A Christmas Memory

Another klog from 8:04 PM 12/23/2008:
I've always loved Christmas. That tiny little thrill that made your little toes shiver in excited anticipation as you counted the days left.

My earliest memory of Christmas was probably when I was about five years old. I was in my parents' bedroom, and it was a drizzly December evening. I think it was about half-past six, when I woke up the next morning, and looked excitedly outside my window. 'Cos that year was the first year I had heard about a rotund elderly man who went around dispensing gifts to little children all over the world.

And of course, I embraced the whole idea wholeheartedly. Who wouldn't? Free gifts from a jolly grandfatherly figure who loved little children... and in a way, it was a comforting feeling to know that he wasn't someone to mess around with, even though he was jolly and generous, for he had this "Naughty/Nice" list. A grandfatherly figure you could snuggle up to, safe and secure in the knowledge that he was good. Not a pushover, nor a disciplinarian, but Someone Good.

So that morning, I wondered if Santa had come to my place to give gifts, for the newspapers and TV shows had prophesised so. Although I did reason that if he didn't leave gifts for me... well, it was probably because he only did it in places that had chimneys for him to enter. And perhaps he went only to places that had snow. For prithee, don't you see, wherever snow blows, oh there Santa shall be.

But! That would mean Singapore wasn't a ratified signatory to the Worldwide Santa Claus Clause that obliged all signatory members to (i) provide chimneys for every house to faciliate gift drop-offs (it was either that, or the rubbish chute...) (ii) provide snow for Santa's sleigh to land safely - I mean, you don't want to catch a nasty cold in the December rains, right? And, lastly (iii) ensure that everyone in Singapore - regardless of age or working class - went to bed before midnight in order to prevent Santa taking any evasive manoeuvres to avoid visual detection.

So, with that wise and mature voice of reason, soundly laid out in my five-year old mind, I hopped out in eager faith, and ran down the stairs to our glittering Christmas tree in the living room. And I called out to my maid, "Auntie Julietta! Did Santa Claus come down today?"

She chuckled, "No, Yeu Ann, he didn't."

I was perplexed, but decided that my prepared apologetic for Why Santa Doesn't Come To Singapore was sufficient justification for the continued existence of an invisible jolly old man who gave good gifts to little children simultaneously the world over - laws of space, time and weather be damned!

And a hearty Christmas breakfast quickly suppressed any remaining dissenting thoughts gurgling in my little tummy.