14 Years Living in Toa Payoh

Not long after the birth of Susan in 1967, life became a struggle. Before my tuition business has picked up, we were living from hand to mouth. We even illegally rented out our front bedroom to a newly wedded couple, a certain Mr Lee. The rent was $30, inclusive of utilities. But some bad-hearted neighbours must have reported us to the HDB and we were caught red-handed. Luckily, I was witty enough to tell the HDB officer that the Lees were moving out soon. My tenant also lied that we were helping them out and that we did not collect rent. The officer believed our explanations and did not file a case against us. He said he would return a week later to check.
My tenant, Mr Lee, was very cooperative; he went house-hunting immediately. He managed to find a place and moved out within three days. A week later the officer did return. He checked our place and was glad we kept to our words.

One day, while I was giving tuition to the Neo family children (two girls and two boys), my wife called me up and asked me to go home immediately, saying something had happened. She wouldn't tell me what. "You just come back at once," she said. I was both worried and sad, wondering what was going on. Driving my old Morrie Minor, travelling at more than 50 mph, I negotiated the narrow and crooked Choa Chu Kang Road into Bukit Pangjang village centre; there I turn right into Upper Bukit Timah Road, turned left into Adams Road, then Lornie and up that first flyover into Toa Payoh North and then Lor 1. My home was at Blk112.

My wife was glad to see me come back. But I was not shrewd enough to understand the stress of looking after three very young children. She told me she just felt worried and frightened after seeing an old aunty - the one who goes around selling curry powder - sitting at the side staircase doing some knitting and crocheting. However, my wife was calmer after I got home. We then went to the semi-charity clinic downstairs which charged little. Afterwards, she was given a reference letter to go to Toa Payoh Hospital. There, she was warded for observation and investigation for a few days. I had to employ a 12-yr old kampong girl to look after my daughters. My MIL also helped out on and off.

Now, I cannot imagine how I could have let a 12-yr old kampong girl look after my three babies and yet keep the house clean while I was at school and my wife in hospital. The year was 1968 (or 69). I was teaching in the afternoon session with only four classes together with four form-teachers, a Chinese lang teacher and a Malay lang one.

I remember one afternoon how our kampong girl (who was not used to being cooped up in a flat) carrying Susan in her arms and handholding Julie with the other, went on a tour around the new Toa Payoh Estate. I thanked my lucky stars that nothing untoward happened. It would really be a nightmare for me.

Annie did not go with them as she was already in St Joseph's Convent (I think). Soon my wife was discharged and confirmed as having hyper thyroid syndrome. She was put on meds and that kept her in control and well for the time being.

The Story of Lim May Ling

She caught my attention when I marked her composition on My Teacher. In it, one of her sentences was "My teacher is very handsome". I asked her if you knew the meaning of the word 'handsome' and she told me, in Chinese, 英俊. Her level of literacy and intelligence or knowledge was well above the others.  At the end of the course, she was awarded the Best Student prize, which would be given out at an awards ceremony at the Singapore Conference Hall in Shenton Way. I drove her there and drove her home.  

Coincidentally at the event, I heard the name of my colleague, Ms Margaret Tan Joo Yan being called. I greeted her and sat with her. That was not very wise as I had to drive her back to her home in Jalan Batu near Katong before sending May Ling back to her home in Bukit Panjang.

After graduation from night class, May Ling kept in touch with me. She used to write to me in Chinese addressing me as "My Dear Brother" i.e. 亲爱的哥哥 It happened that her brother-in-law had a shop in Upper Serangoon. After visiting her sister there, she would drop by Toa Payoh to visit me. She knew I taught the afternoon session and would leave for school at around 11.30 pm. She would arrive an hour earlier and leave with me thereafter. I could then give her a lift to Bukit Panjang. She did this several times, much to the chagrin of my wife.

I was not aware of the emotional reaction of my wife until one weekend when we had a casual quarrel and she accused me of being a changed man because of May Ling. She was at the time in her advanced pregnancy state with Susan and yet she stormed all the way to Bukit Panjang to confront Ling. She pleaded with her to leave her husband (me) alone!

May Ling was shocked and consoled her by saying nothing had gone on between her and me.

I think May Ling was very hurt by my wife's accusation. She did treat me like her brother. We never did overstep our boundaries.

To prove her innocence, she took immediate steps to convince my wife that she had no ulterior motive nor designs on her husband. One month after the incident, she came to visit with her fiance, presenting us a customary cake to announce their engagement. However, she did not invite us to her wedding nor inform us of when it would take place. We kept up with our correspondence but she did not say anything about getting married. Out of the blue, she told me she was the mother of a baby boy.

My wife decided to pay her a visit one day. Our whole family went - my wife and three daughters. We managed to find their home near Sin Ming Road just off Woodlands Road.

I guess my wife wanted to express her apology for having mistaken her as a 3rd party. She held May Ling's newborn son and "sayang-sayang" him. Finally, she tucked an ang pow - a red packet containing money, into the baby's bundle.

