I Remember

I Remember A historical life journey

By Lim Kim Tong

© Copyright 2022 by Lim KimTong All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner.

Table of Contents Preface

5

I Remember

7

My School Days

9

Inferiority Complex

10

Career

11

Saving habits

12

A Private Person

14

Living each day as it comes

16

My Home at Ganges Avenue

17

Games played

19

Chinese New Year

22

Credit facility

23

From poor to rich

24

Bukit Ho Swee Fire

25

My First Savings Account (POSB)

26

My National Service Days

27

I did woodwork and metalwork

29

Early years of bus transport

30

National Library of yesteryears

31

My Hobbies

32

My years in National Junior College

33

PSC Undergraduate Scholarship 1976

34

You will know this special bond

35

You write long-distance and then wait days for reply

36

GCE “O” Level Results were published in Newspaper

37

National Day Parade in 1971

38

Matriculation for Accountancy course in 1978-9

39

Enrolled in English-Medium stream in primary school (1964)

41

Do you plan for retirement?

42

DBS Fixed Deposit in 1993

43

My Parents stayed at Craig Road before

44

My journey through National Service

45

My parents stayed in rental flats of public housing

47

My First Property to Live In

48

Investing in Investment Property

50

Joy of Reading

51

My First Driving Licence

52

My Education

53

Coopers & Lybrand

55

From Executive Diary to Smart Phone

56

My Uncle from Malaysia

57

Epilogue

59

Preface

I started this I Remember narratives in January 2017. It is meant to be historical going back to my growing up years as I remember those years. As I get older, memories of past gets hazy and sometimes may not be accurate. It is necessary to document these memories before I lose my faculty of recall.

I chose topics and wrote I Remember in my blog posts over a span of two and a half years.

I researched a bit and looked at documents or evidences in order to be as accurate as possible.

This ebook is a compilation of what were written previously. I did not re-order them by themes. It captured my emotions and moods over the years as I wrote I Remember.

I Remember

I remember when I was a small boy, I was frail, thin and undernourished. I was truly small sized compared with the rest of the boys of my age.

I stayed in a 3-room rental flat at Block 60 Ganges Avenue, 44-C, Singapore 0316. This flat was known as Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT) flat, built after the Japanese Occupation by the Government then. The old numbering system of naming the level of flat was Ground Floor is given just the number 44, second storey is given the alphabet 44-A, 44-C is therefore 4 storey high. The postal code has since changed from 4-number system to the current 6-number system in 1995. They dropped the first 2 digits of the 4-number system and add 4 additional numbers to the last 2 digits in the current system.

The flat I stayed in had poor daylight. The kitchen cabinet was dark and damp and the cockroaches multiplied in great number. The cockroaches grew quite a size and always flew in the flat. I hated the thorny legs of these cockroaches and they looked really ugly.

They created a phobia for me and up to these days I still hate them.

When I was young, I remembered that my mother would wake me up at about 5 am and brought me to the polyclinic at Prince Phillip Road waiting in the queue. My mother wanted to be among the first to see the doctor on duty. This seemed to happen very often.

I took so much medicine when I was young that I wonder whether this had an impact on my poor health in adult life.

Going to primary school, Delta West Integrated Primary School, had been an activity I could leave my flat. My mother would not allow me to play at the open field fronting the flat. It’s only to school and back to flat. We were poor and going to movies and places of interest was not possible. For that matter, my parents did not want to go to these places, being illiterate they would be uncomfortable. My window to the world is through the windows of the flat. I am brought up to be shy and a person who will not talk much. I would spend my time on study during times at home.

My father was born in China in year 1909. Like many young men of his time, he ventured out of China to seek work. He came to Malaysia first before finally settling in Singapore since 1940s. That was when Singapore fell to Japan. He once told us that he was slapped

by a Japanese soldier before but luckily for him, he survived to tell us about the Japanese Occupation.

Having no formal education, he could only do menial work. He started off as a rickshaw puller and later became a trishaw rider. He gave passenger rides and carried goods on his trishaw. Almost everyday, he will help transport goods such as vegetables, fish for sellers in the Old Market (now known as Lau Pa Sat Market). It was from this that he got supplies of vegetables, fish and meat to put food on the table at home. It was also from his work that he brought up five children and got us through formal education. My siblings and I belong to the second generation and we lead better lives than our parents. Education levelled the playing field for us to compete in our careers.

My School Days

When I was in the primary school many years ago, I remember standing in line in a schooladministered program to drink milk. This scheme was for underweight students. Even now, I still cannot gain weight.

I was a quiet person during my school days, from primary school to university. I listened more than I talked. Thankfully, presentation in class was not a big thing during those days. I would be miserable as speaking up was not my strength. Even till these days, I am more at ease being a passive person. You will not see me doing sales. This behaviour type develops because of my family background environment. We followed the adage: "Children should be seen and not heard."

Inferiority Complex

When I was growing up, I was rather shy and reserved. I had this inferiority complex about my family background. Each time when I was asked about my father’s occupation, I would feel uncomfortable. My father came from China when he was a young man to find a better life for himself. He was born in 1909 and during the 1920s there were waves of China immigrants searching for work in Malaya and Singapore. They were referred to as coolies.

Coolies toiled in the sun to earn a living. My father found work as a rickshaw puller and later as a trishaw rider.

Somehow, I got this idea that a trishaw rider was beneath a lot of other work, such as shop assistants, clerks in offices. At a young age and when growing older, I rather not talked about my father’s occupation. Such was a strong stigma that I only was able to overcome in later life.

My father had an honest living and I am proud about it. In one generation, my siblings and I have done well to be where we are now. We were poor to start with. We stayed in a rented SIT flat along Ganges Avenue. I did not know how we pulled through those years with not much wealth. I remember my father used to get vegetables, meat and fishes cheaply from the Lau Pa Sat Market (Telok Ayer Market). I remember that the fishes were fishy and disliked them.

Despite our urging him to retire earlier, he continued to work until he was about 70 years old. He passed away when he was 89 years old in 1999. We knew he had a tough life. He had to survive the Japanese Occupation. We knew that he was slapped in the face by a Japanese soldier and lived to tell the tale.

I am the youngest in the family. When I was born, my father was 48 years old. When I went to National Service, he was 66 years old and when I was independent of age, he was nearing 70 years old. That was a big generation gap between our ages of 48 years.

I begin to appreciate my father when I am older and am thankful that my parents brought us under trying conditions.

Career

Back in October 1980, I was offered a job as an Audit Assistant with Coopers & Lybrand (C&L) when I was still in my final year at NUS. C&L was one of the so-called “Big Eight” audit firms globally. I was excited at the opportunity even when my starting salary was $950 per month. Salary was not much but I was eager to start on 1 April 1981 right after my final examinations but before I knew about my results. I did not go on post-examination holidays like what is the common practice of the current generation.

I worked real hard and in eight years at age of 31, I was made Senior Manager of the firm.

