CLARKE, Gerard Farleigh Eustachius (Gerry Clarke)
Communities of Singapore (Part 1),
Accession Number 003454
- Oral History Centre
Source
- 8
Total Reels
- Mark Wong
Interviewer
- 07:40:30
Total Running Time
- English
Language
Copyright Notice
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Reel/Disc 1 of 8
Metadata
- 20 Jan 2010
Recording Date
- 00:57:08
Running Time
- MP3
Format
- Open Access
Conditions Governing Access
Synopsis
*Clarke family background. Granduncle James owned a stable in Waterloo Street. Granduncle Albert Walter on the committee of the Singapore Recreation Club (SRC). Father Conrad Clarke from Church of England, attended Raffles Institution (RI), worked as market inspector. Job description. Father’s fascination with fish and donations of them to Raffles Museum. While in St Joseph’s Institution (SJI), interviewee would visit Raffles Museum with friends. Description of Raffles Museum and its collection of Dyak (Dayak) traditional garments. Father did not tell anyone about his donations. Father was next appointed to be a bailiff, in charge of seizing property of people who did not pay City Council taxes. How father helped pay taxes for some people. Family learnt from him to take care of underdogs.
Father donated at least 25-30 trophies all over Malaya which he bought from pawn shops and had polished. Donated to schools to encourage interest in sport to teach young people to take defeats better. Donated Clarke Cup in 1924 to encourage locals to improve their cricket game against Europeans. Replica of Cup in SRC; original was stolen during Japanese Occupation. After War, cricket clubs donated money to restart the Clarke Cup. Why Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew stopped Clarke Cup and how SRC became open to all Singaporeans. How Clarke Cup competition helped in selection of state team which competed against other states in Malaya. Further description of father.
Father’s work as market inspector at Market Street. Father’s quiet personality. Father’s encouragement of his children to play sport. Father’s involvement in football and athletics in RI. Even in retirement, at Old Boys reunions, father took part in running competitions and won with handicaps. Father’s coat had buttons made of coins. Description of father’s work dress. How father used to buy sporting equipment and encourage children to play various games to inculcate positive values in them. First sport interviewee played was cricket at his house at Hooper Road but stopped after children broke their mother’s pots. Moved their game to Catholic cemetery behind Hooper Road (site of present-day Kampong Java Park). Complaints about disturbance; barbed wire fencing put up from Bukit Timah to end of Hooper Road near canal. Graves of Chinese, Eurasians, nuns. Government owned the plot of land. Graves later exhumed. Description of area around cemetery. Size around half the size of Bidadari. How he made catapults with the branches of Tembusu trees.
Played with both families and school mates around Makepeace Road, Government quarters along Bukit Timah. Neighbours included De Souza; Brett, family from India, chief of Fire Brigade. Whole area consisted of Municipality Quarters. Most families later moved to Kampong Java. Type of quarters depended on grade of individuals’ jobs. Previous homes at 8 Queen Street and Waterloo Street. When father got job in Municipality, family moved to 80-6 Kampong Java Road. Other families: Pestana, De Cotta, Monteiro. Description of Monteiro brothers shooting rats with air pistols they got from being in the Singapore Volunteer Corps (SVC). Description of large house at Hooper Road. How interviewee slept in parent’s room. Neighbour De Cotta: father worked in Registry of Vehicles (ROV); son in RI, later became a Justice. Description of cousin Alan Scott: worked at Asiatic Petroleum Company (APC, later renamed Shell). How APC had refineries on Pulau Bukom (Bukum) and Sambu Island, Indonesia. Memories of sitting at back of Kampong Java Road and watching Thaipusam fireworks.
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Reel/Disc 2 of 8
Metadata
- 20 Jan 2010
Recording Date
- 00:57:58
Running Time
- MP3
Format
- Open Access
Conditions Governing Access
Synopsis
*Areas that Eurasians lived in: Queen Street, Waterloo Street, Kampong Java Road, Hooper Road, along Bukit Timah Road, Upper Serangoon area and Katong. How sizes of houses at Municipality Quarters at Kampong Java and Hooper Road depended on grade of employment. Mother Augusta nee Scheerder. Mother’s stepfather built Church of the Holy Family (aka Katong Family Church, Katong Catholic Church) by selling his property at Chapel Road, with donations from others. Mother’s brother named the Church. When young, during school holidays, interviewee would stay over at cousin’s house at Chapel Road. 10-min walk to the seaside. Memorable incident when he was young and ran over thorns to meet his mother. Mother’s niece (interviewee’s cousin Edith) married Mr Holmes.
How interviewee stayed over at the Scheerder family home at Katong when he was young. How there was no piped water and they had to draw water from well for drinking (boiling required) and bathing. Interviewee’s mother quite strict, especially with regards to children’s Catholic upbringing. Interviewee and brothers had to say nightly prayers together, children had to abide by strict timings for everything. How this was good for children because they would always want to play. Description of kind Malay servant who was asked by father to cane the children if they did not bathe or eat. Remembered going to disturb the servant while she was having lunch. Servant was not well and died when family lived at Race Course Road.
