11. MY SECOND APPOINTMENT
After the Command Anniversary celebrations of 1956 I had my furlough in Malacca, staying with Mr. & Mrs. Tan Khia Fatt, while he was the branch manager of AIA there. They were soldiers of the corps and were very kind to Lt. Lim, their corps officer whom she referred to as her “younger brother.” Unfortunately Mrs. Tan Soo Lan is now suffering from Dementia, living with her son and his family in Bedok.
On 27th July 1957 Lt. Lim and I became engaged. In August 1957 the cadets of the Faithful Session were commissioned and one of them, Lt. Goh Siong Kheng, was appointed to Kuching Corps; I was then moved to Malacca Corps while Lt. Lim went to Balestier his home corps in Singapore.
Not long after my arrival into my second appointment I had my 21st birthday. Captain Staples bought a lovely cake but there were only two of us to eat it! I remember cutting it but forget what else happened. However, I still have my cards among the rest of the special ones received on the various significant occasions in my life!
Captain Staples and I followed the same busy schedule as our predecessor, Lt. Lim. There was Sunday morning Holiness Meeting at 10; Sunday school at 3 p.m.; Open-air meeting at 5 and Sunday evening Salvation Meeting at 7. Monday morning was always spent recording statistics and writing reports to CHQ. During the week, there were the usual meetings like Home League on Tuesday afternoon, Holiness Meeting on Thursday night, and classes for the Corps Cadets and tuition for the schoolchildren, Torchbearer youth group meeting on Friday evening and English meeting on Saturday. During the weekdays there was always the 18 hours per week visitation to be done. We travelled everywhere by bicycle, even for carolling with the youth almost every night in December before 25th.
We also had 2 lists of donors from whom we collected – one for Annual Appeal and the other monthly for the corps. One of our regular corps donors was Mrs. C.Y Chang, who was a sister of the well-known Mr. C. K. Tang of Singapore. Her husband, Mr. Chang, was a Methodist lay preacher and a great friend to the corps officers of Malacca. He used to help us at least once a week with the local dialect and in turn we assisted him in English. He was also always willing to conduct the meetings whenever the officers were out of town.
I
While I was stationed in Malacca, I was allowed to visit Singapore once in 6 weeks. I would leave Malacca by a Sing Liang bus on Wednesday morning. It was a journey of six hours, crossing two ferries, at Muar and Batu Pahat. At the end of the journey, my beloved would meet me at the bus station at Beach Road, Singapore about 5 p.m. to take me to the home of Chim Ku Ma and Ku Cheong at 41 Dhoby Ghuat. Lt. Lim and I would spend Wednesday evening strolling along Princess Elizabeth Walk, but he was careful to take me back by 9.30 p.m. because he himself wanted to be home by 10 p.m. Thursday was spent shopping for what I needed but mostly it was only look see, look see. Sometimes it was to visit his parents and other relatives. He always had my long-sleeved uniform ironed and white shoes cleaned ready for the United Thursday Night Holiness Meeting. We never missed attending this meeting. On Friday morning I had to catch the first bus back to Malacca.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Friday, March 19, 2010
THIS IS MY LIFE -10
10. OC Played CUPID
As a corps cadet I had a pen pal in New Zealand, Corps Cadet Dorothy Rusher. When I was commissioned to Kuching, my Commanding Officer was Major Agnes Morgan, a New Zealander. She often wrote home with news about her work in Kuching. The editor of the New Zealand War was Major Leslie Rusher, Dorothy’s father. One day he made an appeal for a concertina for me. Soon I received a second-hand one! Earlier the same year, Lt. Lim also accepted an old concertina from a couple of Salvationists who had been to the International Youth Congress in 1950. Our OC, Colonel Harvey was a wizard with that instrument. On one of his visits to Melaka he gave him a short lesson after which Lt. Lim practised, playing it almost all day and night!
As I was having furlough after the Command Anniversary meetings he suggested that Lt. should also have his furlough at the same time. He also persuaded him to give me a lesson or two because he became quite good at it. The Colonel even made available a place for us to meet – in his own office, after 5 p.m. We did not feel comfortable being shut in the OC’s office, so we sat outside on the steps leading up to the lawn which in later years became a carpark. On our next lesson, I was impressed that the young man was thoughtful enough to bring some old newspapers as mats for us to sit!
The other officers teased us no end! Everyone thought the OC was playing cupid. Perhaps he was! In any case he readily gave us permission to correspond officially the following year, although we four lieutenants had kept in touch with each other from time to time.
After a period of correspondence we became engaged on 27th July 1957. Traditionally the Teochew way of announcing an engagement was to distribute peanut and sesame brittles wrapped in red paper. This his mother did, visiting their relatives and friends with the sweets.
The custom among the Cantonese was by visiting with boxes of cupcakes. We bought about a dozen boxes for our few relatives (ku mas) and their friends, giving a box to each family.
As a corps cadet I had a pen pal in New Zealand, Corps Cadet Dorothy Rusher. When I was commissioned to Kuching, my Commanding Officer was Major Agnes Morgan, a New Zealander. She often wrote home with news about her work in Kuching. The editor of the New Zealand War was Major Leslie Rusher, Dorothy’s father. One day he made an appeal for a concertina for me. Soon I received a second-hand one! Earlier the same year, Lt. Lim also accepted an old concertina from a couple of Salvationists who had been to the International Youth Congress in 1950. Our OC, Colonel Harvey was a wizard with that instrument. On one of his visits to Melaka he gave him a short lesson after which Lt. Lim practised, playing it almost all day and night!
