I remember when dad was first transferred to Ipoh he was not given the govt. quarters immediately. So we had to stay with a relative until dad was able to get his quarters. Uncle Jin Bee was a senior govt. staff at the Postal dept. and he stayed in a big govt. bungalow in Watson Road near the Turf Club. He had a son and a daughter and owned a Morris Minor which was a great car in those days. It was the year 1952 and I was twelve years old going on to Form I in St.Michael’s Institution a premier school in Ipoh.
Cousin Ah Chye was a spoilt brat with lots of money given to him by his father because he was the only son. He used to buy lots of comics books but would not let me read them. He kept all these books very carefully and I could not get a chance to read them. When I had a bit of money I would cycle all the way to where the Rex theatre is and buy a comics book which I would read over and over again. Sometimes when he was in the mood cousin Chye would let me read his comics in exchange for his. My favourite were Kit Carson, Capt.Marvel, Batman, Superman and the Lone Ranger. There were lots of interesting episodes and my imagination was wild after reading all these adventure comics. We learnt about good and bad and values were acquired through reading comics. I used to write good essays in class and teachers would always praise me for the good
essays which I wrote. Those days, if you write a good essay teacher will ask you to read it in front of the class. I was called on many a time to read my essay. Needless to say my favourite subject was English, Maths was a torture, I could never see the logic or understand the intricacies of solving mathematical problems. Gave me a big headache.
Watson Road is a long way to St.Michael School and the only way I could go to school was by bicycle. Fortunately there were not many cars at that time. Pocket money was 20 cents a day. If you think that is big money, you are wrong, because twenty cents can buy you a plate or bowl of noodles and a cold drink which was orange crush or syrup. There was no extra for other things like movies comics or whatever. If you wanted all these things you had to save up from your twenty cents. We learnt to manage money at an early age because dad did not earn very much and what he earned was just enough to support us. Six of us in the family was not easy to support especially if you are just a wage earner.
I told myself then that I do not want to be poor and was determined to work hard at my studies for I realized that education was perhaps the only way I could do well in life later on. I set my target then of acquiring a university education as my passport to better things in life. Little did I realize that at time to go to the university required not only brains but also money.
Life in secondary school was interesting. In my secondary school days I never fell below the first five in the class. I was always at the top of the class for exams and tests. Everyone expected me to do well in the exams and I had to keep up to this expectation.
A key influence during this period were the La Salle Brothers who were some of my teachers. They were mainly from Ireland and those days we were so proud that our teachers were white men. We learnt that these brothers were dedicated group of people who gave up all worldly possessions to a life of education. Their mission was to train and educate young people not only academically but also morally. They were excellent role models and from that time on I always wondered why they were like that. How come give up everything and become teachers? This would later on leave a big imprint on my later life and career.
Amongst my favourite Brothers were Bro.Vincent, my class teacher in Sixth.Form,Bro.Oliver my class teacher in Form Five.Both were Irish and very strict teachers. Incidentally both taught English.Bro. Oliver was a no nonsense teacher and it so happened I was one of his favorite students. He taught us Literature and English and I must say that what I know of the English language today is due largely to him .He taught us for two years.Bro.Oliver was to have a big influence in my life later on.
Bro.Vincent was the deputy Director when he taught us. We learnt Literature at sixth Form under him .He was an interesting teacher and kept us interested with his many stories and tales from Ireland. We never knew what to expect from him .One day during a poetry lesson , he said ‘ Look ,its no fun learning about nature in the classroom. Follow me to the outdoors and we will read poetry there”. We loved going to the padang and get a bit of fresh air and who cares what we read.
Form 1 to Form 5 were interesting years .In school I tried to play as many games as possible. This was the offshoot of my early days in Tapah when the love for all games was cultivated. Badminton and Volleyball were my favourites tried to run but did not measure up with the rest of the guys in school. Could only run for the House .It was difficult of get into the School Team as there were many good sportsmen around. People like Ng Boon Bee Tan Yee Khan were all Michaelians and they brought glory to the school .
Nevertheless we had our share of games. There were two badminton courts sandwiched b
Between two blocks of buildings where we played badminton for free. Of course we
wanted to play in an indoor court but that cost money .The indoor courts available those. Days were the St.John’s courts nearby and we can like play there about once a month whenever I managed to save up enough money from my 20 cents a day.
Life in secondary school was not very spectacular. I spent a lot of time reading. As time went on I found that I could read pretty fast for me to get enough books .Borrowing from friends and whatever I could get my hands on from the school library were my sources of reading materials.
Having a little room to myself after dad got his govt, quarters made me have a lot of privacy. Being quite an introvert I spent much time to myself inside my little room with my books. As I grew older I began to focus on my mission of being a good student. My grades in school were always good and dad and mum were a bit proud of me. Jenny was the worst amongst us where studies were concerned and she always cried when she came back with her report card. Finally when she was in Form four or so she said she did not want to study anymore. Dad being a senior clerk in Telecoms got her a job as a telephone operator and Jenny was the first amongst our siblings who worked. Elder brother was the prince of the family. He was smart and the big brother of the house. He got a scholarship to study in Kirby the teacher training college .We were all very proud that he was going to study in England, a very big deal in those days and dad and mum were of course very proud of their number one son ,telling everyone that he was going to England. Elder brother loved me a lot, he always said I had brains and he would coach me on Maths. My weakest subject. I remember once he bought me a nice fountain pen which was a big luxury in those days.
Of course eldest brother was special in the house. He takes an afternoon nap everyday and there must be no noise from any one of us or else you will get it hot from him. He was spared from doing all the household chores .Mum and dad would always give him whatever he wanted. When he was in England he asked for a lot of things which mum and dad would send to him. I remember he took up photography there and dad had to find money for him to buy one. Not only that he toured Europe during the holidays there and dad would have to find money for him. Later I found out that poor dad had to borrow money from the chettiar to send to brother.
When brother came back from England, our whole family went down to KL to welcome him back. I remember I told mum I had no clothes to wear to KL and she took me to the shop to buy two pairs of shirts and shorts. I had not started to wear longs yet at that time. We were to stay in an Uncle’s house in town, staying in a hotel was out of the question because there were too many of us.
It was good to see elder brother again after two years .He brought presents for all of us and we spent a few days in KL before going back to Ipoh. It was my first experience in KL a big city even then. I did not like the place because there was not much greenery and there were so many cars, it was scary for a small town boy. Everyone seemed so busy and in a rush. I was certainly happy to be back in Ipoh.
Elder brother had a few days holidays before he got his posting. He set up his dark room for printing photos and he taught me how to develop films .I kinda liked it. It was fun to put the film into the developer liquid and watch the pictures take shape. It was a big deal those days and I could ask my friends to bring their films for me to develop. Of course they had to pay me a bit of money for this service.
Elder brother was first posted to Kelantan as a teacher. Mum and Dad were worried that he was sent so far away from home but he had to go as he was under contract. This was the first time we heard of a place called Pasir Mas in Kelantan. We were kinda sad that elder brother had to be posted so far away but though we missed him, soon we got used to the idea that he was away in another place. Travel those days was not easy and the only cheap means of transport was either train or bus, not the type of air con express bus that we have now.
Before elder brother left, he told me to study hard and get good results .I was determined to get to the highest level of education a available that is the university. I studied hard as to enter Sixth Form in those days you had to sit for an entrance exam. Dad wanted me to follow elder brother’s footsteps and be a college trained teacher but I had other plans. Right at this point my aim was to make it to the University one way or other.