Three years later in 1992, I decided to switch profession and took up teaching at Temasek Polytechnic (TP). TP was into its second year of operation when I joined. I stayed on for another 14 years before I decided to take things slow. In the 14 years, I took up several appointments, including Course Manager and finally ending as Deputy Director of School of Business.

Both careers were memorable. Both required me to deal with people. Human relationship was key in my jobs. I only picked up people-to-people skills when I was on the jobs and this was never taught in the school systems back then. I must also attribute my maturity because of National Service. At age 20, I was commissioned as a young Second Lieutenant in the army. This was when I had my taste of leading men of my same age group. You got thrown into the deep end and you had to learn to survive. After completing the full cycle of National Service (including reservist trainings) my last rank was a Captain. It was an honour to serve the nation.

It is a dream run when I talk about my career. I must be lucky to be where I am. My path could have been very different. Rewards do not come out of the blue. I am conscientious and work truly hard at the expense of health. I did not shy away from jobs and challenges as they were offered to me. Like the case when I spent my time in Brunei for nine months on a consulting job. Once I was given an assignment, I would put in my best effort and gave it all I had got. Until such time, when I knew I had enough and lost the passion and the drive. That was when I moved on.

Saving habits

My mother taught me about financial concepts as I was growing up, not literally of course.

She had no formal education but she knew a lot about money. I was influenced by her subconsciously because I bear her traits in money management.

When I was still a young boy, I would accompany my mother to the banks to either put in money or to withdraw interest on her savings. She would want me to check on the fixed deposit slip for accuracy before leaving the bank. She would also ask me to check the entries in the savings account book.

My mother was a saver. When my siblings and I started work, we gave my mother some monthly allowances. Though not much, she would keep them until she accumulated enough for her to make a trip to the banks. Instead of using a single name for banking in the money, she would use joint-alternate account with each of my brothers and sister. This way, my siblings and I have some money in our names.

My mother knew that there were risks with putting money in a bank. There were runs on some banks in the past. She opened accounts with several banks, namely POSB, DBS, UOB, Citibank, now-defunct Chung Khiaw Bank. So my mother spread her risks of losing her hard-saved money over several banks. Back then, there was no such thing as Deposit Insurance Scheme to protect her.

On maturity of her fixed deposits, she would go to the bank to withdraw the interest income and roll over the same principal sum for another fixed period. This way she only spent on the interest income without touching the principal sum. She was not rich enough to compound the interest because she still needed money to spend on Chinese New Year.

During her time, the fixed deposit interest rates were above 10% p.a. not like now.

When my mother was still alive, she still had the fixed deposits (FD). Some FDs were started so many years back. Even when the fixed deposit interest rate was so low like 0.1% p.a., she still did not terminate the accounts.

By saving and putting money in interest-bearing deposits is one way to put the money to work. She spread her risks by putting money in several banks. She planned her inheritance

by having joint-alternate accounts with my brothers and sister. She played it safe by putting money in reputable banks and not to risk her money with some structured deposits. This way, she preserved her capital sum unlike share investments.

A Private Person

Even before I knew the word Introvert, I was and still am a very private person. I am most uncomfortable when socialising in a public event. You would see me standing alone in one corner holding a glass of drink during a cocktail reception. I would not attempt to meet up with new people. I am not good at small talk. If I did because of career advancement, it would drain my energy.

To see how I become who I am, I have to go back to how I was brought up.

Going to primary school had been an activity when I could leave my flat. My mother would not allow me to play at the open field fronting the flat. She wanted me to be safe and protected from strangers who might abduct me. I remember the horror stories of young kids who were beheaded and their heads were needed to build bridges. I was only allowed to go to the school and back. We were poor and going to movies and places of interest were rare. My window to the world was through the windows of my flat. I was brought up to be shy and a person who would not talk much. I would spend most of my time on study at home.

I was a quiet person during my school days, from primary school to university. I listened more than I talked. When I was in secondary school, I used to sit upfront near the teacher’s desk. Sometimes, my classmates would break up a chalk and threw it from behind. They aimed for our heads to score bull’s-eye. Gan Eng Seng School was an all-boys school then.

Being boys, there were pranks they would play in the classroom. Chalks and paper airplanes flew everywhere when the teacher was not in the classroom. I was only close to some friends but I was not with many others. Thinking back, I am thankful that I was not bullied and my classmates left me alone.

Would I have survived under the current educational environment, where we are expected to speak up, to collaborate and to chiong1? I think I would fail miserably and a misfit.

Thankfully, presentation in class was not a big thing during those days. Group projects were not common. I would be miserable as speaking up was not my strength. Even till these days, I am more at ease being a passive person. You will not see me doing sales! This

behavioural type develops because of my family background environment. We follow the adage: "Children should be seen and not heard."

It was only after I went into National Service when I started to change. I took up leadership positions and I had the courage to stand-up and speak up. Even up to this day, I rather remain a quiet person during conversations. I am most comfortable when I am left alone.

1chiong,

Singlish to mean chase the dreams, to be daring to take risk

Living each day as it comes

I live each day as it comes. When I was young, I did not know where my life was heading. I did not have a burning ambition. I did not know that I would be an accountant. At a young age, I did not know what an accountant does. My parents could not guide me.

There is no roadmap of my life. I take each day as it comes.

My Home at Ganges Avenue

If you pass by Ganges Avenue now, you will see new HDB flats and some private apartments. There are 7 blocks of high-rise HDB flats when before that it had several blocks of 4-storey Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT) flats. I stayed in Block 60 Ganges Avenue since I was born. For nearly 30 years, I lived in Ganges Avenue. I left this home after I was married and moved out in 1986. My parents moved to Jalan Bukit Ho Swee rental flats after the government wanted to demolish all the SIT flats along this stretch of road.

Layout of SIT flat This SIT flat was a three-room flat. When you stepped through the door, you were in the living room. The window faced a small side road running parallel to Ganges Avenue. When you moved further into the flat, there were 2 bedrooms on the left. Both windows faced Ganges Avenue. At the end of the flat was the kitchen. The kitchen had a window where you hanged out your laundry on a bamboo pole. In between the kitchen and the living room was the shower room and toilet separated by a wall. What was unique in those days was that there was a chimney above the cooking area.

Fright of my life My mother used to hang out wet laundry to dry on bamboo poles. There was a technique to push out the bamboo pole filled with clothes through the kitchen window and then insert the bamboo pole into a holder fixed to the external wall. When retrieving the bamboo pole, there was another technique.

There was this one time, when the rain came suddenly. I was about 12 -13 years then (cannot recall the exact year). I remember I rushed to the kitchen and tried to bring in the bamboo pole. I had done it a few times before without incident. But for this one time, I lost my footing and I suddenly felt that I was going to fall over through the window. My hands were still gripping the bamboo pole and did not had the presence of mind to release the pole from my hands. I felt the tilt of my body over the window. I stared death for a very brief moment and panicked. Fortunately, I forced myself back and withdrew from the window with the bamboo pole still in my hand. I heard of maids falling over from flats and I still felt the same fear so many years ago.

