waste timber or planks and a huge pile of saw dust. The pile of saw dust is the most interesting as I can see it everyday from my school. Someone later explained to me that the scrap timber and sawdust were used as firewood to boil the soybean . Gi also owns a lorry and in 1966 when my grandmother peformed her Haj, my father hired Gi’s lorry to bring our family to Keppel Harbour where the Kapal Haji or Haj ship  berthed. The ships SS Rajula and SS Malaysia Raya ..

The Noodle Maker at Jalan Lim Tai See

Another Chinese family whose house is located at Jalan Lim Tai See  produces yellow  or Hokkien noodles and other types of noodles. I don’t know the name of this family as we seldom buy direct from his home or kitchen where he produces the noodles. I made several trips to this noodle manufacturer to buy  big quantity of yellow noodles of about 5 katis ( Before the introduction of metric in Singapore in 1981, weight measurement known as kati and tahils and for distance distance- yards and miles stone or batu)  when my family had ‘special’ meals of mee rebus or mee goreng on certain Sundays.

The tempe maker, Jalan Lim Tai See/JalanTuah ( Kampong Tempe)

The Malays at Kampong Coronation were inaccurately associated with ‘tempe’ or a fermented soy cake, a popular food originated from Java. A large majority of Malays at Kampong Coronation came or descendants of Javanese immigrants and therefore it is not a surprise that one of their favourite food is tempe . A large cluster of Malays live in Jalan Haji Alias, Jalan Lim Tai See,Jalan Tuah  and Jalan Siantan. This area is known among Malays in Singapore then as Kampong Tempe. Actually only several families at Jalan Lim Tai See who produces tempe but the name somehow stuck to this day.

From my friends who are children of tempe making families, I was told that it was quite easy to make tempe. First you soaked and boil large amount of soy beans. After boiling until the beans soft enough to be split tossed the water and let the bean to cool. Sprinkle right amount of yeast and mix it right. Some people don’t eat tempe then as they feel ‘geli’   or squeamish because they were told that the process of making tempe requires someone to step and walked around the cooked soy beans to make it split. I personally have not seen it but what I saw the cooked beans were spread in large square made of planks and the maker used something like a rake to turn and spread the bean from outside the square. Even if the process requires stepping on the beans, I am sure the Wak Tempe (The Malays reference to the tempe maker) will wash his feet first before stepping into the square. Compare it to the wine maker who also steps on the grapes in the big vat. I never heard the wine drinker complaining of being squeamish but they enjoy it more.

Well back to the tempe making process ,once cool, the mixture of cooked beans and yeast will be scooped in a right amount into a kind of large leaf known as  daun tempe  or tempe leaf and fold into a  rectangular shape and tied it with the banana hemp. The wrapped mixture will become hardened in a few days and sold as uncooked tempe.

It is common sight that every morning vendors or distributors on bicycles will come to the tempe manufacturer’s house to collect the ready for sale product. They will pack the tempe in rattan basket of gunny sacks and sent it to the Batu Empat market. Among the distributor who I remember is Wak Salam who speaks in thick Javanese accent. Apart from tempe.  Wak Salam also carries some of my favourite kuehs in his tempe basket mounted on his bicycle. My favourite kueh is the tepong gomak or boiled and pressed glutinous rice balls with green bean paste in the inside and cover with kind of flour. Another favourite kueh is kueh nangka or similar like the Chinese ang kut kway but the difference is kueh nangka is coloured yellow and made into a shape of a jackfruit meat and placed individually on banana leaf before it was steamed.  

    In Kampong Coronation, the villagers were blessed with harmonious living among despite their different ethnic, religious and cultural background. There are many examples which I can recalled and write about it the next time but meanwhile look out for my next posting where I will describe more about Kampong Coronation and its prominent  villagers.. 

Cattle Breeding at Kampong Coronation

I think not many people and especially current residents of Coronation Road would believe me that  Coronation Road used to have cattle breeding farms or what the villagers of Kampong Coronation simply called in Malay ‘kandang lembu’ or literally meant cow shed. 

 

According to my father and my elder siblings, the cattle breeding started immediately after the WW2 when several Indian families moved into Kampong Coronation and they brought their cattle with them. There were four clusters of villagers who bred cattle solely for its milk. Two clusters located facing each other and smack along Coronation Road West. One of them located on the land belonging to wealthy businessman and race horse owner, Mr Sayna Abdul Kader and the other opposite it towards the direction of Bukit Timah Road. As for the second family, I am not sure whose land it belongs to but the leader of the family is simply known to the other villagers as ‘Pirate’! I think the poor fellow got his nickname because of his useless eye which I could not recall either the left or right eye.

