Kedai Runcit

When was the last time you went to one of these? The Kedai Runcit, the neighbourhood tiam ma, teem chye or chap for poh. Almost wiped out to the brink of extinction by the 7-elevens, the mini markets, the supermarkets and then the hypermarkets and all the new markets coming into the picture.

I am doing some work with some really cool people i just got to know and they are involved somewhat with Kedai Runcits which got me to write about this. Remember the good old days of running into them and get just about anything you wanted? Sweets, chocolates, biscuits, flour, sugar, tekam tekam, cards and even sanitary pads. I remember the pads. I had to go get them for my mum once...when i was abt 9 or 10. Those days them pads came in huge boxes. Sanita it was...the guy behind the counter would get it and quickly wrap it in a well read sheet of the Straits Times and hand it over the counter. Then i would run like hell back home. I didn't know what it was then, i guessed it must be something embarrasing since the guy wrapped it so super fast and handed it over rather discreetly. I later found out what it was a couple of years later. It was good for wiping tables after the rain. Sure absorbed the water real quick. Quick pick up for a bad spill.

I miss those tiam ma days.