My Bedroom I shared the same bedroom with my mother. We partitioned this room into two halves. My part of the room had the window view. It was to be my study area as well. I remember I was able to afford an Akai Hifi audio system with turntable, tuner, cassette player and two speakers. I enjoyed listening to Barry White, the Supremes, Diana Ross, Nana Mouskouri, to name a few.

First Black and White TV When Singapore started to broadcast black and white TV programmes in 1963, our family bought a black and white TV. I was just 6 years old. One wonders how we could afford a TV and be the first to catch TV broadcasts. My parents told me that the money came from my second older brother who had a cash award for doing well in his academic studies.

I remember we opened our door to allow our neighbours to watch these TV programmes.

That was the neighbourliness in our community back then.

My Siblings Talking about my siblings. I am the youngest in the family. I have three older brothers and one older sister. My mother is a homemaker. My father was the sole breadwinner. My brothers and sister moved out of Ganges Avenue flat when they got married. I did the same. My mother believed that we should move out and set up our own homes. She knew that staying under the same roof can result in frictions and relationships could sour. She rather stayed on her own instead of moving in with us despite of her age.

Games played

Back in the 1960s when I was still a kid, we did not have expensive games. Game Boy was not invented yet and do not talk about smart-phones in that era.

The games I played were simple and inexpensive.

1. Marble games (Pa Goli) Marbles could be the colourful glass marbles or the big opaque marbles (Tua Goli). There were rules to play these games. Essentially, we would try to hit another marble with our own to decide on the winner or to win over other person’s marble.

2. Flying Kites I knew how to make kites with tracing paper and twigs. We could draw pictures with colour pencils on the tracing paper. To fly the kite, we attached a string to it. In order to make our string stronger, I would coat the string with starch and let it dry. Sometimes we flew our kites in the sky and tried to cut each other’s string. The loser would see his kite flew away.

3. Kuti Kuti These were small colourful plastic figurines of insects, fishes and others. The game was to use your fingers to flick your own figurine to land on top of another’s figurine. You then took your opponent’s over as your own. The idea is to amass as many as possible. I remember I was quite good at this game with the dexterity of my hand.

4. Fighting spiders I used to catch black spiders from bushes and plants. I then kept it in a matchstick box. To keep the spider alive, I would place a leaf in the box. I would then challenge my spider with another into a fight. The losing spider would retreat and moved away from the fight.

(Now I felt I was cruel and should not have cause harm to this harmless insects.)

5. Bottle cap spinning We would collect bottle cap after opening a bottle of soft drink (like Sarsi drink). This cap was made of metal. I would flatten the bottle cap by using a hammer to knock it flat. The edge of the cap must be knocked until it is very thin all round the circumference. I then punctured two holes close to the centre of the bottle cap. The idea was to pull through 2 strings through the holes, one string through one hole. The two strings were tied at both ends. From this contraption, I could spin the bottle cap forward and backward by pulling and letting loose the strings. I then challenged someone to cut through the strings of the other player. (I always felt that this was a dangerous game as the bottle cap could fly out and hurt someone, but I still played the game.)

6. Hantam Bola You played this game with a small rubber ball the size of a tennis ball. Whoever had the chance to pick the ball in the field, he would then hurl the ball at another person with such force and it hurt. I remember playing this game in my primary school during recess one day. I returned home with blue black and swollen left eye (or was it right eye)!

7. Shooting Lalang Lalang fields were common then. You need to take a blade of lalang. You then tear both sides of the leaf halfway leaving the central vein intact. Slip both torn parts of the leaf through two fingers of one hand. With the other hand, pull down fast the broken parts of the leaf and keeping the other hand steady. The central vein became a projectile flying forward.

8. Shooting bullets Not the gun and bullets kind, but we used paper bullets to shoot at each other. Instead of guns, we used a rubber band and hooked it round the thumb and index finger to propel the paper bullet. The paper bullet was made of small pieces of papers formed into a V shape. You then hold the paper bullet on the rubber band and draw back the rubber band until it is taut. You then release the rubber band together with the bullet and the bullet becomes a projectile. It was painful when you were hit directly with the compact paper bullet. This was how we played Police-and-Thief game complete with shootouts in the house.

9. Other games played include Capteh, Top Spinning, 5 stones, Hopscotch, Hide-andSeek, playing cards, Happy Families card game, board games like Chinese Chess, draughts or checkers, snakes and ladders.

Chinese New Year

As a kid, I was most happy when Chinese New Year came around. The better off relative of my parents would visit and brought a life chicken. The chicken would be slaughtered for the dining table ultimately.

My father would fry mee sua 麵線 (longevity noodle) with cabbage on the first morning of Chinese New Year. Everyone got two eggs to go with the noodle. This was to signify we were one year older in the New Year, regardless of the dates of our birthdays. Besides this main item, we would have fish, chicken, and pork. It would be our best meal for the entire year.

My mother had relatives staying in Malaysia. They paid visits to our house since my mother was the eldest among her siblings. My father had relatives of his own and they stayed in Singapore. They also visited us.

Before the ban of firecrackers in early 1970s, I remember we played with firecrackers when I was still very young. Firecrackers came in small types that would not cause harm to others.

It was the larger firecrackers that I was afraid to light up. The fuse seemed to light up fast and if one was not quick in letting go, it could blow up in your hand. Then you would have ringing sound in your ears. It happened to me once. We had sparklers also during the early years.

It was a tradition to do spring-cleaning days before the Chinese New Year. As kids, we helped to sweep the ceilings of cobwebs. We would clean the windows and washed the floors of our house. Up till today, we continue with this tradition. It is one way to discard unwanted things and to keep the house clean especially those parts of the house we would not clean on a regular basis.

At every Chinese New Year, we would gather at my mother’s home for a reunion. We had four generations and my mother’s home was a bit small to accommodate 30 plus people.

My mother lived in a 2-room HDB rental flat. It was always a happy occasion when Chinese New Year came around.

Credit facility

I started working on 1 April 1981. Barely a year in January 1982, I got my first Visa credit card issued by BankAmericard (Bank of America NT&SA). Imagine my happiness when I could own a credit card to pay for my purchases. Flashing my Visa credit card took some getting used to. I was proud that my salary qualified me to apply for the credit card.

After five years in November 1987, I received the American Express Bank Gold Card with overdraft facility. I had unsecured credit facility to sign for payments. It was Gold card and it showed that I had arrived.

Now that I am older, I find that I use less credit and I prefer to pay by cash or NETS. I would pay my credit card outstanding balance in full before the due date so as not to incur interest charges. I reduce my number of credit cards to just two.

When I retired, financial independence becomes important. I do not want to be saddled with debts. If I cannot afford, I simply do not commit. Looking back at my younger days, I was like most people chasing after 5Cs (cash, credit card, car, condominium and clubhouse). It is now the reverse. There is no need to show off how wealthy one is. I spend within my means and stretch my retirement funds for as long as possible.

I wonder why I did not realise this before. No one advises me, that is why.

