RECOLLECTIONS OF AN ORDINARY PIONEER - Lessons learnt in Life
“Experience is the hardest kind of teacher. It gives you the test first and the lesson afterward”
Oscar Wilde
The year was 1953. Coronation of Queen Elizabeth the Second. Streets were decorated with buntings and coloured lights created awe and excitement for a seven year old.This was my first visit to Singapore.
I was born in Perak, Malaya, in 1946 and lived my early years in Malacca. Though I was registered to start school at St Francis Institution in Malacca, my mother decided that my sisters and I should move to join my eldest brother who had come to Singapore
earlier to become a teacher. My father, who was a talented estate conductor in the rubber plantations had no intention of coming to Singapore with us, but promised my mother he would remit money to her regularly.
My first impression of Singapore was that it was a busy commercial city consisting of rows of shophouses and office buildings and nothing else. My brother arranged for us to stay with an aunt in Carpmael Road in Katong temporarily, which was quite close to Telok Kurau Primary School, where he taught. Because of the move from Malacca to Singapore happened in the middle of 1953, I was unable to get into Primary One in 1953. So I got into school a year late, but in those days, one could get a double promotion if his or her results were good. So in 1954, I was promoted to Standard One without going to Primary Two.
By the beginning of 1955, my brother had managed to rent a kampong house in Geylang for us to live more comfortably. I have fond memories of this house on stilts with a large compound and zinc fence. It was my home for more than six years.
1st Experience – Student Riots
The period 1955 to 1961 were tumultuous years. The area I lived in was a stone’s throw from Yoke Eng High School, in Tanjong Katong Road. I remember distinctly how the area became a riot-torn location, firstly during the infamous Hock Lee Bus dispute and later when the Chinese Middle School students rioted against the government in 1956. Yoke Eng School students were involved in the riots and one of their actions was disrupting bus operations belonging to the Singapore Traction Company run by the government. Geylang Road was a busy thoroughfare and buses belonging to the then government were targeted by the students and their communist mentors. In those days we had electric trolley buses powered by overhead cables.
The rioters knew how easy it was to damage the cables that support the buses and so almost all buses came to a standstill. From where I lived, I could see rioters damaging the buses and public property. My mother was worried and made us stay indoors. Our house had a huge front gate made of zinc sheets which usually was left wide open in the day and only locked at night. But the fear of the riots spilling over to the kampong made all households lock themselves up even in the day. For many days after the incident, we were not allowed to go to the open field adjacent to Yoke Eng High School. The field was our favourite place for kite-flying. I remember being very angry that the students of the school had robbed us of our fun place. I also heard the elders talking about how the students were manipulated by communist infiltrators for their own ends, that is, to overthrow the British and take over Singapore.
During the weeks of late September and early October 1956, trouble brew between Chinese Middle School students and the government. Yoke Eng High School students again participated in demonstrations and when things got out of hand, they resorted to violence and vandalism. STC buses were targets for destruction. From where we lived we could see damage to buses and riots by these students who were obviously led by unscrupulous union and political leaders. It was reported that more than 6,000 students were involved in the demonstrations despite police presence, which at times became violent. My brother said that the protests spread to other schools, with many reported outbreaks of violence. The government had to impose an island-wide curfew and the newspapers reported that many people were arrested for security violations and riots. It was a difficult time for families in the area, as many had their work routines disrupted and housewives had to manage with the little they had to feed their families. There was a provision shop in the kampong that catered to the needs of the people in the area and my mother and the women around our house were able to help each other to provide food for the children. In the troubling times the folks of the kampong joined in the spirit of “gotong royong” of helping one another regardless of race or religion. We had Malays, a Chinese family and a Sindhi (North Indian) family within the compound of our house, and we helped each other whenever a need arose.
2nd Experience – Disruption of Essential Services
In the fifties and up to the eighties, modern sanitation was a luxury afforded to only the rich and famous. Throughout the island, human waste removal was done manually using a bucket system and which was managed by the then City Council. Early every morning the “night soil collector” comes to remove the bucket of human waste from the back of the stand-alone toilet (jamban). Most times the night soil truck or the “32 door-truck” as it was known came in the wee hours of the morning, but sometimes due to breakdowns or traffic problems, one could catch sight of these “Kereta jamban” and of course the smell wafts across the air too.
