It was the “winter” of 2018. On that fateful day in December, the forest chose to exemplify the legendary teachings of the Kampung’s (village) uncles and aunties who proclaim that “Durians have eyes”.
In our journey of Forest Schooling in the Singapore forest, we have met with many elderly folks scouring the forest space for Durians during the fruiting seasons. They would often share their knowledge and wisdom of the forest and durians through their experiences and stories. They would share that if we stepped on the durian tree’s root, the taste of the durian would change. They would also share that the durian furthest from the trunk will be bitter while the one nearest will taste sweeter (due to the nutrients’ transfer). Such knowledge is so precious to us, as it comes from a space of lived experiences. But the most mind-boggling one is that we do not need to worry about the durians dropping on us as the “Durians have Eyes”. They said that as long as you are respectful and are not a bad person, the Durian trees would protect you.
During one of our year-end holiday camps, we had the blessing of witnessing the magic of that wisdom.
Our children were absorbed with their play and exploration around the Magic River of the Rifle Range forest. They were well surrounded by many durian trees that peppered around the river.
Amidst their play, one of our young kiddos was fidgeting with a leaf on the bridge over the river. Myself and Coach Shimin were standing on both ends of the bridge overseeing the whole group across the space. Suddenly, a snap was heard, and a branch the size of a normal human thigh and four durians dropped to where the boy stood……
But not a single branch or durian touched the boy…
He went about his play with his friend at the river after that, not even flinching at what had happened.
An invisible “shield” was around the child, made by the forest herself at the moment. She protects.
Coach Shimin and myself looked at each other simultaneously with a gentle smile. We looked up at the durian trees and said our thanks and love.
Nearing the end of the play and exploration at the river, the girls wanted to change out of their wet clothes, so they went up a little hill behind some trees to change. Some of the younger boys went up to disturb their sister. In practice with personal preferences and boundaries, the girls had no issue with the little ones being curious and cheeky. The boys ran down after a short while, and went about preparing to head home. However, an older boy (9+ years old), named P, stood at the hilltop side watching the girls change. The girls were uncomfortable, and told him to go away. He stayed on despite infringing personal boundaries.
At this moment, it would be the adult’s (coach) time to intervene, and I called him to come down from the hill, but he stood where he was. I had to raise my voice and sternly instructed him to come down. He complied. I brought him to my side, and had a talk with him about his sexual curiosity and behaviour. He quietly nodded his head about not crossing others’ personal boundaries in future. I even had a convo with his parents about it during pick up, and they shared with me that he is undergoing a puberty change, and they are also working on it. He exhibits similar behaviour of watching at home with his younger sister. (Disclaimer: After checking with my child psychologist friends, apparently many of these behaviours are common when our young ones are exploring their sexual curiosity, so do not be alarmed. As long as we are aware of it and address it respectfully and consciously with our children, it is part and parcel of growing up.)
However, the forest once more exhibited her magic. As the children gathered by the bridge, readying themselves to head back home, a durian fell beside a boy named P. It bounced off the ground and slightly scratched his calf.
At first, myself and Coach Shimin were surprised, but when we reflected deeply, we realised that this was exactly the exemplification of the wisdom by the elderly folks…
“The Durians have Eyes”.
I will leave you to ponder upon the moral of this magical story =)
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Note from Shimin: “I also brought my yoga kid and his mum to the forest during that period. He has developmental delay and is slower, so quite child-like. He loves durian. We couldn’t get any as there were lots of people rushing to get it when it dropped. But towards the end at the river, a small durian dropped just beside him. So no one could rush to claim it :)”
Written by: Darren Quek
Editted by: Wei Shimin
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