After this visit, we continued to keep in correspondence. One of the last ones was a photo of her two sons. Her husband had also become a full-time taxi driver. Slowly, our contact faded with the passage of time.
We now have lost complete touch with one another. I hope she is still well. She should be in her 60s.

Annie's Story - (3) Contracting Polio

1965 was the worst year for Annie, me and my family - and Singapore as well. My father-in-law died of cancer in early 1965 at the age of 65. A few months later Annie developed a persistent fever. When her fever subsided, she complained of a pain in her left leg and could not walk by herself. I took her to the Singapore General Hospital and they suspected it to be case of polio.

They then transferred her to Middleton Hospital next to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, what is now the Communicable Disease Centre. She had to be warded for further observation and investigation.

The very heart-tearing part was when I had to leave her. Her little right hand grabbed one of my fingers and she implored me not to go away. But the nurses were quick with their tricks in separating us. Annie was soon forcefully carried away. I could hear her screaming "I want to go home!" repeatedly until she was carried to a far corner of the ward.

The nurse who attended to me kept consoling me with "Don't worry, she'll be fine here. We will take good care of her."

I really had a nightmarish time that night. This was followed by daily visits to her with different toys until we ran out of ideas. This tormenting nightmare lasted for 50 days until she was discharged and came home. Afterwards, it was followed by physiotherapy sessions at SGH for quite some time, at least till she was able to walk on her own again. By then, her left leg was thinned by the illness (as is usually the case) and she also became shorter. She walked with a limp. But hers was actually a minor case.

On 9 August 1965, Singapore was kicked out of Malaysia. Our then prime minsiter, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, was so sad he broke down while meeting the press. That memorable scene was captured on our black and white TVs; I could never forget it.

Singapore became an independent nation on its own. Luckily, we had tough and capable leaders in the PAP who turned crisis into opportunity. We have had capable leaders in Lee Kuan Yew, Goh Keng Swee, Lim Kim San, Hon Sui Sen, S Rajaratnam, and Toh Chin Chye.. They spared no time and got down to work immediately. From a swampy land, Jurong Inductrial Estate was created and investments from abroad poured in. More and more people were able to find jobs.

A home ownership scheme was introduced and Toa Payoh New Town was established.

I was among the first batch of that Scheme who moved into Toa Payoh. My registration number was 214; the year was 1967. Construction work was still very evident in Toa Payoh at the time. We bought our 3-room flat for $7,500 only. Spent $1000 or $2000 more to renovate it. By then, I also managed to own a second-hand Morris Minor sedan car which I bought at $2,000 with money borrowed from my mother-in-law and paid back at $50 a month interest-free. That year was 1965. The car came in handy in sending Annie to her physiotherapy sessions. Later, it came in handy when my youngest daughter, Susan, was born on 8th August 1967. To go out with three kids on public transport then was not easy. With our own car, it was a breeze.

My Transport To Work

After shifting to Margaret Close in Queenstown, I had to take two buses to school, or rather three buses if I had to stop at the 7th mile Bukit Timah market for breakfast.

Every working day, I had to walk about 400m to the bus stop along Queensway to take a Tay Koh Yat bus to Bukit Timah Road. There, I would change to a green bus that plied along Bukit Timah Road to other destinations like Jurong, Princess Elizabeth Estate, Lim Chu Kang, Mandai, and Johor Bahru.

The Green Bus Co. Ltd bus services were like this:

No.1 - Queen Street to JB;
No.2 - Queen Street to Lim Chu Kang;
No.3 - Queen Street to Jurong (Tuas);
No.4 - Queen Street to Mandai;
No.5 - Queen Street to Princess Elizabeth Estate.

Of these five routes, Service No.1 was the most frequent while the rest ranged from 15-20 mins. So I took Service No.1 often. If I had no breakfast at home, I would stop at the 7th mile market for one. After that I would take a bus to my school in Boys' Town.

Being young at the time, my wife and I were very active. I was then 29 yrs old and my wife was 27. Although our girls were very young, we went everywhere with them. Julie was hardly 3-4 months old. We would go shopping at the pasar malams with her sleeping cradled in our arms. At times, my wife could even manage to go to the market some 300-400 m away on her own with the girls in her arms. I sometimes wonder how she/we managed!

Really, it is great to be young and full of energy!

Annie's Story - (2) A sister

In mid-1964 we shifted to a two-room flat in Margaret Close, Queenstown. These first-gen flats are no longer around. They have been demolished a few years ago. The land has since been left empty.

On the right of our unit was a young Chinese man like me. He had an Eurasian wife and a three-year old son. I remember his name as Gabriel. On the left was a Malay neighbour. He had a Kelantan wife and two daughters.

In that same year, on the 29th of November, my second daughter was born. I named her Julie because the song Julie, Julie I Love You was very popular at the time. Her Chinese name is Kim Yam. It was the school holidays and so I could take care of Annie whilst my wife was still in the maternity home.

On the second day, I took Annie along to visit my wife. When we came home, Annie appeared sad and quiet. She started to cry when I carried her into the house. I then took two pieces of rags and asked her to help me mop the floor. Immediately she stopped her crying and started to enjoy what she was doing.