From poor to rich

Singapore’s Per Capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP)1 was S$1,580 in 1965. It jumped to S$71,318 in 2014. As a nation, she was very poor at the time of Singapore’s Independence.

Now, Singapore is very rich by international standards.

I was in Primary 2 when Singapore achieved Independence. The family was poor just like the nation. We lived in subsidised rental housing. I studied in a government school near my home.

Two things left a deep impression when I was in Primary School.

One day, I was singled out for the School Milk Scheme. I must be skinny and looked malnourished that the form teacher picked me up for the milk scheme. I remember going to a room with other children. The milk tasted good and somewhat not the same as the condensed milk I drank at home. I actually felt uncomfortable being singled out for the milk scheme. I did not feel I needed it.

The second event was brushing our teeth along the drains of the school. It was a drill during recess. This was compulsory. It appeared that we were a nation not in the habit of looking after our dental health. Some of us were not brushing our teeth. The Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education came up with this event to get us to look after our teeth.

Fast forward to this day. Both the School Milk Scheme and Teeth Brushing event seemed odd now. Instead of malnourishment, we have obesity problems in some young kids. Our kids now go to dental clinics for regular check-up and cleaning. We have children going to orthodontics to straighten their teeth. What a difference since my primary school days.

1Per

Capita GDP is based on Current Market Prices. Information from Singapore Department of Statistics (DOS)

Bukit Ho Swee Fire

The big fire in Singapore history happened in the area near where I stayed as a child. It happened at the squatter settlement of attap and wooden huts in the Bukit Ho Swee area (Tiong Bahru road to Havelock road) on 25 May 1961.

I was three years old then and it left a deep impression in my memory. The squatter settlement was two streets away from Ganges Avenue where I lived (Nile Road and Havelock Road). I could see thick black smokes rising into the sky from our windows. The fire started at 3.30 pm and continued into the night (10 pm). We were very lucky that the blaze was brought under control at Delta Circus before it could reach us.

I remember my parents were very anxious. We stayed put and my mother started to gather important items from our home just in case we had to evacuate. I may have forgotten a lot of things when I was young. But this great fire was so impactful that I could recall it. http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/history/events/a67e0450-c429-49b2-b87c-fb1a26105f4b

My First Savings Account (POSB)

Back in 1969, school children participated in a savings scheme by purchase of stamps for sticking onto a card. This card belonged to the Postal Savings Bank. This is the current Post Office Savings Bank (POSB) and now part of DBS. I was in Primary 6 in 1969 and remember that I was excited to be able to save some of my pocket money.

In 1972, the balance in the old passbook was transferred to a savings account of POSB. POSB was guaranteed by the government. Since POSB is no longer part of the government in 1998 when DBS acquired POSB, the government guarantee disappeared.

Back in 1970s, there was no computerised system to keep track of bank transactions. All entries on the passbook were hand-written neatly. The descriptions in the passbook were in four official languages.

My savings was just $19 when I started this passbook, a very small amount by today’s standards. I felt rich when I was growing up. The interest amount was $1.60 and this approximates a return of 8% per annum! This kind of interest was unheard of now.

It is amazing that I have been a POSB depositor since when I was just 12 years old. The savings habit continues until now. POSB is an institution with a long history.

My National Service Days

National Service was 50 years* since 1967. I served my National Service from December 1975 to June 1978. It was two and a-half years of service to the nation. Now the length of National Service (NS) had been shortened to just two years.

Things have vastly improved since the earlier years of NS. I remember waking up to morning breakfast prepared by NS personnel in the cookhouse. These people were not professional cooks. They just happened to be in the vocation of a cook for NS. There was a constant joke that we were not eating fried beehoon1 but eating wire. It was that bad. Now NS engages commercial food caterers to supply food for the NS personnel.

My recruit days were spent at the Pulau Tekong camp. I remember a time when the camp water supply was scarce. We were given strict order to shower in a shower parade. It was quick “soap, water down and then out” you come out of the shower. People could not flush the toilets after use. It was disgusting. This problem was headline news and SAF supervising officers were charged for this incident. At that time, we were raw recruits and we did not know that it was ill treatment.

Now NS enlistees are more fortunate. There is the Committee to Strengthen NS (CSNS) to look into the interests of NS personnel. In our days, we just trained and did not expect such perks for being in the NS. I am happy that Mindef did not forget us, the lao peng2. In their latest reward NS50 recognising our past contributions, we will be given $100 vouchers for use in selected retail and F&B outlets just like everyone else who had/have participated in NS since 1967.

This is a good move and it would also help the economy with added domestic consumptions to the tune of about $100 million. (Source: The Straits Times, >1 million national servicemen x $100) 1 vermicelli 2

old soldier

* Post written in 2017.

I did woodwork and metalwork

For two years 1970 and 1971 when I was in Gan Eng Seng School, I was knocking, sawing, filing in an adjacent building of the school. This housed the technical workshops. I did not appreciate back then why my cohort had to pick up woodwork and metalwork skills in Secondary One and Two. Singapore was independent not too long ago and growing the economy was urgent. Industrialisation and productions in factories were the thrust of the economy.

It was the real thing. I could make a wooden pencil case without using nails from the basic raw materials from scratch. I remember I was quite proud of the end product. The joints fitted perfectly without gaps. I also made a hand-held trowel, a gardening tool to scoop up soil. I learned how to cut the metal to shape and then hammered it to a curved shape. I had to wear goggles to protect my eyes from loose debris. Imagine at my age, I was learning these skills.

In addition, I studied one subject called Technical Drawing. We had to bring our T-Square and drawing board to school. Taking the public bus with these items was common sights. It was really clumsy especially when you were small-built like me. I must say I quite like technical drawing and was able to do a good drawing with precise measurements.

After Secondary Two, I then moved into academic stream instead of the technical stream. I was not cut out for vocational type of work. However, these skills were in my subconscious. I find that I dared to do simple plumbing work and minor repair to the house.

Early years of bus transport

I began to take public bus to school when I was in Secondary One. The bus journey was from Havelock Road to Anson Road where Gan Eng Seng School was sited. From 1969 to early 1970s, there were several public buses plying the road. The Singapore Traction Company, Hock Lee Amalgamated Bus Company, Tay Koh Yat Bus Service and Green Bus Company were the ones I was familiar with in the 1960s. Of the four mentioned, I liked the Singapore Traction Company (STC) buses best. The bus rides were smoother.

At that time, buses were not air-conditioned. There was a conductor on board who would collect money from you and issue you with a ticket. He would punch a hole on the ticket to indicate the fare stage you got onto the bus. I remember that I would be excited when I received a ticket with a nice serial number. I kept them and still had them after all these years.

I was frightened of the bus conductors. They were fierce. They would stare at us and sometimes shouted at us if we took our time to alight. Things have changed on our public transport. The bus captain now operates the bus on his/her own. The buses are new and they are air-conditioned. The bus captains are friendlier now. They would wait when they see passengers running after the bus. Good luck to us when we chased after the bus in the past.

