Catching Worms at Tanjong Katong Beach

Jerry:

Many will not realise that Parkway Parade is on reclaimed land and the entire Marine Parade Housing Estate is also reclaimed land. So where is the old shoreline? The former Tanjong Katong beach was opposite Parkway Parade. The row of bungalows and villas were all fronting the sea.

The current East Coast beach is not nice for swimming because the was are strong. The beach is not undulating but fall off sharply.I fondly remember Tanjong Katong Beach. There were people catching worm along the beach using rotten fruits as baits. When the the worms poke their heads out of the sand after the waves had receded, the worm catchers will catch them by pinching their heads and pulling them out of the sand. These were long juicy red worms to be used as fishing baits.

Before my parents were married to each other, they were both living in Kampong Amber. There is an Amber Road. This was close to Tanjong Katong Beach.

Moh Teck:

My grandfather used to bring my younger brother and I to Tanjong Katong Beach. There were small wooden fishing boats (sampans) lined up along the beach. There were fishing nets put up to dry on wooden frames.

We would try to build sand castles and used stick to poke into crab holes. I remembered the chicken-wire bicycle barriers along the paved footpath; the machine gun pill boxes and the magnificent villas.

Above Photo: Moh Teck (4 years old), his grandfather and brother (3 years old) at Tanjong Katong Beach

Later, after the death of the landlord, his family decided to take back the land where my grandparents’ zinc-roof wooden house was built on (at Teng Tong Road), my grand-parents would apply and got a flat on the sixteenth floor of block 78 Marine Drive. This was one of the HDB flats built on the reclaimed land at Tanjong Katong beach.