As I was having furlough after the Command Anniversary meetings he suggested that Lt. should also have his furlough at the same time. He also persuaded him to give me a lesson or two because he became quite good at it. The Colonel even made available a place for us to meet – in his own office, after 5 p.m. We did not feel comfortable being shut in the OC’s office, so we sat outside on the steps leading up to the lawn which in later years became a carpark. On our next lesson, I was impressed that the young man was thoughtful enough to bring some old newspapers as mats for us to sit!
The other officers teased us no end! Everyone thought the OC was playing cupid. Perhaps he was! In any case he readily gave us permission to correspond officially the following year, although we four lieutenants had kept in touch with each other from time to time.
After a period of correspondence we became engaged on 27th July 1957. Traditionally the Teochew way of announcing an engagement was to distribute peanut and sesame brittles wrapped in red paper. This his mother did, visiting their relatives and friends with the sweets.
The custom among the Cantonese was by visiting with boxes of cupcakes. We bought about a dozen boxes for our few relatives (ku mas) and their friends, giving a box to each family.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
THIS IS MY LIFE - 9
9 - CHINESE NEW YEAR
When I was growing up in the 50s in The Army Children’s Home in Singapore, those of us who had relatives could go home for Chinese New Year. My sister and I went back to Ku Ma wherever she was working, but we usually stayed with the Chow family. (Mrs. Chow was Pui Sim’s godmother whose family moved to Kuala Lumpur during the war.) They were very kind to us, always bought us each a pair of shoes every New Year. We were also taken out visiting and received angpows (red packets with money, often coins in those days) from their relatives and friends!
When Mother was alive, my sister and I always gave all our angpows to her for recycling because she had to reciprocate. When Ku Ma became our guardian we did the same.
This festival is sometimes called the Lunar New Year which is more accurate. It is referred to as Chinese New Year in Singapore because it is celebrated by the majority of people who are Han Chinese. In China it is called the Spring festival observed by the other oriental races like the Japanese and Koreans too.
I signed my candidate papers in August and sat for my Senior Cambridge exams in December 1953. I should be looking for a job to help out with the family budget. However, The Army’s Training College opened in January the next year. Soon it was Chinese New Year and the college was closed for the usual two days.
Being brought up by missionary officers in charge of the Children’s Home I was not familiar with my obligations as a young adult during the Lunar New Year. The Lord was good in that the first cook in the college, Madam Poon Wai Ying, was a mature woman who advised me what to do. As I was going to my Ku Ma I should buy something for the reunion dinner. I had no money, having spent what I had on getting my outfit for college. However, I had a little plain gold ring. She pawned it for $6.00 and bought some Chinese sausages and mandarin oranges for me to take home. (By the way, I did not have the means to redeem my ring.) It was the only Chinese New Year I was able to stay with Ku Ma, because she had rented a room to stay with my sister. By the time the next Lunar New Year came round I was commissioned to Kuching in Sarawak. It was a pity she did not live long enough for us to show some appreciation for all she did for us in the 12 years she was our guardian.
In October 1954 I was commissioned to Kuching, Sarawak which together with Sabah and Singapore joined Malaya to form Malaysia in l965. So for the first 14 years of my officership Chinese New Year was celebrated in Malaysia very much like in Singapore.
In January 1983 my husband and I were appointed to Hong Kong where the Lunar New Year was celebrated on a bigger scale, with dinners, dinners and more dinners in restaurants, grand displays of lion dances and fireworks. The children enjoyed two weeks school holidays. Our appointment lasted more than 7 and a half years, before we received another to the Philippines for 3 years, followed by 4 in London.
In the Philippines, this festival was not marked as a public holiday. Neither was it in England. In Manila we had only one fellow reinforcement officer, Captain Edwards, whom we invited to share our reunion dinner. I should say “end of the year” dinner. After she returned to the States we had Captain Gillian Downer from UK to join us in service. She too was our guest for one end of the year meal. In London we had other Chinese friends who were serving away from home or visiting during that time of the year, to celebrate our end of the year meal. There were also times when we introduced this custom to some English friends by having them home for a steamboat meal.
One year Major Mrs. Blundell who had served in Hong Kong in bygone years, invited me to speak in a Home League meeting about the observance of the Chinese New Year. I spoke about the various customs of Singapore and Hong Kong in the observance of this festival. For the firing of crackers I had some balloons blown up and tied into a bunch. At the appropriate moment I pricked them one by one with a pin to burst them, making a terrible noise. At the end of the meeting each attendee received an angpow of chocolate coins wrapped in gold foil! It was the year of the Pig, and one very clever lady had baked little buns in the shape of piglets with a delicious meal cooked by the Home League ladies. It was fun! However one lady told me it was a different Home League Meeting!!
When I was growing up in the 50s in The Army Children’s Home in Singapore, those of us who had relatives could go home for Chinese New Year. My sister and I went back to Ku Ma wherever she was working, but we usually stayed with the Chow family. (Mrs. Chow was Pui Sim’s godmother whose family moved to Kuala Lumpur during the war.) They were very kind to us, always bought us each a pair of shoes every New Year. We were also taken out visiting and received angpows (red packets with money, often coins in those days) from their relatives and friends!
When Mother was alive, my sister and I always gave all our angpows to her for recycling because she had to reciprocate. When Ku Ma became our guardian we did the same.
This festival is sometimes called the Lunar New Year which is more accurate. It is referred to as Chinese New Year in Singapore because it is celebrated by the majority of people who are Han Chinese. In China it is called the Spring festival observed by the other oriental races like the Japanese and Koreans too.
I signed my candidate papers in August and sat for my Senior Cambridge exams in December 1953. I should be looking for a job to help out with the family budget. However, The Army’s Training College opened in January the next year. Soon it was Chinese New Year and the college was closed for the usual two days.