Mother did not hold a job, enjoyed baking cakes. Interviewee sometimes helped mother make the cake. How sugee cake had to be stirred properly and beat into powder. Butter came in tins. Mother would boil the butter and remove salt to make bruder (brueder) cake. Cakes made at Christmas or birthdays.
Interviewee’s mother made his father promise to be a Catholic before marriage. How father used to attend Church of England where Esplanade is (St Andrew’s Cathedral). Interviewee attended Cathedral of the Good Shepherd; served as altar boy together with his two brothers. Details about his brothers and three sisters. Oldest sister Marcia married a Westerhout, who was a neighbor and originally from Malacca. Second sister Zena married Jeffrey Tessensohn. Third sister Dorothy also got married. Younger brother Andrew married a D’Almeida. Youngest brother Albert never married. Interviewee was closest to Marcia. One brother, Francis, died at age 8 of water in the brain. One sister, Phyllis, died as a baby.
Children liked to play hockey. Father always liked sport, had various sporting equipment in the house: cricket bat, hockey stick, football, rugby ball. Sisters got together with friends to start Girls Sports Club. Zena became secretary of club, Marcia became treasurer, Dorothy played sport. Father did not play sports with children, but always encouraged them to play. Father bought sporting equipment from North Bridge Road at a special price. List of sports they used to play. Stringing a net in their garden to play badminton.
Sisters worked as stenographers. Albert worked in Municipality as Sanitary Inspector, checking conditions in abattoirs. Andrew migrated to Australia after marriage. Other food that was prepared in the house was Devil Curry, different meats, soups. Mother was a good cook and taught the cook to prepare dishes. Two orphan Teochew brothers worked for family. Elder brother left; younger one learnt how to cook from interviewee’s mother. Father named him “Kway Teow”. Stayed with the family even after he got married and had kids. Family spoke colloquial Malay to them. Mother cooked different types of soup with fish, beef, pork. How family celebrated Christmas. Attending midnight mass as an altar boy. Description of ceremonies held before Easter, such as blessings of the candle, holy water and incense.
Sisters went dancing for the New Year when in their twenties. Marcia met husband at a dance. Interviewee too shy to hold a lady in order to learn to dance. Practised dancing during the Japanese Occupation. Later danced at New World Park cabaret. Bought one dollar coupons to dance with young women. Watched boxing matches featuring mainly boxers from Philippines. Description of two local boys from St Andrew’s School who became boxers. Interviewee played hockey and cricket at St Joseph’s Institution (SJI). Details about flood in Kampong Java in 1922 that reached the house. Canal flooded and water level reached up to the waist. Mandalay Road and Irrawaddy Road also affected. Another flood when interviewee lived at Hooper Road. How family learnt to take precautions.
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Reel/Disc 3 of 8
Metadata
- 26 Jan 2010
Recording Date
- 00:57:35
Running Time
- MP3
Format
- Open Access
Conditions Governing Access
Synopsis
*Mother’s stepfather, James Scheerder, donated land to build Church of Holy Father (aka Katong Family Church, Katong Catholic Church). Mother made cakes for interviewee’s aunt. How interviewee cycled to Pasir Panjang to deliver cakes to relatives who lived near Chinese Swimming Club. Interviewee had a personal bicycle; cycled to school and to play games. Going to Balestier Plains to watch cricket and hockey games by Ceylon Sports Club, Indian Association, Singhalese and Chinese Clubs. Polo games played by British. Location of Balestier Plains, where government quarters were, at today’s McNair Road where Balestier Institute of Technical Education (ITE) is. Polo grounds moved to Thomson Road where Police Academy is.
Kindergarten education at Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus (CHIJ) before transfer to St Joseph’s Institution (SJI). Location of CHIJ at Queen’s Street, near Stamford Canal, Cathedral of the Good Shepherd and Raffles Girls’ School. How he travelled to school from Kampong Java Road by car. One car model the family owned was Lagonda. How he later rode a bicycle to school himself. Father bought bicycles for three sons. Three sisters went by trolley buses because they did not know how to cycle. Given a Fairy Cycle, a type of bicycle with no top tube. Felt proud cycling to school himself. Description of route to school: Serangoon Road towards Market and Bras Basah Road. Description of public transportation at the time; trolley buses and mosquito buses. Reason for the name “mosquito bus” – buses were smaller than those from Singapore Traction Company (STC). Common for students to cycle. No place to park bicycle in school because of overcrowding. Need to lock up bicycle to prevent theft.
