Of Weddings and War (2E5 Celine Soh's grandmother)

I interviewed my grandmother on July 15, 2006. My grandmother named Tan Chin Tee, was so glad to take up this offer of an interview. She was born in Singapore in April 1934. She used to live at Bukit Ho Swee. Not being born with a silver spoon, she lived in a squatter settlement. But all that did not stop her from enjoying her childhood. My grandmother loved to play games such as hide-and-seek. She also enjoyed skipping and riding the bicycle. She was given the chance to receive an education. However, she was not willing to study because of certain reasons. So instead of going to school like everyone else her age, my grandmother stayed at home and helped out with the housework such as fetching water from the well to and from home which was quite a distance away.  She would also pass her time sewing.

My grandfather and grandmother married each other with their parents’ agreement at the age of 23 years old and 22 years old respectively. There was a short courtship before the decision of their marriage. They hardly knew each other but they did not have a choice when the bridegroom’s family sent a matchmaker to the bride’s house to ask for the hand in marriage of the bride. Then the bride’s side had to ask the groom’s family for the dowry. The dowry included four types of jewelry, wedding biscuits and four hundred and twenty dollars. The groom’s family had to provide for the wedding dinner which had to have at least four tables for relatives and friends. The dinner was held at the groom’s house where the food was catered.

My grandmother was only eight when World War II started. She said that her family went to hide in an underground tunnel that they built to shelter themselves from the bombs which the invaders had dropped on Singapore. Her parents who are my great-grandparents took the risk of staying near the exit of the tunnel to look out for any Japanese soldiers. They had to grow their own food such as sweet potatoes when the British were fighting against the Japanese to protect Singapore. When bombs were being dropped, everyone started to run for their lives. Many people quickly grabbed their belongings and children to find a safer place to hide. My grandmother witnessed many dead bodies lying on the ground all around the place. She exclaimed that the sight of them was so horrible that she felt so disgusted and so sorry for those who had lost their lives. She also heard some people who told others that the child that the person was carrying did not have a head. It was said that the head of child might have been hit by the pieces of bombs (shrapnel) while the person was running frantically. Many people lost their arms or legs to the bombing. The invaders also used toxic gas. My grandmother said that she had to put a wet towel to cover the lower half of her face to prevent herself from breathing in the gas. 

After the surrender of the British on the 15 of February 1942, the Singaporeans received limited food supplies from the Japanese. Her parents had to go and queue up for the rations at a temple near the Singapore River.  They had to eat what they were given as they did not have anything else to eat. My great-grandmother went to sell coconuts to soldiers to get some money but according to my grandmother, she did not get capture by the Japanese. She told me that her sister and her had to disguise themselves like boys by cutting their hair short and putting some dirt on their face so that they would not get captured by the soldiers.

Many people were being asked to work at a biscuit factory for the Japanese where they would receive food rations depending on how well they worked instead of getting a salary like the employees in other companies.

They were also ordered to sing the Japanese anthem everyday like students in school do by singing our national anthem. At that time, the streets had no lights everyone had to have their own kerosene lamps.  

My grandmother also witnessed the fire which happened at Bukit Ho Swee in 1961. That was the year when my father was born. At that time, my father was only two months old. When the fire broke out, he was running a high fever. My grandmother had brought my father and two of his elder brothers to buy some medicine and to visit her mother. Upon reaching my great-grandmother’s house, she told them that a fire had broken out at their house and asked my grandmother to return home immediately as the fire was spreading very quickly. When my grandmother got home, she felt relieved that my grandfather had already moved all their belongings and furniture out of the house and onto a lorry.

My grandparents decided to go and stay with my grandaunt for the time being. My grandmother said that there were an estimated number of hundred thousand houses being burnt down because of the fire. Later, after the fire had been put out, my grandparents were told that their house had not been affected and they were able to move back and continue to stay there.

There was a person whom my grandmother mentioned whose name was Lim Yew Hock. She told me that he was a kind soul who started to build HDB flats for those people who lost their homes during the fire incident. He even gave money to the residents that were affected by this unfortunate happening.

(Editor’s note: Lim Yew Hock’s Government was from 1956-1959. Thereafter, the PAP came to power in 1959 and has ruled Singapore since. The Bukit Ho Swee Fire occurred in 1961. See this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bukit_Ho_Swee_Fire  )

My grandmother also mentioned about some riots that happened. One of them was about the labour riot which happened in the 1960s. The reason of the riot was that the workers wanted a raise in their salaries but the employers refused to do anything about the raise so the workers went on strike. The other was about the racial riot between the Malays and the Chinese in 1964. It was said that some Malays attacked the Singapore Chinese. Seeing that, many Malays in Singapore also started to fight. Since the Chinese did not want the Malays to overpower them, so they also fought back to hold their stand.

Lastly, my grandmother told me that the life under the British before World War II was quite peaceful and the government provided them food. During the Japanese Occupation, they received limited food supplies and countless people suffered under the rule of General Yamashita.    

Celine Soh (14)