KEE, Lysia (Mrs) 林丽霞
Education in Singapore (Part 1: English),
Accession Number 003325
- Oral History Centre
Source
- 27
Total Reels
- He Sujin
Interviewer
- 25:18:22
Total Running Time
- English
Language
Copyright Notice
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Reel/Disc 1 of 27
Metadata
- 6 Jun 2008
Recording Date
- 00:57:56
Running Time
- MP3
Format
- Open Access
Conditions Governing Access
Synopsis
*Background and early days. Growing up in Muar. Description of her childhood homes in Muar. Her exposure with the Chettiar Indians and her memories of some of their traditions and customs. Films that she enjoyed while growing up. Recollections of Asiatic Theatre, which was near her shophouse at Jalan Abdullah. Her family owned Eng Kee Aerated Water. Description of the premises of the factory and shophouse. Transportation to school. About her Mother and how she was an excellent cook. Description of some of her Mother’s dishes.
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Reel/Disc 2 of 27
Metadata
- 6 Jun 2008
Recording Date
- 00:58:18
Running Time
- MP3
Format
- Open Access
Conditions Governing Access
Synopsis
*Her Mother emphasised the importance of domestic chores. About shopping in the wet market. Her Mother’s influence on her own cooking styles. About her Mother’s methods of cooking Peranakan cuisine. Background of her parents and their Peranakan lineage. Languages spoken to her family and neighbours. Religious background and practices. The rites involved when praying to the Heavenly God and ancestral worship. Description of her close-knit family and the environment in which she was brought up. Relationship with her Mother. Family’s relationship with her next door neighbour at Jalan Abdullah. Relationship with her grandmother.
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Reel/Disc 3 of 27
Metadata
- 6 Jun 2008
Recording Date
- 00:54:45
Running Time
- MP3
Format
- Open Access
Conditions Governing Access
Synopsis
*Her Mother emphasised the importance of domestic chores. About shopping in the wet market. Her Mother’s influence on her own cooking styles. About her Mother’s methods of cooking Peranakan cuisine. Background of her parents and their Peranakan lineage. Languages spoken to her family and neighbours. Religious background and practices. The rites involved when praying to the Heavenly God and ancestral worship. Description of her close-knit family and the environment in which she was brought up. Relationship with her Mother. Family’s relationship with her next door neighbour at Jalan Abdullah. Relationship with her grandmother.
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Reel/Disc 4 of 27
Metadata
- 9 Jun 2008
Recording Date
- 00:56:48
Running Time
- MP3
Format
- Open Access
Conditions Governing Access
Synopsis
Birthday rituals and types of food eaten. Description of Peranakan weddings and rituals involved. Beliefs and customs practices for birth rites. Entertainment and watching Hainanese operas in Muar. Dancing in “Gayworld” and “Pink Pussycat” in Singapore during her teenage years. About “Dondang Sayang” - a type of Malay poetry, and how her relatives were skillful at it. Memories of a Peranakan nursery rhyme that was sang to her brother. Description of the childhood games that she played. Recollections of her schooldays. Books and magazines that she enjoyed reading. Lessons in her primary school, Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus (CHIJ) (Muar).
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Reel/Disc 5 of 27
Metadata
- 9 Jun 2008
Recording Date
- 00:57:36
Running Time
- MP3
Format
- Open Access
Conditions Governing Access
Synopsis
Secondary school days. Her duties as a school prefect during secondary school. Subjects she took in secondary school. Memories of how her literature teacher, Sister Dorothy, taught them literature and inspired them through her teaching methods. How Sister Dorothy taught Dicken’s “Great Expectations”. Helping the Sisters serve bread to the needy. Motto of her school Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus (CHIJ). Her dedication as a school prefect. Discipline in the school. Inter-school activities for the prefects. Why she was chosen as a prefect. How the Nuns gave out report cards to the students personally. The Sisters emphasized on the importance of character building and how it affected her. How the Sisters, especially Sister Dorothy, had a profound effect on her.
How she organised overseas visits. Her other activities in secondary school. How her involvement in organising trips helped to develop her leadership skills and gave her opportunities to lead others. How storytelling by her teachers engaged and cultivated in her a love for learning. Her encounters with sports in her school and the importance of teacher and peer expectations. The games she and her schoolmates invented and the values she learnt inadvertently. Importance of learning domestic sciences such as sewing and darning and how sewing was second nature to them.
