25 – HAPPY FAMILY IN SINGAPORE CENTRAL CORPS
I did my first four years of my officership in Malaya prior to marriage. After a break of one year together in Singapore we were sent back for 10 consecutive years, making a total of 14 years of service in Malaysia. The immigration officer kindly advised us to opt for Malaysian citizenship because Singapore might not survive as a nation!
On our night train journey from Ipoh to Singapore, the two older children had a bunk each, Stephen on the upper deck and Gladys on the lower. I had Poh Chin with me on a lower one opposite them. They were both good and helpful, although under ten years old.
Singapore Central Corps Hall was the main part of 207 Clemenceau Avenue which was also The Army’s headquarters (CHQ). However, the corps officers’ quarters was a big flat upstairs of the two storey house. This edifice was separated from the front building by a big courtyard. All the ceilings were very high and the floor of the ground level was polished red. A flight of stairs on the right led up to a wide landing with a similar red floor all along the front and also at the back of the flat. Slightly elevated was a wooden floor covering the rest of the apartment - a very spacious hall as the lounge and dining room. The bedrooms were along the left of the hall. Our son had one partitioned off from the front. Next was the bedroom shared by Gladys and her baby sister, Dora Poh Chin. We had the back room, next to the toilet and bathroom at the rear. Adjacent to this was our kitchen.
The original two rooms on the right of the hall had been sealed off to form part of a small flat, now allocated to our newly commissioned corps assistant, Lieutenant Sarojah KAKAN.
One of the first things I had to do was to register Gladys and Stephen for school. They were nearly 10 and 8 years old respectively. We called our children by their Chinese names because we knew their friends would call them by their western ones.
Poh Chin was only 7 months old, but I could not lug her with me. Mrs. Colonel Engel kindly obliged to babysit her. So I put our baby in a pram, with a pile of nappies and milk formula, then left them in the office of the TPWM.
It was relatively easy to get Gladys into Singapore Chinese Girls’ School (SCGS), thanks to my sister whose two older children, Elaine and Anne, were already studying there. I thought there would be no problem to get Stephen into Winstedt or Monks Hill - two government schools nearby.
However, I had to get permission from the Ministry of Education. My sister was on her way to ACS at Coleman Street with her son, Leonard, so I asked for a lift.
Anglo Chinese School (ACS) is one of the prestigious schools in Singapore. In those days parents would camp outside its premises overnight to ensure a place in the queue for registration. How much more difficult to expect a chance after registration had closed. However, while at ACS I was encouraged to see the headmaster; and by God’s providence Stephen was accepted, because the son of the Indian ambassador was returning home with his parents. Praise the Lord! He was and is and shall always be good to all who trust in Him!
My husband wrote us EVERYDAY - by snail mail of course. However, he was able to take up his appointment as CO of Central Corps in the first week of February 1970, just before the Lunar New Year.
All our predecessors were missionary officers. They would visit the corps comrades, with the OC and his wife in the morning, and with the GS in the afternoon. Having been away from Singapore for 14 years and being just appointed to Central Corps we simply compiled a list of the senior members of the corps according to their addresses. We were glad to have transport, travelling with them. However, the OC and his wife did not expect to visit some folk unknown to them! The GS wanted to visit comrades we had already seen that morning! What confusion! We knew better what to do the subsequent years!
We were familiar with the Central Corps hall as we were soldiers there prior to entering training. The huge front doors were painted bright red and had big brass rings which would have served as knockers originally. Not a nail was used but dovetailed into place. Embossed cement bamboo trees hid the pipes on the walls. The ornate roof and ceilings were supported by granite pillars shipped from China. The beams across the ceiling had carvings of dragons on them. General Arnold Brown was reputed to have said that one of those creatures spat on him as he walked pass!
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
THIS IS MY LIFE - 24
24 – HAPPY FAMILY IN IPOH BOYS’ HOME
Our immediate predecessor at the Ipoh Boys’ Home was a single Dutch lady, Captain Kitty Krueger. She must have felt lonely because she was often out leaving the staff to run the Home. There came a time when she lost control, having depended so much on a certain Eurasian bachelor house master who lived on the compound, Mr. Leicester. Anonymous letters found their way to the local press and IHQ, accusing the officer of absenteeism and negligence. So she was transferred.