Being brought up by missionary officers in charge of the Children’s Home I was not familiar with my obligations as a young adult during the Lunar New Year. The Lord was good in that the first cook in the college, Madam Poon Wai Ying, was a mature woman who advised me what to do. As I was going to my Ku Ma I should buy something for the reunion dinner. I had no money, having spent what I had on getting my outfit for college. However, I had a little plain gold ring. She pawned it for $6.00 and bought some Chinese sausages and mandarin oranges for me to take home. (By the way, I did not have the means to redeem my ring.) It was the only Chinese New Year I was able to stay with Ku Ma, because she had rented a room to stay with my sister. By the time the next Lunar New Year came round I was commissioned to Kuching in Sarawak. It was a pity she did not live long enough for us to show some appreciation for all she did for us in the 12 years she was our guardian.
In October 1954 I was commissioned to Kuching, Sarawak which together with Sabah and Singapore joined Malaya to form Malaysia in l965. So for the first 14 years of my officership Chinese New Year was celebrated in Malaysia very much like in Singapore.
In January 1983 my husband and I were appointed to Hong Kong where the Lunar New Year was celebrated on a bigger scale, with dinners, dinners and more dinners in restaurants, grand displays of lion dances and fireworks. The children enjoyed two weeks school holidays. Our appointment lasted more than 7 and a half years, before we received another to the Philippines for 3 years, followed by 4 in London.
In the Philippines, this festival was not marked as a public holiday. Neither was it in England. In Manila we had only one fellow reinforcement officer, Captain Edwards, whom we invited to share our reunion dinner. I should say “end of the year” dinner. After she returned to the States we had Captain Gillian Downer from UK to join us in service. She too was our guest for one end of the year meal. In London we had other Chinese friends who were serving away from home or visiting during that time of the year, to celebrate our end of the year meal. There were also times when we introduced this custom to some English friends by having them home for a steamboat meal.
One year Major Mrs. Blundell who had served in Hong Kong in bygone years, invited me to speak in a Home League meeting about the observance of the Chinese New Year. I spoke about the various customs of Singapore and Hong Kong in the observance of this festival. For the firing of crackers I had some balloons blown up and tied into a bunch. At the appropriate moment I pricked them one by one with a pin to burst them, making a terrible noise. At the end of the meeting each attendee received an angpow of chocolate coins wrapped in gold foil! It was the year of the Pig, and one very clever lady had baked little buns in the shape of piglets with a delicious meal cooked by the Home League ladies. It was fun! However one lady told me it was a different Home League Meeting!!
Thursday, March 11, 2010
THIS IS MY LIFE - 8
8. THE HOME CALL of KU MA
During the 1950s life was simply and rather routine compared to these days. As corps officers we were busy enough though. The highlight of the year was the anniversary of The Army’s beginnings in the Singapore and Malaya Command, usually celebrated the last weekend in May. As there were only the Children’s Home and Corps in Kuching then, the officers of each centre attended the Anniversary every other year, while the others held the fort.
After the celebrations, we would take our annual furlough which was only two weeks for lieutenants and three weeks for captains onwards, including travelling time! Our means of travelling to and from Kuching was by weekend boat; this would take more than two weeks! It seemed that Lieutenant Chan and I would not be able to have our annual leave in Singapore then, because our time away would exceed a fortnight! However, Colonel Harvey was very kind. He allowed us to travel one way by plane! Unheard of! The other officers thought we were thoroughly spoilt! Imagine how excited Lt. Chan and I were!
Ku Ma, my aunt, was envious of me travelling by air! She had never been out of Singapore from the day she first arrived in Singapore in a cargo boat from China, some twenty years earlier. I promised that I would save enough to buy her a plane ticket to visit me in Kuching.
However, this was not to be because before the end of the year she passed away.
Ku Ma had started to attend Sunday worship at the Chinese YMCA. During my two weeks of furlough, each Sunday I went with her to a Cantonese service. (There was no Chinese ministry in The Army then.)
We had no idea that she was suffering from kidney problems. Even when she was sick in Kwong Wai Siew Hospital, she asked to keep it from me. The time came when she was transferred to Sago Lane, no church or pastor would minister to her because my aunt was not baptized. The Army came to the rescue; Major Tan Eng Soon visited her. (He was the father of Christina Ng and grandfather of Sharon, Kathryn and Benjamin of Central Corps) A telegram was sent me in Kuching but was not received till three days later! A second one arrived informing me of her Home call. Somehow, I arrived at the Singapore airport, whisked straight to the Bidadari Cemetery to an Army funeral with a band on duty! This was all possible, thanks to the mercy of God and the efficiency of the PR officer, Major Stan Gordon.
My sister finished her Senior Cambridge Exams on 10th and the Lord took Ku Ma Home on 15th December 1955. This was exactly two years after I went to The Army Training College. At first I had a sense of regret for not acceding to her request to postpone my training till Pui Sim finished her crucial exams, to enable us to share some family life together. However, I have a clear conscience because I had made my decision based on the Word of our Lord – that Jesus should have precedence in all things. (Matt 10: 37) In any case, I believe the Lord took my Ku Ma to a mansion in glory, better than any palace on earth! (She was living with my sister in a little room at the back of the basement of a big house in Cairnhill Circle where I stayed them while on furlough.)
When Ku Ma passed away my sister was 17 years old, and had to wait till the following year to enter the Teachers Training College. She spent those few months with me in Kuching. Major Willis, Superintendent of the Kuching Children’s Home was very kind, giving her a temporary job in the section for a few elderly ladies. On her return to Singapore, Pui Sim boarded with Chim Ku Ma, one of Father’s cousins and married to Ho Pak Khuan.
