Segamat - my hometown

On March 24 we drove from Singapore to Segamat. The last time I made this same journey was six years ago. I had dreaded the drive from Yong Peng to Segamat where we had to travel along the old trunk road joining these two towns. Six years ago the road was narrow and road marking was a treat. However, my anxiety proved unfounded. To my surprise this stretch of the journey was quite good. The old narrow road has been widened with hard shoulders on either side and with very clear road markings along the centerline of the road and for turnings off the main road. At sharp bends and where necessary the road has been upgraded to two lanes each way for overtaking. I must say that I was pleasantly surprised by the great improvement the Johore Government has made on this highway.

The purpose of my trip to Segamat was to visit the resting place of my parents and grandparents during the annual Chinese Qing Ming festival. Having done that we had nearly two day to do all the other things we had planned.

Paid a visit to my old school. It was good to see the grand old building again. Seeing the school and the surrounding ground brought back memories, some good and some not so good. However, it was nice to be there again after so many years. Some of the outbuildings are still as I remember them but there are some newer extensions. The tennis court and the basketball court are still the same and so is the school padang. However, the school padang looks so small now, compared to the memory version.

The old town of Segamat is still the same. Nothing has changed in this part of town. All new development have been concentrated on the other side of the river, in Kampong Abdullah and Segamat Baru. New restaurants with delicious cuisine have mushroomed everywhere. My favorite wontan mee stall was still trading so we was a treat. The best thing about eating in Segamat is the quality and the cheap price of the meals compared to places like KL and Singapore.

Definitely a good trip and I reckon I will do this more often in future.

Cheng Meng

Returning to my little hometown of Segamat for Cheng Meng. It has been so long since the last time I paid my respect to my parents at their resting place. I hope I will be able to do this more often in future.

Returning to Segamat always brings back memories, some good and some not so pleasent. However, Segamat is where my roots are and like it or not it has always held a special place in my heart. As I gets older and have more time for reflection, I cannot help feeling a stronger attraction towards this little hometown of mine. Over the years I have lived and visited many famous cities of the world, but little Segamat has always been a place I like to visit again and again. Friends and classmates have all but left for pasture new. I hardly know anyone in Segamat nowadays, but it is always nice to walk along streets I used to play in so many years ago. Everything appears to be so small now.

Whenever I visit Segamat, I have the, " I have returned home " feeling. Nice feeling !!!!

I have always maintained that " you can take me out of Segamat, but you can never take Segamat out of me". I am just a country boy at heart.

London to Singapore

Here I am again, back in Singapore for another 2 months or so. The flight back was OK and as always British Airways flight was full, with most of the passengers on their way to Sydney.

I am just wondering if I would be lucky enough to witness a Singapore General Election during my two month stay. I have heard that the General Election here is like nowhere else in the world. I am still puzzled by many of the aspects of the way things are done here, for instance,

Why do you have to redraw electoral boundaries?

Why do you have GRC?

Why are there so many walk-overs?

Anyone out there willing to enlighten me?