CTL201
Selected History Topics for
Primary Social Studies Teaching
Oral History Assignment
Growing Up in Chinatown in the 1950s
Name:
Matric No:
Tutor:
Phua Ying-li
037045K08/S8411465J
Mr Clement Liew
Growing up in Chinatown in the 1950s
Exploring the childhood days in the past is an interesting topic to venture into as the
living in the past is definitely different from the present days. One has to agree that our
childhood days are one of the best periods of our lives. The interview is done with my
mother who was born in the early 1950s and lived in Chinatown since she was born. She
has vivid and endearing memories of her childhood which she often shares with me in
amusing anecdotes.
Our family gatherings with my maternal extended family is often filled with laughter as
my mother and her siblings will reminisce about their mischievous deeds and fond
memories of their childhood days in Chinatown. The whole family will often banter in
fluent Cantonese sprinkled with Chinese and Singlish which displays the strong ties and
unity which will be highly likely lost in the future generations. The lovely tone and
intonation of the Cantonese dialect never fails to amaze me with the beautiful sounds.
It’s a shame that the Government has discouraged the use of dialect in Singapore
otherwise I might be speaking it fluently like my mother and grandparents. But
nevertheless, I am thankful for the chance to appreciate the essence of the language
which has not been infiltrated by other languages and made me feel closer to my mother
and grandparents as it builds a sense of identity.
The focus of this history essay will be on the living conditions and the celebration of
festivals in Chinatown in the 1950s. There will be an exploration of the food and the
games and pastimes of children in the past. There will also be a personal insight into the
secret societies of the past which is different from stereotypical view of them.
The Living Conditions
During the 1950s, Singapore was still searching for her identity and developing roots in
the political aspect. Thus, housing apartments was something unknown at that time. My
mother and her family stayed in the shophouses located in Chinatown at 48A Pagoda
Street. These shophouses has been through gentrification and are now used mostly for
businesses. In fact, the shophouse that they used to lived in has been converted to the
Chinatown Heritage Centre which depicted the lifestyle of the people living in Chinatown
in the past.1 The shophouses were often not higher than 3 stories high and had double
functionality as shops and residences. The shop below my mother’s residence was a tailor
shop. Pagoda Street was famous for its tailors and the whole street would be filled with
tailors who had regular customers among the locals and also the foreigners.2
According to my mother, the second level used for residences are often further divided
into a total of 6 smaller rooms which made up the extremely cramped conditions. My
mother together with her parents and 5 siblings were
cramped into a room of less than [state the area of mum’s
master bedroom]. They ate, played, studied, work, slept
and did practically everything in the room as the room
was their living room and bedroom. The family of 8
shared a kitchen and sanitary facilities with other
communes living on the same level. These communes
consist of samsui women and other families of similar or
Figure 1 Narrow corner of the
communal kitchen. Picture courtesy
of Chinatown Heritage Centre
larger family size. The
conditions of the toilets and
bathroom were left much to our imagination and my mother could only describe the
conditions with one word “Disgusting!” with a queer look on her face. The answer to my
mother’s phobia of dirty toilets is finally answered.
According to my mother, there were often petty quarrels about the use of the bathrooms,
toilets and the kitchen. These petty quarrels were also amusing to my mother as she
recalled the memories with a chuckle. The families, especially the matriarch and the
samsui women will quarrel over the use of the condiments, charcoal and rice, often
accusing one another of pilfering these petty items. However, due to the difficult postwar
times, especially after the hardships that the older generation had gone through, it was no
1
2
Chinatown Heritage Centre website
Chinatown Memories, pg 30
wonder that they may break into quarrels over the usage of the condiments which was
very valuable during the war.
They slept on straw mats laid on wooden planks. My mother was bitten on the eyebrow
by a rat which co-existed with the communes like a natural habitat. Rats and cockroaches
ran freely around the residence due to the squalid living conditions. The overcrowded
conditions within the houses with poor public hygiene and public sanitation facilities
made the place a lovely habitat for the vermin to cohabit with the families.3
3
Past Times: A Social History of Singapore, pg 96
Celebration of Festivals
Chinese traditional and religious
festivals were celebrated with
much pomp and fanfare. There
were elaborate celebrations with
performances much to the
delight to my mother and her
siblings when she was young.