National Library of yesteryears

I miss the National Library at Stamford. The red-bricked building was iconic. This building was as old as I am if it were still around. (The foundation stone was laid on 15 August 1957.) It was with so much sadness that it was demolished after 2004. Part of my childhood memories was wiped out by this act.

I remember those years when we were only allowed to borrow up to four books at any one time. The control was by means of four library tickets issued to library members. These tickets were L-shaped paper pockets.

To borrow a book, you bring the book to the librarian on duty. She would take out the card with the book, stamped the due date for return on the card and placed this card with your library ticket. She would also stamp the due date on a piece of paper pasted at last page of the book. On returning the book, you would get back your library ticket. The whole process was manual but served the purpose of control over the loan of library books.

These days, technology takes over the functions of borrowing and returning. It is now selfhelped process and librarian needs not be stationed to carry out the work. Things have changed so much.

My Hobbies

I collected stamps and coins in the past. These were common enough hobbies when I was growing up.

In the case of stamps, I collected first day covers and bought stamps that came in packs from shops. I cut up stamps from mails in the past before electronic mails took over our lives. I soaked these stamps in water in order to peel them from the envelopes. These stamps were then dried and placed in a stamp album.

As for coins, I collected coins of countries we visited. I too bought commemorative coins, like coins for Chinese New Year. One example was the coin for Rooster Year in 1993.

I have stopped buying to keep these items. However, I still cut up stamps on envelopes received through the mail. Some were sent to the Nature Society of Singapore.

My years in National Junior College

Back in early seventies, National Junior College (NJC) was a premier educational institution. It had several prominent alumni since its founding in 1969. It was the first Junior College (JC) to be set up in Singapore.

After my GCE “O” Level, I took a giant and bold leap into this college from my humble secondary school Gan Eng Seng School. There were just a handful of us coming in from Gan Eng Seng School. On the other hand, there were so many students from Catholic High, ACS. This was painfully obvious when I stepped into NJC. They knew each other and they were already in cliques. I felt so alone. To break into these cliques seemed impossible.

When you mentioned that you were from Gan Eng Seng, some of them cooled to your presence. So what did I do to ease my stay in NJC? I conversed in Mandarin with some of them even when Mandarin was not my forte. I made some friends, those who were willing to engage me and got into their confidence. Through these limited friends I broke through and got into their cliques. I remember a group was playing carom at one time. I sat down and showed my magic. From that game on, they were impressed and viewed me differently.

I remembered that I struggled with several subjects, like Chemistry, Physics, Economics. I had no one to turn to for help. There was no sharing of notes or solutions among students outside of the cliques. The lecturers/tutors pitched their lesson deliveries at a much higher level than I could cope. After all NJC students came in with very good academic results. I was just about made it for its cut-off point, so was considered not good enough in my mind. That was my inferiority complex coming to the fore again. I had no private tutors or friends who could help me. Approaching our tutors for assistance was never in my agenda because I was too shy. So, I studied the textbook, lecture/tutorial notes and sometimes imagine I was on the right understanding. (I was wrong.) I was not adequately prepared for the GCE “A” Level examinations. It showed in my final transcript of my GCE “A”.

Two years of NJC were short when compared with secondary school education. It was just another but small part of my educational journey. The camaraderie among friends in Gan Eng Seng School was so much stronger. I came among the best in Gan Eng Seng School. I was ranked 6 out of 283 in the standard at Secondary 4. But it was a different story in NJC. I was like a tiny fish in a very large pond. I was just glad I was not “eaten up”.

PSC Undergraduate Scholarship 1976

I was a teenager before, though this was so long ago.

In 1975, I was still in National Junior College doing Year 2. Like most aspiring students, I too was attracted to the idea of going overseas for my undergraduate study. I dreamed of travelling. With my family financial background, we could not fund this dream.

Therefore, I applied for the Public Service Commission (PSC) undergraduate scholarship in June 1975. I did not feel confident about my chances. Surprisingly, PSC called me for an interview. During that period, I was not prepped for the interview. No one guided me or told me what to expect in the interview.

It was with horror when I entered a room and seated in front of a solitary chair were a panel of seven interviewers. It was so intimidating for a young person like me facing the panellists. The air-conditioning in the room was so cold and I could not think straight. I could not remember the details and the nature of questions. (It was a blur now after four decades.) I think I fumbled and was not so smart and witty in my answers to their questions.

In the end, I was not successful for the scholarship and with that my dream came down to earth and the rest was history. I did my undergraduate study in National University of Singapore (NUS) without any scholarship. Thankfully, the degree programme at NUS was heavily subsidised back then and I was able to do it without any study loan or bursary. The Bachelor of Accountancy (BAcc) degree programme was good enough to see me through my early career in this field.

You will know this special bond

When I first held my daughter in my arm, she opened her eyes slightly and looked at me briefly out of the corners of her eyes. There was this special bond felt right at that moment.

That was some 32 years ago.

Back then there was no baby bonus or government incentives for having a child. The only decision we had to make was whether my wife and I were ready to raise a child. Bringing up a child was a responsibility that could not be taken lightly. It could not be delegated.

We were both working and were in our prime of our careers (nine years after graduation), when we were ready.

When you have love in your heart, parenting can be rewarding. You would always want your child protected and shown the ways to cope with the complex world out there. It is a never-ending responsibility. When we get older, we become wiser because we encounter life and experience it firsthand. We pass it on to our daughter. We set examples by trying to do the right things that are moral and honest.

It is not a one-way street. As parents, we learn from our daughter. She provides the opportunities. Her actions and her psychological makeup have different perspectives, that of a young one growing up in her era different from ours. Whatever it is, it is true love that binds us together, daughter and parents.

You write long-distance and then wait days for reply

With the advent of Internet and wireless communication, you can write an electronic mail (email) and get a response almost immediately. With so many on-line chat applications on mobile phones, you can talk and see the person across many miles away. You will not feel lonely when you are working in a foreign land. It is just a phone call away on VoIP (Voice over Internet protocol).

This was not the case in the 1980s. There was no Internet, no World Wide Web (www).

When I was away on overseas assignment or overseas training, I had to write letters and send them via airmail. The cheaper form of airmail was the Aerogramme. It was lightweight to save on postage cost.

Most personal letters were hand-written and not typed. Penmanship was taught in schools back in the early days. It was a joy to see good penmanship or handwriting. Any errors on a letter would be crossed out and the letter could be full of corrections, unless you want to write all over again.

When you sent a letter back then, it would take days before it arrived at the recipient’s address. To get a reply would take even longer when the other party was busy to craft a reply. So you waited for the postman to deliver the letter, or it might not arrive because it was missing enroute to you.

GCE “O” Level Results were published in Newspaper

Back in 1973 when I took my GCE “O” Level examinations, the results were published in the New Nation newspaper.

You had your name and the number of subjects passed being reported. So you know how your classmates did for the examinations.

In that year, 22,978 students sat for the examinations and 91% of the students were awarded certificates.

