My New Singaporean ‘Uncle’

This week, I moved into a new flat in Singapore.  For a variety of reasons, I decided to move out of my old, 2 bedroom flat on Selegie Road, and shift to a short-term accommodation, renting a room in a building in the heart of Singapore’s Chinatown.  I chose Chinatown because I wanted to immerse myself as much as possible in the Mandarin Speaking community of Singapore; and I’ve always liked the variety and liveliness of the neighbourhood.

So, I found a really unique living experience for the next few months.  I will be renting one bedroom in an apartment shared with an 80-year old Singaporean “Uncle”.  We call older men “Uncle” here as a term of respect. 

My “Uncle”’s name is Chou Ah Chai.  He is 80 years old. That, mind you, is 20 years older than the Republic of Singapore herself.  Ah Chai is a friendly, generous, and fascinating man.  He speaks very little English, and we communicate in Mandarin.  When I first visited his flat to view the room with his housing agent, I was admittedly apprehensive to live with a senior-citizen.  But only took a few steps into the flat to see his friendly face, and the fact that he has several Er Hu’s laying around (er hu, 二胡， is the two-stringed Chinese violin that I have been slowly learning to play).  I asked Uncle, in Chinese, if he could play the er hu.  He said, ‘of course’ and said he could teach me to play.  From that moment, we were friends, and I had made up my mind about renting the place.

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I moved in yesterday, and had the help of my very good friends to carry my bags (Kei from Tokyo, Yiyi from Shanghai, and Vera from Jakarta—all of whom I’ve know for the past three years).  We carried my belongings into the flat and Uncle Ah Chai was so friendly and welcoming.  He offered us cold, canned guava juice and pieces of Moon Cake to eat.  It is the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival here, and moon cakes are the famous dessert this time of year.  Uncle then gave us a concert, playing three old Cantonese songs on his harmonica.  He used to play instruments and sing in a Chinese Orchestra.  It was a really nice experience.

I’ve learned a number of other interesting things about Uncle. Before he retired, he was a ship captain working in the Singapore ports, driving boats from port to port around the island.  He also used to run a hardware shop, where he also sold the famous (or infamous) Durian fruits. 

And he is very generous.  When I first met him, on the day I signed the lease.  He told his housing agent that normally he prefers tenants to stay longer-term.  The agent told me, “Uncle says he thinks you are quite OK, and you can rent the flat for a few months”.  While we were waiting around for the agent to fill out the lease paperwork, Uncle gave to me a wrist-watch that he had on his desk.  It is a flashy, silver and red affair with some crystal-like stones above and below the watch face.  I am fairly certain it is a ladies watch, but I was very touched by the gesture! 

Since I moved in, Uncle has given me a pair of slippers for the house, has proffered me fruits, moon cakes, cough-drops, coffee… and he even tried to give me an old suitcase of his.  We’d need to use some pliers to open the broken lock, but I could use the suitcase on my next trip to China – as the case is of very good quality.

It is really wonderful.  Living with such a wise and generous old man is giving me a very new perspective on Singapore.  I look forward to the months ahead, and I will capture some of my experiences here on this blog.  And soon I’ll get some photos too!