one month and a half! that’s been the time i’ve been away from home. somehow, i’ve managed to get used to living here in singapore. somehow, riding a bus from the west coast to the psa building seems so normal. somehow, chicken rice, curry and roti prata tastes ok. somehow living in an HDB Flat is the most natural thing to do inspite of the fact that you feel like you’re in a pigeon hole with a thousand other birds. somehow, singapore feels like home.
we still see each other once in a while, the old woman and i… she talks to me in chinese and i answer back in english. somehow we understand, at least, the most important message of all: that we are neighbors in one community.
i helped an old woman go down the stairs of my apartment block last week. she must have been in her late 70’s or early 80’s, i have no way of knowing. a good turn for an old woman here in singapore in the hope that a good turn is reciprocated to my mom in Manila.
Music has been with me since I was a kid. In fact, you could say that my life has been one big album, each passing year moving from song to song. My dad was a big influence. He was one of the pioneers of Philippine Radio. He used to be one of the Sr. Announcers of ABS-CBN, but Martial Law was declared and then all of a sudden, they were all out of work. One of his people was this thin guy named “Ernie Baron”. Hehehe…then without the “Brain Sharpening Hat”, “Healing Diet for the Liver” and all his other inventions. Where was I? Oh yes, my dad used to take me to the radio station a lot and he’d ask me to help him set up the records. Sometimes, we’d go the studio and he’d ask me to record a poem. He’d play it on the air, and my Aunt Eugenie would cry every time she hears it. We’d go to the record companies and they’d give me all kinds of records that by the time I was in 6th grade, I probably would have the most comprehensive rock collection of any 12 year old anywhere in the world. After a year, he’d leave us for another woman. I was 13 years old, without a dad, but with plenty of music.
nandito ako sa singapore, mag-iisang buwan na. naging isang estrangero para makapag-ipon ng konting pera. tama ba itong ginawa ko? sana… sana pagbalik ko sa pilipinas nandoon pa rin ang mga mahal ko sa buhay. sana buhay pa sila. sana may kabuluhan lahat ng ginagawa ko rito. sana…
Batang Kaning Lamig 