My Itchy Fingers

When was the last time you visited the library? In today’s society where almost nothing comes free, I think the most wonderful thing that one can still enjoy free must be picking up a book from the national library at absolutely no cost. Well, that’s if you are a citizen here. :p

In a small road off Queensway, at Margaret Drive, lies the oldest public library in Singapore – Queenstown Community Library.

A National Library Board archive picture of the Queenstown Library

Opened by the then PM Mr Lee, Queenstown library was opened to serve
“a sanctuary of peace and quiet where concentration is possible..”

Grewing up in the Margaret Drive/Queenstown/Commonwealth area, (remember my family has an explained liking for moving house…?) the Queenstown Library was one of my favourite hang out place during my school days. I even had a short stint working as a part-time Library Assistant during one of the school holidays. Haha…basically the job was just to arrange books lah...the pay sucks – less than $19 per day (no CPF). To save money, I would walk 20minutes from my old house at Commonwealth to Margaret Drive. But it was one of the best holiday job I had done cos I liked the environment. Besides arranging books on shelves and repairing torn ones, the best thing about the job was that as staff, we had priority in borrowing new books after they had been stuck with stickers and book jackets. Haha…so you always wonder how come new books on the computer catalogue are not available huh…? Now you know…:p

I continued visiting the Queenstown Library even after my school days until I shifted to my present new place. After the 2003 upgrading, I had only visited the Queenstown Library once.

Despite having gone through some upgrading work in 2003, most of the
original facade has been left intact.

But the interior had changed by quite a bit, with the addition of a cafe and I was kinda lost in the new library. The central staircase was gone. I couldn’t find my old memories.

I didn’t return until recently, and was kinda glad that the government has chosen to upgrade the old library instead of tearing it down. I am sure many Singaporeans are still feeling the pain now that the Stamford Library, another library that I used to visit often for research, had been demolished to give way to the ugly, gigantic tombstone-like Fort Canning Tunnel.

The side view of Queenstown Libary

The papers reported that the lease of the building is up for renewal in 2010. The former thriving Margaret Drive neighbourhood around the library is shrinking, especially so after the polyclinic next door has been relocated.

The old Queenstown Polyclinic had served the public since 13/01/1963

My parents used to bring me along when they visited the clinic and
I remembered always feeling so bored by the super long wait. The once
ever crowded polyclinic is now as dead as a doornail…

Interestingly, the Remand Prison is the library’s next closest neighbour

Anyone who had visited the Queenstown Library would definitely have taken a meal or drink from the food centre just opposite the road. Famous for its various stalls of local food, many of the hawkers have been doing business there for years.

Two storeys of food stalls, with a bank and restaurants on the upper level too!

Stall selling fried doughs…

Business still going strong at many stalls after lunch hour

A standalone toilet building just opposite the food centre. I dun
recall any other hawker centres with toilets under different roofs…

With plans for a new market to lure back the younger generation,
how long more can this sign stand?

Also see related posts:
> Visiting an Old Friend
> Growing up in a One-Room Flat

In a place where one can find hundreds of migratory as well as resident birds, what’s an even more appropriate theme to use as a design element for its toilet signs?

At the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserves, visitors are greeted with a set of interesting toilet signs each time they answer to nature’s call.

Pink-necked Green Pigeon is one of the most common birds that can
be found in parks and forests. Like most birds, the males are more
colourful so as to attract females

The duller female. Both birds take turns to incubate the eggs

Papa pigeon taking care of junior’s need in the diaper Changing room :p

Also see related post:
> Answer to Nature’s Call #1 – Toilet Signs, Bangkok

Whenever you moved out of your old house to a new place, what was it that would be most memorable and unforgettable to you? My family must have an unexplained liking for moving houses, cos since young till now, I had shifted house four times! But each time, we merely moved a few kilometers within the western side of Singapore. :p

Since moving out of my old place nearly four years ago, I had always wanted to go back to take a look. I did go back twice, but twice I went home disappointed. Why? Because I couldn’t find an old friend. I had thought she might have gone somewhere else, been adopted by a nice family or the worse case scenario, passed away… I was certainly glad that I went back a third time cos finally I found her!

So who is this old friend of mine?

Mao Mao! A female ginger coloured cat!

i guessed it must be my cat bone tee shirt that brought me the luck…

Mao Mao coming over to say hello…

I used to play with Mao Mao (that’s what I called her lah) when I went downstairs. She was a very sweet cat and liked to rub her head on my legs. I read on books that cats do that to mark their terriority…er, so technically, my legs belong to her…hahah…:p It was through her that I first observed cat eating grass, supposedly a way to relieve stomach ache. It was also through her that I saw how cats do their business…hahah…Anyway, I found Mao Mao special cos she had no tail…

Not too sure if she was born without a tail or lost it later in life…

And tatoos on both her ears! I supposed it meant to say she had been
neutered? I have never seen any other cats with tatoos like this

Most had a part of the ear clipped off…a disfigurement in my opinion…
This is another cat I knew, but she was less friendly, even up to today :p

I could be wrong about the tatoo being an indication of neutered cats cos I remembered seeing Mao Mao being pregnant once and she left a very deep impression on me when I saw how she buried her dead baby in the grass patch…I wished I had remember if she had the tatoo then or not…

I recognised Mao Mao the moment I saw her. She seemed to have lost some weight and her fur had two clumps sticked together on the top…Mao Mao had aged… I had stayed in my old flat for at least 12 years, but I can’t remember when was the first time I saw Mao Mao. But it must had been at least five or six years. Plus the nearly four years since I moved out, Mao Mao must be at least ten years old….quite an old age for our feline friend.

I think Mao Mao also recognised me, cos she seemed to only pose pictures for me and not Tisu Boy :p

“Where have you been all these year?” Mao Mao seemed to be asking me…

I played with Mao Mao for a while longer before leaving her. Kinda feel sad cos I am not too sure when I revisit my old house the next time, will she still be around for me? After all, age seemed to have caught up with her…

Mao Mao…are you feeling sad like me? Oh I love her white socks!

This was something new. It was not there when I lived there. No where
else have I seen such a sign

Cats are one of my favourite animals and I would certainly like to keep them if not for the fact that I already had turtles at home. It was quite sad that our government do not allow people staying in HDB flats to keep cats, though many still keep them, provided their neighbours are tolerant and do not complain. With no where to go, many became strays. I do not understand why dogs are allowed but not cats - barking dogs are certainly an equal nuisance like cats calling out loud when they are in heat. Many people disapprove the feeding of stray cats, but I feel that as long as the person feeding is responsible enough to clean up after the cats, it should be ok. After all, if you don’t feed them, they will mess up rubbish dump for food. I think we need to be more tolerant of other living things as they too, deserve to live life with dignity.

Also see related post:
> Growing Up in A One-Room Flat
> Secret Garden in the Last Kampong