A repository of Singapore stories

Dear reader,

These stories were gathered for an oral history project by a group of Secondary Two Express students in 2006. They were tasked with interviewing a relative and gathering responses. Students typed their projects in word documents and printed them for grading. The students were given two grades; one for English and another for history. This was a cross-curriculum project. At the end of the day, they also had a story of a family member for posterity (future generations).

If you would like to have the set of questions used by the students to conduct the interview, it is found in the first entry to this blog. Go ahead and interview your own parent or grandparent, aunt or uncle and discover your own roots!

I think that stories from the past help us appreciate the good life we have now and also show us the choices and decisions our forefathers made have an impact on us now.

For former KR students of the 2E class of 2008 who want their biographies, I have the soft copies of most of your biographies (unless you did not save the final copy for some reason). If you would like them, you can email me at karina.heng@gmail.com. If you would like the biography to be placed on this blog, please get permission from the person you interviewed and then email me. I have only uploaded the ones whose consent forms I had received in 2006 who agreed to have their stories uploaded.

I am grateful that technology allows this type of sharing on this platform.

SG50 is in 2015, I cannot think of a better way to celebrate than to tell these stories of ordinary Singaporeans who have lived their lives here on this little red dot. So we will not forget.

Happy Birthday, Singapore!

From a daughter of Singapore.

From Kuala Lumpur to a kampung in Singapore (2E6 Shi Jie's grandmother)

Interviewer

1. Name: Sie Shi Jie
2. Date of Interview: 16/7/06

I interviewed my grandmother, Mdm Ho Chow Har, who survived World War II and is now living a comfortable life in Singapore, at the age of eighty. She is now a Christian and goes to church every Sunday.

My grandmother was the eldest among the nine siblings in her family.

Some names of her siblings and their birthday:

2^nd Sister: Ho Kum Yoke (F) 27^th December 1928

3^rd Brother: Ho Han Lum (M) 27^th December 1929

6^th Sister: Ho Kum Chuong (F) 16^th Jun 1933.

9^th Sister: Ho Kum Sim (F) 2^nd Oct 1948

My grandmother was born in Malaysia and spent half of her life living in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. My grandfather met my grandmother through an arranged marriage by their parents. She came over to Singapore after the 1969 Racial Riots, and obtained her Singapore Citizenship soon after.

My grandmother completed six years of primary school, at a Chinese school in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. In those days, students would often be caned by the teachers or principals for not doing homework and the parents would never complain. Some of the school activities were harmonica lessons, choir and table tennis.

Being the eldest child in the family, my grandmother not only helped out in the family’s housework, took care of her younger siblings, but she also helped to earn some money by selling home-cooked food in the neighborhood. She was an obedient, helpful and well-brought up girl.

A Hard Life (2E5 Jolene's Maternal Grandmother)

      My grandma is 72 years old this year. She was born on 6^th March 1934.

She was born in Malacca. She had 10 siblings. Here is the list of my grandma and her 

siblings:  

Sim Kay Swee, which is my grandma, 

Sim Kay Leng, 

Sim Bee Kong, 

Sim Kay Long, 

Sim Bee Tiong, 

Sim Bee Seng, 

Tay Kay Keng, 

Tay Bee Wan, 

Tay Kay Suan, 

Tay Bee Sam and 

Tay Kay Peng. 

Tay Bee Wan died at a very young age due to a high fever which was not curable in 

those days. 

        As my grandma was the eldest child in the family, she did most of the housework

and helped her mother to look after her younger siblings. Every day, when she came

back from school, the first thing she did was to hug her siblings. She doted on them

most. My  great-grandpa was a principal and my great-grandma was a housewife.

          Grandma was not the playful kind. She did not play games. There wasn't any 

television set during that time, so great-grandpa would bring them to the whole family 

to a nearby street to watch puppet shows at night.

         The happy childhood had soon turned into a nightmare for grandma. The

day when the family was having reunion dinner, they heard the sound of

bombs dropping from the planes. On February 15^th 1942, the Japanese

invaded Singapore. Grandma was only 8 years old yet she had to face such

crisis.

              Every day they would hear screaming and shouting in the streets.

Grandma and her sisters cut their hair, dressed up like boys and put black

soot on their beautiful faces in order to be taken for boys.

