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ODIANG
A Loving & Speculative Chronicle of
Francis Joseph Pillay (My Dad),
told against the long and colourful passage of the Chetty Malacca community through the
history of Malacca
By Gerald F Pillay
Chapter Seven1
The Singapore Years
Including fond memories of my student years, and essential details of my own family and
working life.
-
My Dad - The Deputy Shipping Master
My Dad, aged 49 years, was transferred to the Singapore General Executive Service as
Higher Executive Officer. On assumption of duty his first appointment was as a Deputy
Shipping Master, in the Master Attendant’s Office, Marine Department, which was responsible
for the administration of the Port of Singapore. He would remain in this appointment from
1949 to 1954.
1
In the earlier Chapters I had kept strictly to using the old names, spellings and weights and measures, to
maintain historical consistency and verisimilitude. From this Chapter onwards I shall use the modern
names and the metric system, unless it is necessary to retain the old for ease of international reading.
Odiang: Chapter Seven – The Singapore Years
2
We were all thrilled with this posting, and the family shared in my Dad’s happiness. After the
humdrum responsibilities of small town hospital administration, my Dad found himself
challenged and embroiled in the day to day management of one the busiest and most
colourful ports in the world. He now dealt with the bustle of officers, seamen and chandlers
arriving and departing daily on ships of all types and nationalities. Even at that time, there
must have been close to one hundred ship movements a day. His office was on the 2nd Floor
of Fullerton Building. The Deputy Shipping Masters were responsible for ship clearance, each
looking after different categories of vessels. Being the new kid on the block, My Dad was
responsible for harbour craft and ferries, and in time progressed to coastal vessels, tankers
and foreign-going ships. As I recall, there was a big counter at which shipping representatives
submitted the papers of in-coming ships, and collected those cleared for out-going ships.
Basically the Deputy Shipping Masters would check all documentation and call for inspections
and reports as necessary, and then either themselves authorise the ship’s anchorage or
movement or pass the case on to a professional marine officer to do so where this was the
necessary level of authorisation. My Dad did not do shift duty. That would have been for junior
staff. He was also not required to board ships as part of his function. But, he got invited
aboard from time to time. He enjoyed that very much, especially his visits to the bigger ocean
going vessels of the major shipping lines. He told us what he learnt about these ships, what
people did on board and life at sea. It was at this point I think that a small passion that had
been lurking in me since Tranquerah days exploded into a full bloom desire to become a “sea
captain”. Sadly, this was never to be fulfilled, but the romance of it is still alive in a corner of
my heart even today.
What the Master Attendant did have was a fleet of launches and harbour-craft, their stable of
work horses so to speak. On a typical day, you could see up to a dozen of them moored
alongside the Master Attendant’s Pier, as you turned the corner out of Anderson Bridge on to
Collyer Quay.These were used for duties and services needed to be performed in the
harbour, the anchorages and the port domain as whole. They varied from transporting officers
boarding ships to patrolling duties to ensure observance of port regulations, servicing buoys
and break-waters, and acting as ferries for people and stores to the lighthouses. These craft
were of course available to my Dad according to their purposes. But, he would have but
infrequent occasion to call on their services. It was simply satisfying that he did have the
whole reach of the port at his disposal should he need to do so. After the morose war years,
this must have stirred my Dad’s his spirits and re-lit the fires of adventure in his soul. He was
again his old gregarious self and soon made many friends both in the Department and in the
shipping community. As a result he got himself, and us, invited to enjoy some rare
experiences.
Pulau Sambu (Pulau Samboe)
Among the rarest of our experiences was our visit to Pulau Sambu (Pulau Samboe). It does
not feature much in the average run of conversation in Singapore these days, nor for that
matter did it in those days. Pulau Sambu is a small island, one of the Batam group within the
Riau archipelago. It was then, and still is, a major oil storage facility. In the days I speak of, it
made up, together with Pulau Bukom, the twin facilities of SHELL. I believe today it has
passed on to PERTAMINA. The island and storage tanks can be seen from Singapore. Pulau
Sambu is in fact among the nearest Indonesian islands from us, directly across the Singapore
Straits. At the time I am speaking of, it was serviced from Singapore. As far as I could make
out the island was a protected place and visitors were restricted.
One bright sunny Sunday morning in early 1950, after we had settled down in our new home,
we were invited and got aboard a launch to Pulau Sambu, We were invited for the joy-ride,
with a picnic tagged on. I cannot think why a Master Attendant’s boat would be going to Pulau
Sambu, and so I conclude it was a SHELL boat. The vessel was sizeable with in-board
engines and a good turn of speed, which kept her steady in open water. We departed from
Clifford Pier. My Dad and Mum spent much of their time in the guests’ bunker, but I spent
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3
most of mine on the bridge with the captain. This was my first time on a boat of any size. It
was also my first journey into international waters and to a foreign destination. We soon
crossed the Eastern Anchorage. On first viewing it is incredible to see close at hand up to one
hundred or more ships and boats of all sizes and types at anchor, all strictly aligned and
facing the same way. I soon learnt that while ships would point in the direction of their anchor,
their unsecured sterns would drift in the direction of the tide. Further, this alignment would
change with the reversal of the tide. This we found out to be so on our return journey. When
we crossed the Straits of Singapore, the captain explained wistfully and with a touch of
romance that this was the fabled passage-way to Orient that all mariners from ancient times
to the present day sought and recorded in their logs as they passed through it. This was one
of the world’s great waterways. As we traversed it, we saw a procession of ships steaming in
arriving from the China Sea. This stretch of water was also known as the Eastern
Approaches. In the opposite direction, we saw another line of ships leaving port for the East.
Some of these were passing through from the Straits of Malacca without stopping at
Singapore. Not surprisingly the wash from so many ships made for a choppy sea, which was
exciting.
The island is about an hour away, to the south of Singapore. It is tear-drop or pearl shaped,
narrow at the top, and leaning slightly to its left or west side. It is about one and a half km topdown and half a km at its broadest. The oil installation occupied most of the island, on the
west, in the centre and to the north. On the opposite side, along the eastern shore, there were
some one dozen Dutch bungalows, neatly in a neat row, facing the sea. They were obviously
holiday bungalows for the elite of the company. Alongside these was a beautifully kept beach
of golden sand, shaded by a row of coconut-trees. This was our destination.
We disembarked at a jetty to the south of the island. A short walk to the right took us there.
My Dad had been given permission to use one of the bungalows. My Mum was not wanting in
providing for the occasion. She brought a pot of her favourite curry, bread, drinks, and fruit.
We swam, ate, lazed, explored and swam and ate and lazed again. On that day, there was no
one else sharing space with us – except some local children playing in the water nearer the
jetty. The place was utterly peaceful, utterly soporific, utterly languid and totally spell-binding.
The location was superbly chosen, facing the open sea, to enjoy a steady breeze. This place
was as close as one could get to a perfect tropical paradise, with gently wafting palms, sundrenched sands, a sparkling sea and a blue sky. It was like old times for us. It must have
been one of the happiest days my Dad and Mum and I spent together. I am not making this
up, but I thought then that this was what a perfect keronchong must really be like, everything
and every feeling present and rendered perfectly and in its place, and the whole simply
magical.
The return journey was uneventful. In those days, there were no immigration formalities. None
of us had passports. We simply stepped on and off the boat at both ends and proceeded with
our pleasures at our leisure. I did a satellite scan of the island on 4 Mar 2012, and found the
place had remained essentially what it was when my Dad and I explored it, including the
colonial bungalows. There were some pictures which showed that the beach was still very
much as it was. Here is a description on a travel website, describing it as a day excursion
from Batam:
“Back in the 1930s, the Shell Oil Co discovered oil near Palembang in South Sumatra
Sumatra. The company set up twin refining and distribution facilities on Sambu Island
(Indonesia) and Pulau Bukum (Singapore). Sambu reverted to Indonesian ownership in
the 50s and has not changed much since. Visit there to enjoy the old Dutch houses and
matured trees and gardens. Life here is slow and gracious. Almost no cars, nearly
everyone walks. When you walk off the jetty veer to the right - keep away from the
official Pertamina faclities that lie to the left of the jetty. When you can see a tiny bank
building, follow the stairs up past the tiny post office ("Kantor Pos"), passing the big
mosque to your right and head towards the first old Dutch houses. Affer the second or
third house, turn right and go up over the hill. Keep well away from the Pertamina oil
facility that occupies the northern half of Sambu Island. You will pass through a
beautiful old secondary forest before reaching the other side of the hill and the coast.
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Take your time. But if you still have plenty of time, turn left and walk north along this
coast for a couple of hundred metres, but dont go past the foootball field. Then follow
the coast south, back past more old Dutch houses, then up over the hill and back to the
jetty.
http://www.world66.com/asia/southeastasia/indonesia/batam/sights
Actually, the refinery was (and is) on Bukom and the distributing facility in Sambu. Otherwise
the report is accurate. I called three Singapore travel agents who dealt with packages to the
Riau islands, and so far from offering me arrangements to go there none of them had heard of
Pulau Sambu, It must still be very much an excluded place. I think it will have to be a locally
arranged trip from Batam.
Pulau Pisang
Very early on another Sunday morning, we were to step aboard another boat for an equally
exciting adventure. This time it was a boat belonging to the fleet of the Master Attendant, one
of their biggest, My memory may be faulty, but I believe it was the MVS Offsprey. It was
headed for the Lighthouse at Pulau Pisang, on the Department’s regular schedule of
changing duty personnel and delivering supplies once a month. Few people, then and now,
would know where Pulau Pisang is. It is located in the lower end of the Straits of Malacca
opposite Pontian, about 15 km off shore, and is today a part of Johor, Malaysia. Its
Lighthouse is the guardian and sentinel of the southern extremity of the straits; every ship
depends on her. Curiously, it is still maintained by Singapore, see Internet extract further on.
The journey took eight hours. We left the Master Attendant’s Pier in the wee hours of the
morning and veered west. First it was necessary to traverse Keppel Harbour and then the
whole extent of the Western Roads with Pulau Bukom on one side and Jurong on the other –
Jurong was then a a swamp - until we turned the corner of Kukup. Most schoolboys know that
Kukup is the very southernmost tip of the continent of Asia. It took us about four hours and
way past sunrise to get there. In maritime circles, this point is referred to as the Western
Approaches. It is about here that arriving ships opened up their shot-range communications
with Singapore Coast Radio at the Yio Choa Kang receiving station. Beyond Kukup, we sailed
into the Malacca Straits and reached Pulau Pisang in another four hours. The weather was
good and the water calm. With hardly any breeze at mid-day in this land-enclosed sea, it was
steamy hot.
Pulau Pisang is a big island about the same size as Pulau Besar. Shaped like a stingray, it is
about one and a half km across and about one km top to bottom, At the centre is a high
conical hill, with steep sides. At the time I am speaking of, the whole island was heavily clad
in forest, which was largely inaccessible and filled with screeching birds and monkeys. There
must have been wild bananas growing, for “pisang” means “banana” in Malay. At the summit
stood its only significant man-made feature, namely a huge Lighthouse (with ancillary
quarters, etc around it). There was of course a landing point somewhere along the shore, with
a track leading up to the Lighthouse.
It was a picnic with a difference. Fortunately, our launch had canvas over its deck from prow
to stern. So we spread ourselves comfortably. Because of the early start, the length of the
journey and the heat, we were sapped and hungry. So, we decided on an early “picnic” on
board while still en route. The Pillays were never short of victuals. We had a thoroughly
enjoyable time, with the captain and one or two officers, friends of my Dad, joining in.
Needless to say we were fortified, perhaps more so than advisable to tackle the hill when we
got there
It was the responsibility of the in-coming team with the assistance of the crew to carry their
stores to the lighthouse and their quarters. This was a tiring and sweaty exercise. My Dad and
I joined the safari going uphill, but my Mum opted out and preferred to read a book. It took us,
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5
with the loads, nearly more than half an hour to get to the top. As I recall, all goods had to be
hand-carried, because of the steepness and roughness of the track. The out-going team
meanwhile had already brought their stuff downhill for loading on to the boat. We spent an
hour at the lighthouse, which was a big one as lighthouses go, inspecting and admiring the
technology of the complex light and lens assembly and the rotation motors. Mostly we were
enrapt with the view. From the top of the lighthouse, we could see up and down the straits,
and the many ships sailing in parade in both directions. We could see the whole Johor
coastline on one side and Sumatra and its islands on the other side. The island itself was a
nature reserve of extraordinary beauty
Here is an extract from the Internet which describes Pulau Pisang today and relates its
history.
.
“Pulau Pisang
1914. Active; focal plane 150 m (492 ft); white flash every 10 s. 16 m (52
ft) round cylindrical cast iron tower, attached to a 1-story keeper's house.
The original 1st order Fresnel lens was replaced with a 4th order lens in
1967. Lighthouse painted white.
The lighthouse stands atop a wooded island in the Strait of Malacca. (It is)
Located on the highest point of Pulau Pisang, about 15 km (9 mi) east of
Pontian Kechin.
No current photo available, but Forand has a historic postcard view and
Google has a good satellite view.
The British government of Singapore, then called Straits Settlements,
obtained the land for the light station and its access road in an agreement
with the Sultan of Johore in 1900. Singapore continues to operate the light,
which is the cause of some friction with Malaysia, but Singapore
recognizes Malaysian sovereignty over the island. ......
In 2010 Malaysia formally annexed the island to Johor State and
announced that Singapore workers sent to maintain the lighthouse must
first register with Malaysian authorities at Pontian.
Accessible only by boat. Site and tower closed. Owner/operator: Maritime
and Port Authority of Singapore. ARLHS WMA-010; Admiralty F1668; NGA
21692.”
http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/lighthouse/myw2.htm
(I have made some adjustments in the paragraphing for easier reading, but
not altered the text.)
From satellite scan I did on 6 Mar 2012, the island looks the same as when we
visited it over 60 years ago. In those days of course, we had no passports and
required none to visit the island.
Raffles Lighthouse
It was inevitable that my Dad would take us to Raffles Lighthouse. It was (and is) one of the
most famous lighthouses in the world among maritime circles. Every captain looked for it and
docked it to record his passage. Quite simply, in the mind of the historic mariner, it marked
the junction of the Western and Eastern Approaches of Singapore on the one hand, and the
Western from the Eastern hemispheres on the other. From the west they turned Raffles
Lighthouse to enter the gateway to the Orient. From the east, they rounded it to enter the
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Straits of Malacca to go West. If they did not see Raffles Lighthouse, they were in the wrong
sea.
Raffles Lighthouse was on the southernmost of the little islands surrounding Singapore, about
an hour’s ride in a motor launch. Again, it was serviced by the Master Attendant by launch
once a month bringing fresh duty personnel and stores. My Dad and I took one of these. After
Pulau Pisang, my Mum I think had had enough of lighthouses and opted out.
At the time I speak of, the island was little more than an outcrop barely above sea level,
reinforced with granite in the centre to support the lighthouse, which was itself raised on a
platform. Aside from the sizeable lighthouse tower and ancillary quarters, there was little else,
not even a decent spot to swim in.
I quote an extract from the Internet which leaves very little else to be said – and more than
you could want - about this exotic and romantic place. Today the island has been
considerably developed both with technical facilities and in terms of its manicured
environment. It is well-known in naturalist circles for its reputed coral garden – though I
understand one needs a permit to visit the island.
“Raffles Lighthouse… (is) a lighthouse located in the Straits of Singapore,
about 14 kilometres south of the main island of Singapore.
The Raffles Lighthouse ...foundation stone was laid in 1854 when William
John Butterworth was the Governor of the Straits Settlements. The stones on
which Raffles Lighthouse stands come from the granite quarries on Pulau
Ubin. The lighthouse was named after Sir Stamford Raffles, the founder of
modern Singapore in 1819.
The lighthouse was erected on a 1.3-hectare rocky island called Pulau
Satumu, the southernmost off-shore island of Singapore. Pulau Satumu
means "one tree island".
The light source was a wick burner which was replaced in 1905 by a
pressurised vapour kerosene mantle burner to increase the light intensity for
a greater visible range. A 2nd Order optic was mounted on a roller carriage to
allow for smooth rotation. (The Order is a system of classifying the type of
lenses used based on the focal length of the lens). This roller carriage was a
weight-driven machine which had to be rewound manually to lift the weight
whenever it reached the base. The rewinding was done hourly. A crew of
seven men was required to man the lighthouse.
In 1968, the installation of a 4th Order electrically operated revolving optic
replaced the original 2nd Order optic with a pressurised vapour kerosene
‘Hood’ mantle burner. The light source was changed to 100-volt/1,000-watt
incandescent bulb producing 350,000 candelas of light intensity with a
visibility range of 22 nautical miles (about 40 km). The power supply came
from one of the three generators installed in a generator room built close to
the keeper’s room. As the rotation was electrically driven by motors, the crew
was reduced to 4 men.
In 1988 the 4th Order optic was replaced by a rotating beacon. This
comprised an array of quartz halogen lamps in aluminium parabolic reflectors
mounted on gearless revolving pedestal. The lamps require only one-fifth of
the energy required to produce the same intensity as incandescent lamps.
These low power lamps therefore allow solar power to be used in place of
generators. In addition, the operation of the light is controlled by photocell.
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The manning of the lighthouse was further reduced to two men. The use of
solar energy which is freely and readily available has resulted in a reduction
of operating and maintenance cost.