The trucks brought back the waste to the sewerage processing centres where the buckets were emptied of their contents and cleaned. And all this was done manually! This was a job very few people would perform and indeed the workers carried out their job without recognition or special reward.
One day in 1959, the Night Soil Carriers workers who were members of the Public Daily Rated Workers Union decided to go on strike because of some labour issues with the City Council. The Union had been warning of drastic actions for quite a long while, but there seemed scant positive response. It was reported that the strike turned violent after the City Council engaged the Works Brigade employees to caryy out the essential services. We suffered for almost two weeks, because the buckets in our toilets were full and we had to clear the waste ourselves before going to the toilet again. On top of that water supply was disrupted many times during the day. Luckily we had a backyard that was reasonably big so that we could dig a hole deep enough to dump the waste for the duration of the strike. I remember everyone of us had to help dispose the waste into the hole every night. I used to tie a handkerchief over my nose and add eucalyptus oil to ward of the smell as I helped carry the bucket to the hole about twenty metres away. Besides, we had to then wash the bucket with water diluted with ‘dettol’ to prevent any disease like typhoid or dysentery. We didn’t have gloves in those days. I was quite affected by the experience at that time and swore I would never forgive the ‘night-soil’ workers. This bitter experience taught me that strikes by essential service workers or for that matter any kind of industrial actions were bad for society.
3rd Experience – Resilience in the face of floods
Geylang and Eunos were one of the many low-lying areas of Singapore and residents have faced floods especially during the monsoon season. One of the main reasons for the frequent flooding was the poor drainage system in these parts of Singapore. During the 50s and 60s, people could do little to avert the natural disaster. It was common for kampong folk to wait out the flood and hope for the rains to stop. Usually the flood would rise to about 20 to 30 cm so vehicles including trishaws could still ply the streets. The adults were resigned to managing the inconveniences that came with the flooding . Housewives would simply roll up their pants or sarongs to wade through the waters to go to the market or provision store daily as a routine. Workers would carry their shoes and change of clothes to get to the workplace or offices. Now the people who really looked forward to floods were the kids who took the opportunity to swim or float in makeshift logs and enjoy the fun. Of course we still had school and we had to walk barefoot with shoes in our bags till we got to dry land. Nobody grumbled about the discomfort or inconvenience. On looking back I think it was this phenomenon of resilience and creative response to natural calamities.
4th Experience - Memorable School Life ( fun despite the negatives)
I thank God that despite the Spartan life I had, my childhood was fun, and I enjoyed going to school every day. My school days at Telok Kurau Primary (TKPS) were so memorable I still can remember all that happened during the 5 years I was there. In those days, many school-going children seldom had money to spend at recess time. Most of them would bring food from home and perhaps five cents to buy a cup of cold drink. I would get ten cents for the bus fare and five cents for recess. One of the naughty tricks a lot of boys played was to sneak through the bus without paying the fare. Buses were packed at school times and it was quite easy to trick the bus conductor and avoid paying the bus fare.
I remember trying the trick once by telling the bus conductor of Service 22 which plied the route from Geylang to Joo Chiat Place, that my money was with my friend who was sitting at the back of the bus while I was at the front end. The old angry attendant would grudgingly allow me to stay on the bus while he went around the crowded bus to search for my friend. By the time he came back to the front, it was time for us to alight. I was quite ashamed and determined not to try it again, though my friend kept insisting that it was kind of fun to play such tricks.
Telok Kurau Primary School had a reputation for being a strict disciplined school. In my very first year, I observed the model of discipline - Headmaster, Mr. S J Joseph walking around the school with a cane in his hand. In fact any time he stepped out of the Office, he had this cane, reminding all and sundry that he was a disciplinarian. The teachers were just as bad. There were 3 most feared teachers in the school - the Senior Master Mr. Rashid Durai, Mr Lim Keng Teck, (scout master) and my brother who was teaching the Primary Six class. I think this was the only primary school in those days to have had a dedicated Caning Room. I did not have the chance to go in, but the guys who had been there told us that there were more than fifty different sized ‘rotans’ or canes. Many learned the hard way that the thinner the ‘rotans’ the more painful the strokes on the buttocks. Yet the fun of pranks and horse-play more than made up for the dread of the cane. Punishments were common and probably one would not have experienced the toughest punishments meted out then. An example of a punishment for misbehavior in class was to come to the front of the class and the teacher would ask one offender to slap the other. Then he would ask the other to return the slap. When the slaps were not strong he would ask them to increase the force of the slaps. The slapping would continue until one of the boys starts crying. None of the boys who received punishment in school would ever dare complain to their parents, because in those days we would get more punishment at home. Somehow with all these negatives, school life was joyful and we looked forward to each new day so we could play marbles, “Chap Teh”, “Kledek”, “Gasing”, “Horse Fights”, and other improvised games. There was no limit to imagination when it came to games.
