Babyhood to Two

V-J Day on August 15 1945 ended the Second World War. By then I was nearly one year old. I was under the watchful and very experienced care of my maternal grandmother. I must at point write about my mother’s family. My mother was the eldest of eight children, with four brothers and three sisters. My grandfather had a small push cart from which he sold Chinese herbal tea for a living. My mother’s family was extremely poor. My grandfather was the sole breadwinner of the family supporting a very large family. Education for the children must have been prohibitively expensive. My mother and most of my uncles and aunts had minimal education. Whatever education my grandfather could afford to provide for his children was to send them to the local Chinese school. Only one of my uncles, the third uncle, was educated in English.

My grandparents and his family lived in a small single storey terrace house in the outskirt of town. There were 3 small rooms in the house with a yard consisting of the kitchen, washing area and the eating area. It was a very small house indeed. In spite of the very cramp living conditions I can remember many happy and wonderful days spent in that house. My grandmother had a little enclosure in front of the house. In the enclosure she kept her chicken, ducks and geese. In front of the house I remember there was a durian tree, a mangoesteen tree and a little further away there was a jumbu tree. I can remember many happy days climbing those trees for their fruits.

My mother passed away in 1995 after a period of illness. As I have mentioned mother was the eldest with 7 siblings. From the eldest to the youngest, there was mother, two brothers, two sisters, another two brothers and finally a sister a few months older than myself. The older two brothers got into the jungle clearing business as soon as they were old enough. Being weather dependent, the business was never good enough to get them out of poverty but they got by and were able to raise families of their own. They are now both deceased, leaving children and grandchildren some still residing in Segamat, but the majority of their descendents living in cities all over Malaysia. The older two of mother’s three sisters are both alive, one living in Singapore and the other with her family in New Zealand. Unfortunate my youngest aunt, mother’s youngest sister passed away a few years ago in Johor Baru. Mother’s two youngest brothers are both well, one in Singapore and the other, with his family in Perth Australia. A few of my mother’s siblings have done well, while there are some who have not. I guess that is life, some will make good while others will not.

Now back to my life. I, being the first grand child of both sets of grandparents was loved and very pampered. Nothing was too good for me. The choicest parts of everything were squirreled away and reserved for me. I was indeed spoilt and I can still vaguely remember the tantrums I threw when I did not get my way. My maternal grandmother, bless her, was ever so patient and loving, always coaxing and pleading to calm and pacify me. With eight children of her own to care for, my grandmother took on the additional burden of caring for me. She was a very capable lady and to this day I have the highest admiration for her patience, her love and her strength through those very difficult years.

The first two years of my life were spent in Segamat with my maternal grandparents and my uncles and aunts. I cannot write too much about these two year period because I do not have any recollection. Just suffice to say that from stories my parents and grandparents told, I was happy and well cared for. By the time of my second birthday, the Japanese occupation forces have left and we were back to being a British Colony again. I guess things must have got back to a semblance of normality.

From the age of two to four my parents brought me to live in China with my paternal grandparents and my EM. The following two years of my life will be in my nest post.