The sun had not yet risen in the sleepy slums of Coney Island, and yet half the village was already awake and strolling towards the beach with nets in tow. Fathers, along with their many sons pushed their old rickety wooden boats into the cold sea and began to row. One girl, however, stepped out of her hut and went the other way, through the soggy rotting boardwalks of the mangroves and into the lone pier meant for larger ships—not that any large ships would ever dare visit this part of Old Singapore, to begin with.
They had not done so ever since the completion of the Krah Canal.
She stepped out of her slippers and shed her rags, revealing her tanned complexion, in both colour and build, and slipped into the dive suit her mother bought for her for the cost of but one pearl. Expensive, but not an uncommon find for people in her line of work; dangerous work. Many greedy men had tried switching to her career track for fast cash, only to find a fast riptide, leaving behind orphans and widows to a slow demise.
Only some lived on to pass on the gift of pearl diving to the next generation, to which Jade and her mother held an absolute monopoly. Her father too would have shared in this monopoly—he had not spoken out again the government and partook in the first rebellion and perished. And so now, she and her mother were two of this monarchy.
Jade sat down on the pier and checked her nets for holes while waiting for the sun to rise. At the correct time, the sun’s rays would pierce the water at just the perfect angle to contrast the shellfish against the white sand at the deep blue bottom. There she had precious minutes to scoop up as many as she could find before the rays would dissipate and simply spread out evenly in all directions.
“I don’t have much time today either…” Jade mumbled to herself.
Today was the last Monday of the year—the day of the X-Levels. The first and only national exam any Southeast Asian was required to partake in to decide their life’s career; a job in an industry they would be with forever. “—then again, nothing much lies in store for a little villager from lil’Old Singapore… all we do is fish and farm, and farm and fish, all day long, from dawn till dusk, on and on…” She hummed the folk song as she observed the sun.
If only she had a watch, but thanks to the local insurrection, who were branded as terrorists, electronics were banned. Casio and a Nokia were infamous in a place that is now part of a burning desert. Even then, the richest of the rich in Old Singapore would only go so far as to work in sewage treatment and water recycling, which they were very proud of once at the turn of the twenty-first century. She sensed the sun’s perfect angle burn upon her skin. Her precious minutes were now. She zipped her suit up, and dove into the fray of dusty cyan and yellow…
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
#
The catch was plentiful. Her mother would have no problem bartering tonight. Half a net full of clams and oysters, and the other net with seven red snappers, caught in the traps set the previous night. Which much fish caught; post-examination celebrations would be lively. The whole village would be warm and vibrant from a barbecue, organised by the village captain himself. There were many boys and girls her age. Weavers, carpenters, fishermen, farmers and butchers. All of them too were probably awake and nervous. But unlike Jade, all of them were allowed to skip a morning’s work, just this once. But her mother was not that generous.
“Mom, we have been blessed by God today. The nets are full—a perfect coincidence for a celebration tonight!” She said happily… only to be met with a slap across her face.
Her mother stood over her with her hand raised in the air. “There is no God, Jade! God left Old Singapore in the dirt when Neo Singapore was built in the middle of the Krah Canal! If God did exist, he would’ve never let the god-damned channel be built in the first place!”
“Mom! They might hear you! They’ll take you away like they did with dad!” Jade said, starting to tear up. Her mother’s hysteria had worsened ever since her father’s hysteria worsened.
“No, they won’t Jade! The Krah government doesn’t give two shits about Coney, let alone stinky, sinkie, poor-ians! They’re too busy subjugating the Pinoys to bother! Lucky for them that America still cares for them! We used to be a refuelling point for their nuclear subs and carriers, and they left us out to dry like the British did! But I guess Subic Bay was more valuable!”
“Mom, stop! The village chief already warned you about criticising the Royal Krah Family! One day they’ll hear us and then they’ll line not just us, but everyone, the whole village, up on the beach and gun us down! All of us!”
“That’s what that sell out, Krah pussy-licking, cock-sucker wants you to think, Jade! I already told you! They’re not going to waste bullets on us! Even then, they’ve been lazy to send foot patrols here ever since the Tunnel Rats bombed the bullet train link to Malaysia!”
“Yeah, and rice as well. Fuck the rebellion. I hate eating tapiocas with fish. I want rice.”
“Then pray, foolish child, to the God I do not believe in, that you’ll do well for your X-Level and leave this godforsaken place, for somewhere better.”
“To where? The shoe factories of Hougang? The prawn farms of Yishun? Or as a maid to the rich perverts in Sentosa?”
“Anywhere but here. Now go and shower. You smell like shit. The tonner will come soon. If you miss the exam, you get put to death and the other mothers will laugh at me.”
“Yes, mom.”