Page 79 - Stories from our Grandparents
P. 79

WIP



 y Grandmother is 79 Years old and she was
 born in 1939. She was only 3 years old when
 the Second World War started and when   Mdm Lee Hock Kee
 Mthe Japanese invaded Singapore in 1941.
                                       By Chua Kim Teck
 “When she was born, my great grandfather was a   ITE College West    Born 1939
 “towkay” of a fishery port who owned several fishing
 boats. During the Japanese occupation, my great
 grandfather was worried that his family would be harmed
 and he decided to use his fishing boat to ferry his family   My grandmother shared that after Singapore’s independence in 1965,
        the public transport was only by bus and a few private cars for hire,
 and some of the other villagers to Malaysia’s Kukup to   which were usually very costly. To save money, my grandmother and her
 seek safety.”   friends will usually take the bus from “Chap Buey Gor” (Tuas) to “Dua-
        Bor”, which is Chinatown now for the weekend to watch movies. My
 After the war, they returned to Singapore in 1946. When they returned,   grandmother got her jobs through newspaper advertisements, which is
 the war refugees went their separate ways with some deciding to stay   unlike now where we could easily find job information online. She was a
 as neighbours where they settled down in Jurong “Chap-Buey Gor”   machine operator in a production company and retired at the age of 67
 (Eighteen District), which is Tuas now. They stayed in a kampong where   in 2006 after working for 26 years.
 they reared livestock such as pigs, chickens and ducks for food.
             My grandmother shared that we should be thankful that Singapore is a
 Life was good until the housing flats slowly replaced the   good place to live with a nice living environment unlike the home she
 kampong from the 1960s. The livestock was sold to the   stayed in 70-80 years ago where the roof actually leaked when it rains
 government to be slaughtered as they cannot be brought   heavily. I learnt from grandmother that I should be appreciative of
 along to the housing flats provided by the government   what I have now and to know that it is through the pioneers’ struggles
 then. My grandmother’s best memory was when she met   that we are enjoying what we have today.
 my grandfather in 1961. They dated for a year before they
 married and that was the happiest day for my grandmother.
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