water cycle

I was teaching water cycle to my children emphasing the importance of conserving water. One of my girls very smartly asked what if there was too much water.

I told her she asked the right person. I grew up in Sibu, Sarawak Borneo. We had an annual flood during the Monsoon season. When I was growing up, most of the houses were build on stilts. The children didn't understand, I drew on the white board.

"Oh! your house has legs." The children concluded.

I recall when I was fourteen, I had a pen pal in England. I sent her a photo of me in front of my house. She observed that my house was on stilts.

Later, Engineers were smart and they filled up the ground with soil, thus eliminating the need for stilts.

One may have heard of the traditional Longhouses of the Dayaks. This I will leave for another day.

**** My Dad was a senior civil servant. We lived in many houses on stilts.***