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Reel/Disc 6 of 27
Metadata
- 17 Jun 2008
Recording Date
- 00:56:23
Running Time
- MP3
Format
- Open Access
Conditions Governing Access
Synopsis
Frequency of domestic science lessons. How much she paid for school fees. How the needy students were helped in school. Prerequisites needed for entry into Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus (CHIJ). Description of the “removed girls” in her school. Difference in the behaviour traits of the “removed girls”. Relationship with the “removed girls”; “removed girls’” assimilation into the school. Her school had a reputation of being highly respected for the girls’ academic abilities and propriety. Primary school was affiliated to the secondary school. Memories of her school building and neighborhood. Motto of her school. Layout of her school building. Recollections of games she played in school. Recalled what she did during recess periods. Had the most number of prefects and high achievers in her class.
After-school activities were organised by the girls themselves. Wrote a play “Cinderella” in primary school to raise funds. Related how they made the props for “Cinderella”. Attained the Lower Certificate of Education (LCE) in Form Three. At Form Five (current O Levels), she sat for the School Certificate Examination. How she prepared for examinations and how her Mother viewed examinations. Reminisced about her teachers and their teaching styles. The different subjects she took and how Mathematics was her weakest subject.
Went to High School Muar after Secondary School. Mr De’Cruz was the headmaster of the school. Memories of her teachers who taught her. Mr Chiang Hai Wan, her form teacher, taught her History. Reminisced about her High School days. Was an admirer of debater Lim Chee Seng. Was a debater herself; joined many other activities in High School. Her relationship with her Literature teacher, Mrs Vasoo. Importance of the teacher’s role in helping their students to blossom. Her encounter with NJC students and how it affected her later as a teacher of NJC.
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Reel/Disc 7 of 27
Metadata
- 17 Jun 2008
Recording Date
- 00:56:40
Running Time
- MP3
Format
- Open Access
Conditions Governing Access
Synopsis
First encounter with National Junior College (NJC) students while on a debating outing, as part of the interact club to discuss issues on international understanding. Interviewee was the chairman for the international understanding committee. Training during the debating sessions and how debating seniors helped to train the younger members. Memories of the friendships forged amongst the members of the debating team. How they would prepare for their debating competitions. Memories of the school building and compounds. How she got the nickname “The Barefoot Prefect”. How her experiences during school days affected her. Her views on humility. The Interact Club’s motto and values and how the values had an effect on her.
Her opinions of the school as the best media to imbue values in students. How she balanced her after-school activities with school work. Her views on economics and the practicality of the subject. Difference between a college and a high school. After Higher School Certificate (HSC) (equivalent to A Levels), she went to several lawyers and attended court sessions to understand more about law. Attained the HSC after High School. Exam format for HSC and LCE. Her experiences in community involvement and fund raising. Her views on organising funfairs to raise funds. While preparing for her HSC exams, she discovered the effectiveness of group work.
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Reel/Disc 8 of 27
Metadata
- 28 Jul 2008
Recording Date
- 00:58:03
Running Time
- MP3
Format
- Open Access
Conditions Governing Access
Synopsis
Possible choices after ‘A’ Levels include studying English literature at University of Malaya (MU) or studying law at Singapore University (SU). Was interested in law, but settled for English Literature at MU eventually. Stayed in the hostel called the “Third College”. Memories of staying in the hostel and the friendships forged during the time. Elaborates on hostel life in Third College. Describes her university lecturers. Lloyd Fernando was one of her lecturers. The activities she joined while in University.
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Reel/Disc 9 of 27
Metadata
- 28 Jul 2008
Recording Date
- 00:56:57
Running Time
- MP3
Format
- Open Access
Conditions Governing Access
Synopsis
Felt privileged to study in the university. Percentage of university graduates who would enter the teaching line. Popular courses in the 1970s. Her love for literature and how it influenced her. How her Mother influenced her decisions. Explains why MU did not offer Law. The faculties that were making waves worldwide in MU. The academic structure of the Arts faculty. The modules she took as an Arts undergraduate. Explains what goes on behind a viva. Her recollections of her hostel life. How the rooms in the hostel were assigned to the hostelites. Description of her hostel room. Her memories of the first time she entered the hostel. Details of her orientation programme and the aims of the orientation. Highlights of her orientation.
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Reel/Disc 10 of 27
Metadata
- 28 Jul 2008
Recording Date
- 00:46:40
Running Time
- MP3
Format
- Open Access
Conditions Governing Access
Synopsis
Duties as a council member of the hostel in her second year. She was often called upon to emcee for functions at the hostel. Organised activities for her hostel. Memories of her lecturers and her opinions of what makes a good teacher. Assessment during her university days. Her theatre and acting experience in Tennessee Williams’s play “A Streetcar named Desire” and her problems encountered while rehearsing. Her experience in theatre studies proved to be helpful later in her career, when she was put in charge of preparing the theatre studies syllabus. Recollections of her time spent at the medical faculty. Offers insight into the studying methods of a medicine undergraduate. Explains the importance of being acquainted with key religious texts.
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