My Grandfather's Red Crotons

Before 1963, the year my grandfather passed away, my parents would take us to visit Grandfather without fail every Sunday if my father was not travelling (which was really rare).

There was no meal expected, just a cup of what we called, Ah Gung Da (Grandfather's jasmine tea). We used to say that we should drink lots of that tea so that we would live a long life like Grandfather, who was then over 70 and really looked like an old sage. If he had a long beard he would have looked like one of the ancients.

We enjoyed running around in his garden, which was on top of a well drained hill. If it was the right season, we were given some rambutans, longans, bananas and Wong Dang, all picked by grandfather himself with the help of aunt Hiong. Grandfather never wanted to waste anything in his life. So if the harvest was good, he would personally tie the rambutans in their stalks for sale in Sg. Merah.

He had designed a fruit harvesting knife to harvest his fruits with a reasonable length of stalk attached. Hitting the rambutan tree with a pole was taboo in his garden. Anyone doing that would be crimialized. He had also designed a good wooden ladder (in those days no aluminium ladder) which could be used for fruit picking. The ladder was properly stored in his workshop.

He loved flowering trees and plants with great colours. His favourite flowers were the purple bouganvillea and he lined the road from the bottom of the hill to the house on both sides with red crotons. Many people would come and ask him for cuttings. Thus the red croton spread in Sg. Merah and many churches had red crotons growing in their front yard in those days. Grandfather said that red was a good colour which attracted visitors. He was very right!

We often wondered if he was competing with his sister in law (Mrs. JB Chong) in maintainig a great looking garden. Both of them planted bouganvilleas and red crotons. She was however, a great grower of canna lilies. My grandfather loved the yellow alamanda and the Fujian jasmine. Grandfather had a great purple bouganvillea supported by a belian stump. That was a majestic and iconic sight in the garden. The plant never seemed to stop flowering.

Thus whenever I see red crotons, I would think of him and his meticulous trimming of garden plants and harvesting of fruits.