The present lighthouse equipment consists of a main and standby rotating
beacon, each producing 117,000 candelas with a nominal range of 20
nautical miles (about 37 km). A radar beacon (racon) was also installed at the
lighthouse which provides additional navigational information to ships by
emitting a morse code on the ship’s radar screen. In 2005, an Aids to
Navigation Automatic Identification System (AIS) was installed to broadcast
additional positioning information to ships.”
http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/lighthouse/sgp.htm
Horsburgh Lighthouse
The subject of lighthouses would not be complete without mention of the Horsburgh
Lighthouse. It is Singapore’s oldest lighthouse. Although we did not visit it, it was very much a
day to day subject of conversation. It stood guard at the entrance to the Eastern Approaches,
and marked the point ships would open ship-shore communications with Singapore Coast
Radio. To the members of the local fishing fraternity it has always been known to be the
spawning grounds for the best catches. The small rocky island on which it stands has
historically been known as Pedra Blanca (Portuguese for White Rock). In recent times it has
been most famous as the centre of a dispute for sovereignty between Malaysia and
Singapore which went to the International Court of Justice.
Here is an (edited) extract from the Internet which tells much and more of the story of
Horsburgh Lighthouse:
“Horsburgh (Pulau Batu Puteh, Pedra Blanca)
1851 (John Turnbull Thomson). Active; focal plane 31 m (102 ft); white flash
every 10 s. 34 m (112 ft) round granite tower with lantern and gallery,
attached to a 2-story concrete keeper's complex. Lighthouse painted with
black and white horizontal bands. ...Daniel Koh has a view from the sea.
This lighthouse, Singapore's oldest, was named for James Horsburgh (17621836), the hydrographer of the East India Company who charted the
seaways around Singapore. ...The lighthouse stands on a notorious rock
outcrop, long called Pedra Blanca (white rock) by European navigators. In the
late 1900s, Malaysia maintained a claim to Pulau Batu Puteh (Pedra Blanca),
on the grounds that the islet was historically under the control of the Sultan of
Johor (Johor is now a state of Malaysia). Malaysia did not object to
Singapore's continued operation of the lighthouse, but sought sovereignty
over the island. In 2003, Malaysia and Singapore agreed to refer their
territorial dispute to the International Court of Justice at The Hague,
Netherlands. ...In May 2008 the court ruled in favor of Singapore.
Located off the eastern entrance to the Singapore Strait about 13 km (8 mi)
southeast of the southeastern tip of Singapore Island. Accessible only by
boat. Site and tower closed. ARLHS SIN-001; Admiralty F1820; NGA 21188.”
http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/lighthouse/sgp.htm
There were several other lighthouses of Singapore in my Dad’s time. By way of an historical
note, I should mention the one at the top of Fort Canning overlooking the city. Set up in 1855,
it was the beacon by which ships, from the early days to my Dad’s time, steered into port. It
represented the heart-beat of our fair city. With the growth of high-rise buildings, it was
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decommissioned in 1958, and was replaced by a lantern on top of Fullerton Building, which
was itself decommissioned in 1979.
9 Teo Kim Eng Road
On first arrival in Singapore, my Dad and family were welcomed by Mr. M. T. Pillay, his
cousin, and invited to stay at his home at 9 Teo Kim Eng Road, until our own accommodation
was sorted out. Set in a row of such bungalows, it was a large spacious brick and concrete
building in the classic style of colonial suburbia favoured by the well-to-do local middle-class.
The main building was single storey and elevated on concrete pillars, while the kitchen and
service areas were at ground level in a transverse row at the back. There was a large
expansive verandah stretching across the front, coupled with common living and dining areas.
Behind these were private rooms on either side of a central corridor. We were generously
given one of these rooms. The grounds were ample, and included a badminton court
Mr. M. T. Pillay was one of the seniors of the Chetty Malacca community in Singapore. He
was acknowledged as their most influential leader. His story and family will be featured in a
separate work on the “Chetty Malacca Families in Singapore”, being put together in
collaboration with others and to be issued later this year. Here, suffice it for me to capture the
person that he was and the happy and wonderful life we had during our stay there with him.
M. T. Pillay belonged to the pioneer generation that moved out from Malacca to Singapore in
the inter-war years. He was also known as “Baba Pantai”, because of his connections with the
Chetty Malacca community at Kampong Pantai, Malacca. I knew him as “Uncle Baba” Not
overly tall, he had a powerful frame, a strong jaw and rich sturdy hair combed straight back
from a broad forehead. He exuded strength and sharpness.He had a deep voice and a hearty
laugh, and seldom missed much. But beneath these external characteristics his outstanding
attribute was his compassion. As a result, people came to him easily with their troubles. He
was always available to those who needed advice and encouragement, and sometimes a little
charity.
Uncle Baba had attained the highest grade in the colonial service for local non-professional
officers and served in the Accountant General’s Office as a Deputy Accountant General. It
was widely known that no payment was made by the government without passing through his
hands. With his official prestige and his own helpfulness, he was widely recognised as a
leader the Chetty Malacca community
Uncle Baba’s family at Teo Kim Eng Road was a large and happy one. Living there was his
eldest daughter Rose, by his first wife, deceased, .By his second wife, Aunty Papathe, he had
four daughters, in descending order Letchimy, Marie, Chelong and Sarda, and one son
Krishna. He also had one legally adopted son, Johhny Khoo-Pillay. At 14 years of age, I was
a year older than Letchimy and perhaps two younger than Johnny. Also resident with the
family were Topeh Dollah and Nenek Jumbol who were brother and sister in their 70s. The
latter was Aunty Papathe’s mother.
In the immediate post-war world, Singapore had a set of primary roads that spread out across
the island from the city centre in the south, like the spokes of a fan. Further development was
taking place by off-shoots on either side of these spinal roads. The Geylang-Changi axis one
such linear spine. The Singapore Traction Company’s (STC’s) city tram services terminated
at Geylang Serai, wherefrom the Changi Bus Company started its rural services. Some way
further along the axis, one would find Jalan Eunos.This road served Kampong Melayu, where
it dead-ended. It was a secondary road, metalled but ridiculously potholed, with no street
lighting.
Kampong Melayu was a charming mature Malay Settlement occupying a sizable hill about a
mile and half inland. As it is a significant piece of our history gone now, I make no apologies
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9
for quoting two extracts from the internet in romantic nostalgia, for I remember my many visits
there in subsequent years to the home of the very distinguished Tuan Haji Safarwan, my
Malay teacher and guru, one of the most gracious and cultured gentlemen it has been my
privilege to know.
The settlement was originally named Kampong Melayu, a large Malay village
that used to include Kampong Ubi and Kaki Bukit areas. It was later renamed
Kampong Eunos in honour of its founder, Inche Muhammad Eunos Abdullah.
Inche Eunos was the Chairman and co-founder of the Kesatuan Melayu
Singapura (the Singapore Malay Union) and the first Malay representative of the
Legislative Council, the then governing body of Singapore. In 1927, he appealed
to the government and was granted $700,000 that the Kesatuan Melayu
Singapura used for the purchase of 240 hectares of land, which later became
known as Kampong Melayu
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eunos,_Singapore
The settlers to Kampong Melayu had to clear the land themselves to construct
their new homes. Towards the 1930s, development of the settlement intensified
when the government decided to resettle Malays from Kallang Village to make way
for the construction of Kallang Airport. In 1960, the Jalan Eunos Malay Settlement
was extended to include the Kaki Bukit area. The register of settlers was closed in
1965 when it had some 1,300 houses. It was de-gazetted for urban renewal in
1981 to make way for the Pan Island Expressway.
http://infopedia.nl.sg/articles/SIP_738_2005-01-24.html
The Settlement has since been consigned to history with the government’s desegregation and
resettlement policies, and in its place will be found today the HDB housing estates of Jalan
Tenaga and Bedok Resevoir Road (Block 102 of which actually stands directly behind and
overlooks 9 Teo Kim Eng Road today); and on the other side of the hill Kaki Bukit Industrial
Park 2. In those days, on the forward slopes of the hill, one would find a few residential
streets, one of which was Teo Kim Eng Road. But before one could reach it, one had to go
through Foo Kim Lim Road. Both these reads were not metalled or lighted, and full of giant
potholes. In retrospect, while the property was new and modern, with electricity, we were
quite squarely in rural Singapore and on the farthest fringe of urban development. But, for us
new immigrants, it was an exciting and challenging environment. The truth is that M. T Pillay’s
family had also only moved there only about a year before us, also from Malacca, and it was
clear that they found their new home equally stimulating.
And so it seemed did the entire community. One of the most remarkable happenings was the
congregation of Chetty Malacca families at Uncle Baba’s place on a Sunday. Grand-parents,
parents and children, young adult singles, teenagers, whether relatives or just friends dropped
by if they were not doing anything else, and it was clear they were there to spend the day. It
was a wonderful confluence of the community, where relatives connected, the new arrivals
met the old residents and the latter found out what was going on back “home” in Malacca. It
was where ladies exchanged gossip, parents and young adults eyed potential brides, and the
latter their options, and teenagers made friends. If it was a Hindu festival or prayer day, they
were able to participate as a community and keep traditions alive. The highlight was lunch. In
the true old-world spirit of the community, every able-bodied woman and daughter reported to
the kitchen, picked up some tools and did what was needed. Yet it was a miracle how the
kitchen managed. Uncle Baba encouraged and welcomed all, and asked after absent ones. In
distant Singapore, far from their community roots, in true patriarchal style, he gathered his
chosen people, the diaspora in Singapore, in their new land and helped them fulfill their
Odiang: Chapter Seven – The Singapore Years
10
separate destinies. I liked the afternoons best, for we would then play badminton right on into
the evening. Most of the families left by the close of the day.
I was of course enrolled in St Joseph’s Institution, thereby fulfilling one primary objective of
the migration. But the reality was that that revered institution was located in Bras Basah
Road, in the centre of the city, some eight miles away. It took an hour and 20 minutes to get
there, from the moment of stepping out of the house. First, there was the trek out to Jalan
Eunos. Then there was the Changi Bus to catch to Geylang Serai. Generally reliable, it was
sometimes full and did not stop. At Geylang, there was a choice of transport, Trolley Bus No 3
or Bus No 2, both headed for Bras Basah, both headed down basically the same route - along
with every other trolley, bus, lorry, push-cart, car and other vehicle and a swarm of cyclists all
going into town. The standard city streets then were of course for two-way traffic, and so we
had to share the road with more or less the same number of vehicles and people going in the
opposite direction. This really tightened things up, and it was one long snarl all the way. It was
incredibly bad at Kallang, which was a bottleneck. All traffic from and to the East had to pass
through here. Buses were over-crowded and air-conditioning was unheard of. Where the
buses had doors, these were jammed open by the people on the doorstep. In fact much of the
time you hung half outside from the lower doorway step of the bus until someone got off at the
next stop. Much of the time, of course, the buses were standing still. After a while, I
persuaded my Mum to let me go to school by bicycle – which I had brought over from
Malacca. This introduced great flexibility and adventure. For one thing, it took less time to get
to school. They had not invented road-dividers yet, and so I could overtake rows of standing
vehicles and travel on the wrong side wherever there was space. On the other hand, if the
traffic was in fact moving, I simply hung on to the back of a bus or lorry and got towed along.
Red lights were not a bother, and soon I learnt the different side roads and streets to school
with little traffic. The bicycle was indispensable for after school activities, like visiting classmates, going to the movies, attending games outside the school, going to the library, or just
exploring my new city. My bicycle was like my horse.
Uncle Baba used to get up very early in the morning on a work day, round about 5.00 am. He
would sit out in the porch, spread out the contents of his over-stuffed brief-case and put in an
hour or two of solid work. This set the standard for me and I also got up on most mornings,
sat across from him at a separate table and did my homework. Heaven knows I did have a
load of catching up to do to keep pace with the SJI boys who were ahead of me in all
subjects. We each had a cup of coffee, but otherwise shared our companionship in silence. I
think he respected this 14-year-old who obviously meant business. I for my part drew
enormous inspiration working alongside this man of stamina and kindness. The symbiosis
worked, for I topped the class at the end of that first term. I still cherish that smile he gave me
when he was told by my Dad.
167 Bukit Timah Road
My Dad was allocated his quarters somewhere in Nov 49, if I remember correctly, for we
spent Christmas in our new home. We were sorry to leave Uncle Baba and the family, but it
was time to settle down ourselves.
Bukit Timah Road was in those days the main trunk road from the Singapore to Malaya. It ran
north-south, up the centre of the island. The most important junction on this road was Newton
Circus, on the periphery of the city proper. It was the point of convergence of the network of
city roads and streets feeding out and receiving trunk traffic. Immediately adjacent to the
circus on the city side were two parallel rows of terraced government quarters. Each row was
divided into three blocks. No 167 was an intermediate unit in the centre block of the front row,
facing Bukit Timah Road. The quarters were all two storeyed, spacious, and slightly different
in design. Our set had five rooms and included an indoor open-air garage. The STC city
service Trolley Bus No 6 terminated just past our house, and the fast and plentiful fleet of the
Green Bus Company took over from there and provided for our needs covering the western
and northern parts of Singapore. Today, only two blocks of the back row remain, and have
somewhat of a heritage character, rented out to boutique establishments. Our row has long
Odiang: Chapter Seven – The Singapore Years
11
been demolished for road widening. Instead, Singapore’s world-famous open-air Newton
Food Centre stands on the junction of the circus adjacent to the remaining quarters, and
marks the locale of the happiest days of my teens, as a “Newton boy”. We were to stay there
until my Dad retired in 1956.
We settled down fast, my Dad in his job and me in school, while my Mum reconnected with
her long lost Singapore friends and relatives. Dad purchased a second hand Robinson piano
and a new Mullard radio, which together with my bicycle set me up for good.
School
I joined SJI on 2 May 49, enrolled in class Standard 7A under Bro Henry O’Brien, who was to
mentor us as our class teacher through three years to the Cambridge Exams. My studies
were the main focus of endeavor in the years following, and progressed successfully. It turned
out that the class I joined was an elite crop, vaunted as the best the school had yet had in the
post war period. The top dogs of the class, Chee Kim Hoe, Choo Eng Khoon, Alexius
Delilkan, and Christopher Hooi, among others, already had formidable reputations, and
regularly represented SJI in inter-school spelling bees and general knowledge competitions
over radio. I had a tough time competing against them, but generally maintained first or
second place in the class exams throughout my three years with them.
In point of fact, before the end of 1949 I was to score a second success, by winning an essay
competition2 open to all secondary classes of Catholic schools in Singapore My Prize for this
was a volume of the Collected Works of William Shakespeare” –which remains to this day
among my most treasure possessions. At year end I got promoted to Standard 8.and 1950
turned out to be my best year. Firstly, I was to win another essay competition, on the “The
Australian Pavilion at the Singapore Trade Fair” held at the Happy World .This was open to all
secondary schools in Singapore and Malaya. I was joint winner from Singapore with S
Nayarayasamy, a Standard 9 student of SJI. Robert Woodworth of the Penang Free School
was the joint winner from Malaya. Secondly, the year saw the holding of the first and only
Combined Schools Mock Meeting of the Singapore Municipal Council held in the actual
council chambers of City Hall, as a highlight of the national civics programme. I represented
SJI, and was chosen to chair the mock council meeting as Sir Percy McNiece, President of
the Council. The class and the school were proud of me. And thirdly, before the year ended, I
was nominated by SJI and selected by interview to represent Singapore at the New York
Daily Mirror Youth Forum, which I did attend from 8 to 18 Dec 50, taking three days to fly
each way by KLM Super-Constellation. I broadcast to Singapore on NBC some time during
my stay in US, which included both Washington as well as New York. This was the
culmination of an incredible year. It was like a fairy-tale. And, at that point, I had just closed
my sixteenth birthday3.
Brother Henry made it clear that the high-jinks of the previous year were over. In 1951, we
were to settle down to take the Cambridge School Certificate Examination at the end of that
year. He wanted record results. All 32 boys in class took the full 9 subjects. Brother
Christopher taught us Maths and Mechanics. Sng Yew Chong was our Science teacher, and
Ngui Jim Chiang was our Geography teacher. Brother Henry took us in the rest of our
subjects, which were English Language, English Literature, History, Latin and Scripture.
2
The title was “My Journey from Malacca To Singapore”. It was published in the SJI Annual of
that year.
3.
The representative of the Philippines was Renato A Ecarma, from the University of
SantoThomas. He introduced me to three of his classmates, Virginia (Pili) Toledo, Epifania
Turnbanada, and Josefina Santa Crux, who became my pen-pals. Contact ceased after a few
years. Then, one day, over 40 years later, I got an email from Josefina.(Josie) who met
someone knew me. This renewed our friendship, which has continued for another near 20
years, to this day. She is married to Jessy Gonzalez and they are settled in Vancouver. They
visited us in Singapore in 2005. Josie is in touch with Pili and Epi, who are both settled In the
United States. Renato is reported also to be in the States, but not in contact.
Odiang: Chapter Seven – The Singapore Years
12
When the results came out, we had 25 Grade Ones, 6 Grade Twos and one Grade Three. As
a class performance, it was unparalleled, given the basically un-streamed composition of the
students. Chee Kim Hoe topped Singapore that year with 8 Distinctions, and I tied for second
place with the top boy of Raffles institution, Mahendran Ambiavagar, with 7 Distinctions.
The Post School Years
In 1952, SJI, St Anthony’s Boys School and the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus (CHIJ)
combined to have Post-Secondary Classes (PSC) based at St Joseph’s, an Arts Stream class
and a Science-Medical Stream class.But there was no post-secondary programme in place.
The Higher School Certificate was only introduced in Singapore two years after us, in 1954.
So, those who wanted to proceed for tertiary education identified their disciplines and their
universities of choice, joined the relevant PSC class, and prepared for the particular
matriculation requirements.
