Contributed by: Madam Kee Ee Yong, 68
What is childhood? To most of the younger generation, childhood is a storage haven of fun and entertainment, with UNO cards, an array of board games and miles of running and chasing to remember. But to the older generation, childhood may be a vastly distant memory, to be stashed away in the heart.
Madam Kee Ee Yong sat on a wooden chair with a faraway look evident in her eyes. “My childhood? Well, I used to live in a kampong in Tanjung Pinang, Indonesia. It was a big wooden house, half on stilts above the sea, half on land. My father was a fisherman who caught fish and prawns, and sold it at the local market. I had to help out at home to process and dry the haul.”
It was soon evident that entertainment was hardly present in her childhood. “Games? No, no, no,” she chuckled with a hint of resignation in her smile, “I hardly play any games. I am the third oldest in the family; I am expected to manage the housework and help out in my father’s business.” When asked if she ever had the chance to play, Madam Kee pondered for a moment, then finally blurted out, “At school?”
A glint of pride surfaces within her eyes. “I was a great student in school, and stayed within the top 3 positions.” Alas, this lasted for less than three years. “I lived in a traditional household,” Madam Kee explained, “and my father believed that women are to stay at home to take care of household chores. He was very strict with us: playing games were frowned upon.” She then animatedly described how she tried to swim with her sisters in the sea just outside her house, but were caught and scolded by their father. “That’s why I’ve never learnt to swim.”
Many years later, after marrying in Tanjung Pinang, Madam Kee obtained a Permanent Resident status and settled down in Singapore with her family. Life in Singapore was better, and she soon gave birth to four healthy sons. Together with her husband, they managed to earn enough money to see them through school. All her sons grew up well and secured good jobs with reasonable pay. Now, Madam Kee is able to enjoy her twilight years supported by her sons, who bring her to journey around the world.
“I’ve gone to Australia and Taiwan,” she told us proudly, “but back then the only place we went to other than home was Singapore.” During her visit to our small island, Madam Kee and her family had to squeeze into a small house at Clarke Quay, with more than ten people staying in the same room. “I didn’t really enjoy the stay; my kampung was better.”
As she watched her grandson explore his boxes of toys around the room during the interview, Madam Kee remarked, “Look at children these days. They are so lucky and happy, having so many toys around them and not having to do any housework at all. Life today is really so much better than it was in the past.”
Hopefully, Singapore’s generations to come will realise this, and treasure what they have.
Interview done by Vivian Lai Ying Ru, Ng Qi Juan and Yap Yun Ting from Nanyang Girls' High School on 17 June 2013.
(This memory is collected in collaboration with Nanyang Girls' High School for the "Hands: Gift of a Generation" campaign.)
