Past and Present

One of my favourite poems is called "Past and Present" written by Thomas Hood. It starts with

"I remember, I remember
The house where I was born,
The little window where the sun
Came peeping in at morn;.....

I cannot remember the house where I was born. According to my birth certificate it was at Norfolk Road, in one of the kampong houses. But I can still remember the house at Kim Keat Road and certainly Lorong Limau. They've all gone of course and replaced by HDB flats. From that little Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT the predecessor of HDB) unit I left home to go to the Training College in January 1954. What a lot has happened since then. You see, on Sunday 25th October I would have completed fifty five years as officer and my wife too for she was in the same session.

I am writing my memoirs but at the moment am uncertain whether I would post them in my blog. Certainly they are meant for my family and to be kept for posterity. I shall send a copy to the Archives because my life is so much intertwined with The Salvation Army.

My father was one of those immigrants from China; completely illiterate, he had to struggle to survive. We went through the war years and experienced much poverty. Looking back, we thank God - He has indeed been wonderful.

Yes, I remember, a lot to remember and I must write it down before memory fades. I am what I am because of God's wondrous grace.