Thursday, May 13, 2010

TEKONG Days...the 80's camping scene


Photo:
The jetty and beach area at Tg Ladang. This was around early 80's. Those red canoes were of the
old kind we normally refer to as sea Tourers. They have flat bottoms and can weigh between 30 to 40 kgs for a double canoe. Singles were about 18 - 20 kg each. It was high tide when this picture was captured. When the tide ebbed the area was a flatland of sea mud.


Photo: That's Unk Dicko with his two ever loyal, guardian mermaids...Poh Kheng and Lee Foon.

Our camp instructors were generally quite versatile in both land and sea activities.
Where did the canoes come from?
It will be the job of IE or NIE PE Faculty to "borrow" them from the JCs and from
the MOE's Junior Sailing Club (JSC) at Changi.

Photo:
During the camp period, there was usually a "visitors day". The visitors were the Academic staff members of IE or NIE and their family members. They would be brought around the Campsite and encouraged to try out some of the challenges we have set up.
In this memorable snapshot, guess who was this person on the "Rope Transfer"?
It was the late Ms Ong Siong Ngo who became Head of the PE Faculty IE.
I ( in red striped shirt ) was then just walking over to the group at the "High Rope".

Photo:
In my previous post, I mentioned that as a Chief of Orienteering or Chief Instructor etc,..I would lead a small party of new or junior instructors who will be serving with me in that camp to do some weekend precamp work at Tekong.
This was one of many such precamp trips to the island. We would set off early from Changi Point and would be there the entire day, sometimes overnight too.




2 comments:

Lam Chun See said...

Those canoes remind me of my time there in 1969 for our (NJC) Outdoor Activities Club adventure camp. Our canoes were made of wood! Like those you rented at Changi Beach.

Unk Dicko said...

Yes, those canoes were really heavy and extra heavy when you carried them over the soft, sticky, muddy shoreline.