| Priscilla - in Mr. Yeo's heart |
| If
gentleness is the hallmark of Priscilla, then she must have inherited
that virtue from the hands that fostered her with loving care. Apparently, she had been separated and abandoned by her own kind somehow six years ago, and wandered about Chek Jawa as a lost and hungry little piglet. As luck would have it, she wandered right into the congenial world of Mr. Yeo (left of the photo). |
 |
| He and his
family had lived in a littoral kampong house a stone throw from House
no. One. For those who have taken a ride in his 'taxi' on Pulau
Ubin, you would have felt his soft mannerism right away. Mr. Yeo 'adopted'
her after noticing how she came again and again to steal the feed
from the chicken coop. For her own safety, he put up a large fenced-up
space for her till she was big enough to defend herself. So instead
of ending up on a dinner plate somewhere else, she found a home and
loving care in the Yeo's household. Characteristically bubbly when asked about Priscilla's early 'childhood', he offered his first impression of Priscilla like any proud father. 'She was only 7 kilo!' he said when I first interviewed him in 2003. 'She like to eat coconuts and, very cute and clever... she could open durians with her jaws and she could swim.' he added proudly. Her vernacular name, Wei Wei, was a corrupted version from 'Hwoin Hwoin' - the original name that he used to call out to her. It was supposed to resemble the pig's natural grunt. As far as humanly possible, that 'grunt' ended up as Wei Wei and grew into the vocabulary of the folks in Ubin. She became so familiar a sight on the island that everyone knew she was Mr. Yeo's pig. No one dared a second thought about barbecueing her! In the course of time, she was also 'christianed' Priscilla by visitors from the mainland. 'She like bread with kaya too,' Mr. Yeo smiled, 'But her natural food are Gao Hoon (grubs) that she digs up with her snout.' I left Ubin that day, swimming in the bubbly thoughts of a very kind man. Sometimes, he would offer to have me pay later for his rides. His trust is so endearingly respectful of those he served. Unfortunately, this breed of kindred spirits is fast disappearing with the kampong houses that had been impassionately demolished. Most of the disarmingly friendly kampong folks, including Mr. Yeo and his family, have since been resettled on mainland Singapore. As for Priscilla, it was in her best interest that she was left roaming free in her own natural habitat at Chek Jawa. And Mr. Yeo, as concern as ever, had been faithfully making regular rounds to check on her whenever his taxi was free from hire. For one such as him, Mr. Yeo remains forever in my heart. The lovely time I had walking on his father-in-law's bakau jetty (Mr. Chu Yok Choon) at Chek Jawa will not be forgotten too. |