COLONIAL LIFE

If you lived in Singapore in the Sixties, it was quite the thing to buy a camphor wood chest from C.K. Tang in Orchard Road. My parents did, along with other matching furniture which is still in their house. B's parents bought one as well, which he has inherited and which is squeezed into our dining room. As I remember, the exchange rate then was about nine dollars to the pound, so the cost was just over 30 quid, but that was when you could get.... fish & chips..... pint of beer..... change from sixpence etc. etc. I don't like to think what has happened to the forests this timber came from - I expect they no longer exist. The smell of camphor inside the chest is still very strong and it remains unsurprisingly free from moths. Having looked at it more closely for this blip, I think there's another chore to add to my list!