Run! They are killing you people over there!
13th May 2006
“Go home! Get out of here! Haven’t you heard? Run! They are killing you people over there!”
I panicked. Stunned! Terrified! I turned and ran as fast as my short legs could carry me. When I arrived home, I found that my father’s shop had already closed. I ran through the doors, slamming them shut and fastening the wooden clasps of the doors firmly. Then I ran upstairs to my parents.
In those days, home for me was a shophouse in a small Malaysian town. Shophouses were designed with a shopfront and living quarters at the back. Sometimes they also have an upper level with bed and living rooms. Ours was such a design. Our family of four lived above the shophouse in three large bedrooms and very spacious living areas. At the back of the shop, on the ground floor, was our kitchen and dining room. In the small backyard my father has built a couple of artificial ponds where he kept some gold and other tropical fish. In the corner of the backyard were steps leading up to a “out-house” toilet. We still had the “bucket” system then, and each night so-called “night soil collectors” would come round to collect the buckets of waste. I always wondered where they dispose of the waste. Read the rest of this entry »
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