40 years on, schools were not allowed to publicise their students’ academic results, even names of their top students. This is to make a point that achievements of students need not be solely in academic terms. This is to reduce stress on students. http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Page/newnation19740306-1.1.7

National Day Parade in 1971

Back in 1971 when I was still in Secondary 2 some 51 years ago, I was in the Red Cross contingent for the National Day Parade. Not everyone had the honour to participate in a National Day Parade. In Gan Eng Seng School, the Red Cross Society had a reputation for precision marching.

The National Day Parade was held at the Padang. We marched passed the City Hall steps and then moved on to a route where people gathered along the route to see us really closed up.

I remember that we had to stay quite still in the Padang for the proceedings to start. Our fear then was fainting while waiting. Good thing I did not faint. At 14 years old, it was an achievement to participate in this important event of the nation. I did not think too much about it back then except that I was relieved that it was over. There were too many practices and rehearsals.

This special event was mentioned in my Secondary School Leaving Certificate. Now, I see that National Day Parade was such a big thing. I watched each NDP on television without fail. Getting a ticket for the parade on the actual day is a draw of the luck.

Matriculation for Accountancy course in 1978-9

I was given a place to pursue Bachelor of Accountancy in the University of Singapore (SU) in 1978. At the end of three years, I was awarded a degree from the National University of Singapore (NUS).

The SU name was dropped since the government created a Joint Campus for Nanyang University (NU) and University of Singapore (SU). Nanyang University name disappeared too. The Joint Campus was a merger of NU and SU for some undergraduate degree courses such as the Accountancy and Business Administration courses.

I studied at two campuses. First it was at Bukit Timah Campus. Mid-way through the course on 3 December 1979, we moved to Kent Ridge Campus. In July 1981, National University of Singapore (NUS) replaced the Joint Campus. So when we received our scrolls on Convocation Day, we graduated from NUS and we were the first batch to receive the degrees from NUS. It was so confusing for us, moving from University of Singapore to Joint Campus and finally graduating from the National University of Singapore. My graduation scroll had no university crest/insignia on it. This was not even designed back then!

Talk about changes. These were changes in my undergraduate days.

Notes on Fees: Tuition fee for Bachelor of Accountancy was $600 per year during my time.

Course is direct honours degree for three years.

Total tuition fees paid for the full course were $1,800.

Tuition fee in 2017 for Singapore citizen is $9,350 per year.

Total fees = $28,050 for three years.

This is 15.5 times the fees I paid in 1978/81.

Enrolled in English-Medium stream in primary school (1964)

My two older brothers went to Chinese schools where Chinese was the main medium of instructions. My sister after them chose English-medium stream and I followed in her footsteps. Back in early 1960s, my parents already knew how to hedge their bets. Two went to Chinese-medium stream and two went for English-medium stream.

In education, there were so many changes in policies throughout the years since Singapore’s independence. It was difficult to keep up with these changes. The most sweeping changes came during the time when Mr Goh Keng Swee was the Education Minister in the early 1980s. He had a team comprising 5-member task force to revamp Singapore education system.

In 1983, it was decided that there would be only one stream, the so called national stream, to take effect in 1987. With that, schools discontinued the Chinese-medium stream, Malaymedium stream and Tamil-medium stream. This was due to dwindling enrolment numbers for these streams. English language was taught as the first language under this national stream and the mother tongues became the second language.

I was struggling to cope with two languages during my school days. I was not a language person and there were so many other subjects to master too. In the end, I was not good in both languages, not very good with English language and just passable in Mandarin. You would not hear me speak Mandarin like the pure Chinese speakers. It would be the Singapore version with Chinese and English used together in the same sentence. http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19831222-1.2.2

Do you plan for retirement?

I was not enjoying my work in 2006. I took a leap into the unknown and quitted my fulltime job. I was feeling burnout on the job. At that time, I was the Deputy Director of Temasek Business School in Temasek Polytechnic (TP). I did not know at the start that I would end my career that way. Health took priority. I left the job with so much fond memories and so many friends I made over fourteen years.

I remember taking stock of my financial assets and working out how much was my recurring expenses. The question I asked myself was, “Could I afford to retire?” In reality, I would not do it if I wanted to maintain the same lifestyle. I knew that I had to cutback on some expenses.

Between 2006 to 2012, I took on part-time teaching at TP to ease me into full-time retirement. When I started work in 1981 after university, the official retirement age was 55 years. Now the retirement age was raised to 62 years. I kept to 55 years as my retirement age that I bargained for when I first started work. I kept faith with myself.

It has been ten years into retirement. People and friends often asked me how I spent my time on retirement. I found it tedious trying to answer. You just go with the flow and live each day as it comes. It is up to each one of us to spend his/her time meaningfully. There is no roadmap to guide us.

Go with the flow. When the time comes you will know.

DBS Fixed Deposit in 1993

Back in 1993, my mother and I had a fixed deposit placed with DBS Bank. Back then DBS Bank was known as The Development Bank of Singapore Ltd. This fixed deposit was kept for 24 years.

From a sum of $5,000, it became $7,246 in 24 years. Every year the annual interest earned was added to the initial principal sum on a compounding basis. This works out to be 1.56% per year.

This interest rate for fixed deposit (1.56% p.a.) is better than the current interest rate of 0.05% p.a. Bear in mind that the Global Financial Crisis hit us in 2007/08 some 15 years ago. During the last 15 years, the interest rates for savings account were at rock bottom.

My Parents stayed at Craig Road before

My parents stayed at a few places in their lifetime. The stayed at Race Course Road and later moved to Craig Road before renting a flat from the government.

Craig Road is situated in the Chinatown, Tanjong Pagar area. Craig Road old houses come under Tanjong Pagar Conservation Area now.

My parents stayed in the old house at 14 Craig Road back in the 1950s. They paid rent to landlord at S$43.10 per month. Back then $43.10 rent was not a small sum. I remember visiting the house when I was still very young.

We kept some rent receipts dating back to 1960s when they continued to pay rents and subletting it out to another tenant.

The rent receipt is nearly 60 years old. The stamp on the receipt retains its original colour and quality compared to the paper-based receipt.

My journey through National Service

Singapore commemorated 50 years of national service (NS) in 2017 (1967 - 2017). Since my enlistment at a young age of 18 years old in 1975, I had been a part of NS for 42 years.

My group of friends from the Officer Cadets School (OCS), SAFTI met for a get-together to celebrate 40 years after being commissioned as officers of NS. The strong bonds among us kept us together after all these years. We met on several occasions since 1980. August 2017 was our 4th major get-together.

I served two and a half years after taking my GCE “A” Level examinations in 1975. My university education was put on hold until my completion of full-time NS liability in 1978.

We used the term run-out-date (ROD) to mark the end of full-time NS. Now it is called operationally ready date (ORD).

We then went on to serve 13 years of reservist trainings starting from 1979. These were short stints of trainings and exercises during our university breaks and when we had to take leave from our work places.

National Service is one way for us to show and exercise our loyalty towards Singapore.

While we were going through the trainings, we might dislike them and felt that it was disruptive to our lives. But on looking back, I was a better person for it.