In recent years when the government needed more land to build homes for the living, there was a big exhumation at Bidadari Cemetery. My husband and I accepted the government’s offer of a niche at Choa Chu Kang Columbarium for Ku Ma, located at:-
FONG HENG
Blk. Level A – 03
Room 08, #134
During the 1950s life was simply and rather routine compared to these days. As corps officers we were busy enough though. The highlight of the year was the anniversary of The Army’s beginnings in the Singapore and Malaya Command, usually celebrated the last weekend in May. As there were only the Children’s Home and Corps in Kuching then, the officers of each centre attended the Anniversary every other year, while the others held the fort.
After the celebrations, we would take our annual furlough which was only two weeks for lieutenants and three weeks for captains onwards, including travelling time! Our means of travelling to and from Kuching was by weekend boat; this would take more than two weeks! It seemed that Lieutenant Chan and I would not be able to have our annual leave in Singapore then, because our time away would exceed a fortnight! However, Colonel Harvey was very kind. He allowed us to travel one way by plane! Unheard of! The other officers thought we were thoroughly spoilt! Imagine how excited Lt. Chan and I were!
Ku Ma, my aunt, was envious of me travelling by air! She had never been out of Singapore from the day she first arrived in Singapore in a cargo boat from China, some twenty years earlier. I promised that I would save enough to buy her a plane ticket to visit me in Kuching.
However, this was not to be because before the end of the year she passed away.
Ku Ma had started to attend Sunday worship at the Chinese YMCA. During my two weeks of furlough, each Sunday I went with her to a Cantonese service. (There was no Chinese ministry in The Army then.)
We had no idea that she was suffering from kidney problems. Even when she was sick in Kwong Wai Siew Hospital, she asked to keep it from me. The time came when she was transferred to Sago Lane, no church or pastor would minister to her because my aunt was not baptized. The Army came to the rescue; Major Tan Eng Soon visited her. (He was the father of Christina Ng and grandfather of Sharon, Kathryn and Benjamin of Central Corps) A telegram was sent me in Kuching but was not received till three days later! A second one arrived informing me of her Home call. Somehow, I arrived at the Singapore airport, whisked straight to the Bidadari Cemetery to an Army funeral with a band on duty! This was all possible, thanks to the mercy of God and the efficiency of the PR officer, Major Stan Gordon.
My sister finished her Senior Cambridge Exams on 10th and the Lord took Ku Ma Home on 15th December 1955. This was exactly two years after I went to The Army Training College. At first I had a sense of regret for not acceding to her request to postpone my training till Pui Sim finished her crucial exams, to enable us to share some family life together. However, I have a clear conscience because I had made my decision based on the Word of our Lord – that Jesus should have precedence in all things. (Matt 10: 37) In any case, I believe the Lord took my Ku Ma to a mansion in glory, better than any palace on earth! (She was living with my sister in a little room at the back of the basement of a big house in Cairnhill Circle where I stayed them while on furlough.)
When Ku Ma passed away my sister was 17 years old, and had to wait till the following year to enter the Teachers Training College. She spent those few months with me in Kuching. Major Willis, Superintendent of the Kuching Children’s Home was very kind, giving her a temporary job in the section for a few elderly ladies. On her return to Singapore, Pui Sim boarded with Chim Ku Ma, one of Father’s cousins and married to Ho Pak Khuan.
In recent years when the government needed more land to build homes for the living, there was a big exhumation at Bidadari Cemetery. My husband and I accepted the government’s offer of a niche at Choa Chu Kang Columbarium for Ku Ma, located at:-
FONG HENG
Blk. Level A – 03
Room 08, #134
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
THIS IS MY LIFE - 7
7 - MY FIRST APPOINTMENT
Lieutenant Chan and I travelled to our first appointments in Kuching on a cargo boat. The Officer Commanding drove us to Clifford Pier from where we boarded a launch which took us to the outer shores. We climbed up a plank suspended by ropes to board the Bentong. Then the OC went back to Clifford Pier. Lt-Colonel Harvey was a very kind and fatherly Officer Commanding indeed!
Lieutenant Chan and I were poor sailors; we soon became seasick! It took us 36 hours crossing the South China Sea before arriving at Pending where the boat berthed. Major Elsie Willis the matron of the Kuching Children’s Home, met us. She had been the very first Salvation Army officer who was in charge of the Singapore Children’s Home before the war. Now I came under her wings again!
In 1950 The Army was invited by the governor, Sir Anthony Abel, to open a Home for children in Kuching when Sarawak was under British administration like Singapore. The pioneer was Major Willis. Permission was granted for a Corps to be started as well and Captain Agnes Morgan was appointed the first Corps Officer of Kuching. Lieutenant Chan and I were the first national officers to be appointed to Sarawak.
Prior to our commissioning, Captain Morgan had an accident as she cycled home after a Sunday night meeting. She had to be hospitalised with a fractured neck. So my first duty was to visit, read the Bible and prayed with my Corps Officer! After her discharge from the hospital she had to continue wearing a plastic collar for sometime. I learnt how to comb her hair made two plaits and wound them up and round her head forming a hair band. Captain suggested that I also do my hair the same way or in a bun! It would save money, instead of spending $10.00 on a perm. The first time I had my hair permed was on the instruction of the Training Principal because I looked too much like a schoolgirl! I guess it would have been very practical and helpful to accept my Captain’s advice!
I received my very first pay packet as a brand new Lieutenant with a gross allowance of S$150.00 per month. I requested Headquarters in Singapore to deduct part of my allowance for my sister to collect each month. In his concern for me the OC thought $20.00 was a fair amount. In those days every officer had to contribute $5.00 monthly to the pension fund. So, from the grant for Kuching Corps I received $125.00 each month. Then my first obligation was my tithe, $15.00 followed by housekeeping. It was reckoned that half of our total allowance would be required for this item. Captain and I shelled out $70.00 each, and took turns to keep the monthly accounts, covering expenses like food, electricity, gas, newspapers and other household necessities. Social officers stationed in a Home, paid $2.00 per month for the use of the Home refrigerator. Captain had a small one given by her sister from New Zealand. I felt likewise I should pay her $2.00 for my use of it.
