It's always hot in Singapore (We’re on the equator, after all) but recently it's also been raining and rainstorming. Luckily even the showers are warm here, so it's not so bad... and Singapore umbrellas are UV as well as waterproof!
And even more luckily, it held off for the important transitions over last weekend's wedding.
Lately it feels like all the nephews and nieces have been getting married one after the other. After meeting our new in-laws, I must say the best thing I'm realising about our family is we're really good at picking life partners!
It's also really nice meeting at weddings than funerals--which, sadly, is getting to be the other main reason we all meet up these days.
The older generation—the ones just above us—are gently receding (though to the young ones, we're probably all just 'old'!). They are more vague, walking more slowly, or worst of all--no longer with us.
And my own generation--since when did my cousins and siblings (and me!) suddenly turn into white haired aunties and uncles? But that's only the first impression. Once we start talking everything snaps back to the way it's always been and it feels like we're back in our late teens/ early twenties/ ageless and unaging selves again--even more so now because the children who turned up and took over their lives have now grown up and moved out.
So it felt (almost) like old times. But I encountered something new to me--card games. Remember how we used to play Monopoly and Cluedo? Which led some of us to grow up to be property tycoons and others to solve murders? I thought card games went out with rotary dial phones, but apparently they are definitely still a thing. And the ones I was introduced to are quite beautifully crafted!
Here are: Oh My Orchids! (created by Daryl Chow), Singapore 1889 (designed by Steve Ng, art and graphics by Regina AE (Ance Art) and my sesame-peanut dessert (totally delicious!) Our playing games didn't really take off because we were eating and talking too much, but I pinched these two packs and brought them home because I'm always interested in new ways to learn about Singapore history and I love flowers, especially orchids!
This is the 'River Mat' from the Singapore 1889 game. You shuffle and stack the cards (instructions included) along the river then 'fish' them out. What you 'catch' and what you do with it decides how well you do in the end, which is kind of matches how things worked in Singapore's early days.
Like this Salted Fish card--
If you fish out the Salted Fish card, you get to sneak a peek at the top card about to enter the river and decide whether to grab it for yourself or return it to the bottom of the stack.
And these other samples of Singapore's past--Opium, Spices and Joss Paper--are marked as managed by the British East India Company, Secret Society or a Chinese kongsi
btw, in this game, Joss Paper isn't just Underworld currency--it also allows you to draw two cards from the River and put one above the Secret Society card and return the other to the bottom of the deck.
And then there’s Oh My Orchids:
We didn't get to play this one at all--we were too busy catching up and maybe there was a little too much liquid conviviality. But I really liked the care with which these cards were drawn... and if only I'd found these cards earlier I could have given out that angsana seed card when The Angsana Tree Mystery launched!
But in between all the laughter and shared memories, there's also an awareness of time passing. The dancing, jogging, cycling, singing, super mahjong playing aunts who now sit quietly and the uncles who think you are your late mother (luckily we have the same name so it kind of works).
And you remember these people lived through history: British Colonialism, the Japanese Occupation, Secret Societies, the fight for Independance, oil lamps, rotary dial phones and cassette tapes, compulsory vaccinations, the cleaning up of the Singapore River and Covid. They saw the world's power centre move from Britain (in the 19th century) to North America (in the 20th) and are watching the craziness coming out of the United States right now.
And they survived all that--so hopefully we'll survive this too.
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The game looks like fun, especially to play with kids. As to growing older, everyone looks young to me these days!
ReplyDeleteEveryone's looking younger--including you!
ReplyDeleteI love these card games, Ovidia. The cards themselves are gorgeous. Thanks for this.
ReplyDeleteFrom AA: the card games are gorgeous, and I want to play them! Regarding growing old, please do not look upon the passage of time as a path to problems. Every age group has its problems. You’ve read it here in my blogs before, but I know I’m really right about this. Growing old is the gift of Time. So precious. When people talk with me about growing old, I always say the definition of growing old is being NOT DEAD! A wonderful turn of events. Thank you for this beautiful post, Ovidia. My business trips to Singapore stopped in the early 90s. It’s such a treat to be in touch with it these days.
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