Childhood 1958-1962 ( part 1 )

These are my formative years. Having spent 6 years in primary school and having passed the entrance examinations at the end of that period, I was allowed to start my secondary school Form 1 to 5. From the time I was in Form 1 my mother had stopped bringing my food to school. I was given 20 cents as pocket money. This amount was enough to buy me a small plate of noodles and a small drink of orange squash. I remember most of my friends had much better allowances than mine. However, that was what my parents decided to give and that was what I received. There wasn’t any addition to this amount. If I wanted to watch a movie I had to save my daily pocket money until I had enough for the ticket. There were many occasions when I did not have enough money, either for the cinema or for going out with friends. My beloved grandmother would always come to the rescue. Poor as she was, she always had money for me. She would sneak me extra cash without my parents’ knowledge. My parents did not allow us to receive any extra cash from our grandparents. Another source of extra pocket money was from my maternal grandfather. Some evening I would visit my grandfather at his medicinal tea stall and ask for extra pocket money. Whenever mother found out about the supplementary pocket money from grandparents I would always get reprimanded.

When I was 14 years of age my grandfather gave me a very old rickety bicycle. It was a small bicycle and not in very good condition. By then most of my classmates were cycling to school. I was glad for the bike albeit it was old and falling apart. My memories of my first bicycle are mainly good ones except the accident I had with a car. It was then that I broke my 4 front teeth and a gashing wound on my left shin. The wound on my shin got infected so badly that I had a near miss of having my left leg amputated because of gangrene. I was lucky an English nurse at the local hospital took charge and dress the wound daily and with antibiotics we manage to save the leg. Apart from a few minor scraps and scratches I had a good time with the bike. I remember cycling with some friends all the way to Gemas, a good 18 miles away along the main trunk road to watch The Ten Commandments. I remember the beating I got when we got back.

I guess it was a normal thing to do in those days. The cane was never spared because it was believed that it was better that than having a spoilt child. There were many things that would result in a beating. The first that comes to mind was bad examination results. Report card days were very stressful indeed. Other forbidden things such as fighting in school, late for supper, fighting with siblings, truancy would also result in caning. I guess that was the way children were educated then. With all the beatings I had during my young days, I had never held any grudge toward my parents. That was the only way they knew and I like to believe they did it out of love and the desire that I should turn out well.

The family was getting larger. There were our parents with a total of five boys and a sister plus a cousin living in that tiny flat above the shop house. I cannot remember exactly when my paternal grandmother, my brother and my elder mother came from China to join us. The storeroom was made into another bedroom for my elder mother and a little enclosure was created using a curtain for my paternal grandmother. All together there were 12 of us, all living in a very small apartment. Life became very complicated. My father with 2 wives living under the same roof with children from both wives and a mother-in-law to boot. There were constant quarrels and arguments. It was a very tense situation. My mother, by nature, very domineering had the upper hand most of the time. As children we were quite ignorant on the politics that went on in the house. I can remember the quarrels between both my mothers with father siding with my mother on most occasions. There were times when it was better to stay out of the house to avoid the conflict.

On the whole it was a pretty good time growing up with my family in Segamat. I had my grand parents, parents, siblings and school friends. Life was complicated at times but looking back it was not too bad at all.