Chan Ah Meng, age 76, was born in Singapore, known in Hokkien as ‘Mang Ku Lu Sau Lo Koi’ or Scavenging Street. Today it is Bencoolen Street. At that time, the roof tops of the houses were made of zinc sheets. The walls were of wooden planks. His grandma owned one of them. It was a double-storeyed one. He remembered in the area there were many Ah Ma Ches (Cantonese) dressed in white samfoo and black pants working for the rich – looked after the house, cooked for them as well as looked after the children. He stayed there until he was 8 years old.
In 1958, his family moved to Hougang Lim Tua Tow Road 5th ms Hougang market. He studied at Xinmin Public School for 3 years.
He helped his parents to sell chicken rice at Tanglin market up to 1962.
From 1962 he went to work at Christmas Island. He worked there until 1971.
He described his journey via huge passenger ship there. He took 3 days to reach – 800 nautical miles. At that time Christmas Island was administered by Australia. The Australian Social Welfare gave him a medical checkup and found his fit for work. He was given the job as a labourer. For lodging, he was given a huge brick and tiled dormitory – two to share. Electricity and water was provided.
In the morning at 8.00 am. a bus transported the workers to the work site. He was a part of a gang to build roads, drains etc. The daily temperature there was unusually high. His daily wages was A$3.65. The daily dismissal time was 5.00 pm.
After working for 5 years as a labourer he switched to become a driver as well as a mobile crane operator. As food was in abundant there, he had the appetite to eat – succulent vegetables, fresh fish, lobsters, etc. He was tough and hefty. Workers their nicknamed his Tua Phui (Fatty).
After the workers had blew up the phosphate hills with dynamite, the loose phosphate was loaded onto his lorry. The phosphate mine was open cast mine. With daily digging and transporting, the hills were reduced to a concave hollow in the ground. The machines used included the bull dozers and loaders. If it was too far from the loading point, conveyor belts or rails were built to convey the rocks.
He transported the rocks to the cargo ships hold. The phosphate was exported as fertiliser.
Life was tough in Christmas Island but the food was fresh. There were abundant fish, vegetables and fruits. Fruits such as pomelo, papaya, water-melon, oranges and coconuts were huge and succulent.
The shops were stacked with different types of canned food, essential daily provisions etc. They were all brought in by the cargo ships that came to transport the phosphate away. The goods sold were cheap as they were not taxed. These shops were operated by a group of people who were brought in by the Japanese during the Pacific War. Patrons could buy the provisions on credit. They paid them only after receiving their monthly wages.
To send a telegram to Singapore was very expensive – about $200 or A$60.
The water although very clear, but after boiling it formed a white coating at the bottom of the kettle. It was safe to drink.
There was school and it was staffed with teachers from Singapore. The principal of the school doubled up as a lawyer. But the superintendent of police was an Australian. The pupils went to school by the rail cars.
For entertainment, there was an open air cinema. Chinese shows were screened on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. English shows were screened on Saturdays and Sundays.
There were coffee shops cum food stalls. The cooks were mainly Cantonese.
He left Christmas Islands in 1971 after working there for 9 years. He missed being an Australian citizen by one year. In 1972, the workers could opt for being an Australian citizen.
From 1971 till 1976, he did odd jobs in Singapore.
In 1977 the Social Welfare Department recommended that the worked as a driver at Lorang Halus Waste Dumping Ground. He worked there for 28 years. At first while working there, he described the smell emanating from the rotting waste was most uncomfortable. By and by he got used to it. Everyday lorry-loads of waste was emptied into the swampy ground. He used the bulldozer to push the waste into the swamp.
The waste attracted houseflies, crows, mynahs, pythons, stray dogs, etc. There were also human scavengers who sneaked through the gate to the waste mounds to look for scrap metals and other objects. There was once a lady scavenger was buried in the waste. She was from Hougang 3 m.s. Anasalam, Mr Chan’s colleague dug up the body. After the day’s job was done, the gate was closed at 7.00p.m. Guards who worked in shifts, guarded that place 24 hours a day. People who sneaked into the ground could be arrested as they had entered a state property without a permit. In 1999, the Lorong Halus Waste Dumping Ground was closed.
After that he worked as an environmental cleaner for 5 years, looking for mosquito breeding grounds and closed them up.
He was pensioned off at the age of 65.
Now Mr Chan Ah Meng is a contract cleaner in Hougang Primary School. He is now 76 years old.
(Interviewed and written by Yeo Hong Eng)