About half of our class joined the PSC, of whom only three elected for the Arts stream,
namely Choo Eng Khoon, Christopher Hooi and myself. Some Science-Medical stream
students gained admission to institutions or pre-university classes overseas straight away and
left. Most of us, including the three Arts students, targeted to join the University of Malaya
(then in Singapore). Therefore we prepared to take the University’s Entrance Examination to
be held in Mar 53 with a view to admission in Michaelmas Term in Sep 53. Six Convent girls
joined the Arts stream, namely Marina Read, Rose Nalpon, Catherine Wong, Margaret Lee,
Mary Chee Siew Lan and Loh Wai Fun, making us a class of Nine.
We of the Arts Stream were to have a glorious time. Our form teacher and mentor was
Brother Meldan. Having himself enjoyed tertiary education, rare among LaSalle Brothers in
those days, he brought a liberal and enlightened attitude to learning. To start with he declared
that we had no class-room. Our place of learning, or if we preferred repose, was the Library.
There were no textbooks. We knew the syllabi of our subjects, and we could decide our
sources of learning. There were no class hours. We could come to school at any time, or not.
There were no lectures, period; there was no home-work, and there were no tests. It we
wanted to discuss anything with him, he would be available. The only restriction was that
some of us had a subject or two, like History or Geography, taken by another teacher. These
teachers unfortunately would operate by time-tables which we were expected to follow.
Otherwise, we were free. Most days we met at the Cathay or Capital cinema for the 11.00 am
show, or at the Red House (now Carlton Hotel) for an extended breakfast. To further our
education and enjoyment, the class organised an excursion in mid-1952 to Malacca, where I
was able to introduce them to my many Malacca friends and former class-mates and to take
them around. After the tight regimentation of Bro Henry, with round the clock swatting for the
exams, this “academic freedom” was joyous. Needless to say we profited immensely by it. At
the Entrance exams, we all passed with flying colours and got admitted. In fact SJI had the
distinction of winning all the three Arts Entrance Scholarships. And one of these three topped
the Entrance Examinations for all streams.
Other Activities and Friends
On joining SJI, I was enrolled in Marcian or B House, where I soon found myself focusing on
hockey and cricket, and in my final year (Standard 9 or 1951) I made it to the school teams in
both cricket and hockey. I was really quite run-of-the-mill as both a batsman and bowler, but
my crowning glory was, one sunny afternoon in that year, playing on their grounds, I took five
Raffles Institutions (RI) wickets for 22 runs. I would go further at hockey in the next two years,
and was selected for the Singapore Combined Schools Hockey Team, as first choice in-side
left forward (striker). In this role I enjoyed the glamour of being a member of the Singapore
team that participated in the Pan-Malayan Quadrangular Hockey Tournament in Kula Lumpur
in 1952, against Johore, Malacca, Selangor and Negri Sembilan. Singapore did not win, but I
won some fame for scoring a goal against Selangor, who won. I record with fond memories
the names of the other SJI boys who were called up to form the Singapore squad: SJI captain
and incomparable playmaker Douglas Hay, inside right James Quek, centre-forward Ernest
Odiang: Chapter Seven – The Singapore Years
13
Wickramasinghe, right back Stanley Wickramasinghe, and goal keeper Roland Stevens. Here
I should mention Alexius Delilkan, my classmate, who was both SJI’s cricket captain and a
member of the school’s hockey team. It soon became apparent that he had extraordinary
talent as a cricketer, both as a batsman and spin bowler, in fact among the best Singapore
has ever produced. In time he would captain the national team, and become recognized
internationally as one of the great players of the game.
I joined the Legion of Mary in 1950, enrolling as a member of the Junior Praesidium of Our
Lady of Good Counsel, based at the school, at first under Stephen Lee, followed by Michael
Chai, as President. The Legion of Mary which was launched in Singapore in 1947 was in a
vigorous phase under the leadership of Luna Pereira as President, Augustine Ng as
Secretary and Joseph Lau as Treasurer of the Curia. In 1952, I became the President of Our
Lady Mediatrix of All Graces, the first Intermediate Praesidium in Singapore, based at the
Catholic Centre, and would continue for two terms until 1956. Our first Spiritual Director was
Father Patrick Joy SJ, and he was followed by Father Thomas Fitzgerald SJ. We were a
close and strongly bonded group of young singles, teachers and office workers. There were
changes of membership along the way, but I record the names of the core group with special
love: Jeanette Fernandez, Stella Wambeck, Catherine Chan, Margaret Wong, Ethel Tsai,
Genevieve Yeo, Sylvia Monteiro, Helen MacIntyre, Geraldine Lim, James Lee, Vincent Chua,
Michael Pang and Philip Lim. One of the more exciting of our work assignments was houseto-house visitation. We were assigned the streets, many with Burmese names, off Balestier
Road near Whampoa. Another quite challenging task was ship-to-ship visitation, carried out
by the male members. On many a Saturday afternoon, we would obtain Singapore Harbour
Board (SHB) passes to enter the Port Area, and would go from ship to ship asking if there
were Catholics aboard among the seamen and whether they needed any help. We did this as
part of our support of the Catholic Apostolate of the Sea. As might be imagined, this was a
sizeable ministry in a world-scale port like Singapore. Already in those days, the SHB
wharves (Nos 1 to 33 as I recall) stretched for many miles over eight Gates round Keppel
Harbour; and we could only cover a few ships each time. On occasion we would take a
seaman or two ashore to see the Port Chaplain or show them the whereabouts of the Catholic
Centre or the nearby churches. It was quite daunting boarding a ship “cold” and having to
wander into the crew’s cabin areas, but this was often compensated for by the surprised and
warm smile we received when we met a friendly seaman or a Catholic. Needless to say, My
Dad was extremely pleased that I was involved in this work
No sooner had we settled down at Bukit Timah, than my Mother got me a music teacher. She
was Dorothy Campbell, a schoolmate of hers. She used to trail along a young son called
“Corgi”, who must be well advanced in years by now. I carried on lessons for a few years, but
refused to follow a course or take an examination. As soon as my fingers were working I
explored what I was able of the repertoires both classical and popular. There was in the end a
quiet understanding that I could be left to go forward on my own. Incredible as it may seem,
somewhere in 1952 my Mum got me also to earn the violin. She insisted that I enroll as a
pupil of Mr. M. A. De Sa, the well-known Goanese musician and teacher. Again I would not
follow a course or prepare for an exam. The result proved felicitous. Although in my view I
lacked suppleness of wrist and fingers to really excel, I mastered the instrument enough to
play in the seventh position and even the harmonics. I delivered the Beethoven Serenades
without too much difficulty and, as my final tour de force, could give a credible performance of
Vittorio Monti’s Czardas. I did not, however, carry on with my violin studies, as with the piano,
and have since lost it all.
In Malacca our family belonged to the Portuguese Mission Church of St Peter. My Dad was
very quick on transfer to Singapore in 1949 to enroll us as parishioners of the Portuguese
Mission Church of St Joseph, at Victoria Street. These two Catholic communities, in Malacca
and Singapore, as might be expected were closely related, shared many friends, and enjoyed
the same language (Colloquial Portuguese or Kristang), saints and feast days. My Dad joined
the Society of St Vincent de Paul and enrolled me in the choir in 1950. I sang in the Alto
section. After sometime and a few exposures as a last minute substitute, I was accepted and
emplaced as an apprentice or standby organist, somewhere like the seventh in the pecking
order. It was a grand and noble choir. Since all is now gone, I permit myself some nostalgia
Odiang: Chapter Seven – The Singapore Years
14
by indulging in recollection. The Choir Master was Mr. Cyril Albuquerque, a venerable
gentleman with a splendid moustache and a ferocious eye. The choir was structured in four
parts, Soprano, Tenor, Alto and Bass. Those were the days before Vatican II. So, for the
regular services, the choir sang the full plain chant liturgy in unison. But on feast days and for
non-liturgical services or parts of it, the choir would sing full four part arrangements. On the
big feasts like Christmas and Easter, the choir would be accompanied by a classical quartet,
comprising a violin, a saxophone or clarinet, a cello and a double bass. And there was the
Organ. It was simply majestic, with its multi-tiered keyboards and banks of stops on either
side, capable of keeping the organ to just above a whisper or letting it take off like a jumbo jet.
The organ was as large as a small house. It had a complex ensemble of pipes, serving a full
range of 2-4-8-16-32’ stops and the harmonics. The bass pipes stood precisely as tall as
indicated. These were of course driven by a full suite of pedals, which demanded enormous
wind energy to play. There was a manual pump station at the back of the organ, but by the
time I joined, the organ had been electrified. Needless to say, such an organ is useless
without an organist who could play it. And in Claude Oliveiro, our principal organist, we had a
grand master and supremo. He could exercise complete mastery over the instrument and
knew its stop combinations intimately. He was the only one who could bring that organ to full
life, resounding, responding, and overwhelming. Claude only turned up twice a year – on
Christmas night and Easter eve, just in time for the main event, after all the necessary
practices and minor singing had been done and dealt with by the second and third organists.
He was a musician of the old school, jovial and flamboyant, tempestuous in performance, and
at his best when adequately pre-fortified with some of the best. Claude played jazz piano as a
hobby and had his own combo; he was a popular and respected member of Singapore’s
music circles for many years. My own progress as organist never really took off. I never got
beyond a basic acquaintance with the organ at keyboard level and never played the pedals.
As the seventh organist, I was invariably assigned to play the Requiem Masses. The only
problem was that these started at 6.00 am in the morning. As time went on I kept turning up
later and later, so much so that Mr. Albuquerque often sang the Libera Me (last chant) by
himself without organ. Not surprisingly, one day, he told me it was not necessary for me to
turn up any more. That was it. Some time before that I had slipped out of the choir.
It was inevitable that I should from my first year with them quickly form friendships among my
classmates. The closest among these were Christopher Hooi Liang Yin and Choo Eng Khoon,
followed by Chee Kim Hoe. We would become life-long friends, including our families. Sadly
Christopher and Kim Hoe have passed away, but Eng Khoon is still very much in touch. He
phoned up and spontaneously dropped in today to join Mable and me for lunch and exchange
story books, something he has done and we have enjoyed doing for over 50 years. As this is
the story of my Dad, I will keep these references brief within the period of this narrative, but I
hope to indulge in more memories about these wonderful friends and my other classmates,
when and if I write my own life story. Suffice it to say that those of our class still living and in
Singapore have largely remained in touch, gathering for lunch yearly. Quite separately, for
the record, I got to become quite friendly with James Sebastian from the B Class and we
shared a lot together, but this ceased inexplicably by his doing and he now lives in Australia.
.
It was also inevitable that my Malacca Garden City and school friends should have been in
close contact. From our very first Christmas, one or more of the following would come across
and stay with us at Bukit Timah Road for the school holidays: Johnny Tan, Lee Kim Hock,
Teoh Choo Leong, Ram Lebayah (Mingu) and John Chong Yean Joo. They were joined by
Christopher and Eng Khoon, who stayed nearby and came over often. We formed one large
happy group and enjoyed the holidays together, including Christopher’s sisters, whether
visiting the Botanic Gardens or Haw Par Villa, or MacRitchie Reservoir, or even cycling to
Johore Bahru. Our favourite highlight was sitting down to dinner at my home cooked by my
Mum. John Chong provided great amusement on his first such occasion. At the start he
piously proceeded to say a long grace with his eyes closed; when he opened them, he found
all the food was gone.
Odiang: Chapter Seven – The Singapore Years
15
Dad buys a Car
Somewhere in 1952, my Dad bought a car, re-establishing his old life-style in full. It was an
Austin Somerset A 40 saloon, Black in colour. Its licence plate number was SB 2330. With
this facility we began to visit more widely, among others to the Thomases, my Mum’s cousins
at No 50 Bencoolen Street (see further on under Mum’s Relatives}, Auntie Girly (my
Godmother) who had since married and migrated to Singapore, at Jalan Kembangan, and the
Chetty Malacca families at Teo Kim Eng Road, Katong and Serangoon. We also visited
Malacca, and Kuala Lumpur where we stayed with the Le Fabres. On my 18th birthday in Dec
1952, I applied for a provisional driving permit and started learning to drive. In those days, all
you needed was a set of L plates and a qualified driver beside you, and you could drive
anywhere in Singapore - and Malaya; with a full load of passengers I might add. I remember,
under the supervision of my Dad as co-driver, taking the whole family to KL with L plates. As
a result, most of us were proficient drivers before we took our tests, in contrast to the theorybound and half-baked test applicants of these days. I got my licence in Mar 1953. That greatly
extended the operating range of our group – and of our port visitation work I might add.
Our Family Grows
Some time in 1947, Sanasee, eldest son of the Sundrum family in Malacca and my Dad’s first
cousin, had moved to Singapore and taken up employment with the Singapore Harbour Board
(SHB). In 1950, he married Letchimy, daughter of Ardy Pillay also of Malacca. The couple
came to live with us, until they could set themselves up. Their eldest son, Arunasalem Pillay
was born on 8 May 1951 and grew up under the watchful eye of my Mum, who named him
Victor (after Victor Mature). Their second son, Philip was also born at our home in 1952.
Sanasee and family stayed with us until 1953, when they moved to their own home at
Trafalgar Street. Victor however continued to live with us. In 1954 my Mum and Dad legally
adopted Elizabeth Anne, an Eurasian child born in that year. Once again our home was filled
with the happy laughter and imploring cries of a growing baby, added to those of a growing
boy. Anne’s specialty was asthma. I remember my Dad pacing up and down the upstairsverandah in the early hours of the morning with Anne over his shoulder soothing down her
cough. Happily she out-grew this over the years.
Mum’s Relatives
At some stage in 1952 or 1953, Cyril Thomas, Mummy’s brother, or Uncle Cyril as I knew
him, came to live with us. He was a career seaman, and was grounded because of failing
health. He was assigned the detached servants’ quarters in the backyard. This suited him
perfectly. Used to a lonely life, he would wander off on his own for much of the day. When at
home, he would spend his free time strumming his ukulele or mandolin, and sing to himself.
He had a precious exercise book in which were hand-written by him all his favourite songs.
This book was one of my treasurers for many years, but it is sadly lost. I remember one of his
favourite songs was “Try A Little Tenderness”; I play it on the piano from time to time (did so
just yesterday, Deepavali 2012) thinking of him. He passed away on 14 May 1954.
There were altogether four siblings making up the Thomas family. Cyril was the youngest
followed by my Mum (Jane). Next was Dorothy or Aunty Dora, whom I wrote of in Chapter III
– The Pre-War Years, and finally the eldest brother, Clarence Thomas. Clarence married
Aunty Leonie, and they had only one daughter, Ethel. (She was always known as Patsy to my
mother.) Uncle Clarence whom I vaguely recall meeting once before the war, worked at Peter
Chong’s booksellers and publishers. He passed away during the Japanese Occupation. By a
previous marriage, Aunty Leonie had a daughter, Agnes. At the time in question, namely the
early 1950s, she was married to Mr. Hellewelle, an Englishman, and had a young son,
Freddie Hellewelle, who is today the managing director of an industrial engineering services
firm. In addition Uncle Clarence had an adopted son, also named Cyril Thomas. Today, his
company is one of the major building construction firms in Singapore.
I believe it was through her mother, and their mother, that my Mum was connected as first
cousins to the three children of David McCall. Iris McCall was the closest to us. Iris married
Odiang: Chapter Seven – The Singapore Years
16
Sunny Stanley, and they lived at 51 Tavistock Avenue in Serangoon Gardens, round the
corner from us at Crowhurst Drive (see further on). Iris was a senior stenographer in the Chief
Secretary’s Office, which also happened to be where I was first posted on joining government
service. Like every office, this seat of colonial government had its own culture and
snobberies. For one thing, senior officers I found were expected to dictate their work, not write
out their drafts for typing. The more seasoned stenographers in turn exerted their own
tyrannies. Their norms were reasonable fluency, no chopping and changing, and the work
was faired straight for signature. A young officer had to have some temerity to correct a work
and ask them to do it again. And as luck would have it, on my first essay at dictation, who
should turn up but Iris. I was of course Aunty Jane’s son, “young Cousin Gerry”, but she set
the tone of the occasion straight from the start by a most formal “Good morning, Mr. Pillay”. I
at once knew I was on test. I wanted for all the world to come off with flying colours, as much
as I knew she wanted me to. Happily all went well, as she was able to report to my mother
later. Iris and Stanley had one son at that time. They migrated to the United States some time
in the early 1960s. The youngest McCall was Vernon @ Dicky, who was married to an
Eurasian lady from a family in Bedok. As I recall he worked for the British Army. The eldest
cousin was Lawrence McCall, who was married to Peggy Sharnhorst, and who last I heard
was in the business of building speedboats. If my memory serves me correctly, they had a
son.. By a previous marriage, Peggy had a son, Ginger, who years later I would work with
officially as a Registrar at the Singapore Polytechnic. I only met their father, David McCall,
once late in his life, when he was married to a Chinese lady and had retired. There was no
mistaking his Scottish lineage from his scraggy looks and rugged manner. He had been a
planter, and always claimed that it was he who invented the definitive process of coagulating
rubber. This was of course a technological turning point in the history of the rubber industry. I
forget the details, but it seems he was somehow diddled out of his rights to the patent, or sold
it unsuspectingly for a song. After the 1950s, we lost touch with the McCalls.
In an earlier Chapter4 I related that during the battle for Singapore, we moved for protection to
the home of Mrs. College at 6 Simon Road, Singapore. I never quite worked out the
connections but my Mother, Mrs College and the McCalls were related together.
University
The details of my university education may be briefly captured here, as they are not central to
the story of my Dad. Let it be said that he saved and paid for the whole of it from his salary,
as we did not have ample resources of capital having just come out of the war years, and the
university entrance scholarship was financially meager. The King’s Scholarship offered by the
colonial government had ceased at that point in time or I might have been a reasonable
candidate for one.