Our family left Kuala Lumpur by train and arrived in the Ipoh on 4th July 1969. From the station we proceeded to Tambun, a small village where the SA Boys’ Home was and still is located. Rows of lovely orchids and a cage of colourful budgeries greeted us as we were driven up the driveway to a porch in front of the main two-storey building.
The ground floor had a room on the right side of the lobby used as the office. Behind the lobby were the dining room, kitchen and laundry. On the left side of the front lobby was a flight of stairs which led up to our quarters – a flat which was spacious, well furnished and kept by our predecessors who were all missionary officers.
Surrounding the house was a big compound with many fruit trees – durians, mangoes, rambutans etc. as well as rows of orchids. To the left of the main house were three long rectangular barrack-like buildings, two were furnished as dormitories for the boys and the last one as a multipurpose hall. To the right there was another similar building for the big boys’ dormitory.
We registered Gladys at a Convent Girls School which was not far from the Home.
My husband managed to enrol Stephen in the Anglo Chinese School for boys in Ipoh town. So, every morning our children travelled in the Home van with the boys on their way to the various schools. We had permission from CHQ to do so, refunding $10 per month as fares. However, they returned home on their own by public transport, and when possible my husband met them at the bus-stop.
My husband would spend time with the boys in their studies just as he did when we were in charge of the two Boys’ Homes in Kuching and Penang. Then he would go on his night round to pray with the small ones and tuck them into bed.
We thought the boys here were settling down after the storm, but one day stink bombs were thrown into his office! At night while on his round, stones were pelted at him. This went on for a few nights till he came home one evening, bleeding and hurt. Naturally my husband discussed the matter with Mr. Leicester. He seemed horrified that such a thing could happen.
In the course of my husband’s investigations, someone gave a lead. The house master was suspect. It seemed that he had a very cosy relationship with some of the boys and resented anyone coming between him and them. Perhaps he was working towards being in charge of the Home? It was alleged that he had been the instigator of all the previous rebellions in the Home! We could hardly believe it, because he was always very courteous and obliging. CHQ was informed but nothing could be done without concrete proof.
Meantime we tried to shield our children from this mutiny. Soon they were being harassed by some of the boys when travelling to school with them. Captain Ruut PIUTUNEN, of the Children’s Home, very kindly invited Gladys and Stephen to play with her children sometimes. I was stressed enough because Poh Chin was a very difficult baby to care for. She was always crying and more often than not vomited after a feed. We felt that perhaps all the tension in KL and now in Ipoh must be the cause. Later on we discovered that her problem was cerebral-palsy.
The officers and children from both Homes supported Ipoh Corps in Kampong Simee in the Sunday evening meeting. The Corps Officer was Lt. LOO Pho Khuan. There were hardly any “outsiders” except for one faithful Salvationist family, Mr. Peter and Mrs Ruth WOON with their children, Susan and James. now citizens of Canada. Ruth is the sister of Andrew ONG of Balestier Corps.
Just about the same time, Captain Peter & Mrs. Grace CHANG (Korea Territory) on CHQ received farewell orders. He had been sent to our command as Training Principal. After two sessions there were no more cadets. They were also in charge of Central Corps. However Hong Kong had cadets but no Training Principal. So CHQ moved us back to Singapore - to Central Corps.
At the end of December, a little more than five months in Ipoh, I left for Singapore with our three children, to get the two older ones registered for school in January 1970. My husband accompanied us by the afternoon train to KL where we changed to the night one which left at 9.30 p.m. for Singapore. He then got on the 10 p.m. train, back to Ipoh. (Incidentally his fares were personal.)
Meanwhile my husband remained in the Ipoh Boys’ Home till Captain and Mrs. TAN Thean Seng and Lay Saik arrived from Kuching to take over the reins.
