Female Robin Hood (2E5 Xin Tian's grandmother)

Interviewer: Lee Xin Tian

Date of interview: 18^th July 2006

Location of interview: Grandmother’s house

My interviewee is my grandmother, Teo Siuk Hiong. She is currently staying at Block 77, Telok Blangah Drive, Singapore 100077. She came to this world on 1^st of January 1931. Her place of birth is in Guandong, Shantou, China. My grandmother has a younger sister named Teo Siuk Jin. The gap in their ages is very wide. Her sister was born on 9^th of May 1943.

My grandmother’s parents have rather unusual names. Her father’s name is Teo Guan Ya, and her mother’s is Wong Ah Ying. The family of four lived in a village in Shantou. Her father was a shepherd, and her mother a seamstress. Her father’s name means "good fortune" while her mother’s name means "an intellectual female". My grandmother was very close to her parents. She never hid anything from them, and she got along well with them. Most of the families in those days cherished one another more than us nowadays.

The games my grandmother played in her childhood days include five stones, “brides”, climbing trees and catching little fishes. She enjoyed catching little fishes the most. Her love for fishes is beyond description. She would catch a lot of them to put in a jar and keep them as pets at home.

During the holidays, she helped her mother out at the place she worked by cutting and measuring the fabrics needed for making clothes. She also helped her elderly neighbour, a farmer, to plant more sweet potatoes. Sweet potato was a staple food then. Other common food products were tapioca and tomatoes.

 She was very impish too. She would steal food from affluent families when no one was in the houses. But there was one strange thing. She stole the food for the poor children who were begging on the streets for food, not for herself. I was quite taken aback when I first heard this. Even though she was poor, but she was not reduced to such a devastating state. She said that the children looked depressed and famished, and the wealthy people had large amounts of food at home but did not have huge appetites. The food products that the affluent families possessed include juicy apples, cabbages, dairy products such as cheese and oat milk, and carrots. She empathized with them and decided to be a bad and good person at the same time. She possesses the qualities of Robin Hood.

Though her family was quite poor, their income was stable. But they could only afford two pairs of shoes - cheap and unpleasant-looking shoes. Only her parents wore shoes. She and her sister were barefoot, but they could not help it. Whenever she passed by a shop selling shoes, she would take the golden opportunity to try on those beautiful shoes while the sales girl was dozing off at the counter. Fortunately, she had never been caught. Otherwise, she could not try on shoes again. As she had always succeeded in all her daring behaviour, she had never received any punishment.

Her responsibilities at home were doing the household chores with her mother and buying groceries.

Hua Chiau Primary School was the only school my grandmother attended. It was located in Shantou. She had only primary education due to financial problems at home. There was not enough money for further education. She remembered Mr Ning, her Chinese teacher. A strict man, he is my grandmother’s favourite teacher. There were school activities like folk dancing, swimming, fishing and soccer. The subjects taken were Chinese, Science, and Math.

Her religion is Christianity. She worshipped at a church which was a stone’s throw away from her house.

The rules of courtship were rather strict, as people were conservative. A couple was not allowed to kiss each other until they were officially married. Even a peck on the cheek was disallowed. A kiss before marriage showed that there was no respect between the two parties. Also, many married couples were match-made. Before they get married, they were not supposed to look on each other. Such an act is considered to be inauspicious. The groom must also be older than the bride.

My grandmother’s wedding was a simple one. A few pieces of delicacies, a traditional ceremony, a small wedding cake and everything red in the house. That was all. Red was a must-have for every wedding back in those days.

Being an active person, my grandmother became a volunteer at a hut which was considered as an orphanage at the tender age of thirteen. She has a love for children. All the volunteers meet up for gatherings or discussions on certain things twice in a month. There were many activities organized exclusively for the children. As a result, they had never felt lonely.

Villages were the most common type of housing in Shantou. But there were also concrete houses for the rich families.