I was duly admitted to the University of Malaya, then in Singapore in Sep of 1953 to the
course of my choice, namely leading to the degree of Bachelor of Arts. I took Geography and
Economics as my Majors and English Literature as my Minor. The university was about two
miles up the road from our house (No 167) along Bukit Timah Road, and I enrolled as a nonhostelite; among other things this was economical. I duly obtained the degree in 1956, and
won the Economics Book Prize along with it. I elected to take Honours in Geography and duly
obtained a Second Class Upper in 1957. I was active in the University of Malaya Students’
Union (UMSU) during my bachelor course days, being elected on the Students’ Council from
the Non-Hostelites constituency and holding the Cabinet post of Publications Secretary. I was
also active in the World University Service (WUS). Perhaps I should mention that I developed
a close friendship with Chee Keng Soon, a student from RI, during my undergraduate years.
He would become one of our group and we took Honours together. In time however our paths
would divide.
Pulau Rusa
4
Chapter Five – Memories of the War and the Japanese Occupation.
Odiang: Chapter Seven – The Singapore Years
17
Perhaps my single most memorable experience at the university was being a member of a
team deployed by the Geography Department as part of our field experience in Jul- Aug1956
to do an in-depth land-use study of Mukim Pulau Rusa in the Pahang River Delta. Under the
supervision of Professor Rudolph Wikkramateleke who had just succeeded the famous
Professor E. H. G. Dhobby, the team comprised Hashim bin Aman and myself from the
Honours class and Lee Ek Hua, Mohamed bin Annas and Yang Amri bin Kammarudin who
were doing their first degree. I make no apology for dwelling on this rare and precious
experience.
When we roll-back to 1956, we are in the world of late British Malaya. In their 150 years, the
British did wonders to transform the Malayan political organization, landscape and economy.
But Pahang on the east coast was not only the largest state with the largest river but was
among the most politically intractable, the most remote, the most inaccessible, and
consequently the least developed. Even on the date we enter into this narrative, much of the
Pahang Delta was virtually untouched virgin swamp and jungle. Outside of the townships,
plantations and mines and beyond the basic road network, modernisation hardly penetrated
the frontier settlements of Pahang.
Mukim Pulau Rusa lay some 14 miles upstream, on the right bank of the great Pahang River,
deep in the lower delta, and could only be reached from the outside world by boat - about two
and a half hours from the State capital of Pekan – using the modest rural motor boats of the
time. The Sungei Pahang, to give it its proper name, was and is the largest river in Malaya,
now Malaysia, and at this point was about two to four miles broad, flowing west–to-east
through its gigantic swamp- and jungle-clad flood-plain to the sea. The Mukim itself was and
is an administrative unit bearing little relation to topography. It runs about three miles along
the river bank on its south, and is coupled with a rectangular block of the “hinterland” behind,
stretching northwards back into the swamp and the jungle, giving a total area of about 10
square miles. All human settlement was concentrated in a ribbon along the river bank, where
succeeding generations of floods had created a series of habitable levees with rich alluvial
soil supporting kampong agriculture and small holdings, in some places about 200 yards
wide. Beyond, the levees the land sloped progressively into swamp, and here the kampong
folk had reclaimed a belt of varying width for rice cultivation. Beyond the rice, lay the deep
swamps, and beyond that the “hutan besar” or the primeval jungle. When I refer to “Pulau
Rusa” in this write-up, I mean the riverine settlement rather than the whole Mukim, unless
indicated otherwise by the context.
The population at the survey totaled only 785, in 162 households, of whom 766 were Malays
and 19 Chinese, with two ‘nodes’ at Kampong Telok and Kampong Pulau Rusa, respectively,
about equidistant apart. It was an homogenous Malay community, with the inevitable
presence of Chinese shopkeepers in the village centres.
The community had settled on the land and survived for over at least three generations.
There was little recollection of their history, but most of the people remembered the Great
Flood of 1926 which destroyed everything. After that the community had achieved a fair
margin of stability, but it was stilled isolated and it still struggled against very extreme
adversities of nature.
At the time of the survey, Pulau Rusa was still the archetype Malay pioneer or frontier
settlement, reflecting the timeless struggle of the Malay peoples as they conquered the hostile
swamps and jungles to hack out a country for themselves. The physical environment
remained very hostile. The community was totally dependent on the river not only as its line of
communication but also for its fish which was essential for its diet. It was further dependent on
the vagaries of the annual flood for renewal of the soil for its agriculture. The river also served
a multitude of other purposes. It supplied the community with its water for cooking and
drinking, for household cleaning, for laundry and for bathing. The river was also the toilet and
the system of waste disposal. The river served not only the community thus, but also all the
Odiang: Chapter Seven – The Singapore Years
18
other settlements along its banks further up or downstream. We might add that the buffaloes
up and down the river banks also bathed and shat in the same water. There were a few wells
on the levees, but they were unlined and unfiltered and therefore were filled with river water.
The river remained indeed the mother of frontier life. On dry land, the bio-environment was
equally hostile to life. The place had lots of leeches of both the land variety (pachat) and
swamp variety (linta) – the latter specialised in creating sizeable bleeding wounds, which then
opened the door to all manner of infections. There were rats, lots of rats and snakes, and of
course the place swarmed with mosquitoes. The people of Pulau Rusa were infected with
Lymphatic Filariasis, one of the late stage effects of which is elephantiasis or enlarged feet
like in Little Abner’s Dogpatch. I believe malaria was endemic, but there was little evidence of
it during the survey. In areas of high grass, there were wild boars which attacked if surprised.
There was an abundance of all manner of other minor wild life as well, from squirrels to
iguanas to monkeys, and overhead to green pigeons and flying foxes. The last two were
plentiful in the jungle across the padi fields. Overall, the levels of hygiene and environmental
safety were appallingly low.
At the same time, there were signs of incipient modermisation, but on a very limited scale. It
may be surprising to some people, considering the absence of so many other essentials, that
the land had in fact already been properly surveyed, demarcated and alienated or issued
under Temporary Occupation Licence (TOL). No doubt it was through British influence that
someone had also encouraged the people to grow rubber – after the Great Flood of 1926;
and there were a fair number of small holdings in and around the kampongs. Before rubber,
the community would have been largely self-subsistent and their sale of produce would have
been negligible; but with this cash stream, the community was monetized and linked to the
external economy; among other things they could then pay their land taxes. Chinese
shopkeepers could also be relied upon to appear where there was money to be made, and
they became the channels of supply for a variety of goods, and of credit. The villagers
themselves could now also go shopping in Pekan. We saw evidence that they were now able
to purchase good quality machetes and jungle boots, and various patent medicines, and of
course better clothes. The community also acquired a stock of shot-guns, to issue for
protection of those working in the outlying areas against wild boars. But these elements of the
external world never gainsaid the conspicuous absence of the various government agencies,
infrastructure and services that normally look after rural development and welfare, even in
frontier areas. Even one year before independence, the community had no electricity and no
clean and running water. They completely lacked basic environmental and health services,
and were without road connection to the outside world. The community was still reliant on
the buffalo in the padi fields. There were no tractors. In fact there were no ploughs. According
to my recollection there were also no bicycles or motorized water pumps in Pulau Rusa. And
there were no telephones. The mail came by boat when there was any; the boats were not
scheduled as I recall although there were arrivals every day or so. Their agricultural
technology was very basic and their rubber was sold raw and unprocessed. They relied on
poultry, sheep and goats for eggs, meat and milk and the excellent harvest of fruit for
vitamins. At the time of the survey limited State aid was available in the form of loans for
rubber planting materials and the purchase of buffaloes while the Rural and Industrial
Development Authority had financed construction of a well and a bridge.
It should not be concluded that because their living environment was dismal and conditions of
survival harsh that the community was backward and socially undeveloped. Quite the
contrary. The people of Pulau Rusa had brought to the jungle frontier their complete Malay
heritage, namely their culture, religion and way of life. Notwithstanding that I came from
Malacca with its traditions of rich shared multi-cultures, I had not before this experienced the
beauty of the Malay way of life in its purity, as I lived it in this un-adulterated remote place.
The community lived according to adat and ugama, in a unique balance of their own
The team had its own hut, elevated on stilts in the traditional way. All social intercourse took
place in the front porch. The middle portions of the hut were private and the service areas
were at the rear. Our host was Tok Ali, the Penghulu of Pulau Rusa, to whom we paid the
deepest respect, and who looked after us like a father. He guided not only our relationship
with the community, but also the success of our project. I grew to love him like a father. And I
think he and the his community found great amusement in this son of the renown kingdom of
Odiang: Chapter Seven – The Singapore Years
19
Malacca who spoke a strange broken Malay and showed much affinity to their own culture
and way of life. We were assigned a house-keeper and cook, Enche Ahmat, who was
exhorted by us to get up early and collect our water drinking and coffee from the river for
boiling before everybody else got to the river.
Observance of the social rules was paramount. We dressed for field work in our long sleeves
and trousers, tightly protected by our jungle boots. But after sundown, we conformed and
wore the sarong, which we soon discovered was perfect for various purposes. Until this day, I
use the Pulau Rusa way of tying the sarong; to the discerning eye the way the sarong is tied
is a mark of one’s pedigree and sophistication. We were taught that by their custom, our
knees had always to be covered after sundown. There were no chairs, period. Whether by
ourselves or with others, we congregated or had our meals in the traditional way, seated on
the floor on mats in a circle with our legs crossed under us and the sarong covering our lower
limbs in a formal prescribed arrangement like a personal table. When we ate we reached out
to the food with our right hand only (the left hand was strictly reserved for toilet ablutions) and
dipped the food in the sauce once only. It was a mark of elegance that one never let the palm
of the hand touch food, only the fingers. Naturally, no one would interrupt an elder speaking,
or if the host, finish before one’s guests. But perhaps the most beautiful expression of
etiquette I found was that no one junior in status or age to those present and seated was
permitted to approach them or go to the back of the house, without first an apology and then
asking for permission. Upon being allowed, he would pass them politely facing them, stooping
so that his head was always lower than those present, with one hand symbolically covering it
at its side and the other lowered and open and touching the ground before him. Normally he
must have good reason for wanting to disturb the elders at all.
The community, being Muslim, conducted themselves strictly according to the precepts of
Islam. There was a surau (small mosque) at Kampong Pulau Rusa. The Call to Prayer was
heard five times a day and everyone prayed wherever they were. On Fridays, all work
stopped and everyone returned home before noon, whence they would clean up, dress and
proceed to the surau for Friday Prayer. Even our team returned to our residence. Pork and
alcohol were absolutely forbidden in Pulau Rusa. Even the Chinese never to dared to bring in
and eat pork, and the wild boars killed were left to rot. Like good Muslims, they all hoped to
complete the pilgrimage to Mecca, but only a few had done so. There were a few walis, ie
religious personages, who appeared to have completed Mecca. They put on Arabic clothes,
kept beards and struck somewhat extremist postures, but they were politely listened to at the
surau and largely given a wide berth. They were hostile to the non-Malay members of our
team, and the villagers took great pains to keep us out of their way. They were a tolerant
community. During our stay, I never detected any reservations towards non-Muslims or nonMalays.
The Malay peoples have had a long tradition of religious education in madrasahs, which
tradition the community brought with them. On this was superimposed the Malay School,
which the British introduced and implemented right down to distant villages, Designed for a
rural population, the system provided for four years of basic education in Malay, Malay culture
and rural skills and knowledge. The teachers were centrally trained in Malacca and other
states and posted to the rural communities. The British intention was that after school they
(the rural folk) would remain settled on the land, as better farmers, and continue to enjoy their
excellent culture and way of life - without discontent or urban drift. (For the non-rural
manpower demands of the country, the British attracted and imported Indians and Chinese,
thereby implementing a policy of divide and rule.) In a late modification, under political
pressure, the Malay school system provided for the better students to progress to the English
Schools in the cities, via a two-year bridging course in centralized residential schools around
the country. There was one Malay School in Pulau Rusa. We picked up little information of its
work or its graduates progressing to secondary education outside. Only 9 persons had been
to the Agricultural School. We were told about 10% of the population had moved out in recent
years. The ratio of children to adults was also lower than expected according to the statistics
we collected. All said and done, I found the level of literacy and culture, if not technical
knowledge, to be in no way inferior to that of comparable outside communities.
Odiang: Chapter Seven – The Singapore Years
20
The social organization was simple. The head was the Penghulu Tok Ali. He and the seniors
ran the community. Sharia law applied. There was no civil law enforcement presence. As far
as I could see, there were also no political factions or representations - which some might
account a blessing. The people of Pulau Rusa were loyal subjects of the Sultan. There was a
community centre, with a battery powered radio. Through it and the newspaper which arrived
with the boats, the community kept in touch with the outside world.
The team spent about one and a half months on site, with only one break of a few days in
Pekan. We worked in pairs and surveyed the entire community, taking shot-guns to the
further locations. But none of us were attacked although we crossed wild boar trails almost
daily in those locations. One of our diversions was hunting. Using the shot-guns, we would
position ourselves at the swamp-edge of the padi fields, just before sundown. At this hour the
flying foxes would fly over us in packs returning to the jungle after the day’s feeding across
the delta. No great skill was required to discharge our 12 gauge weapons, and we never
failed to bring back a few for dinner. The green pigeons were easier to shoot, but they tended
to fall into trees. In accordance with Muslim law, the meat of animals that die of themselves is
forbidden. Food had to comply with the rules of ritual slaughter, ie be actually slaughtered, by
a Muslim, with appropriate words (the act of sembeleh). Annas was assigned this job, and he
became quite skilled at rapidly ascending a tree to carry out the ritual slaughter before the
bird died. Our dinners were quite enjoyable experiences, for Ahmad was a good cook and
invariably we had some villagers as guests, including Toh Ahli. Our favourite pastime in the
evenings, besides exchange gossip, was playing cards. The leeches were our biggest
headache. One could not pull them off, without tearing a hole in the flesh quite painfully.
Cigarettes were the answer, and whether one smoked or not, it was prudent to have a lighted
one handy when walking on land to force a leech to disengage. Swamp leeches were a
nightmare. In the water, one did not know they had got to you, until the water around you
became red with blood or you got to dry land. Jungle boots and jungle webbing were no
protection. On a good day, one could be lucky enough to have as few as a dozen leeches. On
land, one could see them racing ahead towards your path ahead of you, to hop on as you
went by. We got quite skilled knocking them off before they could bite. Like everyone else we
did all the needful things in the river. Anyone doing some serious polluting was asked to get
on to the branch of a tree which hung as far out as possible over moving water and
downstream of where we bathed We were supplied with a battery of pills, and so were
protected against the various diseases and diarrhea.
We left Pulau Rusa in early Aug 56. We enjoyed some much needed R&R in Kuantan,
staying at the end of the town in a hotel called Shamrock. I remember seeing a movie “Young
At Heart” with Frank Sinatra, with much relish after considerable deprivation.
Dad Retires
At some point in 1954, my Dad was transferred from the Master Attendant’s Office to the
Ministry of Education, taking up appointment as Higher Executive Officer in the Administration
Division of the Headquarters. At that time the Ministry was located in Palmer Road, before
moving to Kay Siang Road in 1958. I remember he welcomed this ministry posting, after
years of dealing with the public. He served in this post until he retired on 23 Dec 55.He retired
on the pensionable establishment but continued to work on extended terms until Aug 57.
46 Crowhurst Drive
On retirement, my Dad bought the above single storey semi-detached house in a Lot of 4,200
sq ft, in Serangoon Gardens, from the developers Bukit Sembawang Group, at the price of
$17,500. We moved there in the course of 1957, for I remember studying for my Honours
exam there. I further remember that I was appointed to the Singapore Administrative Service
on 27 Aug 57, and received my first pay in Sep 57; just in time to supplement his pension and
contribute to the family income with the cessation my Dad’s extended full-time employment. I
believed he timed it so. It was a neat transition which enhanced his joy at my employment in
Odiang: Chapter Seven – The Singapore Years
21
his footsteps in government service. As a present, he bought me a swanking big paneled
Philips radiogram with an integrated record player system, the very latest in the market.
While I grew my new wings and began a new way of life, Anne and Victor grew up. Anne
began school in 1961 at the HIJ Our Lady of Good Counsel Convent at Cooling Close, and
completed her secondary education at the same school in 1971. She grew up to be a
beautiful young lady, and was one of the youngest of if not the youngest person to be
recruited by Singapore Airlines (SIA) to be one of their original highly-glamourized cohort of
the “Singapore Girl” who defined and promoted the image of the country and the airline so
sensationally. Anne married Jacky Rodrigues, a Police officer, in 1976 and had one daughter
by him, Brenda, but the marriage failed. She continued her career in the airline until she
married Detlev Truernit – on 15 Sep 1983. He is German and a career hotel professional of
the Hyatt chain. They are presently resident in Bali, where Detlev is the General Manager of
the Grand Hyatt Resort Hotel. She has an established practice as a spa consultant and is the
Director of the Spa Factory.
Victor began school in 1957 at the Serangoon Gardens South Primary School Serangoon
Gardens Primary School. He then continued at the Serangoon Gardens Integrated Secondary
Technical School from 1964, completing his secondary education there in 1967. What he did
in the waiting period of two years before national service would determine his whole life
career. He found by tinkering on the piano at home that he had an extraordinary gift for music.
He enhanced this by volunteering to play the organ for the newly completed Church of St
Francis Xavier whenever needed. He was soon in demand as an accomplished organistkeyboardist, creatively playing in a happy cross-over of pop and jazz idioms. He played with
the front line pop groups of the time, including the McCoys and Sweet Salt, and did tours of
duty in Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. After completing national service in 1972, he
worked in a stockbroking firm as a central buyer, before deciding in 1974 to pursue a full time
career by joining the City Music Centre as a music teacher. At the same time, he continued to
enhance his reputation as a member of the pop groups and as a popular hotel lounge
entertainer. In 1973 he married Zahara bte Mohd Daud, and they went on to have five
children. In 1985 he became Principal of his music school, and in 2002 he proceeded to
establish his own school, CP Music Centre. Over the years he obtained the requisite
Licentiates in theory and performance. Victor has made his own contribution to music. in the
unique curriculum he has designed to bridge the gap between classical musical learning and
the modern modalities and idioms of pop and jazz.
