Mr Abu bajak bin Omar was born in Singapore, however is moved to Johor Bahru, Malaysia at a tender age of 9. Other than himself, he has 3 other surviving siblings. The reason for this was that he had wanted to follow his stepmother, of his 15 siblings he was the one who did so. Prior to moving to Johor, he lived at Tanjong Kling road. He only came back to Singapore in 1954 following his stepmother's passing. He was born on the 1st of September 1938. Up till 1960 like his father, he was a fisherman. However, he felt that he wanted to do more in life and went back to school. After standard seven, he became a Malay Teacher. He taught at Melamoi Malay Primary School, the school was on an island, Pulau Malimou, which would later merge with six other islands to form Jurong Island. The school was then transferred to a location near Jurong Primary School, the school premises were in a shophouse. It remained there from 1971-1978. After 1978, the school transferred to a location near Johan Primary School and Yuan Ching Secondary school. Mr xx retired on 1st January 1999. There is one particular student whom he remembers, this student was a student who was particularly cheeky. The students currently works in a restaurant and if Mr xx were to visit him, he would then receive a free meal. From 1975 till 1998, he lived at Boon Lay block 187. He was in the Resident's Committee and helped out at the community Centre. His daily activities includes going to the mosque to pray as well as to volunteer at religious schools(every Saturday and Sunday 8-5). He helps with coordination of events at the religious school. He was in the Jurong West residents' committee as well as the Boon Lay residents' committee. He is currently a member of the mosque in Jurong West. He part of the fund raising committee, raising funds for a new mosque. This is done through personal donations as well as holding bazaar fairs. He has 4 children (3 sons, 1 daughter) all married with 3 kids, and working at Singapore and 12 grandchildren (9-24). There would be a family gathering at least once a week at his home. As was customary, at that time, his marriage was an arranged marriage. It was held in his Kampung with guests who included his neighbors and families. In preparation for the wedding, everyone, neighbors, friends and family would all help out. The Kampung would have a gathering called Kenduri, similar to our potluck, the neighbors would take turns to host the gathering. They played games like sepak tekraw, soccer and badminton. They lived in attap houses with palm and coconut leaves as roofs. The wealthier families would use zinc for their roofs. The houses were built on stilts, a ladder was needed to go up the house, the area. Under the house is similar to the void decks which we have today. Written by: Chanel Lee, Li Wei Hang and Vera Heng From: Nanyang Girls' High School