I learnt from Captain to write home once a week which meant I needed to budget for postage, especially at Christmas time! She was a good teacher on thrift too. Absolutely nothing was ever wasted; every paper clip, pin, or rubber band was recycled. Through careful budgeting I saved up enough to buy a Bible concordance at $15.00 on my first visit to Singapore for the Command Anniversary! By the time I left Kuching, after almost three years in that town, I also had bought a second-hand Singer Sewing machine costing $100.00, paid for by installments! (By the way this is still in use!)
The corps hall was located above a wooden attap hut. In bygone years the building had been a private Chinese school. Now the ground floor was a motor mechanic shop; partitioned behind was a room where a very elderly teacher and his wife lived. A narrow staircase led up to our corps hall with a couple of wooden tables and several long benches. Before my departure from Singapore I was teased - I might fall through the floor boards because I weighed only 38 kg, or I could shake the building down should I put on too much weight! It was true that the whole place swayed when the children ran across the hall!
Our corps quarters was a rented unit of a row of flats in Ban Hock Road, next to a Hindu temple. The front portion was our sitting cum dining room. Half the back was our kitchen, bathroom and toilet, while the other half was an open courtyard. The whole of upstairs was only half the length of the building, partitioned into two bedrooms; Captain had the front room, and I had the back one which looked down to the courtyard.
Right behind was a big house in which lived the Chan family. I learnt to ride the bike, going up and down the driveway. A few years later, the government acquired the stately home for The Army to run a Boys’ Home, which is still there, though some extensions have been made. In 1965 the building in front of the Home was erected by the government as quarters for the superintendant.
In the 50’s most people travelled about on bicycles. Cars were few and far between. At first I went around by bus. There were no fixed times, routes nor bus stops to board. We simply told the driver our destination and he would drop us off as and when he got there! This was incentive enough for me to learn to ride my bike soonest possible!
Like many towns in Malaya and Singapore then, even now, majority of the population were Chinese, with Hokkien widely used. In the Kuching corps district many were fisherfolk, whose dialect was Hingwha. My own dialect is Cantonese so I had to learn Hokkien, especially Biblical terms. Usually Captain spoke in Mandarin and I translated into Hokkien, though we did our preparation in English!
The corps programme was a busy one. Sunday morning began with a prayer meeting at 8.00 am. at our quarters. After breakfast we cycled to the corps about a mile away, for the Holiness Meeting at 10.00 am. Then it was back to the quarters for a cold lunch –usually a can of luncheon meat or corned beef, mashed potatoes and boiled vegetables, all prepared the day before. After a short rest it was back to the corps, for the Sunday school at 3.00 p.m. The evening Salvation Meeting at 6.00 p.m. was preceded by an open-air meeting at 5.00 pm. As the corps was new we had no local officers except for Major Willis who acted as Corps Secretary. As the corps assistant officer, I did most of the housework like cleaning, cooking and washing up. However, Captain would not let me do her personal laundry.
Monday morning was spent in doing the corps books, like filling in the statistics. Captain would write her report and answer CHQ mail etc. on her personal typewriter. Monday afternoon was our free time, but I had my monthly probationary, then advanced lessons to do and sent to CHQ to be marked.
At first the corps folk thought I was kid and asked why I was not going to school! I was often mistakened as one of the girls in the Home. Three weeks after my arrival to the corps I had my 18th birthday. I was still addressed as Ah Moi when out in the streets! Perhaps if I had added to my weight of 85 lbs. and height of 5ft., it would have helped!
Every Tuesday afternoon a Home League Meeting was held at the corps hall as an outreach programme for women. Wednesday was spent visiting the corps folk in their homes, but there was a weekly Junior and a Senior Soldiers’ Meeting at the corps. It was easier for Captain and I to cycle to the Children’s Home which was some distance from town than for a crowd to be transported to the corps. So, every Thursday afternoon was spent at the Home where we conducted the activities of a Brownie Pack and a Girl Guide Company. After our evening meal with the Home officers we also conducted the Junior and Senior meetings before cycling home. The programmes of the Brownies and Girl Guides were repeated every Friday at the corps hall. Saturday afternoon was Joy Hour with the children before cleaning the hall ready for Sunday morning Worship and Sunday School in the afternoon, an open-air meeting prior to the Sunday Night Meeting.
MY CO, Captain Morgan was a great fan of the Baden Powell Movement - Girl Guides and Brownies, Boy Scouts and Cubs. Growing up, I had been a Sunbeam and Life-Saving Guard (the The Army’s counterpart.) Being the Assistant Corps Officer I was involved with all the YP Corps activities even though some of them were not my cup of tea! I had never camped overnight before, not under a tent. I now had to help run a camp where we had to set up canvas tents, make our own tables and seats from bamboo sticks and ropes, cook over an open fire and draw water from a stream. One of the first essential duties was to build a fence around a small area for bathroom and toilet which was a hole dug in the ground. One of the tests for the girls was a three mile walk, and to boil water for a cup of tea midway on the trip. This was done on our last day of camp. I was really glad when it was all over!
In August 1957 I farewelled from Kuching to Melacca Corps; and Lt. Goh Siong Kheng from the FAITHFUL Session of cadets was commissioned to Kuching Corps.
Thus ended my three happy years in my first appointment!
Lieutenant Chan and I travelled to our first appointments in Kuching on a cargo boat. The Officer Commanding drove us to Clifford Pier from where we boarded a launch which took us to the outer shores. We climbed up a plank suspended by ropes to board the Bentong. Then the OC went back to Clifford Pier. Lt-Colonel Harvey was a very kind and fatherly Officer Commanding indeed!
