One of my oldest and fondest memories is playing at the playground near my grandmother’s house.
My grandmother used live in a terrace house off Mei Hwan Drive and when we were over for the day, my mum and aunts would walk us kids to the playground at the top of the road near the current Goldenhill Park condominium. Those were some of the happiest and most carefree times of my life. There were a couple of see-saws, swings, a big roundabout, and a tall slide. I think the swings were our favourite as my sister and I used to compete to see who could swing the highest. We also spent a lot of the time on the see-saws, standing to the middle and trying to balance them out flat. When we took to the see-saws on opposite ends, we would kick ourselves up, hard, and cause the other to experience a bit of stomach churn as they flew downwards, sometimes bumping down with a crash. We would take turns spinning each other on the roundabout too till either of us got dizzy. Usually that would be me. The slide was never as popular as the old-style slides made of terrazzo were not as smooth as the plastic ones the children have today and it wasn’t as slippery. Of course we improvised, often running down the slide, mostly when our mother wasn’t looking.
A playground still stands on this spot. There is a children’s obstacle course of sorts in one corner, which still sits on sand, to my delight. Nearby there is a fitness corner that has been erected on rubber flooring the sort we see dotting children’s playgrounds all over the island. The spot is still lush and green, recognisable, but looking quite different from the playground of my memories.
My friend Susan of A Juggling Mum embarked on a project this month to visit and explore old heritage playgrounds around Singapore, the ones many of us grew up playing in. Many of these old-school playgrounds, like the iconic dragon playgrounds of the past have been torn down. Only a handful remain. She encouraged us to join in and armed with a list (I found this one helpful) I decided to bring the kids to check out the Clock Playground in Bishan.
The Clock Playground is one of the newer mosaic playgrounds, introduced in the 1980s, designed around nursery rhyme and fairy tale themes. Bright and colourful, I could see how they would be appealing to children.
The Clock Playground in Bishan is very easy to find, being located where it is right next to the bus interchange. With shops on one side and a coffeeshop a stone’s throw away, I nevertheless found it a quiet oasis of peace when I dropped by with my children yesterday in the mid-afternoon. Of course, that could be because no one in their right mind would ordinarily go to a playground in the hot afternoon sun. But we found this playground in the perfect spot, in the shade of the taller buildings around it.
I told my children a little about the history of the playground while we were on the way there but I’m sure it was lost on them. But when we arrived, Noey took one look and exclaimed in delight, “Oh, sand!”. And with that, they were off.
Cheery clock playground structure. That kids immediately got excited on seeing it.
Raa-raa came along for the ride but he’s going to have to sit this one out.
Testing out the slide and realising that hmm, terrazzo does not a very slidey surface make. Noey eventually had more fun rolling his ball down the slope instead.
Mei decided to slide on her feet. Friends have told us that the best solution is actually to bring along a piece of cardboard to sit on. I think that’s very clever.
Can Raa-raa come up, please?
Hello mummy! Mei and Raa-raa find a vantage point.
The clock hands are missing from the front of the structure but are still on the back-facing side.
The sand that first caught Noey’s attention when we arrived turned out to be one of his favourite things about this playground. It was easy to find twigs and the kids got busy drawing, much to the amusement of some of the uncles around.
What does a boy do with a stick and sand? Draw, of course.
From dragging out long lines to a, errr, ugly old man?
I didn’t know what to expect when I set out to find this playground, but suffice to say, we all had a surprisingly fun time and ended up staying longer than I had originally intended. My only complaint was perhaps that this seemed a popular spot for folks taking a smoke break, but when I politely asked them if they would mind moving some distance away, they willingly obliged. I’m pretty sure we would be back.
Clock Playground
Blk 514D, Bishan Street 13
Singapore 574514
(next to Bishan Bus Interchange)
To find out more about other heritage playgrounds that are still standing around the island, do hop over to check out the following blogs:
- A Juggling Mom — Dove Playground at Dakota Cresent
- Life’s Tiny Miracles — Dragon Playground at Toa Payoh
- In the Wee Hours — Dragon Playground at Ang Mo Kio
- Sakura Haruka — Mangosteen Playground at Tampines
- Mum in the Making — Sampan Playground at Elias Road
GIVEAWAY!
Tied in with this post, and thanks to Claudia (The Loving Mum) we have 3 SETS OF PAPER TOYS to giveaway! These cute paper toys would make really cute displays, and would, I think be great teaching tools for talking to kids about our heritage. You can check out the pictures of these sets here: Unseen/Unsaid Paper Toys.
To join this giveaway, just leave a comment here or on this Facebook post:
(1) stating “I Want The Paper Toys!” and;
(2) telling me a childhood playground memory.
Winners will be picked at random after this giveaway closes on 8 Apr 2015, 11.59pm.
Oh it’s still around! For some strange reason, I thought it’s already gone together with the McDonalds that used to be behind it. And to think I used to come to this playground as a secondary school student. What memories!
Haha, err, yes it is! You should go visit it to re-live the past 🙂 If there was a McDonalds there still I think my kids would ask me to visit everyday!
hello hello beautiful parents, i’m trying to find on which year this playground was built.