Balek Kampong

Its that time of the year again when everybody makes a beeline for the family home.In our case its good old Ipoh and we are all looking forward to getting home ,to have the family under one roof and just whiling away the time.Having all the members of the family together is something special and sometimes we need to be reminded how precious the time family members spend together is.
When I was young we followed dad wherever he served and each time we moved we stayed in government quarters.First it was Tapah ,Baldwin Hill a place up on the hillside and very nice.It was a wooden house and all our neighbours were govt.servants >Those days Chinese ,Malays,Indians lived together happily and we were all good neighbours.Started my primary schooling there at the Govt.English School.School was a walking distance away and we were quite independent right from young.We studied and played lots of games after school,hockey,football,rugby and athletics.Yes the small town culture was indeed great and we learned to be tolerant,independent and aware of our financial status.Cars for example were the privilege of the rich and famous and we never considered owning a car at that time.
New Year was spent going to Bidor,Tapah Road where dad's sisters were and it was a good chance for a family outing.We always traveled by bus and would be entertained by ang pows and the usual New Year cakes.
After that when I was due to enter Form 1 dad was transferred to Ipoh .At the beginning he could not get a house so we stayed with Uncle Jin Bee at his big Govt.House in Watson Road near the race course.I studied in St.Michael's a long way from home and i cycled to school everyday .No choice as there was no other affordable means of transport.We squatted with Uncle for some time until dad got his own quarters in Greentown at a place called Fifth Avenue.
New Year was an exciting time.Despite being poor mum would buy all of us new clothes.Each one would get two sets ,two shirts and two pairs of pants(shorts ).Nothing fancy,no branded names but they were new clothes nevertheless and we could not wait to get up early to put them on.On the eve we would all sit down and have the once a year special dinner which by hook or by crook mum would prepare.
A wonderful tradition which we are happy to see carried on to this day though with some changes>People would eat in the restaurant if they can today.It makes the tasks of preparing dinner and washing up easier but to me the meaning of the reunion and its spirit are lost .Rushing over dinner in a noisy environment defeats the purpose of the reunion dinner where members of the family can enjoy the home cooked meals which they missed for the year and a chance for them to update each other.
Yup balek kampong especially for a number of days is something to look forward to.For me the first few days will be spent with the family doing things together and entertaining Kyra and Aaron.After that it will be golf and mj with the friends.New year is a time to meet up with old friends and relatives and its a good break for everybody !