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.

During those days, people often owned animals [chickens, ducks, etc] so that

they could kill them for meat. She would first grab the

chicken, use a knife to cut the gullet of the chicken and the

chicken's blood would be drained into a container which later the family drank

 for health. She was busy every day going to school and helping out

in the family business such that her family did not have time to go for holidays.

Although it may seem boring, she was still happy. One of the punishments that she

would always remember was when she was caned very severely by one of her

older sisters [ my mum] as her results had dropped  and she had been transferred 

from class A to B. Being very mischievous when she was young, she had been in

trouble many times. She would play in the rain, climb to the roof of her wooden

house, climb trees, catch earthworms, swim in the pond getting herself dirty

and muddy. She would fight with her sisters, pulling all their clothes out from

the cupboard, sometimes using vulgar language, often throwing tantrums and often

screaming like a mad woman. She would tinker with her father’s

carpentry tools and making her own furniture with those and a few pieces

of wood.   

               My aunt studied in River Valley English School which is located at

River Valley Road, Mei Chin Secondary school located at Mei Chin Road and later

Singapore Polytechnic at Dover Road. She participated in folk dancing, 

and was in the ensemble playing the recorder. She remembered two teachers namely

Miss Ho and Mr Chen. The subjects she took in school were quite similar

to the subjects taken these days which are English, Math, Science, Art,

History, Geography, Chinese, Physical Education, Physics, Chemistry, Biology,

Technical Art, Home Economics and Literature. My aunt is a Buddhist and

worships in the temple. She is not married yet. In those days,she lived in a

village in a zinc-roofed wooden house with her family. Now she is living in a HDB

flat.

            In her childhood days, she often gathered with her siblings or neighbours

to play. When she and her siblings wanted to watch television,they had to go

to someone’s house to watch television.This shows that not all families had a

television set; only the richer could afford it. My aunt loves travelling,

drawing, reading fashion and art magazine and yoga. She also has gone wind

surfing and scuba diving. She really enjoys the experience of scuba

diving in the middle of the sea. She recounted that it was very quiet in there,

with many types of fishes swimming past her. She has gone to many cities and 

countries such as London, Paris, Germany, Holland, Vienna, Italy, Spain, Japan,

Hong Kong,Thailand, New Zealand, Sydney, Indonesia, Korea and Malaysia. She

has experienced a lot after going to these countries. She has experienced their

different culture, food and their language.

              National Service started in 1967. My aunt’s brothers 

had to serve National Service. She was still young at that time living in the wooden

house. Her family’s business was greatly affected as there was a lack of manpower as 

her brothers do most of the work such as delivering goods or

helping in the manufacturing of goods. Life was not very good during this

period as she and her sisters had to do more to help out with the family.     

                When she was young, a fire broke out at Bukit Ho Swee. The house

she lived in was partially burnt. Many houses were burnt down. She recounted

that an old man living around that area had all his hard-earned money to make a trip to

China was destroyed with the house. He was so heartbroken that he

cried everyday. Some international countries knew about this great disaster

and donated money to the victims.The amount of money given to each

household was based on the number of family members in it. Some people in a

huge family even get rich because of this disaster and started a business

with the relief funds.    

                   During one of the racial riots,the Malays wanted to beat up

the Chinese because of some disagreements between them. Some good-

hearted Malays hid the Chinese to prevent them from being beaten up or

even killed. One of my uncle joined a gang when he was very young. He was in a

gang fight and died after he was stabbed.

             Under Lee Kuan Yew’s government, there were a lot of improvements

in Singapore. Children got to study in English schools. People could lived in HDB

flats which are cleaner than wooden houses.There are hardly

anymore beggars in the streets and the poor are taken care of. Lee Kuan

Yew made it a point that no homeless people are allowed in the streets, took care of

the elderly and made the travelling more affordable so that more people can

travel. There are no more riots. Under Goh Chok Tong’s and Lee Hsien Long’s 

government, more improvements have been made and more difficulties have been 

addressed.

              Don’t take Singapore and the ministers for granted. Thank our

forefathers for founding, taking care of Singapore and building up

Singapore. If not for them, Singapore wouldn’t be here today.                                       

 

[AROUND 1040 WORDS]