Two more clusters of the cattle breeding villagers located slightly about 50 metres off Coronation Road West, on the right side if one is heading towards Holland Road. Exactly opposite a provision shop the villagers called ‘Kedai Chu Toh’ or Chu Toh shop, there was a pathway leading to a big ‘longkang’ or drain. The pathway runs parallel with the drain which snaked up to about 200 metres in different width until it met with another lane which was reconstructed into an asphalt road and given the name Jalan Haji Alias. I recalled sometime around 1965 or 1966 the pathway parallel to the drain was constructed into a red pebbles road and given the name Jalan Siantan. My family’s house as well as the cattle breeding families’s house and their cow shed is located across the drain. I think in 1966 after the National Registration exercise, my family’s home address is no longer 375 Coronation Road West but changed to 25-B Jalan Siantan (S’pore 10). Today, only part of Jalan Siantan still remains forming the junction of Jalan Haji Alias. The rest of the road is converted into a walkway parallel to the drain which was re-constructed sometime in 1986-87 into a canal as part of flood management in that area. Part of my family’s land was acquired by the government for the canal construction. I will write some other time about the land acquisition as it has a very significant impact on the villagers’ life.

The cattle breeding families, together with the rest of the other families across the drain, have to build their own bridge or ‘jambatan’ in order to get across to the red pebbles lane. I recalled there are about 11 bridges of different sizes  across the drain from each of my neighbour’s land. I recalled my family’s ‘jambatan’ was made of two wooden beams about 50 feet across the drain. Two sheets of iron retrieve by my father from unknown source were placed on the beams. It was quite wide about 6 feet. Sometime in late 70’s my father reconstructed the bridge and this time two iron bars were placed across the drain and two iron sheets about 5 feet wide placed on top of each other on the iron beam. The width and length of each bridge depends on the width of the drain. The majority of the bridges are made of wood and planks and very few with iron but none at all build with concrete and cement.There are no fanciful railings and if you are not careful, you could easily fall into the drain. I had a frightful experience myself when I fell into the drain cycling over my neighbour’s bridge but in 1981 when I got my motorcycle licence , I rode my scooter across the bridge with ease after learning the trick of balancing .  .

Going back to the two clusters of cattle breeding families along Coronation Road West (Jalan Siantan), the nearest one located just next to my immediate neighbours’ land of houses no 20-23B belonging to , Encik Juki and his siblings, Encik Rostam (Kuchit), Ramsin (Kamsin) and Ngarip ( Wak Ngarip ).

I recall that when I was about 6 or 7 years old, I used to walk across my neighbour’s land to the ‘kandang lembu’ just to watch the cattle feeding, defecating and mating. Sometime I watch the leader of the cattle breeders’ family known only as ‘John’ or his wife , Pangemah milking the cows Every morning, ‘John’ will herd the cattle across the bridge to its grazing area along Coronation Road West. The sight of cattle crossing the bridge and grazing on the road side of Coronation Road is something which I think is hard to imagine today.

There are many funny stories about the villagers’ encounter with the cattle or shall I say, encounter with ‘part’ of the cattle! Well, being animal with daily activity of eating it is only natural for them to defecate and unlike a pet dog or cat which can be toilet trained, the cattle would just defecate at the same time as they are eating. When the cattle were herded back to its shed by John, they will leave a long trail of messy cow dung along Coronation Road. Villagers who are not careful walking along this road and especially at night will be in for a surprise and by the time they recover from the shock, the smell of cow dung and the mess their footwear is in will be too much for them to take. Out come all the expletives and on the next few days, the cattle are target to so much abuse by the ‘victims’.  

Like all cattle breeding farms found in many places in Singapore prior to the 70s’ the cattle breeding families at Kampong Coronation also produce fresh milk and never beef as all of them are Hindus. In fact prior to the early 70’s, I think Singapore is self-sufficient for fresh milk consumption as there is a large scale and hygienic cattle breeding and milk production site at Dairy Farm Road. Magnolia Fresh Milk and ice cream were actually produced in Singapore from its Upper Bukit Timah Road 8 miles stone factory.

