kampong tengah 29

In the old days
When the weather was cool
The young teenagers roamed
In the neighbourhood

Gangsters in group
Clashes to protect the turfs
Yet they had the rules
Only the police Black Maria

The police came
In odd hours of the day
Rounding them up
Some gangsters so defiant

Challenging the police
Running away to hide
The macho guys standing up
The authority gave way a while

In peaceful surrounding
The religious celebrations
Time of peace and food
The sound of praying could be heard

About lovers hardly came
Playing marbles the game
The young adults never had to worry
Life in the village

At that time nestled near to town
Life was easy; friends around
Of those years ago...........
I wonder where those people gone

Once there was a girl
She was always doing her homework
On the lanai studying hard
The young teenagers trying

She didn't respond
She didn't want to
Of those teenagers
She thought they were nuisance

In the neighbourhood
We didn't know her name
We saw her every day
She didn't say a word


We tried hard
One day we wrote
A short letter saying hello
She came back with her greeting

In time the changes came
Her family moved the village pulled down
New buildings came; new roads to development
The footprints all were gone........

Big drains were dug
The roads were built
On heavy rain the drains flooded
We were swimming standing on edge

We didn't know about luxuries
Life was simple easy way to live
Passing time with marbles
Catching lizards, fighting fishes and spiders

Flying kites at the round about
In the evening when the wind was strong
Kites fighting in the sky
The chasing the fun and adrenalin pumping

Where were the people gone?
The childhood memories all disappeared
Of the wind and its caressing sound
The events of happy moments gone

The village called Kampong Tengah
In the Royal Town of Selangor
Developments came concrete office blocks
In years the road become congested

I did pass through years ago
Only the Chinese temple still stands
The surrounding areas are building blocks
The footprints all gone to the wind

The Malay guy who cut my hair for free
Bata went to jail for his gangsterism
He told me don't be like him
Life could be no double lane

The childhood friends
There are just memories
Even the girl on the lanai
It's the whirring voice