Among my boyhood friends, Johnny Tan Kee Leng had always been welcome in our house,
both in Malacca and Singapore, as his second home. One day around 1958, he arrived at
Crowhurst Drive, luggage and all, and asked permission to stay until he settled his affairs. He
had left the Royal Malayan Police Force and was planning to settle in Singapore. He stayed
with us until 1961, becoming involved with the trade union movement. That completed the
happy human complement of our new home.
On the nobler side of the family, we had Rocky, our half-Alsatian .who grew with us from a
puppy. It has to be said that he inherited more than a balanced share of the wilder genes of
his forebears. All black with two brown spots over his eyes he both looked and was ferocious.
On the plus side, no other dog would mess with him. We also had a pair of cats whom we
raised from kittens, brothers, Jackie and Blackie. Tough, phlegmatic and able to defend
themselves, they were quite unfazed by Rocky. One day Jackie got run over by a car. We left
him to die peacefully under the eaves in the side garden. He did not. After a fortnight, he got
up and went round the back to the kitchen door for some food, and recovered fully in due
course. I recall Anne had a mother hen and some chickens.
Life in our new home at Crowhurst was peaceful and happy. Everyone was in good health
and contented with what he or she was doing. Among the elders, there was the contentment
of life well lived and brought to a satisfying conclusion, a time to rest and enjoy the rewards.
Among the young there was much hope, much expectation and much to look forward to. On a
day to day basis we wanted little outside the offerings and comforts of Serangoon Gardens,
Singapore’s first and largest purpose-designed suburb at that time.
Odiang: Chapter Seven – The Singapore Years
22
My Dad quickly associated himself with the Church of St Francis Xavier just up along
Chartwell Drive. He was now able to attend Mass daily, an activity he cherished, enjoying the
early morning stroll up hill and back, for as long as he could. Another of Dad’s regular daily
routines was to take Rocky for a walk, the two becoming a familiar pair in the neighbourhood.
The marketing was reserved exclusively for my Mum, who could be seen a little later in the
morning walking down to the Serangoon Gardens Circus and to the Market, in the initial days
with Anne trailing along before she began school. Our house was halfway up the hill which
was fairly steep, about 300 yards from the latter venues. Hauling the groceries and the
marketing back was a problem, not to mention walking back. This need was filled by the
trishaws. Most people however had pity for the trishaw rider and only loaded the stores while
they walked alongside. We of course had my Dad’s new car. But, as I began work, I
increasingly took over use of the vehicle.
Socially we were not isolated. Iris Stanley, my mother’s cousin, and Sunny her husband lived
at 51 Tavistock Ave (see above under Mum’s Relatives), while Rosie and Noel Sta Maria,
lived at Serangoon Garden Way, the former being a Chetty Malacca person and the latter the
eldest scion of a Portuguese Eurasian family from Malacca. James Nonis of Garden City
Malacca, on retirement, also settled with his family at No 77 Cowdray Ave. Similarly, when
James Sebastian’s father retired from Malayan Railways, of which he was a Senior Traffic
Inspector, he and his family settled in No 3 Crowhurst Drive. My Mother and Mrs Sebastian
struck up a great friendship which lasted quite some years. The two families visited each
other quite a lot, as might be expected of close neighbours. At some point, however, they fell
apart over a misunderstanding nobody ever found out what. During this period, James and I
spent much time together. The friendship we enjoyed was a highlight of our days in
Serangoon Gardens, which continued with our families even after we were both married and
moved elsewhere. But our ways would part.
In 1956, we were on the eve of the Independence of Malaya, which would take place on 31
Aug 57. Among the many acts of surgery that had to take place in the “pan-Malayan” areas of
the body corporate, the university was to divide. The convocation for my degree graduation in
1956 accordingly took place in the Chin Woo Stadium, Kuala Lumpur. The whole family went
up for the event in our car. Having now a licence, I enjoyed taking some segments of the
journey which included Malacca. It would be our last Malayan holiday together, during which
we visited the Le Fabres in KL.
Genevieve
After our Honours examinations, Jean Carter, our Specialist Lecturer in Regional Geography
who was on a one year attachment from the University of Manchester, organized a most
extraordinary exploration tour of Malaya, for which she succeeded in persuading the
university to let us use their newly acquired Morris van. Besides Jean, the group included
Chee Keng Soon, Chan Ying Tat, Ivy Chee and myself from our class and Choo Eng Khoon
from Mathematics who showed interest in joining us On grounds that it was a students’ field
trip they let us have the van free of charge. Painted green with a flat front, we lovingly named
her “Genevieve”. The full story of this exciting expedition has to and will be told elsewhere.
Suffice it here for the record to say that that it took one and a half months and covered both
east and the west coasts of Malaya from top to bottom, viz:







Singapore to Malacca; Kuala Pilah-Triang; Kuantan; and on to Dungun, Kuala
Trengganu and Kota Bahru; and return to Kuantan.
Kuantan to Temerloh-Karak-Bentong-Raub, Kuala Lipis; Kuala Tahan-National Park;
and back to Lipis.
Kuala Lipis to Sempang Genting-Frasers’Hill;
Sempang Genting to Ipoh; Kampar and Cameron Highlands; and back to Tapah.
Tapah to Taiping- Maxwell Hill; and on to Penang.
Penang to Alor Star, to Kangar- Kuala Perlis; and on to Langkawi.
Back to Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.
Odiang: Chapter Seven – The Singapore Years
23
I pulled out after Kuantan, to attend a Singapore Public Service Commission (PSC) interview,
and rejoined the group at Kuala Lipis before the National Park.
New Career Horizons
I applied for and was selected into the Singapore Administrative Service, and began
employment on 27 Aug 57. I would enter a new world and have a new life, which has to and
will be told in a separate story. Here I only mention connecting facts which would have
affected my Dad, as he coasted alongside me in his retirement years, sharing my joys and
pains. Although quiet by nature, he was undoubtedly thrilled that his son had gained
acceptance into the elite arm of the civil service of his former colonial masters.
I assumed duty in the Chief Secretary’s Office (CSO) at Empress Place. I make no apology
for dwelling here a little in recollection, for few people remain, none in the service currently,
who remember what it was like to have served in the colonial administrative service. Although
we already had an elected Chief Minister (Lim Yew Hock), the colonial structure still operated
in full. The Governor was the head of state and government, and except for limited areas run
by the local ministers, the Chief Secretary (the Colonial Secretary re-named) was de facto the
chief executive, whose powers and responsibilities were exercised down the line by officers of
the administrative service according to level. As Assistant Secretary (General) – to which post
I was appointed after six months – I enjoyed considerable delegated authority. For instance, I
administered the British Nationality Act, 1948, and on my own cognizance I could and did
grant British Citizenship by registration. On the other hand, Imperial protocol was inflexible.
On one occasion, I had occasion to write a letter to the Royal Air Force headquartered at
Changi on a mundane enough matter, properly as I thought, addressed to the head of
establishment, namely the Air Marshal. Several days later, I received it back by courier, under
cover of an impressively stamped missive in which some protocol officer deigned to inform
me (my rendition of his message) that if the Singapore government wished to address Her
Majesty’s Commander-in-Chief, Far East Air Force on any matter, the proper way was for our
Governor to do so personally; he being the Commander-in Chief of the Colony was the
appropriate sub-ordinate officer to do so. I would learn subsequently, that when a British
Admiral arrived in Singapore, it was the Governor who went on board to receive him in the
first instance and not the admiral pay a courtesy call on him at Government House. The latter
was the due form observed by all visiting dignitaries, in due deference to his capacity as the
Queen’s Representative; but not so the war-lords of Britain, who out-ranked a mere governor.
Thus, I learnt the distinction between the British Imperial masters and her colonial civil
servants - between empire and colony, concepts now virtually consigned to history. Within the
colonial administration, it may be of interest that in all matters under colonial control or
requiring feedback or formal authority, we would prepare a Savingram (a kind of
memorandum-telegram) to the Secretary of State for the Colonies. We would send it to the
Secretary to the Governor for dispatch to the Colonial Office. Replies would be sent in the
same way, by return savingrams. At the Chief Secretary’s Office, the seat of operating
colonial power, even at my level, I prepared and received several savingrams a week. The
most memorable savingram I ever received was one on 28 Dec 57 which read simply: “ Issue
Proclamation ceding Christmas Island to Australia on 1 Jan 58”. All this ended on 2 Jun 59,
with the first fully elected government coming into power and assuming full self-government.
In the re-organisation, my office became part of the new Ministry of Home Affairs.
I was confirmed and promoted twice in succeeding exercises to Assistant Secretary and
Principal Assistant Secretary by 1963, spanning both the colonial regime and my performance
under Singapore’s new fully elected government. By 1961, I was Principal Assistant Secretary
in the Prime Minister’s Office and by1963 the same in the Public Service Commission.
Considering my Dad’s career and his war record, he was pleased in one other way – when I
joined the Singapore Military Forces as a Volunteer. I completed my Officer Cadet training
and received my commission in 1958. I was posted to R (Romeo) Battery, the Singapore
Royal Artillery (Volunteers) (SRA(V) and was promoted to Captain in 1959. In that year, I also
took command of the Officer Cadet Corps as 2IC and Trainer, under Captain Colin Shortis. In
1961 I was appointed Extra Aide de Camp (ADC) to the Yang di Pertuan Negara (Head of
Odiang: Chapter Seven – The Singapore Years
24
State) Tun Yusof Ishak, which appointment I held until 1964 when I relinquished it due to
pressure of work. I kept up his proud traditions and I believe nothing pleased him more.
Starting a Family
After a whirlwind courtship which started in or about Aug 61, I married Mabel Narayanasamy
on 6 Feb 62 at the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd. Christopher Hooi and Sally Lange were
our best-man and brides-maid, respectively, and the ceremony was performed by Fr. Ph
Meissonier. Our maids-of-honour were Mabel’s sister Shamla Nathan and my sister Anne
(see page 20), both then 14 years old. We had our reception at the Singapore Military Forces
(SMF) Officers’ Mess, Beach Road. Again, our life story must be told separately, and only
essential connecting facts are mentioned here.
Mabel, a student nurse when we married, spent our first 12 married years as a full-time homemaker, raising our two children to secondary school before she went to work. After a brief
spell as a remisier, she joined the Automobile Association of Singapore (AAS) as Assistant
Secretary, and in 1979 launched its now famous annual Auto Adventure to Thailand. In that
year, she took 69 cars to Pattaya. When it halted, the convoy took up 1.5 km of road, and
when travelling at 140 kph, it stretched out over 7 km long. It took a control vehicle 50 km at
that speed to overtake the convoy from back to front. Mabel went on to be one of the pioneers
of the conference and events management industry in Singapore, forming Mpexcel
Conference Services in 1984. She became the first woman in 2000 to be the President of the
Skal Club of Singapore, and was for some years the Asian Area Secretary of this international
association of professionals of the travel and tourism industry.
Leslie was born on 28 Feb 63, and Carl on 27 May 64. Like me they began their education in
the Chinese medium, first studying at the Foochow Methodist Kindergarten, followed by
Catholic High where they completed their primary schooling. They then transferred to St
Joseph’s Institution where they completed their secondary education in the English medium.
Leslie would complete his post-secondary studies at Ngee Ann Polytechnic in Mass
Communications and Carl at the National Institute of Commerce in Accountancy. Today,
besides being somewhat of a media celebrity, Leslie is the managing partner (with his wife
the other partner) of their own events company MLA Pte Ltd5, with a wide international
clientele, and Carl is their associate director and senior operations officer. Leslie married
Deirdre Goh on 10 Jan 98, and Carl married Sharon Loh on 22 Apr 06 with one son,
Christian.
Initially we lived at 32 Jalan Menarong, Sembawang Hills belonging to Mabel’s step-father,
Mr. T. S. Nathan. After a brief spell at a rented flat at 100A Oxley Drive, we bought our own
home at 36 Jalan Jarak, Seletar Hills. Here we were to develop a close relationship with our
parish, the Church of St Vincent de Paul, and with Fr Saussard, the parish priest. Mabel was
in the choir and did the flowers. I re-initiated my role as organist, and the boys served at
mass. It was also here that we became friendly with two deacons, now Fr Cyril Lee and Fr.
Adrian Anthony. In 1973, we sold Seletar Hlls to move into town nearer to the children’s
schooling. After living at 4A Essex Road, Lions Towers, and at 108 Keng Lee Road for short
periods, we bought a flat at Cavenagh Townhouse in 1978, and stayed there for the next 27
years until 2006, past my own retirement in 1989. . We have continued a close relationship
with Fr. Anthony up to today. He has been the Rector of the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd
for some years. He married both our children, baptized our grandson and blessed our homes.
In 2004, he joined us when we visited the Holy Land 6.
Career Ups and Down
5
See http://www.mla.com.sg/
6
Choo Eng Khoon and his wife Sum Yee joined us on this visit to the Holy Land.
Odiang: Chapter Seven – The Singapore Years
25
Within hours of the Separation of Singapore from Malaysia on 9 Aug 65, on the personal
request of the new Deputy Prime Minister, I was (one of two officers) transferred by a nervous
government, to set up the ministry of defence from scratch. Then, one day, after about three
months, around Nov 65, I was transferred to Foreign Affairs. On the face of it my application
for the foreign service had come through and I was needed in that other fledgling ministry.
However, the signs were clear that I had been summarily removed. I was never told why. I
had too much self-respect to ask. After all these decades, up to the point of writing this, I have
refrained from commenting on the matter. But I feel now I owe it to myself to state my
position. From glimmers of information dropped by people, and my own knowledge of the run
of play, I had come to the conclusion that something important prepared by me, which he r
had accepted, had gone wrong when he took it forward, causing him to lose face before his
superior. There were no goodbyes. I was just dropped. My Dad never said a word to me
about this, but I saw compassion in his eyes.
I worked in a number of postings afterwards, again in new post-independence areas. At
Foreign Affairs I was instrumental in setting up our first four embassies. A highlight was taking
Lee Kuan Yew to his first Commonwealth Prime Ministers’ Conference in Lagos in 1966, and
thence on an official visit to President Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana. We were a fledging
country. Besides the prime minister, his private secretary and security officer, there were only
the foreign minister and me forming the delegation. In Dec 66, I was posted to the
Telecommunications Department, which at that point comprised three disparate components,
the newly truncated Singapore half of its pan-Malaysian parent body, the Singapore-based
international operations of Cable and Wireless, and the Singapore Telephone Board, the third
and only local indigenous component. The task was to integrate these, including their staff,
into a comprehensive national telecommunications authority, and expand the services to
support the runaway needs of our economy. I like to think I made significant contributions, not
the least of which, the record will show, was conceptualizing and drafting the first cut of the
Telecommunications Authority of Singapore Bill, which was substantially enacted and came
into being in Apr 74. My other exciting challenge was working on the team that tendered,
evaluated and recommended Singapore’s first earth satellite station and supervised its
installation and commissioning, at Sentosa, in 1971. But, while the work was substantive and
important, I was in limbo, with no consequence career-wise. At this time, I explored an
expression of interest offering a senior corporate appointment from an international giant, but
did not pursue it. In retrospect, I found I was not fired by any ambition for a high-profile career,
power or wealth. I truly wanted to be a civil servant – a disposition and a legacy I inherited
from my Dad.
Eventually, the window of opportunity wheeled back my way. The growing priority in the
county was now to solve the bottleneck for technical manpower, which was strangling
economic development. Reflecting its unique urgency, the government in 1968 appointed a
Cabinet-level committee to push through the necessary “crash” programmes, named the
National Industrial Training Council (NITC) and comprising the Ministers of Education,
Finance and Defence among others. Implementation was placed in the hands of a new
Department of Technical Education (TED) created within the Ministry of Education. To provide
the necessary administrative muscle, the government created a new post of Deputy Secretary
(Technical). I was deployed to this post in May 71. Here was a huge frontier of paramount
importance and real work to do, and I plunged into it. I wish to express appreciation to the late
Mr. Sng Yew Chong. the Director TED, his Deputy Mr. Ang Gee Bah, and their professional
colleagues on the Directorate, those magnificent men each a pioneer and the best in his field
from the ministry, for welcoming me and making me feel wanted. The rest is history.
