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]
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