Kurt Ganapathy returns to Chinatown and finds himself in the thick of the action as Singapore welcomes the Year of the Pig.
In many ways, 2019 feels like a year of transition. If you’re a twenty or thirtysomething, there’s a good chance that you (and/or a few of your friends) have recently gotten married, received the keys to your new home or welcomed a child.
In commemorating the Singapore Bicentennial – the 200th anniversary of the arrival Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles on our shores – we’ve begun taking a closer look at our history; revisiting the narratives we’d previously accepted without question all our lives.
And 2019 also marks the conclusion of the Chinese zodiac cycle – the pig being the last of the twelve animals in the Great Race. And that end inevitably heralds new beginnings.
In Chinatown, however, things aren’t all that different.
The smell of bak kwa is never too far away; people young and old throng its alleys, many carrying flowers and pussy willow cuttings; and tourists and locals alike marvel at the galaxy of festive lights around them. And that’s where we headed to get a taste of the season.
Gong Xi Fa Cai to all our readers!
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![[Content warning – this profile piece discusses the subject of suicide that may be sensitive and potentially triggering. Reader discretion is advised. Information about seeking help is available at the end of the carousel post. Stay safe]
“My brother died 8 years ago. I was at home when I found out. It was a Friday night, and I was on a long-distance call with my partner who was in Europe at the time. At 1am, I got up from bed to go to the toilet. That’s when I saw my mum crying alone in the living room.
My mum isn’t a particularly emotional person. I’ve probably seen her cry three times my whole life. I was worried and concerned, of course, and asked what’s going on. She turned to me and said, ‘I have bad news. Joel died.’
When a sibling dies unexpectedly, it takes time for you to process the news. And then you realise that your family will never be the same again. You will never be full or complete anymore. There is only brokenness. And that was the first emotion that hit me really hard.
The next morning, we got more details, and I learnt that he killed himself. When someone commits suicide, family is required to identify the body at the mortuary. My mum said, ‘Look, you don’t have to go if you don’t want to.’ And I’m thinking, how can I let you do this alone?!
Even though I could sense a heaviness in the air around her, my mother looked relatively composed. But when they wheeled in the body, she simply broke. She kept saying that it’s not him. It’s not him. It doesn’t look like him. I had never seen that side of her before.
My mother was always put together, but at that moment, she sounded like a young mother who had just lost her newborn baby. It was less heartbreaking that I lost my brother, and more painful that I had to see her that way.
When my brother was 12, he moved out of the house and lived with my grandmother. I never knew why. Maybe it’s because we weren’t well-to-do. Maybe it’s because our parents didn’t have the best of relationships. I was his younger sister, but I didn’t know much about him.
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