Page 86 - Stories from our Grandparents

Mdm renuka Devi
Mdm Tay Geok Choo Born 1932
By Deshawn Liu
Millennia Institute
y childhood days were very enjoyable and things were simple.
We did not have sophisticated technological device such as
mobile phones, laptops or tablets. Instead, all we had were
Mmarbles, strings and stones and even so, we could still make
a game out of them! I was originally from Fujian, China but since the
age of five, I had already been living in Singapore with my parents.
What I can remember from my childhood was the fun we (my friends and I)
all had in our kampong. My friends would usually come over to our house
to play all sorts of games and we would play till we became tired. Yes, I did
live through WW2. I was only 10 years old when the Japanese occupied
Singapore. Since February 1942, we began seeing many Japanese soldiers
on the streets and because of that, my parents and I were more afraid to
go out, especially at night. During that few years, life was really tough. For
example, food was rationed during the Japanese Occupation and due to the
scarcity, our parents would usually prohibit me and my four other siblings
from eating extras. In my opinion, those were the darkest days of Singapore.
Transportation and sanitary conditions were very
poor. Buses were not air-conditioned and I felt rather
uncomfortable. However, I was also grateful that I was
able to afford the bus fares, unlike some other people.
“Additionally, we had to share common
toilets with our neighbours. They would be
cleared by the ‘night soil’ collectors who drove
what is known as the ‘thirty-two container’.”
Singapore is very advanced now and is completely different from
what it used to be almost fifty years ago. Work hard for your future
and I believe you will be successful!
28 Grandma Stories
By Nur Inshirah bte Mohd Raffee Born 1943
Millennia Institute
uring her childhood days, she used to play five stones with her
mother. One of her most memorable experiences was going out
with her father to the movies. She does not recall any experience
Din WWII since she was only 2-3 years old at the time. During
the post-war period, she stayed with her extended family in Siglap. They
were well-off, so she didn’t face any hardships back then. She wasn’t
affected as much by Singapore’s pre-independence days. During the
early days of independent Singapore, she travelled by car and bought
her food from push cart vendors as they came to the house every day.
She recalled “In the old days there were bus conductors who
gave tickets. Usually you would board the bus until the bus
was full, then they would start going around collecting your
bus fare and giving a ticket in return. The best thing about
it was that even though the bus was fully packed, they were
able to squeeze their way through the bus and remember
who had given the bus fare and who had not.”
She added that people today are very fortunate
to have luxuries such as air-conditioned buses
since the old buses had open windows only. She
had a love for baking and she would bake bread
for the family as well as for her neighbours who all
loved her delicacies.
During her late thirties, she opened a family bakery
(along with my grandfather) and still remembers the day when she would
go around the neighbourhood selling bread. My grandmother would not
like for her identity to be known, but her words to the next generation of
Singaporeans are “you should all be happy with what you have since you all
did not live in the days where food on the table was hard to come by.” She
hopes that we will create a better future for those around us and for those
yet to come.
Grandma Stories 29