Cattle breeding by individual cow keepers for milk were slowly phase out and become illegal in Singapore during the late 60s due to its unhygienic and unsanitary conditions. Many residents wrote to the press to complaint to the authorities on cattle seen roaming the streets in area such as Dunearn Road, Katong and Sennet Estate.

Kampong Coronation is unique not only because of the villagers from different ethnic background lives together in harmony but there are many more things which I will share in this blog. Look for my next posting on Traders of Kampong Coronation.

Sacrificial Lamb

A sacrificial lamb is a metaphorical reference to a person or animal sacrificed (killed or discounted in some way) for the common good. The term is derived from the traditions of Abrahamic religion where a lamb is a highly valued possession, but is offered to God as a sacrifice for the forgiveness of Sin.

Today is Idil Adha or Hari Raya Haji which is one of Singapore public holidays and as it falls on Sunday, tomorrow, Monday, will be the public holiday.  Idil Adha is one of the Islamic holiest days. Idil Adha falls on the 10th day of the Muslim month of Zulhijah. Muslims all over the world and who can afford it, are required to perform a once in a lifetime pilgrimage to the Muslim Holiest city of Mecca. One of the rituals during the Idil Adha is the slaughtering of domesticated animals usually sheeps, goats, cattle or camels.

Talking about the slaughtering of animals, I recalled in the late 70s and early 80s where the compound of my family's home at Kampong Coronation  was scene to such rituals during the Hari Raya Haji. There were so many fond and funny memories about the yearly event. Coincidentally, today and for no particular reason I cruise around the almost deserted industrial area of Penjuru Road, Pandan Road and Jalan Buroh and after so many years I noticed that the old Jurong animals holding area and abattoir under the old Primary Production Dept (PPD), the predecessor of AVA has been transformed to a new modern building.  I could still see the old animal pens but unfortunately I don't have my camera or mobile phone with me. I am very sure, in not too distant far, the pens will be demolished. I will return very soon this time with my camera and will share with you the photos.

In the 70s and 80s where there are still many kampongs in Singapore, individuals or Muslims organisation who wanted to sacrifice animals during the Hari Raya Haji would have to purchase the animals from the livestock importers who imported live sheep and cattle from Australia. The animals came in ship which berthed at Jurong Port just across Jalan Buroh. From the port, I heard that the sheep and cattle were herded from the ship across Jalan Buroh to the pens but have not seen it myself or come across any photographs of it. The sheep and cattle will be cared for a few days before they were slaughtered. Freshly slaughtered sheep, cattle and pigs are common feature in Singapore wet markets until 1999 following the outbreak of the Nipah virus outbreak where such practice was stopped and the abattoir closed.

Going back to the Hari Raya Haji at my old kampong house, after contacting a relative's relative who is a sheep importer/wholesaler, we trust him to deliver good and healthy sheep as required of the religion to our home. In the beginning, my father purchased only 1 or 2 sheep for our own family. He will then proceed to the PPD's office at the National Development Building at Maxwell Road to apply for the slaughtering permit. Each animal requires one permit. I could not recall what is the cost of the permit which comes with a strict condition that the slaughtering is strictly for religious purposes and the carcasses is not for sale. The slaughtering itself must be away from public view and the unwanted parts and skin must be dispose off hygienically.

Following the successful organising of the slaughtering during the Hari Raya Haji in 1978 or 1979, relatives and neighbours requested my father to include them in the following year event. My father who is well respected for to his knowledge and organizing skills never turn down such request as he sees it as part of community work and did not profit from it. He just asked for the price of the sheep and permit and a token fee for Ustaz Said, a respected imam, religious teacher and my cousin’s husband for slaughtering all the sheep. Immediate neighbours came to provide helping hands or what we called ‘gotong royong’. From 1-2 sheep a year, I recalled in 1986, there were close to 20 sheep to be slaughtered and instead of relying on neighbours and volunteers to skin and cut the carcasses; we hired professional butchers from Bukit Timah market to cut the carcasses into decent pieces.

The pre-slaughtering days or the caring of the sheep were often hilarious affairs! My family’s house was built on many thick beams and the sheep were tied to the beams since we did not build proper pens. The sheep’s smell and their urine and feces were terrible but since the event is for religious purposes, we take it in our strides.

