I was born in 1944 during the war. My parents were from China and came to Singapore before the war. I had 3 brothers and 4 sisters so there were a total of 10 people in my family back then. We stayed at Tembling Road, near Mountbatten area.  My father was a tricycle rider who delivered goods while my mother was a housewife. 

When there was no food, my mother would take the lorry across Causeway to Kukup (a village in Johor, Malaysia) to buy essentials like tapioca and flour. My brother worked for the Japanese so each day he would get a can of Blue Cross condensed milk as his payment. He was 10 years old back then. 

Blue Cross condensed milk at a sundry shop

Period:1940s-1970s

Credit: Roots.gov.sg (link)

Sadly, my father passed away when I was 7 years old. My mother became a widow at the age of 36 and had to look after all 10 of us on her own. She started small businesses like selling fruits to earn a living. That’s why when I started working later on in life, I would give her all my money and she would give me a few dollars as expenses for the day.