INTRODUCTION

Family Background:

I lived with my parents, 2 elder sisters and 4 brothers in the atap house belonged to my grandfather. I’m the fourth son in the family and after me is my youngest brother who is one year my junior. My father worked as a carpenter in a wooden case workshop at Lavender Street and my mother is a washerwoman who also collects clothes home for washing. My father worked very late every day and my mother collects pile of clothes for washing just to keep the family going.

Childhood Life

During those days, we rarely had a chance to taste chicken or duck meat. The only time that we can have these delicacies is during Chinese New Year or Ancestor commemoration day. Our meals are simple mostly consist of porridge, bean sprout, vegetables and fish. Nowadays children can enjoy chicken meat almost everyday not mentioning the convenience of fast food outlets, which even cater delivery service. Like all my brothers, I studied in Balestier Primary School, which is situated along Balestier Road. As three of my brothers were already in the upper primary, I followed them to school daily. The distant between the school and our house is approximately twenty minutes walking. During those days, transport is not as convenience as today and apart from this we cannot afford to take a bus to school. Our parents provide us with ten cents daily for our school expenses. I can still recall a peculiar incident that my second brother practiced. When time to go school, he will put on his white shoes and when school is over, he will take out his shoes and tie them to his school bag walking bare footed home