The old Singapore of the 1960's was a whole different world from what it is today. If I was to go back there now, I know I would not recognise it at all.
My Dad was in the RAF and we were based at Changi. Changi village at the time was no more than a collection of Atap huts and Changi Creek was a sewer. We loved it all the same and it had character. It was one of the best times of my life as a child and I have fond memories of the place.
The Angling Club in Changi was where we would fish and my Dad also kept a small boat. Adjacent to the Angling Club was a beach which we would often venture on to. In the sixties, the wild-life in Singapore was certainly still very abundant and this included snakes.
As I made my way down the beach with the back drop of Jungle which still existed to an extent even then, something caught my eye. It was just a movement which on closer examination turned out to be a very large snake. I had seen snakes before including the venomous Cobra, but this thing was immense. I could not believe my eyes. Though I did not know what type of snake it was at the time, I can only conclude that it was a Boa Constrictor or similar.
Running back to the Angling Club I ran in shouting "snake, snake!" I wanted everyone to see this monster but it was to be fatal to the snake. What I did not realise at the time, is that the local people would kill it on the spot. Several Chinese seemed to appear from nowhere and expertly climbed the tree and got the thing down. I found this mesmerising but when I realised what they were doing, I could no longer watch. Greatly saddened for opening my big mouth, I turned away feeling all the fool for opening my big mouth.
