Mr Han is a 79-year-old Singaporean who now lives in a 7th floor apartment in a public housing estate. But his childhood was very different from city life. He grew up in a fishing village (kampong) in Pasir Panjang, Singapore. Although today that area is in busy central Singapore, in those days it was a simple village by the water, where he lived with his extended family in tin-roofed homes. The village had chickens running around, vegetable patches, banana trees, and a small graveyard which they visited on special days every year.
Most adult men in the family were fishermen. Every day, long before dawn, his father and uncles would head out to sea to catch fish.
Mr Han often missed having his father around when he woke up as a child. He would beg his father or uncles to take him fishing because he wanted to spend time with them. However, they always refused, as fishing at sea was extremely dangerous for a young child. He could fall into the water, and swimming back to the boat in the middle of the sea would be difficult because of the unpredictable currents and waves. Besides, his family expected him to focus on his education rather than go fishing with them.
However, one day, early in the rainy season, when his father was away, his uncles took him fishing. But they had picked the wrong day for an outing with him. When they were out at sea, a heavy rainstorm struck, and the boat began taking on water. It felt like they were level with sea and sinking! Mr Han and his uncles started using buckets to bail the water out of the boat. It was scary for a while, but their hard work paid off. By the time the rain stopped, they had managed to remove the water and return safely to their village.
After that experience, Mr Han promised himself that he would never go fishing in the deep sea again. Instead, he became an engineer. He realised that he would rather build and work on boat engines than be out at sea in a boat.