              As a principal, great-grandpa would punish his students. Before the

war, there was a boy in his school who was very rebellious and notorious, and

was a big bully. Great-grandpa would always lecture him. Who realised that he

would be a collaborator of the Japanese soldiers. He gave  great-grandpa's details to 

the Japanese soldiers and made up stories that great-grandpa was anti-Japanese. The 

Japanese soldiers captured great-grandpa and took him away. He was never seen after 

that. He was probably killed. Grandma lost her father when she was 9.

Climbing Trees and 5-cent Meals (2E5 Wei Siong's Mother)

                                       

            My name is Lim Wei Siong and my class is 2E5. I interviewed my mother about her past and her childhood days. My mother’s name is Ong Yew Bee. She was born in 10/9/1962. My mother has 5 older brothers, 3 older sisters and 2 younger brothers.

            My mother’s father’s name is Ong Kim Seng. His occupation is a driver. My mother’s mother’s name is Neo Ah Tang. She is a housewife. They lived at 675, Yio Chu Kang Road 10 M/S Singapore. All my mother’s brothers and sisters lived together. My grandmother had many children to take care of and much housework to do. So she gave tasks to my mother’s older brothers and sisters to help with her housework so she would not be so tired. My mother also helped in the housework, such as mopping and sweeping the floor. The older brothers and sisters had to help grandmother look after the younger brothers.

             Mother would spent most of her time collecting bookmarks. She even bought a big album to keep her collection. She has collected many different types of bookmarks. This is one of her hobbies. Other hobbies she had was spinning tops, playing five stones and marbles. My grandfather liked to plant fruit trees in his garden. My mother’s favorite tree was my grandfather’s rambutan tree. She liked to climb up the tree to pluck the fruit and eat. Rambutan was her favourite fruit. My grandfather also planted other fruit trees like durian, jackfruit and coconut trees. Mother never went on holidays because my grandfather and grandmother were too busy, especially my grandmother, as she had to do the housework.

   

A Simple but Carefree Life (2E5 Junwei's Mother)

Interviewer:  Goh Jun Wei

Interviewee:  Teo Bee Leh, My Mother

My mother, a housewife was born and brought up in a kampong in a wooden house near a cemetery. At that time she was the second child in the family. She and her elder brother were both born and grew up in the same kampong. Although her father, a bus driver then had to work very hard to feed the family including his mother, her grandmother who was living with the family, they led a simple but carefree life.

Two of my grandfather brothers' families were living just next door. My mother and her elder brother and used to play hide-and-seek, marbles and flew kites at an open space near the cemetery where my grandmother and all my mother's aunties would gather and chitchat while feeding their children during meal times.

As a child, my mother could recall that my grandmother would need to go to the nearby well to fetch water for the family to do the cooking and washing. Water was not so easily accessible. My grandfather would wait for my grandmother returning from work at the main road when darkness fell as their house was very near the cemetery.  

A Comfortable Life (2E5 Ivy's Father)

Interviewer: Ivy Teo
Date of interview: 17 July 2006
Location of interview: Home

I interviewed my dad, Teo Teau Hoe. He is now living in Blk 12, Holland

Avenue S’pore 272012. He was born on 29th August 1962 in

Singapore. My dad comes from a Chinese-speaking family that was

quite rich. His family was quite big. His mother had a total of 10

children, including him. He has 9 siblings, 3 sisters and 6 brothers.

He is the sixth son in the family line. Currently he has 8 siblings

now because his third brother died when he was three. The names

of his siblings in ascescending order are : 

Teo Teau shui[1st], 

Teo Tiew Lai[2nd], 

Teo Siew Chun [1st aunt],

Teo Siew Mei [2nd aunt],

Teo Teau Kun[4th],

Teo Tiew Huat[5th],

my dad, Teo Teau Hoe[6th],

Teo Teau Long[7th] 

and Teo Siew Yan [3rd aunt] who is the youngest in the family. 

His mother had two miscarriages, one was boy and the other was a girl. His mother is Chua 

Kheok and his father is Teo Hock Soon. They stayed in a two-storey bungalow for more than 10

years that is situated at Holland village. Now at Holland village, it's no longer a

residence now. My grandparents rent it. It’s now a Mexican restaurant called  ‘Cha Cha

Cha’. During that time my grandma was a housewife and my grandpa worked in

his family’s company. My great-grandfather used to own a printing company

but after my grandpa passed away, the company was sold. 

