When I was a child, I fell into the pond at Toa Payoh Garden.
I think it's called the Toa Payoh Town Park now. It should be the garden at the junction of Toa Payoh Lor 2 and Toa Payoh Lor 6. I've always called it as "Toa Payoh Garden".
My parents brought the whole family to the Garden. I was maybe 7 or 8 years old. I remember playing by the pond, under the willow tree next to the pond.
I was brushing the surface of the pond with a fallen willow branch. Then I remember thinking, "How come the water seem to come closer and closer".
Next thing I knew, the world became dark. The ground was lost beneath me. I was weightless. In my mind, I realised I had lost my balance and fell into the water.
If I didn't know what panic was, I learned it then. I did not know how to swim then. I remember struggling, choking, slimy things brushing against me. There was no sound, or at least not the usual sounds I was used to a few minutes ago.
Then there was light and the world, for a brief moment, was normal. But I plunged right back in the watery dark. I remember some hands trying to grab me but they never got a good grip.
Suddenly I was out of the water.
My father jumped into the pond, and saved me (much later, I learned my father lost his wallet when he jumped into the pond).
The next few minutes I remember as a mix of crying, of shame and embarrassment. How would I get home in my wet clothes. Strangely it did not occur to me that worse could have happen. Like, I could have died.
I remember a lady passerby offering a packet of tissue to dry me. I also remember thinking, a packet of tissue would not be enough.
I was thoroughly soaked. After I stopped crying, and the clothes relatively less wet, my parents brought us to the nearby shopping centre. Must have been a place called OG or Emporium. I can't remember that part.
My mother manage to buy a set of dry clothes for me. I changed into them at the store. Went home.
I expected my parents to scold me. Or my siblings to make utter fun of me. But surprising to me, and gratefully, I was not scolded nor made fun of. I think my little sister even asked if I was OK.
About two weeks later, my father decided we needed to learn how to swim. He took us to the AMK public swimming complex. Within 2 visits, I learned how to float, thread water, and swim freestyle. We made regular visits to the pool after that.
No one mentioned anything of that pond incident, until years later. When we could all laugh about it.
