Page 145 - Stories from our Grandparents

y grandmother was born on 22 Feb 1953 and she was the
oldest among her siblings as well as her step siblings. Since
young she has faced hardship growing up without education Mdm Celine Patricia Dias
Mand seeing her mother passing on when she was young.
Her father then remarried and she was introduced to her step mother. By Maximus Lucius Tang Jia Hao Born 1940
Being the eldest among her siblings, my grandmother oversaw taking Temasek Polytechnic
care of the children in the family. This constant care and help resulted
in all siblings developing close bonds with each other until now. have known grandma Celine Tang, 78 years old, my entire life.
Once I was curious and asked about the thing she is most
My grandmother was married to my grandfather at 19 years old I
through an arranged marriage. In her adulthood, she worked at a grateful for. She turned to me, smiled and said, “l am most grateful
French hotel called “Queens Hotel” as a chef. My grandmother did to the racial harmony existing in Singapore. Back in the day
not go to school, so her command of the English language was not when I was younger, being of a different race was not easy.”
good at all at the time. She said she would simply copy Racial riots in Singapore happened when grandma Celine
everything that needed to be done in the kitchen. After was about 10 years old. Men of different racial groups gave
seven years my grandmother quit to work as a chef in chase to one another, and senseless fighting broke out over
her uncle’s restaurant named “Nordin Cafe”. She was the most trivial matters.
the main chef in the kitchen and would also ask my
father to help with the family business. My grandmother “She recalled one incident when she and her brother
is known to be among the friendliest people in in her were running for their life, a Malay neighbour hid them
community, an asset when it came to working in the
restaurant. She still remembers the regular customers who visited in an abandoned house to keep them safe. As they hide,
the eatery. However, the business eventually did not do as well and they could still hear people running and screaming in fear
my grandmother had to make the heartbreaking decision to close the and things being thrown about.”
restaurant. My grandmother does not want to tell me more of her
story as she said, “It is a sad story”. But she did tell me that the only There were many moments of terror and through a disguise
thing she loved in the past was how easy it is to talk to strangers. orchestrated by the man who saved them, my grandma and
her brother were able to exit their hiding place. What they
“My father told me that my grandmother would often invite witnessed enroute a safe location was horrifying, to say the
neighbours over “to catch up”. Nowadays house doors are always least. After walking quite a distance, they finally reached
safety and as soon as they walked through the door, arms
closed, but my grandmother insists that we leave ours open.” came flying around my grandma and grand uncle. It was my
great grandma relieved to see her children safe.
The fondest thing she does that I remember, was to invite the
construction workers to our house for them to eat and take a break The next morning, the news published that the riot involved the Malays
from their hard labour – something the workers truly appreciate. and Eurasians. The news dubbed the riot as the Maria Hertogh riot which
I wonder if we can rejuvenate this homely and friendly practice? is widely known in Singapore today. This story made me realise that the
current generation takes multi-ethnic cohesiveness and harmony for
granted. Singapore will only continue to be a safe nation when everyone
Mdm Balkis Dawood Born 1953 plays their role in maintaining racial and religious sensitivity.

86 Grandma Stories By Mohammad Hakim B Ahmad Haffiz Grandma Stories 87
Temasek Polytechnic