I can laugh at many silly things we did. NS taught me to be independent and to be able to do things on my own. From sweeping the fallen leaves on the road to keeping our living quarters and toilets clean. I was taught housekeeping unknowingly, to shine my boots, iron my uniforms, and mend my clothes. We had to stand-by-our-beds for morning inspections.

My commander would throw a coin on the bedspread over my bed and see whether the coin bounced up (it must be that taut). He would look into the barrel of my rifle and pronounced that there was an “elephant” in my barrel. I had not cleaned the barrel well enough to be free of explosive powder dust.

Those were the days. They left an impression on me.

Timeline of NS for me Enlistment: Report on 29 December 1975 to Central Manpower Base Did recruit training in Pulau Tekong for three months.

Completed Section Leader course in Pulau Tekong SAFTI - OCS 4th SMC Senior Term: 13 December 1976 to 30 April 1977 Trainer at OCS 6th SMC: 1977 to 1978 Reservist Duration: Posted to 152 PDF (Beach Road Camp) from 20 Feb 1979 Last reporting for a full-scale exercise was from 7 January 1992 to 18 January 1992.

Completion of 13-Year Cycle of ICTs 29 January 1992 at Field Defence Squadron RSAF Tengah Air Base. Put on FDS-TAB dormant reserve for another 3 years.

Ended my NS Liability on 1 August 2007.

My parents stayed in rental flats of public housing

My parents never owned a flat. They had been staying in rental flats provided by the government. These flats were heavily subsidised by the government. Being Singapore citizens, public housing was available to them.

Their first rental flat was built by Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT). SIT was set up by the British colonial government in 1927 to address urbanisation problems and city planning of Singapore. SIT was before Housing and Development Board (HDB) that took on building flats for the population.

My parents stayed in a SIT flat located at Ganges Avenue ever since I was born. It was a three-room flat (2 bedrooms). Address was Block 60 Ganges Avenue #04-44 Singapore 0316. These 4-storey blocks of SIT flats along Ganges Avenue were demolished to make way for new developments back in late 1980s.

HDB allocated a 2-room flat (1 bedroom) at Block 2 Jalan Bukit Ho Swee #04-116 Singapore 0316 to my parents in 1987/88 in place of Ganges Avenue flat. This block of flat was within walking distance from Ganges Avenue except that it sits on elevated grounds from the wet market along Havelock Road. My parents had to walk down and up the steps to reach their block each time they went to the wet market. My parents were not young then and it was difficult for both to do that. My father was 82 years old and my mother was 67 years old in 1992.

On that ground, I helped my parents to apply to HDB for a transfer of flat in 1992. This appeal resulted in my parents moving to another 2-room rental flat at Ghim Moh Road: Block 18 Ghim Moh Road #08-111 Singapore 270018. They stayed there until the end of their lives. My mother stayed in this flat for 25 years, and my father much less.

My parents were citizens of Singapore and one privilege was that they could live in a rental flat from the government at heavily-subsidised rents. We had a roof over our heads when we were growing up. This was crucially important for us for a better life. My parents’ generation rented flats and our current generation owns flats. That was uplifting of wealth in one generation.

My First Property to Live In

Buying a residential property to live in is a major financial commitment. Only after working for five and a half years, did my wife and I considered buying our first property. We wanted a home first before we got married in 1987. In 1986, we started to search for a suitable property that was within our budget. We considered buying a property from Housing & Development Board (HDB). We were on the HDB wait list for five years. The wait, the rules and restrictions imposed by HDB turned us off.

We then went around hunting for a private property, doing house viewing of several properties. These private properties were beyond our financial means.

At that time there was this middle income housing built by the Housing & Urban Development Co (Pte) Ltd (HUDC). HUDC was a company jointly owned by HDB and Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA). Its main object was to construct quality flats in good residential areas for sale to middle income Singapore citizens and certain PRs. In Phase 1, HUDC started with five estates.

On 13 June 1986, we signed an option to purchase a unit in Farrer Court (HUDC Phase 1) from an existing owner for $168,000. ($108 per square foot) At that time, this sum was large relative to our combined income. We had to take a mortgage loan from Citibank to finance this purchase. The property was already nine years into its 99-year leasehold when we acquired it. The loan amount taken was $65,000 since we had CPF monies to pay part of the purchase price. We paid up this loan in seven years.

We moved in October 1986 and stayed on until 10 September 2008 (22 years later). This was first home for our daughter and our first matrimonial home. It held such fond memories.

What I would like to say is that we must buy residential property within our means to finance it. To take a huge mortgage loan can be a great strain in our lives and I always say it does not make sense to work for a bank for the rest of our working lives.

Investing in Investment Property

Like most people interested in investing in residential properties, my wife and I did this back in 1997 (before the Asian Financial Crisis). On 19 July 1997, we exercised an option to purchase a unit in Trellis Towers directly from the developer, City Developments Limited.

This is a freehold property. Details: Purchase price $1,121,580 (after developer discount 7%) Area of units 1,163 square feet Cost per sq ft = $964 At that time, the rule on purchasing a private property was: Items 20% deposit in cash

Property $224,316

2.5% on purchase price for stamp duty

$28,250

Lump sum from CPF

$326,264

Rest of purchase price in bank loan

$571,000

Total

Stamp Duty

$1,121,580

$28,250

The loan was taken from Credit POSB (before the merger of POSBank and DBS Bank on 16 November 1998). From then on the loan was transferred to DBS Bank.

Interest rate on loan ranged from 4.75% to 3.5% p.a. on daily rest basis.

We redeemed the mortgage (loan) on 15 June 2004, some seven years later.

Our starting point was that we had dual income. We would redeem part of the mortgage whenever we had bonuses from employment or had build up substantial sum in our CPF Ordinary Accounts. The rental income of this unit was used to repay the mortgage too.

From 1997 to 2000, the property was under development. We took over the property on 24 February 2000. It was rented from 22 August 2000 till March 2009.

Joy of Reading

Books by Enid Blyton were popular during my times in schools in 1970s. Enid Blyton wrote children’s books with captivating stories of young children and their adventures. She wrote series of books under such themes as Adventures, Famous Five, Secret Seven. These books, with some published as early as in the 1930s, are still being sold in bookshops, pop-up stores and on-line. We bought one recently – The Adventures of the Wishing-Chair.

True enough it brought back memories for me some five decades ago.

This was a part of my growing up years and it introduced lives of English people to me.

Singapore was newly independent and United Kingdom (UK) was our colonial master before with a long history of Kings and Queens. I learned the English Language from exposure to these English books.

While Enid Blyton (1897 – 1968) was a famous author for children, Agatha Christie (1890 – 1976) was famous for adult books on crimes and mysteries. I read most of Agatha Christie’s books borrowed from the public library. It was pure joy to be immersed in the writings of Agatha Christie’s books. Her strength was creating mysteries for readers to crack. It was so satisfying to come to the end of her books after the mysteries were de-mystified.

