Book Review ~ BRICKFIELDS : A Place, A Time, A Memory by Balan Moses.

Thank you Balan Moses for a nostalgic trip down memory lane. Much of what you have described in your book brought back fond memories of yesteryears. The places, the people and especially some of the childish games you described, I have quite forgotten until I read your book.

I did not live in Brickfields. My father worked with the Malayan Railways and so my family and I lived in the railway quarters along Jalan Bangsar. However Brickfields was a part of our daily life because my sisters and I studied in M.G.S., along Jalan Sultan Abdul Samad and we had to pass through Brickfields as we walked to and from school. There were several routes we could take – walk along Jalan Tun Sambathan and straight onto Jalan Sultan Abdul Samad, or walk along Lorong CA Thong, Jalan CA Thong or Jalan Rozario. I suppose our route depended on what we wanted to see, or if we wanted to linger along the shops to see or buy something. I still remember the end shop (opposite the Brickfields KFC now) which used to sell pets. I loved to stop to see the birds in that shop! Thus most of the places you have mentioned are very familiar. Good for you that the quarters you lived in still exists in Jalan Rozario. Our railway quarters is no more, it used to be where the present Bangsar LRT station stands.

The Lido theatre was an important landmark in our life – it was the focal point of our annual treat. We made a trip there on Deepavali day to watch either the Sivaji or MGR movie that was on. Visiting the Buddhist temple was also a must every Wesak Day, to get the orange thread tied to the wrist. Almost every non-muslim child wore this thread for several weeks after Wesak.

My mother bought mutton only from Naina’s mutton shop and you couldn’t have described him in any other way but the friendly giant! He was actually a good-looker with an ever ready broad smile. Yes, I remember the crowd waiting patiently outside his shop to get their order on Sunday mornings. Anthonian bookstore was another significant shop – to get our books and stationary especially before the new school year started.

Your naration of the mobile hawkers made me realize how environment friendly we were back then. There was no Styrofoam container and we used to bring out our own plates and bowls to buy the food. How could I forget bringing out our enamel or stainless steel cups to get the hot soup from the yong tau foo seller. How wonderful and convenient if we still had these mobile rojak, yong tau foo, pau and kueh sellers.

Did you keep a diary or just happen to have excellent memory? I remembered many of the games you mentioned such as kaunda kaundi, “catching”, tai chi and kicking the frangipani balls. But I had quite forgotten the “high five” card game and also throwing rubber bands to cross over the opponent’s rubber bands.

What you have written is indeed a beautiful historical record of our ordinary life 30 – 40 years ago. Reading it now made me realize how rich our simple life was. I actually feel sad for my children who are glued to their computers now. I can’t seem to share my excitement about your book with them, but I hope one day they would want to read it to know what they have missed.