One of her more vivid
recollection which she often
reminisce with much joy was the
Figure 2 Stallholders preparing for Seventh Lunar Month.
Picture courtesy of Chinatown Heritage Centre
Hungry Ghost Festival which
falls in the seventh lunar month. This festival is celebrated by making offerings to the
wandering ghosts and spirits. There were spectacular processions on the streets where
people, hired by rich businessmen, would throw food, tidbits and money as offerings.4
My mother, together with her siblings and other children from the neighborhood were
very mischievous. They would picked up the money and tidbits as a form of challenge to
themselves as the procession were a little dangerous as joss sticks that were lit up and
burning joss paper were strewn around everywhere. My grandfather would often punish
my mother and her siblings when they were caught red-handed by my grandparents.
However, that did not deter them as it was a rewarding experience with the adrenaline
rush and the sweets and money gathered.
An interesting festival celebrated on the seventh day of the seventh moon where ladies
would go out to feed the birds as it was believed that the birds feeding on the food will
form a bridge so that the Celestial Lovers – the Weaving Maid and the Cowherd of
Chinese folklore – could meet on that one day of the year. It was a day where ladies
could meet their potential suitors and people will court each other and go on dates.5 My
4
5
Streets of Old Chinatown: Singapore, pg 18
Chinatown Memories, pg 50
mother could remember the unique paper artifacts that were paraded on the streets during
this special day.
Food Glorious Food
My grandfather was a welder and my grandmother together with my mother and her
siblings did the occasional odd jobs of being a seamstress by mending and sewing clothes
or washing and ironing of laundry. The family was not well-to-do which could be
reflected in the food they eat.6 The food that they ate which my mother told me was a
thing of the past. Even my mother exclaimed that the food she ate in the past was only
eaten when she was a child. In difficult times, all they could afford was tau huay which is
soy bean curd without the sweet syrup. They would pour tau huay over the rice like gravy
as they could not afford any other dishes.
They will topped it up with dark soy
sauce for the fragrance and flavored with
light soy sauce for taste and that would be
a satisfying meal for them
Another delicacy was pigs’ blood. One is
Figure 3 Picture courtesy of Chinatown Heritage Centre
not able to eat it in Singapore now and
can be considered a rarity due to the high cholesterol levels of it. However sinful it is it
was something worth savoring for. The pigs’ blood was either deep fried to perfect crisp
while it was still soft and tender inside or boiled in soups for its nutrition. Pigs’ blood was
easily available at a low cost and due to the lack of meat and fish which was only eaten
during festive season as a treat due to the high cost of it.7 Thus pigs’ blood was the next
best alternative for nutrients and proteins.
The type of food that was eaten in the past was a good indicator of the socioeconomic
situation. Although the daily food that my mother has taken was simple and rather
inadequate in nutrition, one has to agree that it was unique to that period of time and
6
7
Past Times: A Social History of Singapore, pg 128
Past Times: A Social History of Singapore, pg 124
clearly indicated the hard times that my mother went through with her family. But one
has to agree that it is heartwarming to see the poor and young big family seek joy in the
simplicity of life. It reminds one to take light of the simple joys in life that my mother
and her family truly appreciate which others may often take for granted.
Gangsters - A bunch of heartless ruffians?
Typical opinions of Chinese triads were often negative. According to Chan and Tong, the
organization of triad gangs was formed to overthrow the government in China. These
triads soon proliferated some of the clan associations in Singapore which provide the
necessary social structure for many new immigrant workers who just arrived in
Singapore.8 This was especially evident in Chinatown which was home to many Chinese
immigrants. While the problem of the Chinese triads may not be as prevalent in the early
20th century, their existence still lingered on.
However, my mother told me a different and a rather endearing opinion of the gangsters.
The gangsters were friendly to the children. My mother
often told us how they played with the children and even
though they were rather rough during play, the children
enjoyed playing with them as they were kind and often
hoisted the children on their shoulders for “kiddy rides”.