Weddings were rather simple, compared to our modern society, whereby weddings are mostly held in high-class hotels. Funerals were very short. Parties were only held on special occasions like Chinese New Year and Moon cake Festival as majority of the people living in the village were not in well-off families. Food such as prawns, crabs, cookies and sweets were often consumed only at parties as their prices were too steep. Such expensive food products were compulsory for parties because it would give the guests a good impression. Gatherings were usually for adults ranging from the age of twenty-five to thirty-five. As for relaxation, the males loved to head to the beach for a swim and females stayed at home to do sewing.

My grandmother’s interests are catching fishes, cooking and singing. She enjoyed playing badminton and ping pong.

My grandmother’s parents passed away due to poor health conditions. She was ten years old at that time. Unfortunately, she had nobody to turn to for help. All her relatives were either dead or living in faraway places. Left to cope alone, she came to Singapore to work in order to earn income. She came here because she heard from people that Singapore had many jobs which offer high salaries. At the same time, she felt stressed for it was such a heavy responsibility to take care of her sister.

Grandmother worked as a servant for a wealthy family of three. The Tan family treated her and her sister like their own family. They thought that Grandmother deserved the pleasant treatment as she was hardworking and kept the house spick and span. As her employers were old, their kind treatment towards her often reminded her of her parents.

Grandmother was eleven when World War II started. This event affected the Tan family, Grandmother and her sister badly. Mr Tan, the sole breadwinner of the family was sacked and this led to the loss of income for Grandmother. But she was understanding enough to let the matter rest. She thought that the awesome treatment she received from them was enough.

The war caused many deaths and sufferings. There was a shortage of food, and people had malnutrition. Food substitutes like sweet potatoes were found. The Japanese kept a close watch on the people, especially the Chinese, who were considered as the enemies to the Japanese. People who were caught looted had their heads chopped off. Their heads were then displayed in the public as a stern warning to others. My grandmother said that it was a nerve-wrecking sight.

However, it was the Chinese males who suffered the most. Males from the age of eighteen to fifty were sent for mass screening, known as the Sook Ching. If they were not suspects of being anti-Japanese, they would get a stamp chopped on their arms or shirts. If the Japanese felt certain that you were anti-Japanese just by looking at your facial features and behaviour, they would use all sorts of cruel methods to make you confess. Mr Tan was separated from the family. Nobody knew what his end was. The Japanese soldiers demanded people to bow to them as a sign of respect. This idea sounds so ridiculous. Many people dared not go out because they were afraid of getting into trouble. During the war, everyone lived in constant fear. Water and electrical supplies were cut off. If the Japanese were unhappy about certain things, they would vent their anger on the locals by slapping or kicking them.

Females also had their share of hardship too. Surprise checks on the houses by the Japanese soldiers never failed to drive the females to great anxiety. Their target is young females. The females would hide in any available corner of the house to avoid being caught. An alternative was to have short hair and dressed up like a boy. It was said that the females were caught to be raped by the Japanese soldiers. If the Japanese were desperate for money, they would resort to “selling” the females to brothels to other places. Also, the females would be beaten to death if they tried to struggle out of the Japanese hands.

My grandmother had encountered the Bukit Ho Swee fire. It was scary and cost lives. She was rescued by a plump lady. The lady was a stranger but she was helpful. The majority of the people were hysterical. There were blazing flames. The hotness was indescribable. It was as if you were standing on a volcano. The people were screaming their heads off, not knowing what to do. The plump lady was the only one who brought hope to the people by rescuing them from the fire.

My grandmother could only remember the feelings of being under the Japanese rule, Lee Kuan Yew’s government and Goh Chok Tong’s leadership as they were the most outstanding leaders. She felt insecure being under the Japanese rule as they were harsh on the people. Being under Lee Kuan Yew’s government was the best as he is decisive, organized, friendly and helpful. Even though Lee Kuan Yew has a high status, he is neither discriminative nor snobbish. He is superlative and has a heart of gold. Being under Goh Chok Tong’s leadership was good too. He is a person who loves to share everything with the locals and is humble. He always asks for suggestions to bring Singapore to a higher level.

My grandmother has a personal motto - no pain, no gain. Her advice for everyone is that we should push ourselves out of our comfort zones in order to strive for the best in everything we do.