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.

            Back in those days, the only toys they had were wooden tops, marbles, and

catapults. They never travelled abroad as they were poor. My grandfather did not play

pranks on anyone. He was the quiet kind who kept almost everything to himself. Up till

today, he hardly talks to anyone except to our family members. He was caned for

quarrelling with his mother, and not completing his homework, but he had his reasons,

He helped his younger siblings with their work and had no time to complete his own

homework. 

            He never studied in a school in China as he was too young then. In Singapore, at

the age of 12, he  studied in a private school, named Mercantill Institution. He attended a

Chinese school in the mornings and an English school in the afternoons. At the age of 17,

he started studying at St. Anthony Boys' Institute. He was quite a sporty

person. He played many different sports and were good in all of them. Some of them

were Volleyball, Badminton, and Table Tennis. In those days, algebra, arithmetic and

other mathematics syllabus were not part of mathematics, they were taught out of

mathematics lessons, unlike these days. Other subjects he took were English, Chinese,

Math, Geography, and History. Grammar was also not part of English lessons.

            My grandfather was match-made. In those days, most marriages were through

match-making. His wedding banquet was very grand, as he was the eldest son. There

was little social life then. My grandparents were poor, they attended few marriage

banquets, funerals and gatherings. It was totally different in the past, there were no

shopping centers, the only “shopping” they had were "pasa malam" (little stores by the

street) style.  There was not anything much to do back then, except playing the games

mentioned above, like tops, marbles and catapults.

            When my grandfather was living in China, he lived in a bungalow, made of bricks

and tiles. In Singapore,  he lived in a village. As the years passed, his family became rich, then

they moved into a shophouse near town (Bugis).

          When World War II (WWII) started, my grandfather's

entire family was already in Singapore. He worked in his father’s hardware shop.

 One night, he heard over the radio that young men were to report to the Japanese, and

some were forced to fight for them. He did not want to get involved, so he fled to

Malacca the next day. He went to help a friend in his farm. Although young men in

Malacca had to fight for the Japanese too, farmers were exempted. His family was safe

back in Singapore, as his dad was over the age limit, and his other brothers ages were below the age 

limit.

           

            Sometimes, he and his friend had difficulties at the farm, like floods. When riots

broke out, he would stay at home as he did not want to get involved.  When things

back in Singapore were quite safe, he came back. After the Japanese occupation, my

grandfather and his family went back to their hometown in China. Until the Communists

took over China in 1949, the entire family came back to Singapore, and have never returned to their

hometown since then. His father opened a hardware shop where he helped out as the shop

was short handed. Then he started working at Citibank, but still helped out at his father’s

hardware shop. He got the job at Citibank as he could speak English. Unlike these days, a

secondary school certificate was good enough to secure a good job. He worked at Citibank

for more than 25 years.

 During the years my grandfather worked at Citibank, he was match-

made to my grandmother,

Chew Kook Sang. They got married in 1953. They had two children. Their first child,

was born in 1954, one year after marriage and in 1958 they had my mother.

Citibank offered him an early retirement, and he took it. It was a great opportunity for

him, as he received a good retirement benefit.  He could also spend more time at the

hardware shop when his dad became paralyzed after a stroke.  As the years passed, my

grandfather was aging too, he finally retired and his other brothers carried on with the

business.

            Now, my grandparents live with my family and I. My grandfather would fetch my

siblings and I, when we needed a lift anywhere. He is good at repairing faulty things.

 We would spend time together watching our favourite television programmes. My

grandmother too. My grandmother does the cooking at home, and takes very good care of

the plants and "bonsai" are in the garden. Sometimes, she would send her "bonsai" plants for

competitions and would win. In my family, we are all very close to each other, and I am

happy that we are a close-knit family.

                                   

                                                                                                            (987 words)

Done by: Kwek PeiWen (5)

                                                                                                               2E5’06