They often gave sweets and chocolates to the children
which never failed to win them over. One might argue that
this might be a ploy to recruit the members as young as
possible. My mother recalled that my grandfather refused
Figure 4 Picture courtesy of
Chinatown Heritage Centre
to allow my uncles to play with the children downstairs as
he was afraid that they would land up in bad company and
joined the Chinese triads too. Perhaps the fear was well-founded.
8
Past Times: A Social History of Singapore, pg 186
According to my mother, the gangsters often beat up the Malays in the vicinity. However,
they protected the women and children in the area too which displayed their chivalry in a
different light. Bullies and gangsters from other areas would bully the vulnerable children
and women especially the young women. But, the righteous gangster from Chinatown
would stand up for them when the rival gangs steps into the boundaries of Chinatown and
often beat them up to take revenge. One might actually dismissed the reason given by my
mother and argue that it could be just another excuse by the gangsters to fight for the socalled “justified” reasons.
However, one must not forget that the gangsters did leave an endearing impression on the
children on those days as not ruffians but just rough burly friendly giants. Perhaps one
can see that beyond their hard and cold exterior lies a heart of gold and righteousness
which could only seek solace in the comfort of the joy of the children due to the hard life
that they lead. As Chan and Tong suggested the existence of the secret societies
highlighted a major with the early Singapore society which still exist even to the present
day: the lack of integration of the migrant workers into the main social structures.9
Childhood Memories
One cannot deny that the play time of a child is most interesting and lovely period of our
lives. My mother shared with me the games that they played were similar to what
children are playing nowadays. However, they could not afford to buy any toys so most
of their toys were handmade by remnants of cloth or materials. They would play with
gorli and chapteh which were marbles and shuttlecock made of chicken feather picked
from the market attached to a rubber or cardboard base. The girls would also make fivestones which were tokens made of cloth filled with sand. They also did interesting
origami which they would use as masak-masak which means make-believe toys.
The whole family especially the children looked forward to the evenings, where my
grandfather would switch on the receiver and listen to Rediffusion which was a
broadcasting station. They broadcasted ‘dramatised stories’ and Cantonese songs which
9
Past Times: A Social History of Singapore, pg 189
the whole family enjoyed. My mother especially enjoyed the story-telling which was
done impressively by outstanding broadcasters who retold the story with much vigour
and enthusiasm which brought the stories to life as though it was vividly performed in
front of them.10 This simple yet effective form of entertainment brought the whole family
together and liberated the imagination of my mother and her siblings by challenging their
young intriguing minds. This is something that modern technology has taken out the joy
from today’s children.
My mother always relate to me these stories with light in her eyes which could be filled
with joy and nostalgia with a glint of sadness in her eyes as she recalled the hard but truly
memorable days. Being able to know the childhood days of my mother has made history
books come alive as one is able to understand on a more personal level which adds a
more vivid dimension into history. One is also intrigued by the ending quotes of my
mother as she shares her words of wisdom on children compared to the past.
“Kids were much simpler then and I liked it very much…Although kids now lead a better
life but they are not as happy as we are in the past. We do not have computers then but
we have our own games and our own fun and joy. We maybe poor; but we were never
calculative and we tend to share things without anyone asking. Families were also much
more close-knitted and we definitely don’t take things for granted. We don’t have a lot of
things that’s why we treasure things more.”
Jessie Kong
10
Past Times: A Social History of Singapore, pg 176
References:
Lowe-Ismail, G., 1998. Chinatown Memories. Singapore. The Singapore Heritage
Society.
Chan, K. B. and Tong, C. K., 2003. Past Times: A Social History of Singapore.
Singapore: Times Centre.
The Singapore Heritage Society, 2003. Chinatown Heritage Centre. Retrieved on 1
October 2004 from http://www.chinatownheritagecentre.com.sg
I give permission for this work to be digitally stored and made available by NIE for
educational and research purposes.
Date : 21 Oct 2004
Signature : ________________
Contact : mypinkduck@yahoo.com.sg
Interview Transcript for Growing up in Chinatown in the 1950s
Name of Interviewee : Jessie Kong
Occupation
: Housewife
Age
: 53 years [8 August 1951]
Family Background
: Born into a family for 6 children as the 3rd eldest in the family
with 3 other sisters and 2 brothers. Currently, a mother of 2
daughters
Venue
: In the comfort of the living room of our home located in
Edgedale Plains in Punggol over dinner.
