Swimming in the canals

The village which I lived in as a child was a wet padi growing village. It had a very good irrigation system, there were more than 20 canals controlling the flow of water into and out of the padi fields.The grass growing on the banks are trimmed regularly by the workers, so it was very neat and tidy, ideal for us kids to roll on, and then drop off into the water.
The canals were not filled with water all the time, certain months the Agricultural Officer will order the water gates to be shut and no water will flow in the canals. Only pots and patches of water pockets here and there. It was a good time to catch cat fish in the pockets of water.We loved it.

During this time the padi began to ripe, later ready to be harvested. After that the formers will plough the dried up land to plant secondary crops like tobacco, chilli, sweet potatoes, brinjo, water melon,long beans,etc.
When these crops were ripen and harvested, it was time to flood the fields again getting ready to grow the main crop, the wet padi.
The Agricultural Officer would announce the exact date for the water gates to be raised. He would send his men to go round the village on a land cruiser armed with a loud speaker to blast the news to everyone. Notice would also be pasted on the notice board outside his office.
When the gates were opened,the canals would be filled with water up to 5 feet deep feeding every field along the way.
The workers from the agriculture dept would patrol the canals ,inspecting the water outlets to the fields and the grass on the banks. The grass were important for preventing erosion of the canals banks. At the same time the workers would chase away any children lingering on the canals banks, because no swimming were allowed in the canals. Not only the water level was too deep for the kids to swim in, it was also extremely dangerous to go near the water gates. The whirlpools created by the gates would suck them in if they went too near. Moreover the kids climbing up and down the banks would damage the grass also.
We still sneaked to the canals after school to swim and play. But we were not foolish enough to go near the gates, we always swam at least a few km away from the gates. Not only it was safer, but also not so easily detected by the agriculture dept workers. For some reasons the workers liked to hang around the gates.

Beside the workers we were also on the lookout for our parents and neighbours. But we knew the hours they would pass by the spot where we were swimming and we would be less absorbed in our games and be more alert during those hours. When we spotted someone approaching, we would all submerge in the water and hold our breath until he passed. If we were unlucky to be seen, we would know what awaited us at home that evening! Yet we could not resist the temptation of the canals and would return even after receiving the punishment.
The workers had a more effective way to deal with us. Sometimes they shouted at us from afar to scare us away. Sometimes they sneaked up on us and collected our clothes (we all swam naked, we were the originator of the nudist movement...hahaha) then only shouted at us. We all ran away naked and they pretended chasing us from behind on their bicycles.They made us run round the village across the main street and they then went back to their quarters, with our clothes.
Finally, shame overcame fear, we went to the workers' quarters to beg them to give us back our clothes. After what seemed a life time,the agriculture office would come out and made us write down our names, class, and class teachers' names. He made us promised to finish our home works everyday for the next week and to show him every day. Strange, why did he do that? May be his girl friend was our class teacher?. Ummm...must be.

A tough question to answer

Sometimes I ask myself,"Have I made the right choice by leaving the kampung?"
I know I cannot answer that.

My father was a farmer in a small Chinese new village, planting padi and tobacco alternately during the year. We kids had to help in the field during week ends and school holidays. By the time we finished our 6 years of primary school education we were quite strong and knew most of the works to be done in the field.

Except for a fortunate few who were from well to do families like the shop owners, senior government officers, most of the kids would naturally drop out and adopt farming as a way of life. Alternatively they will become apprentice for various trades in the town. There were good reasons for this, the most obvious one is of course they would start to bring home earnings or boost the productions in the field. The second reason was that many could not get through the Primary Examinations hence could not advance into secondary schools. The third reason being that their families could not afford the school fees and the cost of livings in town, because the kids had to leave the village to further their studies. There was no secondary school in villages then.

My father was a very poor farmer, it looked like I was destined to be either a farmer or a tradesman. But I would not settle for it, I wanted to change it. I studied hard whenever I found time in between doing chores. When the results were out, I was one of the only 2 students who scored grade 1 in my class. It was something during that time, I tell you.

So I told my father about my intention to carry on studying. He said he had no money, if I want, I could take some rice from home and feed myself in the town. I had to ask my mother for cash because she was working as a domestic maid in the big town quite far from home. She agreed that I was too frail to start working and should wait for a few more years when I grew bigger.

So armed with RM30 and a bag of rice for every school term, I continued my study in secondary school. During school holidays, when my class mates planned for their vacations, I was asking around for jobs available during that period.

Also I was busy asking seniors and my classmates if their elder brothers, sisters or cousins wanted to sell their used text books. And I sold my used books to my juniors. Those days text books were not changing like fashion shows every year, so they could be passed down from seniors to juniors. This saved the students quite a bit of money.

After completing form 5, I joined the Government as a technicain. While working I sat for the external diploma which was recgonised by the Government. It took me 6 years to complete, and I got rapid promotions whenever I passed a stage.

I went over to the private sector later because it was more challenging. I became a computer hardware engineer. I worked for several multi-national companies before I retired.

The problem with me now is that my 2 kids are still studying in colleges, and I could not find proper jobs due to my age. If I remained a farmer, my children will be happy as farmers too. There will be no worry of whether I could support them until finish colleges or not.

Did I make the right choice?