From a Humble Start (2E5 Shilei's Maternal Aunt)

Interviewer: NG SHI LEI

Date: 15 JULY 2006

Place: MY AUNT”S HOUSE

          I have chosen to interview my aunt, SEH POH TIN. Now she is staying

with 2 of her sisters and mother at Blk 608, Jurong West .She was

born on 31^st August 1964 in Kandang Kerbau hospital to a big family of nine 

siblings: 5 sisters and 4 brothers. Her sisters’ names are POH CHOO, POH SEOH, POH

SIU, POH GEOK and POH CHENG. Her brothers’ names are CHWEE BOCK, BENG    

GEE, BENG HOCK and BENG KIAT. She is the youngest in the family. Her

mother’s name is TAN AH SUAN and father’s name was SEAH CHAN. Her father

has passed away and her mother staying with her. Her mother is retired as my aunt is 

working to support her. My aunt always quarrels with her mother for example when 

she insists my grandmother eat more. But she doesn’t want to eat and is very skinny.

            In her childhood days, games such as five stones, zero-point (a skipping game 

with threaded rubber bands used as a jump rope), marbles, kuti-kuti, capteh (keeping 

a feathered toy in the air with series of kicks), gasing (wooden tops), 

hop-scotch and sepak takraw (foot version of volleyball played with a rattan ball) were 

being played between her siblings and her during their free time. Although the 

youngest, she has the greatest responsibility in helping out in the family.She would 

help in making noodles, pouring the oil, washing the rice and doing some housework.

She would also help to carry the groceries when her mother went to the

market. She loved to help to kill the chickens that her family had owned.

Life is Unpredictable (2E5 Lixian's Maternal Grandmother)

Interviewer

Name: Lixian

Date of interview: 9 July 06

Location of interview: Blk 143 Meiling Street 

My 79-year-old grandmother, Mdm Poh Chee Hwa, was born on 27

January 1927 in Singapore. She used to stay in a terrace house

around People’s Park with her family. She has 8 brothers and 3

sisters. Her parents were traders. They traded goods with people from

faraway countries.

During her childhood years, she would play games such as

hop-scotch, marbles, top and coins with her playmates after school

everyday. When she was young, she would look forward to Chinese New

Year as there would be lots of tidbits and red packets. They also

got to wear new clothes for Chinese New year . What she enjoyed best

during Chinese New Year was that she was able to play with

firecrackers. She enjoyed hearing the loud explosions that the

crackers produced as they lit up the sky. My grandmother 

had learnt not to show off after a memorable lesson in which she

ended up having to part with her favourite doll after showing to her

younger cousin who refused to return it .

When my grandmother was young, she was very fortunate to be

able to receive an education. She attended Geok Meng Primary

School before war and had a tutor after the war. My

grandmother did not enjoy studying thus, she would play truant  at

times. She remembered that whenever her teacher called and

informed her parents about her truancy, she would be caned severely

before been lectured about the importance of having a good

education. Her father always reminded her that she was very

privileged to be able to attend school as many  children of her age

were not given this opportunity to get an education and that she

should cherish it. On weekends, she would go cycling with her older

brother, who doted her very much.  

When Japan invaded Singapore, my grandmother was fifteen

years old. During the occupation, her father would always tell them to

enjoy everyday of their lives as they would not know what would be

waiting for them the following day. Food was scarce in Singapore during

that period of time. Luckily, her father had stored up sufficient food such

as rice, flour and so on before the fall of Singapore.

One evening, the Japanese soldiers banged on their doors and

took  her father, three brothers and her uncle who was staying with

them away as they had not gone to report for the mass screening. Tension filled

the home and my great-grandmother prayed to god for blessing.

Everybody hoped that the men would come back home safely. After three

days, two of her brothers came home. Her father and elder brother only

returned home a day later. Unfortunately, her uncle did not

return after the Japanese soldiers took him away. It was

believed that he was brought away for mass killing as he was suspected of

donating money to China. Later, her father took on the duty of looking after his

brother's family. My grandmother remembered a close

shave with two Japanese soldiers. She was almost seen by the Japanese

soldiers if not for her brother’s timely signal to hide. She was under a

durian tree picking up a durian which had dropped. If she had been caught by the

Japanese soldiers, she would either be beaten or taken away by them. She

also remembered how she had to cut her hair short and wear manly

clothes in order not to attract the attention of the Japanese soldiers.