I think during 1981 Hari Raya Haji, one of the sheep managed to break free from under our house and bolted towards Coronation Road West with my brothers hot on its heels! Several other neighbours also joined in the chase. The sheep was finally caught when it jumped into a monsoon drain infront of Ulu Pandan community centre and got stuck in the mud. Everybody was too exhausted to walk back to our house which is about 500-700 metres away from the CC and with the prospect of carrying the sheep, no solution was forthcoming until  my brother-in-law ,Sunny came to the rescue by offering to bring the sheep back home in his Ford Capri car!

We wrapped the sheep with some plastics or newspaper and after much heaving and shoving, managed to get inside the car. It was a funny sight when my brother-in-law’s car came with the sheep sitting in the centre and my two brothers sat on its left and right similar like the television scene showing the police escorting an arrested person.

A Ford Capri car model similar like my brother-in-law’s and a mug shot of the escaped sheep!

                               

My father stopped the yearly event because it was getting too big and troublesome. Imagine a few days before Hari Raya Haji, my brothers and I have to dig a large and deep pit infront of our house by using changkols only. The sheep skins and other unwanted parts were buried in the pit. In the next few days or even weeks, the stench coming from the pit were terrible and if its rain, it meant more sufferings to my family.

The Malay word  'kampong' or village is still being used officially by the government when referring to a cluster of houses in rural areas of Singapore despite almost 80%  of Singapore are actually built up areas for human dwelling, factories ,industrial areas,highrise office buildings and shopping complexes. Although it is quite hard now to identify which part of Singapore still considered as rural areas but somehow kampong akways  remind many Singaporean especially those who are above 40 about their wonderful childhood where life was more relax, the spirit of neighbourliness regardless of race and religion thrives and many more good and great memories.

Coronation Road started from Bukit Timah Road 4 milestone (m.s) where the present day Coronation Plaza and Crown Plaza is located also fondly known as Batu Empat in Malay or Si Ko by the Hokkien villagers. Batu Empat or the 4 miles stone was a centre of economic activities to the villagers as this is where they will get their daily supplies of fresh vegetables,fish and meat. There are no farms within the vicinity of Coronation Road but a row of shops where the present day Crown Plaza is located sells market produce brought by the vendors probably from the Tekkah Market about 4 miles or 6 kilometres down Bukit Timah Road.There was also a coffee shop where my grandmother used to sell lontong and mee siam and where you can find an Indian vendor selling tosai and of course the Chinese owner or main tenant dishing out the standard kopi-o or teh susu with half boiled eggs and kaya toast. There was 'Mama or Kaka' stall selling newspapers,comics and magazines on top of their usual cigarettes and knicks knacks of soap bar, hair tonic,razor blades etc.

Coronation Road stretches right up to the junction of Victoria Park Road or about 1 kilometre away from 4 milestone and  the road was extended for another 2 klometres to the junction of Holland Road.That stretch is known as Coronation Road West.

The official opening of Coronation Road West was a big event for the villagers as it was officiated by Mr Abdul Hamid Jumat who was a Minister Local Government, Lands and Housing in the 2nd Chief Minister of Singapore Lim Yew Hock government but came in his capacity of Acting Chief Minister.  Co-incidentally the date of the official opening of Coronation Road West fell on .......???? Yes!!!, 11th November 1957, the day I was born!!!.My father who was a member of Bukit Timah Rural Board was busy chairing the village organising committee,receiving and walking with the Minister oblivious to the fact that at home, house no 375 Coronation Road, my mother was in labour and about to give birth to me.

Although the whole stretch of Coronation Road and right up to Coronation Road West  together with its lanes later renamed Jalan Haji Alias, Jalan Lim Tai See, Jalan Tuah,Jalan Ampang and Jalan Siantan have their own pockets or cluster of houses with such names as Kampong Banjir or literally meant Flooding Village as when its rain heavily, this particular kampong located at Duchess Road is the first to be flooded as a big earth drain or longkang ran across it to the huge longkang along Bukit Timah Road ( the present day Bukit Timah canal) or Kampong Wak Hassan which is off Kingsmead Road near to the present Nanyang Primary School or Kampong Tengah ( the Middle Village) near to the junction of Victoria Park Road opposite the Chinese Cemetary or Kampong Tempe surrounding Jalan Haji Alias. Jalan Lim Tai See, Jalan Tuah, Jalan Ampang and Jalan Siantan. but the official government referrence to these villages is simply Kampong Coronation.