Together, we did important foundation work for what has been built today. The department restructured technical education in secondary schools, re-vamped the polytechnics, set up
vocational institutes and industrial training centres, re-organised apprenticeship and launched
public trade testing. My own particular contribution was architecting and launching the
Industrial Training (ITB) which came into being in Apr 74. At the same time, I transferred to
the board as Secretary and was eventually promoted in Jul 81 to Deputy Director, in which
grade (Superscale E) I retired in Aug 89. By then the organization had become the Vocational
and Industrial Training Board (VITB), including Continuing Education and Training (CET) with
growing international renown. In this phase, I owed a debt of gratitude to Mr. Lim Jit Poh, the
Odiang: Chapter Seven – The Singapore Years
26
Director up to Jun 81, and later the late Dr. Tay Eng Soon, Senior Minister of State for
Education and Chairman of the board, for their inspiring leadership and the opportunity to
build a second career. The board has now evolved again to become the Institute of Technical
Education (ITE). Needless to say, I chose early retirement at 55, as my prospects of further
advancement to the top-most positions in the local civil service remained capped - even in
technical education.7
International Consultancy
By way of compensation, there was growing recognition by the international community of my
own accumulated command of the policy and implementation issues in the adoption and
building of technical education systems. Even before my retirement, I had been invited by the
World Bank and ILO to participate in their series of world-wide ministerial review meetings on
Vocational Education and Training Policies. On my retirement I was sought directly to
contribute to their work. This led me to have an extended second career as an international
consultant in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET). Spread over 17 years,
I did work for the bank, UNDP, UNESCO, ILO, and various governments and other
development agencies in Asia, Africa, Europe, and South America. Thus it was that I was on
the bank’s team that conducted its first or entry seminar for South Africa (in TVET) in 1992 on
the eve of the dissolution of Apartheid. Again, I was on the UNESCO’s first mission to
Vietnam in 1991, on the eve of its entry into the “free world”, to help evaluate and propose
that country’s educational re-construction programmes. I did several consultancies under the
bank, UNDP and UNESCO for Mauritius in connection with its Education Master Plan from
1990 to 1994. When the then Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong agreed to the request of
President Masire at a Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting to send a Singapore
expert to assist Botswana, the Singapore Government invited me to undertake this
assignment. Thus it was I served as a Presidential Member on that country’s National
Commission on Education in 1992-3. During the period 1996-8, I again served as off-site
(Singapore-based) consultant to the World Bank in the formulation and implementation of its
Technical Assistance package for China’s Vocational Education Reform Project. Arising out of
this consultancy and the bank loan, China’s SEDC linked up with Nanyang Polytechnic to
provide backbone training and technical assistance for the development of that country’s
technical education system, which has continued to this day. At the Second World Congress
on Technical and Vocational Education in Seoul in 1999, I was invited by UNESCO to present
the design for a TVET Centre Website engine which would have revolutionized and cut the
costs of conventional Technical Assistance by all international agencies. UNESCO had in fact
accepted the proposal, which was endorsed by the congress. The giant German software
company, SAP AG offered its R3 system to host the engine. But a change of directorgeneralship and personalities in charge sadly saw this project left unimplemented – to this
day as far as I can make out, though its features have been developed and applied in part in
a number of countries. Here, I would like to pay tribute to Mr. Armoogam Parsuramen, the
former Minister of Education of Mauritius, and who was at the material point in time above the
Divisional Director for Secondary and Vocational Education at UNESCO Headquarters, under
whom I served. The project arose out his desire to upgrade and achieve a dramatic and
comprehensive improvement in the effectiveness of the conventional technical assistance
system. I thank him for his guidance and friendship. He was transferred soon after the
congress to be the Director UNESCO Regional Office for Education for Africa at Dakar,
Senegal.
In 2005, the World Bank asked me to do an update of the technical education systems of
South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore. It gave me great pleasure to appraise the ITE
externally as part of this exercise, and more so to find that it had become one of the
outstanding technical education institutions in the world at its level. In 2006, I was invited to
be one of a panel of local experts to interact with a visiting mission of 10 African ministers
brought to Singapore by the World Bank to study Singapore’s technical education system and
infrastructure. I retired a second time and finally after that in Jul 2006.
7
I was to continue our connection with the Port in one other matter, which pleased my Dad.
Between 1968 and 1974 I was the Chairman of the Seamen’s Registry Board and in this role played
some part in the formation of the National Maritime Board, of which I was a member for some years.
Odiang: Chapter Seven – The Singapore Years
27
Lions
In Sep 1973, I joined the Lions Club of Singapore West, sponsored by Allan Tan Cheng Yean,
my AIA insurance agent. This began an expanded social life as a Lion lasting 33 years, with
the growth of many new and dear friendships. It led me to extended circles of contact both
outside the civil service and outside Singapore. During my most active period, in 1976-79, I
served three terms of office on the Cabinet of Lions Clubs International’s Multiple District 308
with jurisdiction covering Brunei-Malaysia-Singapore. As District Chairman for Lioness Clubs
(for two terms), I pioneered formation of 20 Lioness Clubs from Penang to Bintulu8. In my
third term I created the portfolio of Environment Services, again pioneering this work. I was
then elected President of West Club in 1979-80, and would be called upon to repeat this
responsibility, after my retirement, in 1993-4, this time in charge of the Lions Club of
Singapore Somerset. In 2006-7 I was invited on the Cabinet of District 308 A1 (Singapore)
with responsibility to establish a Lions Secretariat on a permanent basis. This I did. Working
together with Jason Lim, in charge of computerization, we created a highly functional District
Website, as the central mechanism for the District’s on-line communications and information
services, with a District Weekly e-Mailer to every club.. This website was awarded the BEST
LIONS WEBSITE WORLD-WIDE by Lions Club International, at the 90th International Lions
Convention at Chicago in Jul 2007. It is now a permanent feature9.
.
Special Friends
Although this is the Story of Odiang, My Dad, the memories centering on my own life have
crept into it. They have been necessary to give some completeness to the latter but I have
kept them to the major episodes. In the same way, in rounding up things, I now make mention
of a few friends (of many) who have featured specially in our lives. The others, together with
the many layers of rich memory which make up the full story of my own family, must and will
be the subject of a separate undertaking.
.
Jeanette and John Ee
Jeanette and John are among the dearest and longest of our friends. Jeanette Fernandez, as
she was then, lived in the row of government quarters directly behind ours at Bukit Timah
Road. We travelled to school in the same STC Trolley Bus No 6’,.and independently we both
joined the Legion of Mary in our separate schools. Later, when she joined the teachers’
training college and I was preparing for the university, we enrolled in the first Intermediate
Praesidium of Our Lady Mediatrix of All Graces. It was a period we shared for six years with a
wonderful group of friends, before I left. Quite independently, Jeanette played the organ for
the choir of the Redemptorist Novena Chapel. John Ee belonged to this choir, and inevitably
they fell in love and married. Mabel joined the choir at some stage, and .as a result came to
know the couple well in her own right. John worked in the Postal Services then, before he
joined the Singapore Armed Forces, serving a life-long career and rising to the rank of Major.
Jeanette startled herself and everyone else by having two babies in one calendar year. She
was inclined to blame the deliriously happy John, who had returned from the front-line in East
Malaysia where he had been fighting the Indonesians during Confrontasi with perfect timing to
be introduced to his first born, Julian, fall into the arms of his loving wife, and gift Jeanette
with her second son, Jeffrey. Mabel and I were married not long before them, and had Leslie
and Carl in consecutive years. The result was that we had a foursome of boys, in steps of one
year – or less. The two families enjoyed each other’s company and spent much time doing
the same things together: parties, picnics, functions, birthdays, holidays, etc. The boys liked
8
At that time, Lions Clubs were confined to men. In the 1980s, membership was opened to both
sexes. Many Lioness Clubs converted to or amalgamated with Lions Clubs. There are still 11
Lioness Clubs in Malaysia and one in Singapore according to a web check as at this date. (Feb
2013).
9
http://www.lionsclubs.org.sg/
Odiang: Chapter Seven – The Singapore Years
28
to play with one another. Sometimes, one family would leave their twosome with the other, or
borrow from the other, so as to allow the gang of four to enjoy themselves. Jeanette became
Leslie’s Godmother and I became Julian Godfather. The boys went to the same kindergarten
(Foochow Methodist) and the same primary school (Catholic High).
When Mabel took the first AAS Auto Adventure to Pattaya in 1979, the Ees were with us, their
Beatle proudly forming one of the convoy of 69 cars that made the long journey faultlessly.
Many a gentleman would have stepped into the risqué nightclubs of Hadýai with bubbling
expectations, but no one I dare say would have expected to find Jeanette Fernandez one of
the ladies there, as was my astonishment to find on the night of our arrival there. (She must
have asked John to go in there to find out what goes on.) I have to say it was a unique
experience for no lady there would have had the combination of attributes and charm that
Jeanette possessed for me. On another night we ventured into bar in Patpong. Jeanette was
if anything a little shortsighted and we kept to the back. We were thoroughly amused that she
was totally oblivious.to the goings-on on and off stage. She did however recognize the song,
”By The Rivers Of Babylon”, which the topless troupe belted out with much gyration on stage.
Our paths would diverge as we pursued different interests and careers. But the bonds
remained strong, and we always connected on birthdays, and later weddings and yes
funerals. Jeffrey married first, to Elaine Kang, a Singapore girl settled in Australia and they
are settled there with three children. Julian married Jennifer, an Australian. They have a son,
Joshua, and they are settled in Perth. Typical of the links between the boys, both Leslie and
Jeffrey sang the same song to their wives on their wedding day – “Ït Had To Be You”. ,
Jeanette retired from teaching as the Principal of Mary Mount Convent. One day, things came
to a head when she drove her car into the back of a stationary bus - which she had not seen.
It emerged that she had one or more blood clots. This has since been medically managed
with success, but Jeanette has developed a degree of dementia. She functions and socializes
happily, but is devotedly assisted and looked after by John. “Ïf you can’t remember, it’s no
sin”, she cried out in conversation one day. I remember thinking that the conclusion was
wasted on her, for there is no one I know with less need to take advantage of the idea.
Jeanette and John were among the very limited circle of people who attended our (50th)
Golden Wedding Anniversary on 6 Feb 2012 - and who had been at our wedding half a
century previously .
Allan Tan
Allan Tan, or Allan Tan Cheng Yean to give him his full name, and I would become close
friends. He was as remarkable a person as one could hope to know. His wife, Florence and
their three daughters, Pearl, Ruby and Jasmine, would become very close to our family. He
always declared that he was inspired by me in his early years. If I did, I like to think I
influenced him to cultivate an open mind, to know about and enjoy all things around him, and
to exploit all his abilities. In these things we shared many areas of common interest.
Allan joined the workforce straight from school, from a family of modest means. What young
Allan brought with him was an overpowering desire to better himself, and a willingness to
learn. And more, he had the mental muscle and staying power to succeed. His choice of the
life insurance was perfect, where income was only limited by the energy put in. He soon
achieved outstanding success, leading to formation of his own agency. With a dedicated
agency force, it soon emerged that Allan was par excellence a leader of men. With growing
oratory and charisma, he could both inspire and terrorise his agents to do anything. And, as
they prospered and rallied around him, Allan began to carve out a lifestyle that could give fit
expression to his enormous verve for life. The tales of Allan are many, but I shall confine
myself to two. One day we went fishing, with hand-lines. After several hours in an open boat
in the baking sun, somewhere off the Sisters Islands, Allan finally erupted, “This can’t the way
to catch fish. What do the fishermen do?” And so he went to the fishing village at Siglap, and
asked them. “Well”, they said, “We use one thousand-hooks - on a line one mile long. It’s
called “rawaii”. “Äh!” exclaimed Allan, upon this revelation. “We also use a long net, or
“jarring”, dragging it across the fishing banks and closing the ends in a circle at the end. The
Odiang: Chapter Seven – The Singapore Years
29
fish are trapped inside.”. “Äha!” gasped Allan again. “We use a fleet of boats to lay on an
operation. In this way we catch a lot of fish”. That did it. The upshot was that Allan bought the
whole village and set them up on these terms: everything is yours, go fishing and carry on
your business as usual; only, when I give you notice, please set up an operation for me. And
so from time to time, he went fishing with the fleet, in a boat with friends, clients, agents and
families - and with ample supplies for a party. This usually happened at night, and he would
come alongside when the fishermen were hauling in the catch, so he and his guests could be
photographed holding the fish10. On another occasion, Allan wanted to have fresh water fish.
And so he built a long line of tanks right around his front garden. This would need a lot of fish,
he noted. And once again, excising his genius, he asked the right question, “Where can we
find lots of fresh water fish?“ The answer was of course, “The river”. So, believe it or not, one
Saturday afternoon, mustering all his resources, Allan set off for the Bedok River, sectioned
off one stretch of it, tossed out all the water, and transported all the fish back to his home.
The next time, I saw them they were all swimming around serenely under lights in their
respective tanks.
Allan retired from his company in his early forties when he was Regional Vice President, and
established his own consultancy, ATC Consultancy. His fame as a top insurance professional,
his record of sales achievements, and his success as a trainer had spread. Aspiring agents
from different companies joined as affiliates of his consultancy. His operations progressively
gravitated to KL as his associates came not only from Singapore, but Malaysia, Thailand and
Hong Kong. Allan organised an annual Gift of Joy Convention, rotating among the major
Asian cities. No consultancy associate would miss this event. With attendances running well
over one thousand and fees set equally high, these were gigantic well-funded events. At the
heart of the programme were the iconic presentations by Allan himself. Scaled to rock-star
dimensions, Allan would mesmerize his audience with his story, his experiences, and his
climb to success. He strongly motivated his audience because he offered them a lofty view of
the profession. He insisted that to be a great agent one must serve selflessly and
unconditionally; an agent had a unique contribution to make to every person who needed
insurance. The message appealed immensely. To drive home the impact, he incorporated
fund-raising for various local charities, involving them in the programme of each event. The
net effect was that the participants were emotionally saturated. By the end, these sessions
would climax in a charismatic frenzy of singing, chanting and re-dedication. With his eye for
the theatrical and the flamboyant, Allan organised lavish entertainment and theme events to
accompany the equally lavish dinners, as part of the incomparable experiences of these
conventions. ..
In parallel with the preceding, in the mid-1980s, Mabel was rolling out Mpexcel, her
conference services company, and Leslie and Deirdre were launching MLA (Music, Lights
and Action), their events management company. Both companies struck a happy partnership
with Allan. Together, they provided the considerable backup Allan needed. At the same time,
he was just the client they needed. In Mabel he found an iron-willed organiser. In MLA he
found two highly creative and media savvy persons to feed his imagination - and who could
produce the results he wanted. Thus, on one occasion, Allan wanted to arrive on stage
mounted on top of a king-sized elephant. It was done. It was left entirely to the ingenuity of
the event managers how they got the elephant up to the ballroom on the eighth floor of one of
the largest hotels in Bangkok. Not surprisingly, Allan went on to compose the songs and
chants for his functions. It was his support company who converted these to music and made
available the CDs for the participants, as indeed were the videos covering the entire
functions. And finally, Allan Tan, as might be expected, set down his life history and his
messages to his agents in a book, his “mein kamph”, which extended the range of his
influence and was featured at these conventions.
Allan was influential in encouraging me to opt for early retirement from the public service, at
55 years of age, which I did on 27 August 1989.. I joined his consultancy for six months
10
It took the better part of the day for a skilled team of fishermen to prepare the bait, bait the
hooks, and then lay the line ready to cast into the water. Tangled fish hooks are deadly to mess
around with.
Odiang: Chapter Seven – The Singapore Years
30
during which I enjoyed valuable exposure. Thereafter, I felt confident enough to launch out on
my own under GFP Consultancy, the essential history of which is set out in an earlier section
of this chapter. .
Christopher Hooi
Christopher, or Christopher Hooi Liang Yin to give him his full, name, was a member of the
Class of Standard 7, which I joined on transfer to SJI from Malacca. Our friendship began on
that date 2 May 1949. There was no particular reason why we should take to each other. We
were quite different in both temperament and attributes. One factor in favour of our friendship
was that we were practically neighbours. We both lived in Newton, he at 7 Hooper Road, not
quite half a mile from our home at 167 Bukit Timah Road.
Chris’s favourite past-time was reading. I liked to listen to music. He read voraciously and was
a know-all. I read for fun. Even at that stage he was already representing SJI in the InterSchool Quiz Competition. He was full of opinions and quite aggressive when others
expressed contrary views. I preferred to keep my ignorance to myself – for coming from
Malacca I felt handicapped at that stage. .His favourite subjects were history, archeology,
philosophy and religion. .I liked Dr. Thorndyke. He would finish a book in one sitting
throughout the night if it grabbed him. The core of our friendship was I think that I was a good
listener and he needed nothing else. One remarkable feature of his was that he took his
father’s opinions very seriously indeed. He was forever (often to the irritation of others)
saying that his father told him this and that and advised him to read this and that. Never, in
this day and age, have I met any young man so devoted to his father. As it turned out, his
father, Mr. Hooi Beng Kow, was indeed a wise man, as I discovered over time as I got to
know him and learnt to respect him. In fact, from the beginning, every year, I would partake of
the family dinner on Chinese New Year Eve at Chris’ home, and after we were married Mabel
joined me..
Chris had no patience or sense of humour. The child is the father of the man, as they say.
Over the years, he could be quite belligerent with obdurate people holding opposing views.
He did not suffer fools easily. On one occasion, during undergrad days , he happened to
cross swords with a well-known senior, a former Catholic, who professed to be a communist.
After the usual passage of passionate exchanges, Chris cut him short with these words, “You
are not beyond help. I will pray for you. There is nothing you can do about it.”
Our bond was deep and, exceptionally, he had patience with me, notwithstanding that we
argued al lot, and without agreement. As I grew to a fullness of my own opinions and views, I
believe he appreciated that I was not a fool, and even listened to me, In fact, I would say we
understood each other, and accepted one another. This was the best basis of good friends.
Christopher and I went through our school, post-school certificate and university years
together, before our careers separated us. We shared the same friends and the same social
experiences. Especially during school days, we were a pair. If someone saw either of us, he
or she was quite likely to ask “Where’s your other half?” We even looked conspiratorial when
together. We were serious about changing the world, vanquishing colonialism and
communism, and installing socialism. We had our separate distractions in college; still, we
planned and plotted together in the Catholic Students’ Society. Together with Rudy
Mosbergen, we produced our own political pamphlet, “The Challenge”. We graduated at the
same time with Honours in 1957, he in History and I in Geography.