My grandmother was married to my late grandfather Koh Kai Seng at the

age of 21 through matchmaking. My grandfather is a Malaysian, thus my

grandmother had to leave her parents and stay in  Malaysia for 3 years

before moving back to Singapore. My grandmother had a total of 5

children. Three of them were born in Malaysia and the rest in Singapore.

My mother is the youngest in the family and was born in Singapore. My

grandmother told me that she was bullied by her mother- in- law and

sister- in- law when she was living in Malaysia. They treated her like the

maid of the family and ordered her about. In the past when you are

married out, you could not return to your family and ask for help as

there was a custom that once you are married, you belonged to that family.

      When my mother was born, my grandmother was so poor to the extent

that she only had rags to wrap my mother with. My grandfather did not

have a good job due to his frail health. Thus, he was unable to provide the

family’s basic needs. At that time, my mother was almost sold to a nurse

who had  wanted a child badly. But, my grandmother decided that she

would endure the hardship in order to raise my mother. She took up a total

of three jobs per day ranging from coffeemaker to dishwasher and lastly

to waitress.  She worked hard to provide the family with the basic needs.

They used to stay in a one room rented flat at Chin Swee Road before

moving to a 3-room flat in Prince Phillip Avenue. My grandmother is now

currently staying at Blk 143 Meiling street . The

person that my grandmother admires most is Mr Lee Kuan Yew. She felt

that he is a very clever and successful man who had brought Singapore

from an undeveloped country to one which is so modernized. She

encourages us to be a good citizen of Singapore and help to keep the

peace and harmony in Singapore.

                                                                                          [951 words]

Hard Work and Thrift (2E5 Peiwen's Maternal Grandfather)

Date of interview: 17 July 2006

            My interviewee is my maternal grandfather, Loon Chee Min. He is currently

staying with my Family at Sunset Grove. He was born in Guang Dong, China on 2^nd

July 1928. When he came to Singapore at 3 years old, they still did not have the Chinese

to English translation of calendars, he guessed his birthday to be on the 13^th July 1928,

and we celebrate his birthday on that date from then on. He has 4 brothers and 4 sisters.

He is the eldest. His parents have passed away. His father, Loon Pak Kwai, used to

be a business man. His very first job was to make rattan goods. Later, he decided to work

in a hardware shop. After a few years of hardship and thriftiness, he started his own

hardware shop. His mother was a housewife. My grandfather helped to take care of his 8

other siblings, and helped out in the house work.

From Malaysia to Singapore (2E4 Kok Wai's Father)

My name is Koh Kok Wai. I interviewed my father on

26-7-07. My father’s name is Koh Eng Yong. He was 

born in Malaysia and his address is Johor, Potian,

Kukup. He came to Singapore at the age of 13 and

has a job of a foreman until now. His present

address is Block 403 Clementi Ave(1) 

Singapore 120403. He has two sisters and three

brothers. His sisters are named Koh Ah Moi (Elder

Sister), Koh Bok Chin (Younger Sister). His brothers

are named Koh Bok Seng (Eldest brother), Koh Eng

Bok (Elder Brother).and Koh Eng Quan (Younger

Brother).

       His father's name is Koh Kia Koon and his mother's

name is Lim Ah Pee. When my father came

to Singapore, he came with his eldest brother and two

sisters. He came to Singapore to sell noodles with

them until he was 18 years old. He found a job

of being a foreman. He has been doing this job for

nearly thirty years. His job is to repair ships that are

need repair. It is a very tough job as he needs to stay

awake for three consecutive days to repair the

ship in time. But these days he cannot stay up so late

as he is already forty-seven years old. 

The life with the parents is very boring as his parents are 

busy working to raise the family. So, the parents

had any hardly time to spend with the children

playing and entertaining them.

       The games my father played during the past

were marbles and the yo-yo. His parents could not afford 

any expensive toys as they had problems

raising my father and his brothers and sisters.

