Unlike my other kids who spent their childhood growing up in playgrounds, playing with their friends and of course the TV, I was a little different. I grew up in my maternal grandparent’s house as my mom was often busy at the farm that the family owned. Back then, we were going through some financial difficulties, and my parents could afford to hire a nanny. So my mom bought me to the farm every holiday, to look after me. So yes. I spent a good part of my childhood (from when I was 5 to 11) darting about in the office cubical, pretending that I was invisible. (The part where they house livestock were unknown to me due to hygiene and AVA rules)

However, due to the government re-urbanization of Chua Chu Kang area, the farm had to be shut down and moved to the Kranji countryside area in 2011. Today, the place remains desolated as it awaits a new project. So I decided to go back and base the project on my memories of growing up in the place.

Unfortunately, the area was on locked and under a 24-hour surveillance by a CCTV. So I could only view the perimeters of the farm. below are some of the pictures that I took:

This was the place where my mom grew up in. When my mom was about 19, the house was undergoing some renovation. Along with her siblings, they stayed in this house for about 10ish years. Apparently, when we were there my mom told me that this was the place where mum was married off to my father.

This is the office where my mum spent most of her youth working in. This was also my “playground” when I was primary 1. I would dart in and about the cubicles, disturbing my aunts and uncle as they worked.

This is the front gate where you can still slightly see the mars and impression left behind the signboard.

Today, only the office and the little house remains. I have absolutely no idea, why didn’t the government cleared the whole land. today it just lays abandon waiting for the next project.

While we were there, I bumped into the old neighbor, the boss of Kok Fah vegetables, the leading hydroponics crop grower in Singapore. There outside in the hot sun, they had a heated discussion on the future of agriculture in Singapore. To be honest, I believe that the agriculture is doomed in Singapore. Long story short, lack of government combined with the lack of successor has made agriculture a dying trade. Undeniably, agriculture is essential for Singapore, but it is unsustainable in our pragmatic society.