Everyone looked forward to recess time, before and after school time to play till the bell rang. In those days, the school attendant would bring out the big bell to sound time for start and end of school and recess. Sometimes we tried bribing him, but it never worked because the headmaster was always walking around at these times.
1958 was my last year in TKPS and I cannot forget that we had to retake our Secondary School Entrance examination ( now called PSLE) because of some leak in the examination papers at the Ministry of Education. This disruption affected many of us as had lost the momentum of learning and preparation and our minds were occupied with plans for the holidays. But we took it in our stride and never complained. Our parents too were resigned to the situation.
In 1959, my brother got married and he moved out to live with his wife in Telok Kurau Road. That meant he was no longer able to look after us. So with the small income that my elder sister was earning as a clerk, we had to move to a smaller house in Jalan Masjid .
My secondary school days were just as exciting as my primary school days if not more enjoyable. I fondly remember studying at Siglap Secondary School for two years during which time gang fights and bullying were common everyday experiences. I remember having to pay twenty cents a day to be protected from so-called secret society members. My protector was a guy called Frankie and he was respected not only by students, but even by some teachers who had had bad experiences with thugs outside school. By the end of Form Two, my teacher, Mrs Molly Alfred, who treated me like her own son , helped me get a transfer to Bartley Secondary School, as she herself was being transferred there. But with all the delinquents in the school, we still enjoyed the adventures of playing hide and seek with teachers and prefects, getting caught for breaking school rules and being punished for not doing homework. In those days, one form of punishment in school was the writing of lines like “ I must not be rude in class” or “I must do my homework diligently”. The usual punishment was one thousand lines and the deadline was always 24 hours. Some enterprising characters would offer their services to help write the lines for a fee. I remember one time having to pay a guy called Shukor, twenty cents , to write 500 lines. The teacher didn’t care who wrote it as long the lines were completed by deadline. If one fails to complete the lines, he would double it. So no one dared to defer submission. An incident I can recall about the notoriety of some boys in the upper classes was how one teacher’s scooter was damaged by a student who was punished by him. The student had somehow managed to get iron filings from the science lab and deposited them in the fuel tank of the scooter. The scooter was damaged and the boy was caned by the principal of the school.
In 1961, I started studies at Bartley Secondary School, and it was there I found real enjoyment. I was a member of the school cricket and hockey teams (albeit in the 2nd Eleven) as the school had a great sporting reputation. I even joined the Rugby practices though I wasn’t big enough to be selected for the school team. The principal of the school was a well-known educationist and feared headmaster, EW Jesudason. He was affectionately nicknamed “Bulldog Jesudason” as he literally struck fear into the boys at school. But as a person he was a gentle and friendly mentor. I think he was the only principal who organized a “Staff versus Students” Rugby Match every year-end. He told us that the match was to give all students a chance to get back at him and the teachers who have been giving them a tough time during the year. The match was a ‘no-holds-barred’ game and you can guess what the student players did during the match. We , the spectators had a visual treat seeing the students trying their best to pin down Mr. Jesudason and Mr Loo, the Discipline Master at every opportunity. We would cheer wildly every time a teacher was taken down. At the end of the game, it was fun and laughter among all the participants and no hard feelings. The true experience of sportsmanship was displayed and maybe that was the reason Bartley Secondary School was among the top sporting schools of that decade.
In those days nearly all schools had two sessions – morning and afternoon. The year I transferred, I was in the afternoon session, and the Senior Master was an equally fierce gentleman named Vincent Gomez. His accomplice the Sports and Discipline Master, Mr Loo, was fearsome to look at, but he loved students who played games like hockey, cricket and rugby. So to be on his good books, many of us joined these games. He would forgive us when we got into trouble with teachers and prefects.