They also had no holidays and whenever they did

a wrong thing, they would be punished severely. The

punishments were to do extra housework or stand

at one corner and do reflection. Everyone in the

house had his or her responsibilities. For example 

to do wash the clothes or to sweep or wash the

floor.

       The places in Malaysia are separated by great distances

 so my father’s family hardly went to any worship

places. But, luckily there are two worship places near

their house so they usually go to those places and

worship. My father only studied until primary

six as his family do not have enough

                                        

money to support them to study. My father could not

remember what school he studied in but he could

remember one teacher’s name because my father was

punished when he had made fun his own classmate. He was

punished by standing on the table for about two hours.

       When my father was young, he lived with his

family in a six-room house. I also do not know what

the house is called. But, the house is still there at the

moment as my grandparents left it behind for the

family when they passed away a few years ago. Now,

the house is owned by my father’s eldest brother so

every Chinese New Year, my family and I will

go back to Malaysia to celebrate as it is 

our usual practice every year. During any

weddings or funerals, we will still follow the usual

                                 

formula that was used in the past. My father's only

hobby was collecting stamps but he quit when

he was 20 as he was too busy with his work.

       My father's only advice to everyone is if you have got a

school to study in, you better do your best in

everything you are going to do.(621 words)        

 

                 

   

Growing up on Pulau Ubin (2E5 Yi Lin's Mother)

Interviewer : Ng YiLin      18 July 06

Location :home.

  My mother, Lai Ah Yong was born on the 6 Feb 1955, on Pulau Ubin. She

had a family of 12, 10 siblings and both her parents. She was the 8^th children.

She had been living in Pulau Ubin for years. Both my grandparents were

from China and are Cantonese. They were permanent residents.

My grandfather, Lai Hua was born in 1914. He worked as a mine and

rubber plantation worker. My grandmother, Chin Han Jeen, was born in

1917. She worked as a farmer .She would also help my grandfather in the rubber

plantation. (Editor's Note: Pulau Ubin was called Pulau Batu Ubin or "granite stone island" where 

granite was mined from the quarries there from the mid-1800s to the late 1970s. There were also 

coffee, durian, nutmeg, pineapple, tobacco and rubber plantations on the island.)

Growing up in Goa (2E5 Aneesha's maternal grandfather)

Never Take Anything for Granted (2E5 Benjyamin's grandmother)

Interviewer:

Name: Benjyamin Chin Hsui Yang

Date of interview: 27-7-06

Location of interview: Grandmother’s house

Interviewee:

Name: Tan Mui Ngo

Present Address: Blk 724 Clementi West Street Two

Date of birth: 1929

Place of birth: China

Background information of interviewee’s parents:

Parents’ Names: Tan Buck Song [DECEASED]   Yeo Siew Hong [DECEASED]

Occupation: Clerk and a farmer

Family life with parents: she had to work very, very hard

                                               

This is the story of my grandmother…..

   My grandmother came to Singapore when she was merely eight years of age. As a child, she had to help in the making of candles and bundle up noodles to earn money, because in those days, people had to get every helping hand they could get so as to supplement their income. Back then, my grandmother had no games to play because she was too busy helping around the household nor did she have any holidays. Also, kids in those days were very obedient so they rarely played pranks on anybody. And if they did, their punishments included raps on their heads with their parent’s knuckles or by being slapped.

Female Robin Hood (2E5 Xin Tian's grandmother)

Interviewer: Lee Xin Tian

Date of interview: 18^th July 2006

Location of interview: Grandmother’s house

My interviewee is my grandmother, Teo Siuk Hiong. She is currently staying at Block 77, Telok Blangah Drive, Singapore 100077. She came to this world on 1^st of January 1931. Her place of birth is in Guandong, Shantou, China. My grandmother has a younger sister named Teo Siuk Jin. The gap in their ages is very wide. Her sister was born on 9^th of May 1943.

My grandmother’s parents have rather unusual names. Her father’s name is Teo Guan Ya, and her mother’s is Wong Ah Ying. The family of four lived in a village in Shantou. Her father was a shepherd, and her mother a seamstress. Her father’s name means "good fortune" while her mother’s name means "an intellectual female". My grandmother was very close to her parents. She never hid anything from them, and she got along well with them. Most of the families in those days cherished one another more than us nowadays.