Lieutenant Chan and I were poor sailors; we soon became seasick! It took us 36 hours crossing the South China Sea before arriving at Pending where the boat berthed. Major Elsie Willis the matron of the Kuching Children’s Home, met us. She had been the very first Salvation Army officer who was in charge of the Singapore Children’s Home before the war. Now I came under her wings again!
In 1950 The Army was invited by the governor, Sir Anthony Abel, to open a Home for children in Kuching when Sarawak was under British administration like Singapore. The pioneer was Major Willis. Permission was granted for a Corps to be started as well and Captain Agnes Morgan was appointed the first Corps Officer of Kuching. Lieutenant Chan and I were the first national officers to be appointed to Sarawak.
Prior to our commissioning, Captain Morgan had an accident as she cycled home after a Sunday night meeting. She had to be hospitalised with a fractured neck. So my first duty was to visit, read the Bible and prayed with my Corps Officer! After her discharge from the hospital she had to continue wearing a plastic collar for sometime. I learnt how to comb her hair made two plaits and wound them up and round her head forming a hair band. Captain suggested that I also do my hair the same way or in a bun! It would save money, instead of spending $10.00 on a perm. The first time I had my hair permed was on the instruction of the Training Principal because I looked too much like a schoolgirl! I guess it would have been very practical and helpful to accept my Captain’s advice!
I received my very first pay packet as a brand new Lieutenant with a gross allowance of S$150.00 per month. I requested Headquarters in Singapore to deduct part of my allowance for my sister to collect each month. In his concern for me the OC thought $20.00 was a fair amount. In those days every officer had to contribute $5.00 monthly to the pension fund. So, from the grant for Kuching Corps I received $125.00 each month. Then my first obligation was my tithe, $15.00 followed by housekeeping. It was reckoned that half of our total allowance would be required for this item. Captain and I shelled out $70.00 each, and took turns to keep the monthly accounts, covering expenses like food, electricity, gas, newspapers and other household necessities. Social officers stationed in a Home, paid $2.00 per month for the use of the Home refrigerator. Captain had a small one given by her sister from New Zealand. I felt likewise I should pay her $2.00 for my use of it.
I learnt from Captain to write home once a week which meant I needed to budget for postage, especially at Christmas time! She was a good teacher on thrift too. Absolutely nothing was ever wasted; every paper clip, pin, or rubber band was recycled. Through careful budgeting I saved up enough to buy a Bible concordance at $15.00 on my first visit to Singapore for the Command Anniversary! By the time I left Kuching, after almost three years in that town, I also had bought a second-hand Singer Sewing machine costing $100.00, paid for by installments! (By the way this is still in use!)
The corps hall was located above a wooden attap hut. In bygone years the building had been a private Chinese school. Now the ground floor was a motor mechanic shop; partitioned behind was a room where a very elderly teacher and his wife lived. A narrow staircase led up to our corps hall with a couple of wooden tables and several long benches. Before my departure from Singapore I was teased - I might fall through the floor boards because I weighed only 38 kg, or I could shake the building down should I put on too much weight! It was true that the whole place swayed when the children ran across the hall!
Our corps quarters was a rented unit of a row of flats in Ban Hock Road, next to a Hindu temple. The front portion was our sitting cum dining room. Half the back was our kitchen, bathroom and toilet, while the other half was an open courtyard. The whole of upstairs was only half the length of the building, partitioned into two bedrooms; Captain had the front room, and I had the back one which looked down to the courtyard.
Right behind was a big house in which lived the Chan family. I learnt to ride the bike, going up and down the driveway. A few years later, the government acquired the stately home for The Army to run a Boys’ Home, which is still there, though some extensions have been made. In 1965 the building in front of the Home was erected by the government as quarters for the superintendant.
In the 50’s most people travelled about on bicycles. Cars were few and far between. At first I went around by bus. There were no fixed times, routes nor bus stops to board. We simply told the driver our destination and he would drop us off as and when he got there! This was incentive enough for me to learn to ride my bike soonest possible!
Like many towns in Malaya and Singapore then, even now, majority of the population were Chinese, with Hokkien widely used. In the Kuching corps district many were fisherfolk, whose dialect was Hingwha. My own dialect is Cantonese so I had to learn Hokkien, especially Biblical terms. Usually Captain spoke in Mandarin and I translated into Hokkien, though we did our preparation in English!
The corps programme was a busy one. Sunday morning began with a prayer meeting at 8.00 am. at our quarters. After breakfast we cycled to the corps about a mile away, for the Holiness Meeting at 10.00 am. Then it was back to the quarters for a cold lunch –usually a can of luncheon meat or corned beef, mashed potatoes and boiled vegetables, all prepared the day before. After a short rest it was back to the corps, for the Sunday school at 3.00 p.m. The evening Salvation Meeting at 6.00 p.m. was preceded by an open-air meeting at 5.00 pm. As the corps was new we had no local officers except for Major Willis who acted as Corps Secretary. As the corps assistant officer, I did most of the housework like cleaning, cooking and washing up. However, Captain would not let me do her personal laundry.
Monday morning was spent in doing the corps books, like filling in the statistics. Captain would write her report and answer CHQ mail etc. on her personal typewriter. Monday afternoon was our free time, but I had my monthly probationary, then advanced lessons to do and sent to CHQ to be marked.
At first the corps folk thought I was kid and asked why I was not going to school! I was often mistakened as one of the girls in the Home. Three weeks after my arrival to the corps I had my 18th birthday. I was still addressed as Ah Moi when out in the streets! Perhaps if I had added to my weight of 85 lbs. and height of 5ft., it would have helped!