An experience etched deeply in my mind was the gang fights that took place frequently in the school compound and the kampong outside the school. In those days, Tai Seng Village was a notorious place for gangsters and criminals. And some of the bigger boys were already inducted into the gangs. I remember some of the boys collected “protection money” from the rest of us. They belonged to the “24” gang that operated in the Tai Seng area. Another group belonged to the “08” gang. Friday evenings (after school) would be exciting time to see the fights. The leaders would send word out quietly (by word of mouth) that a fight had been planned and anyone interested to participate should assemble at the field or the adjacent kampong without being noticed. It was interesting that somehow before things got out of hand, the teachers and Mr. Gomez would have got wind of the skirmish and catch a couple of the ring leaders. They would be hauled up and punished. But that never stopped these fights.
I also remember Mr Gomez announcing at the assembly that he had a solution to the gang fights. He introduced a new game to the school – boxing. He had bought a few pairs of boxing gloves and invited the trouble-makers to participate in a boxing match, which he refereed. I think there were only a couple of boxing matches because the boys didn’t like the rules of the game. They preferred a “free for all” fights where one could use whatever “weapons” were available – like sticks or classroom chairs. My participation was fortunately limited to spectatorship.
One other experience in Form Four (later renamed Secondary 3) that I cannot forget ever, is the time I learnt to play truant. In those days, there were few students opting for Tamil as a second language, and so schools in the area pooled their students and sent their students to a centre near the school. Three times a week we would leave the school and walk all the way to Paya Lebar Road to a centre located at Elling South Primary School. There was no supervision of the classes, and students attended as and when they liked or when tests and examinations were round the corner. One can imagine what havoc we guys could create. We made sure attendance was marked at both school and centre, and after that we adjourned to the Queens Cinema at Geylang and nearby food (makan) stall. There were three of us in this plan – one of the guys was from a well-to-do family and he would always have enough money to buy us tickets, meals and even cigarettes. Ah yes – I did mischief and just to feel macho, I puffed cigarettes. In those days you could buy just one or two sticks of cigarettes. It wasn’t something I was proud of and I had a tough time trying to get rid of the cigarette smell before I got home. But it was fun doing these crazy things. It was also the time when I got addicted to watching Hindi movies and I would imagine being the hero in the film. Now when I look back I realize how silly it was.
All these antics ended in 1962. This was the final year of secondary school. I became more mature and serious about studies. My Form Five teacher was – guess what – Mrs. Alfred. Yes and I had to change drastically for she now knew my family because we attended St Hilda’s Church every Sunday. Change I did, and put in more effort in class. Mrs. Alfred used to give me motherly lectures and advice.
I did my Senior Cambridge examination (GCE 'O' as it is known now) in 1962, and I remember very clearly reading the results of the examination in the Straits Times, sometime in March 1963. In the days of old, the newspaper carried results of the examinations and you can imagine the embarassment of one's result for all the world to see.
As soon as my Senior Cambridge results were known, my family members persuaded me to continue studies. I started Form Six or Pre- U (now known as JC or A level) at my secondary school – Bartley. I enrolled rather reluctantly for I knew at the back of my mind that my mother would have difficulty giving me the money needed for schooling while she was already struggling to manage the household expenses. Unfortunately all this while my father who had been working in Malaya and sending us money as and when he had it, used to visit us irregularly and never really worried how we were managing to survive. To this day, I never knew how mother was able to make ends meet. There was always food on the table and our school fees and pocket money given to us. My second sister and I were still in school, the house rent and grocery bills had to be settled. I remember times when I used to go to the friendly shopkeepers to get groceries on credit. At other times, I would visit my brother occasionally for a small sum to tide us over. In those days ten dollars could support a family for a week’s worth of groceries and food.
5th Experience – Early Working life and Painful Lessons
In July of 1963, I realized I had to work to help supplement the family income as my elder sister had married and was with her first baby. We had moved to Jalan Ketola in Kaki Bukit where my sister and her husband lived with us. During this period my cousin from Malacca came to live with us and thus there were many mouths to feed, albeit with some income from my sister and her husband. Not once did I hear my mother complain about her burdens, but I could see the strain and anguish she went through on a daily basis.