The games my grandmother played in her childhood days include five stones, “brides”, climbing trees and catching little fishes. She enjoyed catching little fishes the most. Her love for fishes is beyond description. She would catch a lot of them to put in a jar and keep them as pets at home.

Matchmade (2E4 Cheryl's maternal grandmother)

             I interviewed my maternal grandmother, Mdm Tan (this is an alias), over the 

telephone on 16 July 2006. She is currently living in a HDB flat in Henderson, Singapore.

              My grandmother was born in China in 1931.  She had a younger brother,   

who passed away last year. My grandmother lived in a small village on a

hill with her relatives and parents. At that time, floods often happened

everywhere in Singapore because of the poor drainage system, but it did not

affect her family. Her father was a coolie and her mother was a house wife.  Her

father stopped working after he started smoking opium because of his illness.

Her mother and her relatives started to sell ‘kueh’ to earn a living.

Mr D.T Singh: Devoted to Science (2E4 Aditya's Dad)

My father was born in 11^th April 1956. He specializes in agriculture, genetics and plant breeding. He has visited many countries during his job as a scientist. He still travels to foreign countries regarding his job. Let me tell you about my father’s life in India.

Mr D.T Singh was born in Bapatla which is a coastal town in South Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. He was born into a family in which the head of the family was his grandfather. My great grandfather (my father’s grandfather) was a retired civil servant (Imperial administrative service). My father was cared for by his grandparents most of his life. He was the eldest child among his siblings. He was also the first child among his generation of the whole family. He has seven uncles and four aunts who now live in different parts of the world but when my father was still a child, they used to live with him so as to help to take care of him.

My father was home-schooled till class three and from then on he went to a local school which was situated near his house. He was double promoted when he was class four. As a result, he skipped his class five and went straight to class six.

 During his life in a coastal town, he faced many events that affected him dearly, internationally and personally.

Never Bored as a Child (2E4 Rabiatul's grandmother)

               This is a biography of my grandmother. I interviewed her at her apartment on the 15^th July 12, 2006. Her name is Pon Bte Abu. She was brought into this world in the year 1938 and lived in a ‘kampong’ in Batu Pahat, Johor with an older sister and parents. Her elder sister is still living in Batu Pahat and she often visits her especially during Hari Raya.

            Her father worked at the jetty for ferries as a supervisor. She can hardly remember him. Her mother was a housewife as well as a cloth seller. They were not rich but neither were they poor. They lived a happy life together. In those days, parents were very strict particularly in terms of manners. My grandmother said that her parents never smacked or whacked. Instead, they would glare at her for a long time before pinching.

            My grandmother was never bored as a child. There were a lot of games to play. Some examples are ‘congkak’, five stones, catching, throwing rubber bands and many more. She also learnt how to cook and sew at a young age. I was told that cooking and sewing were a “must” for a girl in the past. She was not mischievious and did not play any pranks.

Escaping War and Poverty in China (2E4 Si Ying's maternal grandfather's story)

Interviewer’s name: Wang Si Ying

Date of interview: 09/07/2006

My Grandfather’s Biography

  My name is Lee Meng Chew, aged seventy-four years old. I am a Buddhist. I am currently living in Blk 329, Clementi Ave 2. I was born in China, in the city of Guangzhou on the 1^st December, 1931.

  Today, I relax in my comfortable chair drinking coffee and eating snacks. The familiar smells make me think of the past when I was in China and how I later moved to Singapore. Suddenly, I am back in the past.

  I lived in Guangzhou with my family. I had a younger brother and an older sister. My brother’s name is Lee Meng Khew, he was born in 1933. My sister is named Lee Meng Chee and she was born in September 1927. 

  I have little impression of my mother as she died when I was very young. She died after giving birth to my younger brother. My father, Lee Kett Meng, was the only one to work to support us. He worked as a hawker selling fishball noodles. My father liked to drink and gamble a lot with his friends so in the end, our monthly household allowance was very little. We were very poor and hardly had enough to eat and because of this, my sister had to apply for a job as a washerwoman to support us. Although the pay was not much, it was sufficient for us to at least to have meals every day.

 My younger brother and I were very close. We frequently played marbles that were borrowed from other children in our village. Although we enjoyed ourselves very much my sister would always nag us to go home for dinner. Everyday was happy for us and the world was peaceful until...