CHUA Lai Teck 蔡来德
Special Project,
Accession Number 002447
- Oral History Centre
Source
- 12
Total Reels
- Jesley Chua Chee Huan
Interviewer
- 05:41:03
Total Running Time
- English
Language
Copyright Notice
All rights to the recordings and transcripts on this website, including the rights to copy, publish, broadcast and perform, are reserved. Written permission is required for any use. If you have any queries, please contact nas@nlb.gov.sg
Reel/Disc 1 of 12
Metadata
- 10 Oct 2000
Recording Date
- 00:30:50
Running Time
- MP3
Format
- Open Access
Conditions Governing Access
Synopsis
*Interviewee lived in a zinc-roof house without electricity and tap water at Ah Hood Road. Parents rented room in house with communal kitchen and toilet. Account on night-soil carriers changing toilet buckets. Description of toilet and communal bathroom. Carried water from public water tap to bathroom for bathing. Living conditions in the rented room during interviewee's childhood. Interviewee's siblings. Father worked in Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) as attendant. Recounted flooding incident in the place he lived. Family moved to TTSH quarters at Irrawaddy Road. Further elaboration on living conditions in Ah Hood Road.
We will get back to your request within 5 working days
Reel/Disc 2 of 12
Metadata
- 10 Oct 2000
Recording Date
- 00:30:35
Running Time
- MP3
Format
- Open Access
Conditions Governing Access
Synopsis
Further elaboration on living conditions in Ah Hood Road. Used kerosene lamps for in-house lighting. Visited Nam Ann Association nearby with his father, which held Chinese primary school classes and provided cheap Chinese medical consultation. Description of cows, bullock carts and cow dung in Balestier area in '50s. Descriptions of canal flowing from Beach Road to behind Ah Hood Road. Account on Tongkangs transporting timbers along canal to Balestier. Cane factories in the area. Sun Yat Sen Villa at Tai Gin Road. Description of Boon Teck Road. Secret societies around the area.
We will get back to your request within 5 working days
Reel/Disc 3 of 12
Metadata
- 10 Oct 2000
Recording Date
- 00:30:15
Running Time
- MP3
Format
- Open Access
Conditions Governing Access
Synopsis
Interviewee's parents and grandparents were born in Singapore. Grandparents lived near Moulmein Community Centre. Grandparents, relatives and father worked at Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) before Japanese Occupation. Farmers, traders and poor families lived around Ah Hood Road. Balestier is now a middle-income area. Elaboration on cane factories in the area. Interviewee's uncle owned a cane factory. Description of 'tao gua' (bean curd) factories and its manufacturing process at Boon Teck Road. Nutmeg plantations and fisheries in the area. Ah Hood Road was named after Ng Ah Hood. Locating places within Ah Hood Road for postal deliveries. Simple life at Ah Hood Road.
We will get back to your request within 5 working days
Reel/Disc 4 of 12
Metadata
- 17 Oct 2000
Recording Date
- 00:29:56
Running Time
- MP3
Format
- Open Access
Conditions Governing Access
Synopsis
Interviewee's description of his meals at home. Mosquitoes and mice in his rented room. Interviewee wore socks while sleeping to prevent bitten by mice. Cockroach droppings boiled with water was used as cough medicine. His account of baby mice eaten alive with salted vegetables or coffee. Description of clothes-dyeing shop at Tai Gin Road. Gang fights in the area. Description of Hoover Theatre at Jalan Ampas. Free movie screening in the kampongs by community centres. Black market syndicates selling movie tickets. Interviewee's elaboration on Hoover Theatre and its titbit stall.
We will get back to your request within 5 working days
Reel/Disc 5 of 12
Metadata
- 17 Oct 2000
Recording Date
- 00:30:23
Running Time
- MP3
Format
- Open Access
Conditions Governing Access
Synopsis
Further elaboration on Hoover Theatre. Interviewee's description of Shaw Brothers' Malay movie house at Jalan Ampas. Account on small Malay kampong at junction of Balestier Road and Thomson Road. Chinese cemetery owned by Ngee Ann Kongsi at Balestier Hill in late 50s. Elaboration on Malay kampong. Three schools were built on the former Chinese cemetery in Balestier Hill in 60s. Interviewee's family moved to Tan Tock Seng Hospital quarters at Irrawaddy Road. Account of a sugar cane plantation owned by an old man living in a hut behind school. Interviewee's description of childhood games and outdoor activities.