Every Tuesday afternoon a Home League Meeting was held at the corps hall as an outreach programme for women. Wednesday was spent visiting the corps folk in their homes, but there was a weekly Junior and a Senior Soldiers’ Meeting at the corps. It was easier for Captain and I to cycle to the Children’s Home which was some distance from town than for a crowd to be transported to the corps. So, every Thursday afternoon was spent at the Home where we conducted the activities of a Brownie Pack and a Girl Guide Company. After our evening meal with the Home officers we also conducted the Junior and Senior meetings before cycling home. The programmes of the Brownies and Girl Guides were repeated every Friday at the corps hall. Saturday afternoon was Joy Hour with the children before cleaning the hall ready for Sunday morning Worship and Sunday School in the afternoon, an open-air meeting prior to the Sunday Night Meeting.
MY CO, Captain Morgan was a great fan of the Baden Powell Movement - Girl Guides and Brownies, Boy Scouts and Cubs. Growing up, I had been a Sunbeam and Life-Saving Guard (the The Army’s counterpart.) Being the Assistant Corps Officer I was involved with all the YP Corps activities even though some of them were not my cup of tea! I had never camped overnight before, not under a tent. I now had to help run a camp where we had to set up canvas tents, make our own tables and seats from bamboo sticks and ropes, cook over an open fire and draw water from a stream. One of the first essential duties was to build a fence around a small area for bathroom and toilet which was a hole dug in the ground. One of the tests for the girls was a three mile walk, and to boil water for a cup of tea midway on the trip. This was done on our last day of camp. I was really glad when it was all over!
In August 1957 I farewelled from Kuching to Melacca Corps; and Lt. Goh Siong Kheng from the FAITHFUL Session of cadets was commissioned to Kuching Corps.
Thus ended my three happy years in my first appointment!
Friday, March 5, 2010
THIS IS MY LIFE - 6
6 - TRAINING DAYS
In January 1954 the doors of the Training College reopened. It was located on the second floor of the extension or annex to the main building called Temple House of Tan Nyok Nee, at 207 Clemenceau Avenue. Before the war the Army had bought it for its Headquarters at $50,000 from the Anglican Church.
There were 4 cadets in the SHEPHERDS’ Session – the first after World War Two. My session mates were Cadets CHAN Chin Chai from Ipoh, LIM Ah Ang and TEO Poh Leng from Balestier. I entered training from Central. Cadet Chan Chin and I shared a room while the two boys shared another. The two bedrooms were separated by the Lecture hall. Outside the girls’ room was a space which served as our living area. A set of 4 rattan armchairs and a small round table, a small glass-door cabinet with 4 shelves of books as the library formed our lounge. Half of the area was our dining room with a heavy rectangular table, 6 upright chairs and a sideboard.
The then General Secretary, Major Will Price was appointed as the Training Officer but had to return to the UK at short notice. The Officer Commanding, Lt-Colonel Frederick, took over. Mrs. Lt-Colonel Mabel Harvey was acting Command Finance Officer, taught us Army Procedure and book-keeping. Captain Arthur Hall, Central Corps Officer took us in Bible and Army Doctrines and Mrs. Captain Vera Hall was our Home Officer. The Public Relation and Property Officer, Major Stanley Gordon, taught us music and singing. Lt. Jean Milton, the OC’s private secretary, gave us Field Training. The other officers filled in as required.
We did the cleaning and washing, and often the cooking too. For some reason or another there were a few changes of cooks during the nine months of our in-training! It was not the fault of us cadets! I suspected there was not enough money. The cooks used to ask me to help them write out their daily accounts. (most could not read nor write English.) The cook would be given $5.00 each morning for everything for the day - bread, margarine, jam, tea, sugar and milk for breakfast. Rice, meat or fish, vegetables, oil, salt for lunch and dinner, soap and other household essentials. We cadets had breakfast by ourselves, but a different officer joined us for lunch or dinner. There was no mid morning coffee, nor mid afternoon teatime. Sometimes the OC would give a treat of ice-cream when out visiting with us. The officers thought he spoilt us cadets!!
Once a week, the CO of Central would take us cadets out for an open-air meeting to invite the people to the meetings. Every Wednesday night we Cadets conducted a meeting at Central Corps, each one taking a turn to give the sermon. On every Thursday night there was a united Holiness Meeting, usually conducted by the OC or GS.
There was no corps officer at Balestier; the OC took us brigading on a Friday afternoon. The building was a very basic attap hut with no running water nor electricity. The hall was used as a kindergarten during the week. At the back of the hall was a small space partitioned off as a utility room. The first thing we cadets did each week was to empty the potties, stack up the little chairs, sweep the floor, and arrange the place ready for a meeting. Then we would hold a short open-air meeting nearby, invite the people to the corps‘s weekly activities, visit door-to-door, round up the children in the area, and proceed to the hall for a Y.P. Meeting.
Week night activities for us cadets included songster and band practices at Central Corps. Torchbearers, and a united Youth Group held on Friday evenings. House cleaning was done on Saturday mornings. Our free time was Saturday after lunch, but we had to be back in the evening for a united open-air meeting at the esplanade.
On Sundays we were assigned to Central or Balestier Corps, involving in its activities – Prayer and Holiness Meetings in the morning, Sunday School, open-air and Salvation Meetings in the afternoon and evening. A new outpost had just been started at Kolam Ayer, in the Kallang area. We cadets took turns to have afternoon tea at the OC’s quarters, and helped in the Sunday School held in the home of Mr. & Mrs. Sevanathan.
This was the beginning of the Tamil Corps, now called Eratchippu.
We were out three weeks for our Field Campaigns. The boys went to Malacca Corps and the girls to Penang Corps. It was the first trip out of the country for most of us. Another time we went for our Social Training. The boys went to Ipoh Boys’ Home and the girls to the Nursery Home in Singapore.
