camping at pulau tekong

the tapioca or cassava never fails to remind me of the time when we camped near a malay kampong on pulau tekong. there were four of us, all male teachers. we cooked our own meals and tried catching our own fish. did not have much luck though. we got our provisions from the lucy's shop at kg salabin.

we bought a whole chicken to roast over the fire. we wrapped the chicken in mud before tossing it into the fire. we also roasted the tapioca that we had secretly harvested from a small plot left behind by the villagers. we actually dug up the swollen stems and then replaced the tapioca plants by sticking the stems back into the earth.

those were carefree days. those were days when school holidays were real holidays. we had time to revitalise and rejuvenate ourselves. no workshop, no seminar, no work review, no department review, no retreat, no extra lessons for children, no meet parents session, no this and that.

those of us who had saved enough and wanted to go on a month long tour could do it during the june or november/december holidays. even though we were paid for the invigilation that we had to do for the national examinations, many of us were willing to pay others extra to do it for us.