I was seventeen when I started work as a temporary teacher at Aroozoo Primary School. Working life was a totally different experience and I was not really prepared for it. I remember getting ticked off by the then principal of the school who drilled into me the importance of getting a medical certificate if I was sick and not reporting for work. But I had wonderful colleagues who taught me the ropes of managing the tough principal as well as managing the naughty students in the upper classes.
It was at Aroozoo School when I learnt something about the complexities of society which I had taken for granted. The racial riots of 1964 left an indelible mark in my life. I was then living in the Kaki Bukit area, a predominantly Malay kampong with a sprinkling of some Chinese and Indians among the kampong dwellers. I used to walk through the kampong paths to get to Paya Lebar Road and take a bus to Upper Serangoon Road and then walk down Charlton Road to the school. I was teaching in the afternoon session then and when the riots broke out for the first time in July, I was still in school and heard that a curfew was being imposed. Schools had to close and children had to be sent home. I remember being one of the last to leave the school and when I had got to Upper Serangoon Road, the people were all running helter – skelter as the curfew time was approaching. I distinctly remember the bus that was supposed to take me to Paya Lebar Fire Station, stopped along the way and the driver shouted to us to get down as he was not going further down Paya Lebar Road. We alighted somewhere near Tai Seng and people started running . I wasn’t really afraid, but many people were advising me to run and hide. I didn’t know where to hide, so I just kept on walking as fast as I could along the main road till I reached Geylang. It was there that I saw what was happening. Groups of men were chasing individuals with whatever things they could lay their hands on – sticks, knives, bicycle chains, wooden stool s, steel pipes etc. It was a frightening scene. I then realized I had to get out of the area, and as I was familiar with the nooks and crannies of this kampong area, I managed to get out of the dangerous paths and find my way home, almost in the dark. It was an impactful experience and I realized for the first time how race and religion can become explosive weapons for the trouble-makers to exploit the masses and cause havoc in a country. What started out as a religious procession led to fierce fighting between the Malays and Chinese. For the first time it dawned on me that I should not take peace and stability for granted.
In the days that followed, life became tough for many people in the kampong because food was not easy to get, shops remained closed, people were afraid to go out, and we kept hearing rumours of killings and fighting around the Geylang area. But somehow we never did witness any fights in Jalan Ketola. One reason for this was one of our neighbours was an ex- gang leader who was feared and respected by many gangsters in the area. I remember one night where there was a gathering of Malay and Chinese men at this man’s house and soon after that, people went round to all the houses in the vicinity to tell them the good news that a peace agreement had been worked for our kampong. Both Chinese and Malays will stand together and protect the people against any outside gangs trying to attack the kampong. Soon after that shops opened, and people came out of the houses and kids started to play outdoors. In the days to come, things went back to normal. I continued to teach at Aroozoo School when the second series of communal riots broke out on 2 September 1964. It was reported that a mysterious killing of a Malay trishaw rider opposite the Changi market at Geylang Serai prompted Malays in the area to take retaliatory action against the Chinese. By 4 September, the rioting had become widespread and an islandwide curfew was imposed. Everyone had to stay indoors for whole day save ashort duration for people to buy essential food and items. The curfew was finally lifted on 11 September.
Reports from the government mentioned that during the July riots, 23 persons had died and 454 others injured. There was also extensive damage to public and private properties, especially in the areas around Kallang Road, Geylang Road and Geylang Serai. Stalls and shops were damaged by rioters throwing stones, bottles and other projectiles, while some shophouses were burnt down. Rioters also overturned a number of scooters and cars and smashed the windows of cars parked along the roads. The September riots resulted in 13 deaths and 106 persons injured. Rioters again caused extensive damage to public and private properties, especially in the Geylang Serai area.
As a young man just starting out in life and in the first job, I experienced a hardship on my family and kampong, and learnt that race and religious tolerance is vital for our country and that no peace of growth can be possible if the different people in our multi-ethnic society do not uphold the critical foundations of our beloved country – democracy, justice, peace, equality and tolerance. I am thankful that the founding leaders, and people believed in these values that have made Singapore what it is today, and put in place the necessary laws and policies to ensure peace and stability for our beloved nation.
Walter Jayandran
Member of the Pioneer Generation