Once there was a request from a lady in England. Her son was doing his national service here. He fell in love with an Erasian girl and they decided to get married at the registry, without any fuss. Perhaps they were short of money. However, the mother appealed to The Army for help. One afternoon the OC conducted the wedding. We cadets and the staff on CHQ formed the congregation. Yours truly was assigned as bridesmaid! (This was part of our training?)
Three weeks prior to our Commissioning, Lieutenants Douglas Kiff and Jean Milton got married. The bride invited us two girl cadets to be her bridesmaids and the men cadets as ushers.
All too soon it was our Commissioning – 24-25 October 1964.
Probationary-Lieutenant LIM Ah Ang as CO to Malacca Corps.
Probationary-Lieutenant TEO Poh Leng as Assistant to Singapore Boys’ Home
Probationary-Lieutenant CHAN Chin Chye as Assistant to Kuching Girls’ Home
Probationary-Lieutenant FONG Pui Chan Assistant CO to Kuching Corps
In January 1954 the doors of the Training College reopened. It was located on the second floor of the extension or annex to the main building called Temple House of Tan Nyok Nee, at 207 Clemenceau Avenue. Before the war the Army had bought it for its Headquarters at $50,000 from the Anglican Church.
There were 4 cadets in the SHEPHERDS’ Session – the first after World War Two. My session mates were Cadets CHAN Chin Chai from Ipoh, LIM Ah Ang and TEO Poh Leng from Balestier. I entered training from Central. Cadet Chan Chin and I shared a room while the two boys shared another. The two bedrooms were separated by the Lecture hall. Outside the girls’ room was a space which served as our living area. A set of 4 rattan armchairs and a small round table, a small glass-door cabinet with 4 shelves of books as the library formed our lounge. Half of the area was our dining room with a heavy rectangular table, 6 upright chairs and a sideboard.
The then General Secretary, Major Will Price was appointed as the Training Officer but had to return to the UK at short notice. The Officer Commanding, Lt-Colonel Frederick, took over. Mrs. Lt-Colonel Mabel Harvey was acting Command Finance Officer, taught us Army Procedure and book-keeping. Captain Arthur Hall, Central Corps Officer took us in Bible and Army Doctrines and Mrs. Captain Vera Hall was our Home Officer. The Public Relation and Property Officer, Major Stanley Gordon, taught us music and singing. Lt. Jean Milton, the OC’s private secretary, gave us Field Training. The other officers filled in as required.
We did the cleaning and washing, and often the cooking too. For some reason or another there were a few changes of cooks during the nine months of our in-training! It was not the fault of us cadets! I suspected there was not enough money. The cooks used to ask me to help them write out their daily accounts. (most could not read nor write English.) The cook would be given $5.00 each morning for everything for the day - bread, margarine, jam, tea, sugar and milk for breakfast. Rice, meat or fish, vegetables, oil, salt for lunch and dinner, soap and other household essentials. We cadets had breakfast by ourselves, but a different officer joined us for lunch or dinner. There was no mid morning coffee, nor mid afternoon teatime. Sometimes the OC would give a treat of ice-cream when out visiting with us. The officers thought he spoilt us cadets!!
Once a week, the CO of Central would take us cadets out for an open-air meeting to invite the people to the meetings. Every Wednesday night we Cadets conducted a meeting at Central Corps, each one taking a turn to give the sermon. On every Thursday night there was a united Holiness Meeting, usually conducted by the OC or GS.
There was no corps officer at Balestier; the OC took us brigading on a Friday afternoon. The building was a very basic attap hut with no running water nor electricity. The hall was used as a kindergarten during the week. At the back of the hall was a small space partitioned off as a utility room. The first thing we cadets did each week was to empty the potties, stack up the little chairs, sweep the floor, and arrange the place ready for a meeting. Then we would hold a short open-air meeting nearby, invite the people to the corps‘s weekly activities, visit door-to-door, round up the children in the area, and proceed to the hall for a Y.P. Meeting.
Week night activities for us cadets included songster and band practices at Central Corps. Torchbearers, and a united Youth Group held on Friday evenings. House cleaning was done on Saturday mornings. Our free time was Saturday after lunch, but we had to be back in the evening for a united open-air meeting at the esplanade.
On Sundays we were assigned to Central or Balestier Corps, involving in its activities – Prayer and Holiness Meetings in the morning, Sunday School, open-air and Salvation Meetings in the afternoon and evening. A new outpost had just been started at Kolam Ayer, in the Kallang area. We cadets took turns to have afternoon tea at the OC’s quarters, and helped in the Sunday School held in the home of Mr. & Mrs. Sevanathan.
This was the beginning of the Tamil Corps, now called Eratchippu.
We were out three weeks for our Field Campaigns. The boys went to Malacca Corps and the girls to Penang Corps. It was the first trip out of the country for most of us. Another time we went for our Social Training. The boys went to Ipoh Boys’ Home and the girls to the Nursery Home in Singapore.
Once there was a request from a lady in England. Her son was doing his national service here. He fell in love with an Erasian girl and they decided to get married at the registry, without any fuss. Perhaps they were short of money. However, the mother appealed to The Army for help. One afternoon the OC conducted the wedding. We cadets and the staff on CHQ formed the congregation. Yours truly was assigned as bridesmaid! (This was part of our training?)
Three weeks prior to our Commissioning, Lieutenants Douglas Kiff and Jean Milton got married. The bride invited us two girl cadets to be her bridesmaids and the men cadets as ushers.
All too soon it was our Commissioning – 24-25 October 1964.
Probationary-Lieutenant LIM Ah Ang as CO to Malacca Corps.
Probationary-Lieutenant TEO Poh Leng as Assistant to Singapore Boys’ Home
Probationary-Lieutenant CHAN Chin Chye as Assistant to Kuching Girls’ Home
Probationary-Lieutenant FONG Pui Chan Assistant CO to Kuching Corps
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