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i_am_zan has sent me an 'Old Singapore' calendar with reminiscent notes written in the margin. Like the rice seller who sold cooked rice, since it was apparently too expensive for many people to cook their own. That traffic-directing cops are also a by-gone intrigues me, though I see her point. We leave it to the lights here too, until the lights fail as they frequently do, and then a patrol car rolls up and the guys get out and direct. And the fishmonger who, in Grandma's time, measured in taels and catties, if you want a blast from the past. ("Fish was and still is expensive?' But LRD is on the ocean. That's like fish being expensive in Newfoundland-- though with the collapse of the cod fisheries twenty years ago, for all I know fish *is* expensive there.)

Most fascinating to me are the Samsui women, who came in great numbers to work in Singapore's construction industry. Hard work and poverty, but also independence, companions, and a secure identity. There are worse ways to live one's life.

So thanks very much, Zan. I note the sad 'hubby promises me internet by the weekend' note written two weeks ago; and in the same mail delivery, I got your post card from that internet cafe. Ganbatte, ne.

(Observe also that it's an August Ramadan this year. Vicarious moan/ tremble.)

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^__^ So glad it arrived before too much of the year had gone by. Although this time that is partly my fault for taking so long to make the trip to our PO.

The fish thing ... I think before Raffles, fish was a commodity one caught for oneself, and sold/exchanged the extra you didn't need to neighbours and other villagers. When it became a Harbour Port/Port Harbour ... and by the time I was a child, most of our fish came from Malaysia, some were local but due to the pollution from container ships and oil tankers, local fishermen had to go further afield. 'Cheap' fish tends to be farmed these days or from Malaysia, China or Indonesia.

Well as you can see I have regained internet ^_^ (alas my laptop is really struglling with its duties)But we're getting by.

*HUG* glad you like it!

My great-grandmother used to collect used plastic bags, wash them and then sell them to the fishmongers in exchange for fish. And my grandma still argues in kati when buying things at the wet market.
Sounds like an awesome calendar that you've got!

So glad the internet is back, and hope that aged laptop (yes, 6 years is aged these days, esp for laptops don't-ask-me-why) continues to ganbaru.

Ah well. The British and their far-flung offspring still think in stone, singular, and past a very low number I have to convert kg and cm into pounds and inches to get an idea of what it means. Have never grasped millilitres at all in terms of tablespoons and pints. People *will* keep changing the basics.

It really is cool. References a world I never knew but obscurely feel I did, thus is nostalgic for no good reason at all.

Dust is the issue. It turns out that every once in a while you have to unscrew the tiny screws on the back, take out the keyboard, and vacuum/dump out the horrible crap that accumulates on the inside.