Mummy, can you tell me more about your family?
I have 5 other siblings with 2 elder sisters, 1 younger sister and another 2 younger
brothers. My father has passed away a few years back and my mother is now staying
with my younger brother. My father used to work as a welder when I was young. My
mother was a seamstress who mended and sew clothes for others. We also washed and
ironed laundry for other people to earn extra cash to cope with living expenses.
Where did you live when you were a child?
I used to live in Chinatown, in a shophouse above a tailor shop located on 48A Pagoda
Street.
How was the living conditions back then?
It was very cramped staying in the room. The whole family of 8 stayed in the same
room. The size of the room is slightly bigger than the usual master bedroom of a HDB
flat.
We slept on the wooden planks. There lots of cockroaches and rats. I was bitten on my
left eyebrow as you can see. These insects were rather scary as the cockroaches fly and
you can see rats scurrying across the ground. But we were not afraid as we were all
used to it.
How were your neighbors like? [a continuation of the living conditions]
There are about 6 rooms on each level. My neighbors were a few other families and also
the samsui women. There were often quarrels about the usage of the kitchen as a few
families and the samsui women shared a small kitchen located on each level. There are
petty quarrels about the use of oil, charcoal and condiments. There were also quarrels
about the usage of the toilet. I think there were about 30-40 people on one level
sharing the communal facilities. It was a big headache. Oh, the condition of the toilets
can be summed up in one word: DISGUSTING!
How did you go to school?
Everybody walked to school as the schools were all nearby. Only the small uncle takes
bus to school and I will go to school with him.
Where and how did you play?
We played marbles and chapteh which we made by ourselves. We were so poor then we
couldn’t afford any toys. So we used the remains of clothes and other things to make
our toys. We will also sneak off to the market where they will slaughter the chickens
first before plucking off the feathers of the chicken. We will then take the feathers and
stick it into something like rubber or cardboard and start playing with it. We also use old
newspapers to do origami like dolls or soldiers or even cups and plates to play like
masak-masak.
Who did you play with?
We played with mostly Chinese as it is Chinatown. We do play with the Indians and they
speak very well in Cantonese, they usually own a small shop and sell tidbits, sweets,
tikam tikam.
What is tikam tikam?
It’s something similar to the lucky dip thing that we have now.
How were the festivals celebrated?
On the 7th day of the 7 Lunar Month (the cowherd meets the fairy), there will be a big
celebration where they display many unique paper artifacts. This is the day where
people actually went dating or look for potential partners.
During the Hungry Ghost Festival in the 7th month, there will be elaborate celebrations
too. There will be a lot of people burning joss papers and making offerings to the spirits
with money and food. There will be a procession on the street where people will throw
food and money. My siblings and I used to pick up the money and catch the food which
is offered to the ghosts as offerings as part of our fun. We will always get scolded by
What do you usually eat at home?
In the past, where times were hard, we will eat tau huay without the sweet syrup with
rice but use dark soya sauce for the fragrance and light soy sauce for the taste. It was
simple but delicious. We will also eat pigs’ blood that are deep fried which was crispy
inside but still soft inside. We will also cooked it in soups as it was very nutritious. Meat
and fish was very expensive in the past and we only ate it during Chinese New Year or
after making offerings to the gods and our ancestors. We will share every little bit of our
food with each other too. They sell a variety of food on the five-foot ways such as tok
tok mee and wanton mee which only cost from 5cents to 15cents.
Was the food nicer then or now?
It definitely tasted better then and the price was so low too. They still serve the same
servings as before but it still tasted different and better then. The food in the past were
also most unique, like the tau huay with rice and deep fried pigs’ blood. You don’t see it
around anymore, even families don’t cook it. But still, it reminded me of the hardship I
went through in the past and made me appreciate the things in life more. But one thing
I must say is that although the food was plain and bland according to the modern taste,
the food that we had was really fulfilling because it was really hard to come by.