We will get back to your request within 5 working days
Reel/Disc 6 of 12
Metadata
- 17 Oct 2000
Recording Date
- 00:29:56
Running Time
- MP3
Format
- Open Access
Conditions Governing Access
Synopsis
Further description of interviewee's outdoor games and activities. Spider catching and spider fighting matches. Durian trees in Balestier. Kite fighting using 'glass treated' thread. Interviewee's account of shooting birds and barbecuing them to eat as his childhood game. His other childhood activities. Interviewee's parents made him a table-tennis table. Description of his other games. Interviewee and other children gathered to watch black and white television in neighbour's house. Few had refrigerators then. Ice balls and ice 'kachang' sold at that time. Food pedlars in Balestier.
We will get back to your request within 5 working days
Reel/Disc 7 of 12
Metadata
- 17 Oct 2000
Recording Date
- 00:30:34
Running Time
- MP3
Format
- Open Access
Conditions Governing Access
Synopsis
Elaboration on bread pedlar and bread cart along Balestier Road. Types of bread and 'kaya' sold by pedlar. School bags used then. Description of school shoes and shoe-white. Interviewee's active outdoor life during his school days. His school uniform was starched and ironed. Interviewee also studied in Rangoon Secondary. Types of television programmes. Interviewee watched television in neighbour's house. Interviewee had tuition from his neighbour. Elaboration on his secondary school days. Interviewee moved from Ah Hood Road to Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) quarters at Irrawaddy Road in 1963. Description of TTSH quarters. Two markets in Balestier area. Interviewee had five siblings.
We will get back to your request within 5 working days
Reel/Disc 8 of 12
Metadata
- 2 Nov 2000
Recording Date
- 00:30:35
Running Time
- MP3
Format
- Open Access
Conditions Governing Access
Synopsis
Further elaboration on Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) quarters. Social activities of the tenants. TTSH quarters where interviewee lived were meant for junior staff. Interviewee's grandmother worked as 'amah' (attendant) in TTSH before Japanese Occupation. Later, his aunt and father also worked in TTSH. Medical benefits for his family. His father's salary. Interviewee worked during school holidays. His first job as a house mover at age 12. Interviewee's description of Jewish cemetery in Balestier. Elaborated on TTSH mortuary and Tuberculosis Centre. Interviewee saw strange lights at mortuary. TTSH was built on exhumed cemetery grounds.
We will get back to your request within 5 working days
Reel/Disc 9 of 12
Metadata
- 2 Nov 2000
Recording Date
- 00:30:20
Running Time
- MP3
Format
- Open Access
Conditions Governing Access
Synopsis
Interviewee's school was built on exhumed cemetery grounds. Description of strange sounds and images around Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) quarters. Many streets in Balestier were named after towns in Burma. Balestier Road was named after an American who once owned sugar-cane plantation there. Story concerning Rochor Tua Pek Kong Temple. Elaboration on Tongkongs (boats) transporting timbers using canal stretching from Beach Road to Boon Teck Road. Account of huge hillock stretching from Rochor to Thomson Road. Former Moulmein Community Centre and its activities. Vigilante Corps in the 60s.
We will get back to your request within 5 working days
Reel/Disc 10 of 12
Metadata
- 2 Nov 2000
Recording Date
- 00:30:24
Running Time
- MP3
Format
- Open Access
Conditions Governing Access
Synopsis
Further elaboration on Moulmein Community Centre and its activities. Interviewee moved to Jalan Rajah in 80s and joined Moulmein Community Centre youth group. Interviewee helped to draft letters for Member of Parliament during Meet-the-People sessions and is secretary to People's Action Party branch. His other various roles in government services. Worked in construction company after his National Service. Interviewee is Managing Director of a construction company. Further elaboration on his involvement in the community centre. Comparison between past and present community centre activities. Roles of community centres in the present day.
We will get back to your request within 5 working days