Outside his intellectual ferocity, Chris was a charming enough person. Both my Mother and
my Dad liked him. He was in fact much taken up by my Malacca friends who spent the
Christmas holidays with me. It was inevitable that when I got married, he should be our best
man. After that, he became practically one of our family and we did lots of things together. On
one occasion, he met with an accident somewhere in Pahang and immediately entered into a
dispute with the traffic policeman. As a result (instead of just paying the fine) he was
Odiang: Chapter Seven – The Singapore Years
31
summoned to answer charges in court in Tapah.. So he invited us along in his Ford Capri,
throwing in a weekend stay at Fraser’s Hill. We took this as our honeymoon as it was about
six months after our wedding and we had not had one yet. All went well until we realized that
Christopher was planning to share a room with us. We had to draw the line somewhere. We
expected him to kick up a ruckus in court. But he was out quickly. When asked, he replied, “I
pleaded guilty.”. We raised our eyebrows and said to ourselves: our boy does have commonsense after all. When Leslie was born, he became Godfather. There was never a godfather
who doted on his godson, or the latter love his godfather, quite like these two. This
attachment was to last a lifetime. He was also Godfather to little Anne, my adopted sister.
Even Carl, who had another godfather, in fact everyone in the house, called him “Godpa ” He
presented us with our first dog, “Nikky”. He got a bit touchy when Ah Huay, our little maid
referred to him as “Nikky punya bapak” (Nikky’s father.).
Chris joined the Museum Service, which suited him perfectly, and he was sent to London to
obtain his post-graduate in Anthropology. He served as Curator of the National Museum, and
rose to be the Director, before transferring to the Administrative Service, from which he retired
in due course as Deputy Secretary in the Ministry of Communications and Arts.
Some years down the road after us, Christopher married Florence, and they lived in a semidetached house at Jalan Bangau not far from us at 36 Jalan Jarak. One day he fought with
his landlord, and the next thing was that he gave notice. Then he walked over to us in a huff
with this news. The next thing we knew was that he moved his entire household - wife and
expected baby included - over to our place. Of course he knew and we had indicated that if
he was desperate we did have one room. He was quite happy, and his first son was born
while they were there. This was in 1973. Christopher would have two sons, Alexander and
Alexis John.
The next thing we found was that, in and around 1978, we were both living in Cavenagh
Townhouse Apartments, a block of apartments originally intended for senior civil servants,
Christopher at #03-147 and we a #09-139. Actually he moved in first and we bought our unit
later independently. Again, one day, at the annual general meeting, Christopher took on the
entire management committee of senior civil servants. In the ensuing battle, he persuaded me
to join him. Together with Mr. Teo Eng Hock as President, we took over power in 1991, with
him as Treasurer and me as Secretary. .Christopher would begin to fall ill soon after this, with
a combination of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, His legacy was to leave me running the
condominium alternating as secretary and president for a good 14 years. Christopher’s
marriage failed sadly, and he lived alone in the last years. He died on 27 Oct 1997. I heard
the news from Mabel in Karlsruhe by telephone, where I was on a Unesco mission.
Choo Eng Khoon
Choo Eng Khoon, was a member of the Class of Standard 7, which I joined on transfer to SJI
from Malacca. Our friendship began on that date 2 May 1949. There was no particular reason
why we should not take to each other. We were quite different in both temperament and
attributes. But there were also things we liked about each other. One factor in favour of our
friendship was that he lived on the top floor of the Queen Street Post Office, of which his
father was the Postmaster. That put him smack en route between our school and Newton,
where Chris and I lived. He was within strolling distance of the Green Bus Terminus, which
ran a fleet of services to Johore and the north of our island – all of which passed right by my
house about a mile from Queen Street. Any one inclined to determinism could say geography
dictated that we would be friends.
Eng Khoon was an intellectual, one of the kings of the class, capturing first place in rotation
with the others. Although veiled by a natural modesty, he looked the part, tall, calm of
temperament, deliberate in choice, with an imposing forehead, and with a touch of the cynical
in his manner. He preferred to keep his counsel and not argue, but he could be devastating
when provoked. Even the constitutionally fractious Christopher steered clear of engaging him
in single combat. Having said all that, as a person, he was very good company. He had a
sense of humour, and here I think we were most often on common ground - sometimes at the
Odiang: Chapter Seven – The Singapore Years
32
expense of Chris. Partly due to our intellectual common-ground and partly because our
personalities jogged and stimulated one another, Eng Khoon, Chris and I tended to group
together during school days. Geography probably played a part. Eng Khoon visited 167 Bukit
Timah Road often during the Christmas holidays and became one of our enlarged circle
which included my Malacca friends who holidayed with us during those early years.
It was during post-school-certificate days that we became truly a trio. If there was another
factor that set us apart from others, it was a certain lofty view we held of our future, and a
common idealism. Eng Khoon, Chris and I were three among the top five boys of Bro Henry’s
illustrious class. When all three of us chose to study Humanities as our first choice we sent a
message that we were different. This was rare if not unheard of in those days when the best
would opt for medicine or law. This gave us some kind of moral high ground. In the
atmosphere of nascent nationalism that pervaded Asia – even Singapore - we were politically
alive and consciously or unconsciously saw ourselves as the future agents of change. In fact
in our post certificate class, we were the only three doing Arts. We were joined by six girls
from the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus, including the brilliant Marina Read. We were to
prove our mettle when in due course our class won all three of the University Entrance
Scholarships in the Arts, including Marina; further one of us topped the entire Entrance
Examination for all faculties, including the Science and Medicine.
I have earlier11 related our life-style and activities during these post school certificate years
We enjoyed the freedom to explore and debate all subjects. Eng Khoon’s special interests lay
in mathematics, and Chris’ were in history and archeology, while I loved geography and
music. Combining these with our common love for literature and art, and passion for politics,
.we had plenty to talk and argue about. At this stage we all got our wheels: bicycles. We
travelled far, from Jalan Non Chik in Johore Bahru to Changi Point. The Arts class made a
field trip to Malacca up to KL; and we made at least one other trip to Malacca - for the visit of
the remains of St Francis Xavier, whose still un-decomposed arm was taken to St Paul’s Hill
for a few days before being taken to Goa to be permanently interred. On that occasion we
had dinner at Lee Kim Hock’s house. They served a bass (ikan jenak) freshly caught from the
sea, simply steamed in its own juice, with minimal garnishings. Even up to today, Eng Khoon
and I declare that it was the sweetest and tastiest fish we had and have ever eaten. Eng
Khoon said, “Now I know what it is to eat an absolutely fresh fish..” I thoroughly agreed but
thought to myself that Hock’s mother might have had something to do with it. Eng Khoon also
accompanied me to visit 10 Meringu Lane, the historic seat of the Pillay family. He often tells
of the wonderful experience he had of enjoining an authentic home-cooked Chetty Malacca
chicken curry.
Eng Khoon pursued Mathematics and graduated at the same time as Chris and myself. While
we specialised in different subjects at the honours level, all three of us took Economics as our
second major up to the degree level. So we had plenty to argue about. During university days,
I came to know and associate a lot with Chee Keng Soon, who was from Raffles Institution
and lived down the road from us at 201 Bukit Timah Road. He was my Geography classmate
.through all four years to the Honours class. He soon became an additional member of our
group, making us a familiar quartet on the campus. By then, my Dad had bought his car and I
had obtained my driving licence. He he allowed me pretty free use of it; and so we were quite
mobile. As an example of how we operated, one evening, the four of us were to be found at
the home of the charming Yong Quek Fong. She was our junior by one year and lived in a big
house on top of a hill along Bedok Road overlooking the seafront, not far from the Big Bend
where the road turned inland and where the famous Bedok night food-stalls were located. All
five of us were seated together on a long sofa-bench against the wall. After we left, I believe it
was I who said by way of conversation, “She looked bright and happy.” But, Chris interjected,
“I disagree. She looked tired.” Still basking in her aura, the others challenged him. His retort
was categorical, “I was seating closest to her. So, I am right.” Eng Khoon resorted to his
favourite one-word for such moments “Basket! “ he said, which seemed to cover the situation
exactly. I am not sure whether the evening contributed to his success or not but for the
record, Keng Soon went on to marry the girl. It became a tradition for the four of us to visit
Eng Khoon‘s family on Chinese New Year’s day and Keng Soon’s family on the second day
11
See Page 12
Odiang: Chapter Seven – The Singapore Years
33
for their festive lunch. Again let the record show that never can we hope again to enjoy the
sumptuous dishes – the traditional Hokkien cuisine of Eng Khoon’s mother and the exotic
Peranakan fare prepared by Keng Soon’s mother, who pulled out all the stops for the new
year..
Eng Khoon participated in one more gig with Keng Soon and me, and it was our month-long
tour-adventure in Genevieve round Malaya. I have described this earlier 12. It was a
Geography Department affair, but we persuaded him to join us. Chris was, if I recall correctly,
off on some archeological dig in India. It was the longest time any of the group had spent
together, and we brought home many memories which warmed our hearts when we
recollected them often. You can say Jean Carter, the lecturer from Manchester, England who
masterminded the trip and hustled the department to supply the vehicle, became in absentia
an associate member of the group, although she never knew Chris. But, alas it was also the
end of college days, and our ways diverged, some of us to meet again and others not..
Eng Khoon had gone to England to study Law when Mabel and I got married on 6 Feb 62, On
return he was to join the legal team of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC). Over .a
life-long career, he became undoubtedly the expert on employment and labour law and
served as Legal Adviser to C. V. Devan Nair in the latter’s heyday as Secretary General. He
must have made many contributions in his field, but I always associate Eng Khoon (on the
unions side) with the Employment Act of 1968. This landmark legislation restructured union
membership, increased the working week to 48 hours, cut down public holidays to eleven,
and increased the powers of management. The act took courage in the union leadership to
agree to, but was the baseline from which Singapore released its potential to survive and
build the economy – 1968 being the year of the British Pull Out.
Eng Khoon came back to Singapore after our two boys were born. I next recall him visiting
our home at 101A Oxley Rise in and around 1964, and getting to know Leslie and Carl.
Among the sweetest memories of our early family days was that every Saturday without fail at
precisely 1.00 pm, Eng Khoon and Chris would join us for lunch and all of us would sit around
afterwards in our little flat watching the Twilight Zone on TV. This programme was replaced or
alternated at some stage with The Outer Limits. Leslie would be siting tied to his rocking
horse and Carl would be on my outstretched lap. Nan, Mabel’s mother, would sit on the floor
beside the kitchen, while Mabel would be busy serving something. We had all completed our
studies and started our careers, and nobody else was married or courting at that point.. Mabel
became the heart of our group. This was the trio in the most serene and uncomplicated period
of our lives. Singapore had joined Malaysia, and I had been appointed Extra ADC to the Yang
di-Pertuan Negara Yusof Ishak. There is an amusing story I must relate. One Sunday
morning, I woke up at 8.00 am and looked out down into the forecourt below. There was this
gleaming black State Car with a liveried chauffer and pennant flying. “Someone important is
visiting somebody here “, I said to Mabel. She looked out, and said “That’s your car. Are you
supposed to be somewhere?” Then I remembered that I was due to pay a courtesy call on
behalf of the Yang on an East Malaysian dignitary who was on stopover en route to KL – at
8.00 am. In a panic I dressed instantly and made one call – to the duty officer at the Islana
with the following instructions: Ring the Police and tell them I am coming through. I want an
escort. Ring the Airport and tell them to instruct the Airport Police to standby at all gates up to
the plane Tell them to stall the plane. On no account is it to take off until I get there. I made it
with passable delay, due civilities were exchanged and everyone’s face was saved. But I
could tell he knew. He was gracious enough not to mention anything. In Aug 1964, my efforts
to purchase 36 Jalan Jarak, Seletar Hills, came through, but I had to be in Ottawa attending
the Commonwealth Education Ministers’ Conference as a member of the Malaysian the
Malaysian delegation. Mabel told me afterwards that it was Eng Khoon who handled the
entire transfer to the new house - of everything, wife, two babies and all the barang2. No one
can feel more wonderful than when he has a friend who looks after his family while he is
away.
12
See Pages 22-23
Odiang: Chapter Seven – The Singapore Years
34
Eng khoon would soon get married to Chan Sum Yee, a staff nurse, from Kampar, and they
would have e daughter Celine. They bought a beautiful semi-detached house at 35 Lorong
Chuan, and settled down there. Our paths diverged for many year after that.
It was after we both retired and were into our second careers that we began regularly
associating again, in the late-1990s in fact. Their daughter having settled in Perth, Australia,
Eng Khoon, with Sum Yee, resumed visiting us, at Cavenagh Townhouse. We in turn became
their regular guests at lunch on Chinese New Year Day With interruptions, this has continued
right down to this day, over fifteen years, notwithstanding that we moved twice and Eng
Khoon and Sum Yee once.
Eng Khoon and I shared a common interest in science fiction. We liked those authors whose
stories dealt with real people in a speculative but probable and possible near (and not so
near) future, based on the scientific realities in our own time. Two giants of this genre woud
be Arthur C. Clarke and Greg Bear. In one sense this interest sprang from, and in another it
fostered, our common enthusiasm for following the discoveries on the frontiers of science.
Eng Khoon subscribed to the Scientific American, and passed me all the back numbers. We
were always looking over the shoulder of our scientific friends at super-string theories, dark
matter, Hubble’s galactic probes, dimensional physics, etc. Recently he came over with the
AAAS 21 December 2012 issue of’ Science, documenting the “sighting” or confirmation at
CERN of the existence of the Higgs boson, the long-hypothesized last missing particle that
completes the particle theory of matter. We often discuss another ultimate breakthrough and
look forward to it in our life-time with confidence – travelling faster than light.
Eng Khoon and Mabel and I are intrepid readers, and one of my favourite past-times has
been fulfilling this combined appetite by foraging for books in the second-hand bookshops. I
doubt if there has been a secondhand bookshop I have not known about or visited over the
last sixty years - from the Bras Basah Road bookshops of the 1950s to the next generations
at the Brasah Basah Complex and the Peace and Paradis Centres, to the San Bookshop and
all its branches today. One common indulgence of ours has been crime fiction, and nothing is
more keenly awaited that the next story featuring LAPD Detective Hieronymus "Harry"
Bosch13. Every visit of Eng Khoon used to be marked by a happy exchange of books. Lately
things have changed, with the arrival of Kindle in 2011, Libri-Vox and i-Books in 2012 , and
closure of Pro Saint Bookshop, my favourite and the best of the bookshops. The book I
cherish most that Eng Khoon gave me was The Decline and Fall Of The Roman Empire, by
Edward Gibbons. His inscription, in full, reads follows: “Ä happy birthday to you again. A
companion tome for your better understanding of how a wind-blown mustard seed lodged in
the Roman rubric can sprout into a big tree to overshadow other human endeavours “ 1 Dec
2003.
About the late 1990s, Mabel and I also became involved in the choir of the Church of The
Church of the Sacred Heart, Tank Road, she in singing and me playing the organ. Inevitably,
the choir members began visiting us at Cavenagh Townhouse and that they Eng Khoon and
Sum Yee should meet. The enlarged group, which comprised the addition of Sherly Fluery,
Lucy Lee, and Michael and Agnes Seet, enjoyed being together. They had much to chat
about, and a common interest in food, with Sum Yee being exceptionally gifted in this field.
We would both buy in and go out for meals. Inevitably again, the group should talk about
shopping and food in Malaysia. We made several short weekend visits to Malacca (Melaka)
staying at the Riviera Resort and shopping and eating at Jonker’s Street and the Portuguese
Settlement among other places. The ladies used to visit a well-known manek14 craftsman in
Trenquerah to order custom fitted hand-made manek slippers. On one of these trips, Eng
13
14
The author is Michael Connelly
Minute coloured beads, hand-threaded on fabric to form the backing for shoes, hand-bags and
other articles of wear.
Odiang: Chapter Seven – The Singapore Years
35
Khoon accompanied me on my last visit to Meringu Lane, which has since vanished with
redevelopment.
In June 2003, Sum Yee and Eng KHoon joined Mabel and me for a holiday to Kathmandu,
together with Aunty Sham, Mabel’s sister. The occasion was doubly motivated. First, it was
the annual meeting of the Asian Area of SKAL and, second, it was the International
Celebrations of the 50th Anniversary of the Conquest of Mount Everest by Sir Edmund Hilary.
The city was alive with festivities. The attendees of the first were among the honoured guests
of the second. Thus we were double programmed for delights. In one event, the successful
climbers had their own tents pitched around a huge field, and guests were welcome to “visit”
them. Hilary had left, but I remember meeting the first woman, Junko Tabei from Japan who
did it in 1975, and the then youngest record holder, aged 14, a Nepalese as I recall, whose
name is now eclipsed by an even younger person aged 13, who did it in 2011. Eng Khoon
and I did the usual thing of walking into the older parts of the city, where we found (what else)
a bookshop and a copy of Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses.
In August,2005, we embarked on a12-day trip to the Holy Land. Besides Eng Khoon and Sum
Yee, the aforementioned choir group and of course Mabel and me, Lucy’s sisters and family
members joined us. Rev Father Adrian Anthony came aboard at a late hour, to make a group
of 14. It was not a pilgrimage. It included coverage of the major civic and historic as well as
holy places. We spent a week in and around Jerusalem, living at the Olive Tree Hotel, and the
second week moving up the Jordan to the environs of Galilee. There we stayed at
Capharnaum, visited Nazareth, and wandered as far north as the Golan Heights.. We
returned in one swoop down the Mediterranean coast via Carmel, and Haifa to Tel-Aviv.
Father Anthony said mass for us at Bethlehem, Cavalry and the site of the Sermon on the
Mount. Perhaps the most inspiring religious experience for me was visiting the Upper Room
of the Last Supper, where the Eucharist was instituted.
The outstanding secular experiences for me were Yad Vashem, Masada and Herod The
Great. Because they are substantially my recollections and thoughts I have recounted them in
a separate section following this.