Our immediate predecessor at the Ipoh Boys’ Home was a single Dutch lady, Captain Kitty Krueger. She must have felt lonely because she was often out leaving the staff to run the Home. There came a time when she lost control, having depended so much on a certain Eurasian bachelor house master who lived on the compound, Mr. Leicester. Anonymous letters found their way to the local press and IHQ, accusing the officer of absenteeism and negligence. So she was transferred.
Our family left Kuala Lumpur by train and arrived in the Ipoh on 4th July 1969. From the station we proceeded to Tambun, a small village where the SA Boys’ Home was and still is located. Rows of lovely orchids and a cage of colourful budgeries greeted us as we were driven up the driveway to a porch in front of the main two-storey building.
The ground floor had a room on the right side of the lobby used as the office. Behind the lobby were the dining room, kitchen and laundry. On the left side of the front lobby was a flight of stairs which led up to our quarters – a flat which was spacious, well furnished and kept by our predecessors who were all missionary officers.
Surrounding the house was a big compound with many fruit trees – durians, mangoes, rambutans etc. as well as rows of orchids. To the left of the main house were three long rectangular barrack-like buildings, two were furnished as dormitories for the boys and the last one as a multipurpose hall. To the right there was another similar building for the big boys’ dormitory.
We registered Gladys at a Convent Girls School which was not far from the Home.
My husband managed to enrol Stephen in the Anglo Chinese School for boys in Ipoh town. So, every morning our children travelled in the Home van with the boys on their way to the various schools. We had permission from CHQ to do so, refunding $10 per month as fares. However, they returned home on their own by public transport, and when possible my husband met them at the bus-stop.
My husband would spend time with the boys in their studies just as he did when we were in charge of the two Boys’ Homes in Kuching and Penang. Then he would go on his night round to pray with the small ones and tuck them into bed.
We thought the boys here were settling down after the storm, but one day stink bombs were thrown into his office! At night while on his round, stones were pelted at him. This went on for a few nights till he came home one evening, bleeding and hurt. Naturally my husband discussed the matter with Mr. Leicester. He seemed horrified that such a thing could happen.
In the course of my husband’s investigations, someone gave a lead. The house master was suspect. It seemed that he had a very cosy relationship with some of the boys and resented anyone coming between him and them. Perhaps he was working towards being in charge of the Home? It was alleged that he had been the instigator of all the previous rebellions in the Home! We could hardly believe it, because he was always very courteous and obliging. CHQ was informed but nothing could be done without concrete proof.
Meantime we tried to shield our children from this mutiny. Soon they were being harassed by some of the boys when travelling to school with them. Captain Ruut PIUTUNEN, of the Children’s Home, very kindly invited Gladys and Stephen to play with her children sometimes. I was stressed enough because Poh Chin was a very difficult baby to care for. She was always crying and more often than not vomited after a feed. We felt that perhaps all the tension in KL and now in Ipoh must be the cause. Later on we discovered that her problem was cerebral-palsy.
The officers and children from both Homes supported Ipoh Corps in Kampong Simee in the Sunday evening meeting. The Corps Officer was Lt. LOO Pho Khuan. There were hardly any “outsiders” except for one faithful Salvationist family, Mr. Peter and Mrs Ruth WOON with their children, Susan and James. now citizens of Canada. Ruth is the sister of Andrew ONG of Balestier Corps.
Just about the same time, Captain Peter & Mrs. Grace CHANG (Korea Territory) on CHQ received farewell orders. He had been sent to our command as Training Principal. After two sessions there were no more cadets. They were also in charge of Central Corps. However Hong Kong had cadets but no Training Principal. So CHQ moved us back to Singapore - to Central Corps.
At the end of December, a little more than five months in Ipoh, I left for Singapore with our three children, to get the two older ones registered for school in January 1970. My husband accompanied us by the afternoon train to KL where we changed to the night one which left at 9.30 p.m. for Singapore. He then got on the 10 p.m. train, back to Ipoh. (Incidentally his fares were personal.)
Meanwhile my husband remained in the Ipoh Boys’ Home till Captain and Mrs. TAN Thean Seng and Lay Saik arrived from Kuching to take over the reins.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)