What were some of the interesting incidents you encountered as a child in
Chinatown?
There was once this cat which has just given birth to a few kittens and the cat went wild
and started biting everyone. Your youngest auntie got bitten quite badly and it was
featured in the papers. Another gung-ho guy attempted to subdue the cat but only to
get badly bitten by the cat itself and to retreat like a coward. It was hilarious especially
when he was this mean uncle who lived in the next shophouse. The cat was so crazy
and wild that we had to call the police to catch the cat but to no avail. I was not too
sure whether the police did shoot the cat with a gun or not. But somehow this was
something that I always remembered.
Another incident is the constant fights between the Malays and Chinese were horrible.
Once the malays stepped to Chinatown, they will get beaten up. If the girls are bullied
by other people from other places who stepped in Chinatown, the gangsters (secret
society) will come and protect the girls and beat the people back in revenge. There is a
very strong sense of community and unity despite the negative impression of the
gangsters who somehow protected the people in the vicinity.
How was school like in the past?
We were very pitiful, we will get beaten by teacher on the hand by a ruler. I had to
write 1000 lines “I must not misbehave in class”
Did you fight with your siblings?
Yes. We will fight. My daddy will beat us when we are naughty. My father will stop Uncle
Thomas and Uncle Jeffery from playing downstairs to protect them from mixing with the
gangster. He was worried that your uncles will learn the bad ways from te gangsters
and become one themselves. Uncle Thomas and Uncle Jeffery were furious with my
father and could not understand the rationale behind these then especially as kids
where they want to have their fun. But they still obey your grandfather as we were not
able to stand up against our parents. We were very fillal in the sense that we will listen
to our parents and not go against them, unlike the children these days. No means no in
the past, no qualms about that. Children these days will not take no for an answer and
often will twist the facts and answers to their own benefit but we do not do such stuff in
the past as our parents were the law and we were afraid of our parents and teachers.
What was your form of entertainment back then?
We did not have a television so we usually crowd around a radio and listen to it as a
form of entertainment and to keep us updated about current affairs too. I like listening
to the Cantonese songs and stories because the story-teller always tells the stories very
well! It’s like the story is being performed right in front of us. There is also the drama
story on the radio which is like the drama serials on television now except it’s “seen” on
the radio. It is very interesting too and we will try to catch it every night to know the
development of the stories.
Do you think it is very fun to live in a big family with a lot of siblings?
Definitely! Although we fight, we share a lot of our stuff together. When we buy biscuits
it comes in a packet of 10 biscuits but there are 6 of us. We can’t possibly have 2
biscuits each as it was unfair to the 2 who has only 1 biscuit. So each of us will have one
and the remaining four biscuits will be shared equally among the 6 of us by breaking the
biscuits into crumbs. <laughs> Don’t ask me how we shared the crumbs but it feels
equal. <laughs again> My father used to cut our hair for us too as we had no money to
go to the barber or the salon. So all the sisters will have the same haircut with the short
bob with the straight fringe and the 2 brothers will have identical haircuts as each other.
We only made new clothes during festive seasons or when my parents had extra cash.
And once again, the 4 sisters will have the same exact dress. However, school shoes
and shoes are passed down from the eldest to the youngest once anyone outgrows
them. This saves the extra money of buying new school shoes and uniforms all the time.
Times were hard; we had to save money for a rainy day
Do you think kids now live a better life?
They do. But I think kids live a happier life last time. Although kids now lead a better life
but they are not as happy as we are in the past. We do not have computers then but we
have our own games and our own fun and joy. We will catch the rats and make use of
various things like the aluminium foil found in the cigarette box. They will roll it up and
play with marbles.
Do you prefer the times back then or present times?
I prefer the times back then. <pauses> Kids were much simpler then and I liked it very
much. Things were much cheaper in the past. <laughs together> But we maybe poor
but we were not calculative and we tend to share things without anyone asking. Families
were also much more close-knitted and we definitely don’t take things for granted. We
don’t have a lot of things that’s why we treasure things more.
Thank you for sharing such valuable experiences with me. I really appreciate
it. Thank you!