Unfortunately, after our Israel trip, the group ceased to get together for a while, due to several
reasons among others the fact that we moved and no longer participated in the choir.
Happily, in more recent times, we have begun to meet again. One of our great sadnesses has
been to lose Lucy to cancer, the heart and soul of our group. She passed away on 1 May
2013, RIP. Eng Khoon and I continue to explore the universe and make memories. At 81, he
is still practicing as Legal Consultant to the Seamen’s Organisation of Singapore.
.
Commentary on Visit to Israel15
(1) Yad Vashem
Yad Vashem is the memorial of the six million Jews killed by the Germans during the Second
World War. In meticulous detail and exactitude, it seeks to record the memory of every Jew
who died in the holocaust. ( the lists are still being added to…).Everywhere it reverberates
with the silent screams of the dead. One cannot but feel an unbearable sorrow for the Jewish
people, and be overwhelmed by an immense indignation at this blot on mankind’s history.
16This memorial stands close to Calvary, where the Jews themselves had done the same
thing to the Son of God. One cannot but question whether Yad Vashem was part of the
prophesied consequence of Calvary. One must ask further whether when dying on the Cross
Jesus Christ saw Yad Vashem in his mind’s eye as part of the burden of expiation he was
carrying, and further whether when he said, “Lord ,Forgive them, for they know not what they
15
16
In this section, I have retained “B. C.“ to indicate years-dates Before Christ. All other yearsdates are without alphabets, which means they are “A.D. “ or Anno Domino.
The remarks following are my own ruminations and do not reflect the views of Eng Khoon, who
may or may not agree with them.
Odiang: Chapter Seven – The Singapore Years
36
do”, he not only meant the Jews but also those who committed Yad Vashem. Pope John
Paul II visited Yad Vashem on 23 Mar 2000, and I am happy to note that Pope Benedict XVI
did so on 11 May 2009 – after us. President Obama followed us this year, on 13 Mar 2013. I
look forward to Pope Francis making this visit early in his term of office, and every Pope after
him, for Calvary and Yad Vashem cannot be separated. .
(2)
Masada
Masada is famous for three reasons (1) its breath-taking physical presence, (2) the fortresspalace Herod the Great build on it and (3) what happened there.
Masada is a rugged natural fortress, of majestic beauty, in the Judean Desert, located on the
south-west bank of the Dead Sea. It can claim to fame in its own right as a geographical
wonder. It is a free-standing block of harder horizontal sedimentary rock, which has
differentially resisted both aolian erosion and earthquake activity.17. . It is shaped like a piece
of cake cut in the form of a diamond, with the narrow and highest end pointing north or up the
Jordan Valley. It has a flat top, like a mesa. On its east it drops 1,500 feet (470 m) to the
Dead Sea18, and on the west side 300 feet (100 m) to the nearest formation. It stands 23
acres on the ground; in a circumference of 4,250 feet (1,330 m) Natural access to the top
was very difficult as the cliffs were sheer. This may be gauged by the fact that the
circumlocuting fortress at the top is 4,300 feet (1,3 km), as long as the base. In appearance it
has all the punishing austerity and impregnability associated with the Judean Desert.
See https://bible.org/assets/images/Stiles_Masada.001.jpg
Atop this feature, Herod The Great built one of his many fortresses. These fortresses were
built as refuges from the Jews, who disliked him, rather than as a defence against the
Romans, with whom he in fact got on very well.(see further below). In addition to a
surrounding casemate wall, 12 feet (3.7.) high, he built towers and fortifications. Further, in
typical Herodian style, he built lavish palatial accommodation, in fact a Western Palace and a
Northern Palace, with all their associated amenities and diversions, including his throne room.
The Northern Palace is in fact a three-tier architectural marvel which hangs over the cliff at
the mesa’s highest point. See http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/videos/palaceon-masada/ In addition he built barracks for his soldiers, store-houses for food and a system
of wadis for water collection and storage which made the fortress self-sufficient..
,
What happened at Masada is equally dramatic, as well as historic. After a series of growing
aggravations and resistances culminating in the massacre by the Romans of 6,000 Jews and
plunder of the Temple, in 66 the Jews finally erupted in revolt.. It was no pussycat revolt. The
Jews overran the Roman garrisons across the country, and they took over and fortified the
city of Jerusalem. With the province out of control, the Roman Syrian commander sent down
a force of Legion-strength plus auxiliaries to retake the country. In the upshot, the Jews
defeated them, massacring some 6,000 Roman soldiers at the Battle of Beth Horon. This sent
shock waves throughout the empire19. Nero appointed General Vespasian to crush the revolt.
He re-took Galilee in 67. There was a lull due to civil unrest in Rome, which ended with his
being proclaimed emperor in 69. His son Titus pursued the war with a strength of six Legions
(some 60,000 men), ending in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Second Temple in 70 after a seven months’ siege . As soon as the revolt began, the Jews, more particularly the
extremists known as Sicarii or Zealots, took over Herods’s many fortresses, including
Masada.in 67 and conducted their revolt from these. The Romans progressively captured
them, including Herodium .and Machaerus. This left Masada. It was in 73 that they finally
17
I was not able to find any geological study of the Masada area on the Internet.
18
The surface of the Dead Sea is 1,312 feet (400m) below sea level. It makes the top of Masada
58 feet above sea level.
19
Some commentators describe this as the biggest ever defeat at arms suffered by the Romans
within their provinces throughout their history.
Odiang: Chapter Seven – The Singapore Years
37
captured Masada. After three years of final resistance. It spelt the end of the revolt. For a
good description of the Great Jewish Revolt see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Jewish%E2%80%93Roman_War
When they decided it was expeditious to do so, the capture of Masada was carried out by the
Romans in a single operation, by a force of 9,000 or so under Governor Flavius Silva of
Judea. In execution, it was a classic demonstration of the Roman military siege. First they
built a wall right round the site, sealing it completely and camped the legions right round it.
No one could get in or out. In step two, they built a ramp on the short (west) side going right
up to the level of the fortress wall. This was undertaken by the Roman soldiers themselves –
just another day’s work for a soldier in those times. Experts suggest they would have done so
in 7 weeks, tops 3 months; but various people state that it took six months or more. In step
three, they built a solid platform at the top of the ramp, and on it they constructed and
harnessed a gigantic battering ram. All that was left was to batter the fortress wall down. The
ramp is still there, see pictures in websites indicated at end of this section. .
The last Jews bent on a showdown had gathered at Masada with their families, led by Eleazar
ben Yair, There were 936 of them, men women and children. After months of fruitless and
desperate resistance, it became clear that there was no way out. So, to avoid capture and
slaughter, the community agreed to kill themselves. Ten men were selected to kill the others
and then themselves, the last one to commit suicide.. When the Romans broke through, they
found a silent empty fortress. These Jewish heroes and their actions at Masada are regarded
as among the glories of Israeli history.
For those who wish to go further into Masada, do look at these and links therein:
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masada, and
http://www.google.com.sg/search?q=masada&sa=N&rlz=1C2SFXN_enSG498SG518&tbm=is
ch&tbo=u&source=univ&ei=aGIDUtn3MIONrQeIxIHoDw&ved=0CCgQsAQ4Cg&biw=1091&bi
h=866
Postscript 1
The Jews would have one more revolt in their homeland. Simon bar Kokhba was the Jewish
leader of what is known as the Bar Kokhba revolt against the Roman Empire in 132,
establishing an independent Jewish state with its own coinage, which he ruled for three years
as Nasi ("Prince"). A complete Roman legion with auxiliaries was annihilated. The new state
knew only one year of peace. It was conquered by the Romans in 135 following a two-year
war. The Romans committed no fewer than twelve legions, amounting to one third to one half
of the entire Roman army, to reconquer this now independent state The Jews had many
reasons to be unhappy, see below:
“After the bloody and costly defeat of Bar-Kokhba, Hadrian decided that
Jerusalem must be forever destroyed. In A.D. 70, the 10th Roman Legion was left
to control the ruins. This time, however, Hadrian ordered the city to be plowed
over and rebuilt as a Roman city. A pig was carved over one of the gates to honor
the 10th Legion that had wrecked the city under Titus. A temple to Jupiter was
erected at the sight of Solomon's Temple. A statue to Hadrian was erected on the
spot that had been occupied by the Holy of Holies. Jews were forbidden in this
new city, and any Jew caught trying to enter was crucified immediately! Only one
exception was made to this on the ninth day of Ab, each year. For a fee, a Jew
could enter the city and pray for restoration of the Temple. Jerusalem was
renamed Aelia Capitolina. Aelia was Hadrian's middle name. Capitolina was in
homage to the pagan god, Capitoline Jupiter. Circumcision and study of the Law
were outlawed. Jews who had been converted to Christianity were welcomed in
the city, but could be challenged to show that they had not been circumcised!
Jewish slaves so flooded the markets in Rome that the price for a slave actually
became cheaper than the price of a horse! Many of the slaves were freed
Odiang: Chapter Seven – The Singapore Years
38
because it was too expensive to feed them while waiting for someone to buy
them.”
(3)
Herod the Great
In and around BC 163, the Maccabean revolt against the Greek Seleucids Kings established
the last independent Jewish kingdom under the Hasmonean dynasty. In BC 109, King
Hyrcanus did the traditional thing of conquering his biblical enemies and southern neighbours,
the Edomites @ Idumeans. In this case, however, unlike similar conquests in biblical times
when the Jews frequently slaughter the lot, he allowed them to continue, provided they
converted to Judaism – which they did. When in BC 63 Pompey captured Jerusalem,
Antipater was the Governor of Idumea. An ambitious man, he embroiled himself in
Hasmonean court politics and competed successfully for the attention of the Romans. The
latter naturally looked for alliances to divide and rule. When the war between Pompey and
Julius Caesar broke out, he switched allegiance form Pompey to the latter and supported him
with his own forces. At some point he rescued Caesar. The latter was ultimately victorious at
the Battle of Pharsala in BC 48. .As a result Caesar conferred on Antipater Roman citizenship
and made him Pro-curator of Judea and Idumea, in effect boss over the Hasmoneans. In BC
47, Antipater in turn appointed his sons Phaesal to be governor of Jerusalem and Herod to be
governor of Judea, thus marking the emergence of our subject.
Antipater and Herod were favoured familiars at the Roman court. Following the assassination
of Caesar in BC 44, and the murder of Antipater in BC 43, Mark Anthony - no doubt for the
benefit of Roman governance of the Jews and based on performance - elevated Herod’s
appointment to Tetrarch in BC 41. For the same reasons, after an unsuccessful Jewish revolt,
Augustus Caesar and Mark Anthony obtained the approval of the Roman Senate to appoint
Herod “King of the Jews” in BC 40 - in effect a “client king” succeeding his father’s procuratorship. Both Herod and Antigonus, the Hasmonean claimant, had gone to Rome to
argue their cases. That ended the Hasmonean dynasty. Herod was to rule for 40 years, dying
in BC 4
Herod was a self-serving, ambitious and megalomaniac person. His aim was to live long and
leave a towering memory of himself. He recognized that the best course of action was to
serve Rome well and never do otherwise. He understood that the core of his value to them
was to enforce the peace among the Jews. He sought to win the latter’s favour, but he did not
fail to suppress them as needed. In BC 38, he married Marianne, a Hasmonean princess. His
chosen mode to greatness was to build. He earned the title “The Great” because In the end
he became as the greatest builder of his time – and that is saying a lot in the heyday of
Rome.
Herod was a nasty piece of work, a tyrant and a monster. He had ten wives and many
children. He not only killed his Hasmonean rival, Antigonus, but he also killed Marianne, his
wife... Among the others killed were her mother, her grandfather and her brother, and at least
two of his sons. His last act before his death was to order the death of another of his sons.
Christians will be familiar with his massacre of the Holy Innocents, as told in the Bible. When
his end drew near, he gave orders to have the principal men of the country shut up in the hippodrome at
Jericho and slaughtered as soon as he had passed away, so that his grave might not be without the
tribute of tears. This barbarous command was not carried into effect; but the Jews celebrated as a
festival the day of his death.
While professing to be Jew, he pandered to the pagan gods and the Roman way of life. The
Jews did not like him, because he was not one of them and did not behave like one of them.
He was appointed king from outside over their own Hasmonean dynasty. And finally he
exacted taxes from them to pay for his monuments and his extravagant palaces. Herod was
always fearful of the Jews, at the same time that he sought to please Rome. He kept his own
army.
Odiang: Chapter Seven – The Singapore Years
39
Early in his reign Herod built a string of fortresses across the country, as refuges from the
Jews not the Romans. Among the first and most famous of these were the fortress-palaces
of Masada (BC 35-15) and Herodium (BC 23-15). Just outside Jerusalem, the latter, built on a
half hill, rose and incredible 2,487 feet (758 m) above sea level. It was the tallest peak in the
entire Judean Desert. One may gain some idea of its height by comparing it with the world’s
tallest building at this time, the Burj Khalifa Dubai, which was completed in 2010 at a height of
2,722 feet ((829.8 m), only fractionally higher.than Herodium. It was taller than anything else
in the Judean Desert and it must have been the tallest thing in the Roman empire. This
monument is still under excavation.
Herod proceeded at the same time by building cities in honour of the emperors. Samaria was
built and called Sebaste, the Greek name for Augustus. And so was Cæsarea built (BC 2717), with the finest and biggest harbour at that time in the Mediterranean. Being Greek in his
tastes, Herod erected theatres, amphitheaters, and hippodromes for games, which were
celebrated at stated times even at Jerusalem I have not researched the point, but I would
imagine that the coliseum round which the famous Ben Hur Chariot Race would have taken
place, had it actually happened, would have been built by Herod, for I do not see the Romans
building it in the tumultuous years after Herod’s death. He also built temples to the Roman
gods, among them one at Rhodes to Apollo, and to the pagan gods of the local population.
The greatest work of his reign was Herod’s re-building of the Second Temple of Jerusalem. It
was called the Second Temple because the First Temple built by Solomon was destroyed by
the Babylonians in 586 BC when they took the Jews into captivity. The Second Temple was
built, on the return of the Jews to Jerusalem and completed by BC 516. Herod left this project
to late in his reign. He gathered all the materials on site, to cut down the actual construction
time. He entered into an understanding with the temple authorities to keep the temple
functional throughout the period, so that the Second Temple was never closed and the reconstructed temple was still the Second Temple20.The Jews were also afraid that if the temple
was pulled down, it might not be rebuilt. Herod undertook a massive expansion of the Temple
Mount. In as far as the temple proper was concerned, he required and was required to keep
to the dimensions of Solomon, but he displayed his architectural genius in the greatly
enlarged cloisters, courts and porticos. The temple proper and Holy of Holies were built by the
priests themselves, as no one else was allowed in. Herod’s Temple was begun in BC 20 and
the critical portions were completed in two years. The ancillary components took longer, the
whole being finished in BCE 64. It was one of the biggest and most magnificent construction
project of his reign. It stood 90 years and was destroyed by Titus who conquered Jerusalem
in AD 70.. Those who want to know more may look at The Jewish Encyclopedia at
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/14304-temple-of-herod
Postscript 2
Upon his death, Herod divided his kingdom and appointed his sons to rule, as follows:- Herod
Archelaus as Tetrach of Judea and Idumea; Herod Antipas21 as Tetrach of Galilee and
Samaria; and Herod Philip as Tetrach of Batanea, etc. The Romans removed Archelaus in 6
for excessive abuses, and converted the territory into the Roman Province of Judea under a
Governor and Procurator (in time the post taken up by Pontius Pilate). When Philip died the
Romans in 37 appointed Herod Agrippa I, grandson of Herod, to succeed him, Likewise,
Agrippa took over from Antipas his territories when the latter was exiled in 39 for misdeeds.
Further, in 41, the Emperor Claudius handed him the territories of Judea and Samaria, so that
20
Ezekiel prophesised that the Jews should - and would - build a Third Temple. The subject is
fraught with mystery. There are associations with the ultimate end of things, which was obviously
not the state of affairs in Herod’’s time. In current times, one faction looks upon the building of the
Third Temple as an appropriate culmination of modern Jewish history. It is not difficult to find
violent objectors to this idea. It is an explosive subject that could indeed bring about a
cataclysmic end of the world. .
21
Of the Salome-John The Baptist episode. He was also a builder and is credited with building the
lake port of Tiberias as the capital of Galilee.
Odiang: Chapter Seven – The Singapore Years
40
at this point Agrippa’s kingdom was larger than his grandfather’s. All the Tetrachies were
eventually abolished in 44, by which time the revolutionary state of the country was
demanding more direct attention. Agrippa I died in 44. Thus ended the Herodian Dynasty.
There is however a strange tailpiece. In 50, Claudius appointed the son of Agrippa I, namely
Agrippa II, as King of Chalcis and titular king of the Jews. St Paul appeared before him. On
destruction of the Jews, he lived in Rome and died in 100.
Final Chapters
My Dad continued in good health, with the usual ailments of the elderly, namely high blood
pressure. He had a thrombosis and died in Tan Tock Seng Hospital on 1 Nov 75. His last
request to me was to ask what music was playing on his transistor. It was Mozart. At his wake
at Keng Lee Road, we played only happy music. It was All Saints’ Day. He was 75.
Upon his decease Crowhurst Drive was sold. My Mother continued in good sturdy health and
lived on her own first next door to us and then in a flat at 45 Patterson Close. In 1984, she
moved in with us at Cavanagh Townhouse Apartments, where she continued to live for the
next 19 years until her decease on 17 Jul 2003. She had just completed her 90th birthday.
She saw Leslie married but not Carl or her great-grandson, Christian.
Dad and Mum now share a niche (No B2 03-47) at the Church of the Holy Spirit, Upper
Thomson Road, Singapore.
* * *
2nd Edition
21 Aug 2013