HE WAS A SOLDER..... MY DAD

My Dad kept his rifle in the kitchen, it stood in the corner. We would never ever dream of touching it. Even my big brother who was a teenager used to hang out with his gang, he was known as a ring leader ( they had loads of gangs then) He would never ever go near it. I don't know if we were taught at a very early age, not to touch it, or if we knew instinctively that it was a no go area ? My Dad never ever hit us or man handled us in any way..... my Mum did. Usually a quick swipe across the bum and a very angry look! that would be enough for us to stop, it took a lot to irritate Her, but we did now and then. My Brother and I were never good friends and anyway he was a lot older than me. I could be very PC and say we didn't deserve the clouts we got, but you know what looking back, if She hadn't sorted us out there was a good chance with us being naturally rebellious that we might have been worse off now. We were brought up knowing what was going on what was right and what was wrong, what went on in the world, how could it be any different and crucially, reality checks in Singapore saw to that.


My Dad disappeared again only this time we knew where he had gone to as it was no secret. It was Borneo. At first little things started to change ... no going to town to Changi Village and no going to the swimming pool and the doors were kept shut even though it was hot and days off of school.
It was also around the same time as water shortages and that's when we had to fill everything we could find to have enough water. So no baths, just a damp flannel now and then. The water was boild and put into the fridge it sometimes looked brownish. But when your that thirsty, you drink !