My First Driving Licence

My first driving licence was in paper form. I passed the driving test on 9 December 1977 while I was still serving full-time National Service. It was 41 years ago. During that time, my driving instructor was fierce and did not think that I could pass the test on the first attempt.

I proved him wrong.

I learned the driving circuit at the Queenstown Driving Centre. Cars were not airconditioned back then. The Highway Codes required us to push out our hands outside the window to indicate our intentions to slow down and to stop! We learned how to drive manual transmission cars.

So much had changed. The Queenstown Driving Test Centre was removed to make way for new housing apartments.

My Education

I went to a primary school near my home. The choice was obvious; I could walk to school. I started primary school in 1964 at Delta West Integrated Primary School.

From 1964 to 1969, I studied hard and relied on teachers to achieve good grades throughout the years. I was in 4th position for the standard of 151 pupils. There was no tuition. My grasp of English was consistently weak. I even received red marks for English Comprehension & Composition in Primary 6 Term 1 and 2.

After PSLE, came the time to pick a secondary school. Back then students did not know their PSLE results, except that I could proceed to a Secondary School. I remember looking at Raffles Institution as a possibility but opted for middle ranking secondary school, Gan Eng Seng School, so as not to waste my first choice in case my results were not good enough for RI. Frankly, it was also a fear of coping in a top ranking institution.

In Gan Eng Seng School, I performed well to stay well ahead of the cohort. (1970 – 1973) At the end of Secondary 4, I was ranked 6 out of 283 in the standard.

After GCE “O” Level, my choices opened up. I chose National Junior College and tried a Junior College (JC) route of education. (1974 – 1975) Back then NJC and Hwa Chong Junior College were the only two JCs in Singapore. I recall struggling with Physics and Economics. My classmates were coping so well that I felt inadequate.

My GCE “A” Level results were good enough to get me through Accountancy degree in National University of Singapore. I switched focus from science-based education to business-related qualification. I did not stick to my original educational trajectory, which was Engineering. I realised that one can achieve his dream by studying diligently. I was awarded Second Class Honours degree in Bachelor in Accountancy.

I consider myself to be a late starter. I went on to do my Master’s in Business Administration from NTU on a Temasek Polytechnic scholarship and came up top in Banking & Finance specialisation and was on the Dean’s List.

I consider myself fortunate. I relied a lot on my teachers for my formal education. I did not have tuitions. I had to study hard and diligently to achieve my grades. With my heart on

achieving results, I succeeded. Every child had a chance to rise above his social class in this meritocratic society. I may not be born with a silver spoon in my mouth, but education levels the playing field for me.

Coopers & Lybrand

I joined Coopers & Lybrand, Singapore (C&L) as an Audit Assistant on 1 April 1981. For eleven years, I learned and matured in the firm. Back then, C&L was one of the Big 8 Audit Firms with a global presence.

It was at C&L, where I obtained my professional qualification with the Singapore Society of Accountants (now Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants). One would appreciate that Coopers & Lybrand played a significant role in my early career. After eleven years, I moved on to a teaching career in Temasek Polytechnic in 1992.

In 1998 when I was in Temasek Polytechnic, Coopers & Lybrand (C&L) was merged with Price Waterhouse to form Pricewaterhousecoopers (PwC). I was not associated with the merged firm PwC though I felt Coopers & Lybrand brand name was lost forever.

C&L had a long history. It celebrated 100 years of founding in 1990 (1890 – 1990). I was fortunate to be part of centenary celebration.

The other day when I was clearing out the safe deposit box at Certis Cisco, I found a gold medallion awarded to me for 10 years of service to the firm. I had forgotten about it. It is 20 gram of 916 gold with an inscription at the back of the medallion.

This brought back memories of my years in Coopers & Lybrand starting from a newbie, fresh out of university to leaving as a Senior Manager in 1992.

From Executive Diary to Smart Phone

Back in late 1970s and 1980s, I used to receive Executive Diary every year from advertisers.

These were daily planners to record my appointments by the hours.

In the 1990s, I started using Filofax personal organiser. It was made of calf leather. I would buy refill of the calendar when the year came to an end.

In mid-1990s, I had a Casio Digital Diary with just 128 Kbytes of memory space. In early 2000s, I had a Palm Personal Digital Assistant (PDA). These PDAs were a rage then until the mobile phones came onto the scene. Nokia mobile phone was the leader in smart phones space in 2000s until Apple’s iPhone took over in late 2000s. I had the iPhone 3G in 2008 and am still using iPhone for organising my contacts and calendar of appointments and events.

Over a span of 50 years, we see the evolution of keeping diaries from paper-based Executive Diary to electronic diaries packed into smart phones. Disruptive technologies have taken over our lives. Old products faded away and we are forced into newer and technologically advanced products. The Baby Boomer generation adapts to these changes and you can see them swiping their smart phones in public places.

My Uncle from Malaysia

My mother had one brother who stayed in Malaysia. She was the oldest among her siblings of five including her. My mother was the only one who moved to Singapore.

I remember my uncle used to come to Singapore once a while to visit my mother. My impression of my uncle when I was still a young boy was one of a happy man. We were not well to do back then. My uncle who drove a Mercedes Benz car was to my young mind a one rich uncle. I still remember that he brought my siblings and me to Haw Par Villa. We had black and white photographs to show that we had been there.

What is most memorable for me was that he would buy packets of Treets Peanut Chocolate for me. This was a real treat that I did not have the privilege of eating. My family was not well off when I was growing up. Treets was popular back in the 1960s. It was peanut coated with milk chocolate and the exterior was coated with dark brown glazed candy. The slogan for this treat was - “it melt in your mouth and not in your hand”. This was true.

Indeed, my uncle was a generous man. He had left a deep impression on me till this day.

Epilogue

I will not be who I am without so many people who took care of me in my growing up years. First and foremost were my parents who raised me to be honest and taught me to be hardworking through their examples. No one owes us a living. We have to depend on ourselves to survive and thrive. My older brothers and my sister were there to guide me when I needed support.

Formal education is key to my success. From primary school, secondary school, Junior College and universities, I met with good teachers and educators who impart knowledge and skills for me to earn a decent living. I have good friends from my classmates of so long ago. We are still in constant contact via social media platforms.

Then came my enlistment to National Service after my GCE “A” Level. For two and a half years, I was trained and trained others in NS. My fellow officer cadets kept in touch and celebrated 40-year anniversary in 2017.

Along the way, I had excellent colleagues in my various work places who made my life as bearable as possible in the stressful job environments. They are much appreciated by me till this day. Some were mentors who inducted me into the world of work and showed me the ropes. They too remain very good friends after I retired.

Finally, my most important persons in my life are my wife and my daughter. They are gems and dependable. They brings joy and happiness.

On these notes, I wish to express my sincere gratitudes to all people who came into my life. It took so many people over sixty five years to mould me. This includes neighbours whom we have become close friends by affiliation. In addition, I learned and still am learning from my many spiritual teachers about moral life filled with generosity, patience, loving kindness and compassion.