The next day, we visted her mom again.

After the visit, I brought Annie to the Van Kleef Aquarium next to the National Theatre at King George V Park. Annie enjoyed looking at the colorful fishes and we had no trouble upon reaching home. Annie had accepted that her mom would be away.

The National Theatre was later demolished to make way for the Central expressway. The Van Kleef Aquarium was also tore down.

After five days in the maternity home, my newborn Julie was discharged with her mom. We then became a family of four.

We lived happily together and the long school holidays saved me the trouble of hiring a maid; I was able to look after my wife and baby. I was there all the time until school reopened the following year (1965). By then, my wife was well enough to look after the two babies. Annie was already 2 1/2 years old.

Annie's Story - (1) Birth

My first child was conceived in September 1961 when we were staying in a rented room behind the Peh Clinic in the centre of Ama Keng village. My wife then suggested we move somewhere near her parents' place so that her mum could come easier to help with the birth. Soon, we managed to get a place at Princess Elizabeth Estate. We moved in at the beginning of 1962. At the time, we registered our pregnancy case with the Salmon Maternity home in Princep Street. Dr Salmon was a Jew who had been running that maternity home for some 30 years. We was already in his 60s when we first met him.

On the night of 30th May 1962, my wife felt abdominal pain. Our landlord (whom we rented the flat from) drove us to the maternity home at around midnight. My wife was then warded to await delivery of our baby.

I visited her in the morning but the baby had not come yet. I felt miserable seeing my wife in such constant pain. I left and returned again in the late afternoon. I was happy to learn that her ordeal was over and that our baby had been delivered.

I met my mother-in-law who told me my wife took a long time to deliver. "Kah chew see beh mun," she said, which literally meant 'slow hands and feet' - a kind of harmless criticism.

I went into the ward and saw my wife talking cheerfully to a nurse. She saw me and pointed to where our first-born child was. I went over and saw a cute baby, perfect in every way. She had rich black hair just like her mum's.

I was told my wife needed to stay in hospital with the baby for another five days or so, depending on how fast she recovered. Alas, after ten days, she still could not pass urine and needed to be drained out each time. The doctor explained that because my wife was small in built, her bladder had been flattened during delivery and would take time to recover. My wife felt miserable upon hearing this. I was worried about the final bill but Dr Salmon assured me that it would remain at $130. "Not a single cent extra," he said.

Finally, on the 20th day, she managed to pass urine by herself and so, she and our newborn child, Annie Ang, left the hospital and together we headed happily for home.

Being first-time parents and not staying with our parents, handling a newborn was not easy. One time when I came back from a wedding (old classmate Lee Chan Moh's, I was best-man) I found Annie crying and howling. We tried all sorts of tricks but she just would not stop. Finally, her grandma came. She performed some water-sprinkling rite over her. Annie stopped her crying and calmed down. Grandma said it was for warding off evil spirits. I dunno, perhaps Annie was tired by then.

Finally, we were able to get to sleep. Annie laid on my chest the whole time that night.

Annie grew up well over the next two years, having only a slight fever or cough. We had a wonderful time with her and would bring her out often to make her happy. I would take pictures of her with my black and white film camera (colour film was not available in Singapore then). Many pictures were taken of her and some I even colored manually on my own using the Kodak's Color Photo Stamp.

Birth of My First Child

We moved into our new room in the Lau's flat in early 1962. On May 31st that year, my daughter was born. You know, it is both a mixture of pride and joy when you have your own child.

I wanted to give her the name Angelina Ang but my wife said it was difficult for her parents to pronounce, so we named her Annie instead. Her Chinese name was Kim Huang, or Golden Bangle. She was much adored by our neighbours as she was really cute and loveable.

As the renting of our room from Mr Lau was both temporary and illegal under HDB rules, we soon began to look for alternative lodgings.

There was a new row of shophouses coming up along Bukit Panjang where we found a room upstairs a shop. It was here that my second daughter Julie was conceived.

At the time, we had also applied for a HDB flat and was soon offered one. It was a 2-room rental flat located at Margaret Close, Queenstown. It was a rental because HDB had not started their homeownership scheme yet.

The flat consisted of a bedroom, a sitting room and a small kitchen. The toilet was combined. The rent was $55 inclusive of conservancy charges. We paid our PUB bills separately.

To get to school, I had to take two buses. I first took a Tay Koh Yat bus from Queenstown to Bukit Timah via Farrer Road. I would stop at the 7th mile market for breakfast. After that I took another bus to school. Despite the hassle I was never late (even though the standard of bus services could not be compared to today's). I think school started at 8 o'clock.

Soon, there were even pirate taxis plying between Bukit Timah and Queenstown. I would take one, costing me 15 cents a trip. This unauthorised service made life easier for me.

The birth of my kids was planned in such a way that they coincided with the school holidays. In this way I could be at home helping my wife. Annie was born during the June holidays of '62; Julie - the November holidays of '64. As for my youngest she was born on the eve of National Day in '67, which was the last day of school. I remember celebrating National Day just before that.