Activities at kindergarten included an annual exhibition. Boys made paper model figures of scouts in the sand because the head server of the Catholic service, Mr Prince, was a scout master. How there were servers of all ages. Description of Corpus Christi procession from the church to convent and back.
In 1927, interviewee entered Standard One of SJI. Previously no block beside Waterloo Street. Bathrooms on level 1 and two levels of classrooms above. Favourite lesson was Geography. Reasons why. Mother wanted him to learn Latin, which he found difficult. How Latin lessons were helpful because church services were in Latin and altar boys had to answer the priest in Latin. Boys that passed their Latin with priest received one dollar. Most subjects taught by Brothers, except History taught by History Master. Interviewee learnt Latin rather than History and earned a Satisfactory grade. Description of Brother Julius from Burma. Most Brothers came from Burma. Lady teachers only in CHIJ. Students punished by being knocked on fingers with a ruler.
Sports in SJI. Father always encouraged children to play sports. Interviewee became cricket and hockey captain in Senior Year. Tried football but not good at it. Famous SJI footballers included Chia Keng Hock and two Japanese boys, August Akiyama and Paul Mizuta. How they played against local clubs but not first teams, because they were school boys. Interviewee played against St Andrew’s School, Anglo-Chinese School (ACS) and Raffles Institution (RI). RI teams were always better than SJI teams. Father donated many trophies but never told family. Interviewee only found out when he played for the trophy and discovered who donated them. Colour of SJI sports uniforms. Cricket: all white. Hockey: green and white. Boys did not own personal uniforms and had to share. School would send used jerseys for washing. Played in rubber shoes; only purchased second hand boots after school. Took part in 4 x 110 yards relay and member of SJI team that won Arthur Young Cup Interschool Relay after many years of not winning. Responsibilities as cricket captain. Father enrolled three sons in Singapore Recreation Club (SRC). Interviewee played hockey for SRC and played for national team after the war. Got into Combined Schools hockey team. Captained hockey and cricket teams at SJI. One classmate came to school daily from Blakang Mati, where his father was stationed. School timings. Chapel was always open. Years later, played cricket on Blakang Mati as part of Non-Benders Cricket Club.
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Reel/Disc 4 of 8
Metadata
- 26 Jan 2010
Recording Date
- 00:57:44
Running Time
- MP3
Format
- Open Access
Conditions Governing Access
Synopsis
*Description of St Joseph’s Institution (SJI) tuckshop and food. When younger, returned home for lunch. Pocket money not more than a dollar for the day. Senior Cambridge experiences. Cycled to Chinatown to take exam. Joined Raffles College in 1936. Description of cycling to school. When father retired, used money given by Municipality to buy a house at Race Course Road. Description of house. Subjects taken at Raffles College. Specialised in Geography. Teachers were all British. Had to write a thesis.
Classmates were Goh Keng Swee, Lim Kim San. Lim’s father had a Shell pump. First Shell pump was at Collyer Quay in Finlayson Green. Goh’s nickname was Goldfish. Lim’s nickname was Donald Duck. Chang Min Tat became a judge in Penang. Ali bin Hassan became a judge in Johore. Tahib bin Haji Andak. Impressions of them at school. All very friendly, most played cricket or hockey. Played cricket with Goh Keng Swee in school team. Goh was a good fielder, good at catching the ball. Classmates mainly from Malaya. Description of college ragging. Freshmen ducked in water, made to wear green tie. His batch was mainly sportsmen and were given an easier time by seniors. His batch helped lift the standard of sports at Raffles College. Later ragging may have stopped due to complaints about ducking. Animosity between juniors and seniors. How he fared for examinations. Experiences having female classmates – felt shy. Family friends, e.g. De Souzas from Queen Street.
Duties as a server at Cathedral of the Good Shepherd. How he joined as a server and later quit. Mother wanted him to become a priest. Mother first drove him to church, later cycled himself. Different races had their own community churches. Catholics and Protestants were friendly, but did not mix much. Church attendees had to be suitably attired. Description of attire of a server. Married men originally not supposed to be servers, but later a few served because shortage of altar boys. Description of Father Raudell and Bishop Adrien (Adrian) Pierre Devals. Respect shown to priests. No social events organised for parishioners compared to today. Description of Corpus Christi procession, performing figures. Description of midnight mass at Christmas, picking up priest from his residence and dressing him up. Bishop’s two-storey house next to the church.
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Reel/Disc 5 of 8
Metadata
- 2 Feb 2010
Recording Date
- 00:58:31
Running Time
- MP3
Format
- Open Access
Conditions Governing Access
Synopsis
*Working at Registry of Vehicles (ROV) office after graduating from Raffles College. Introduced to job by George Westerhout, who later became his brother-in-law. Inspecting vehicles to see if they were road worthy. How rickshaws were tested. Incident when he fell sick, was hospitalised and later assigned to the charge room where people who received fines answered their charge. Description of job responsibilities, assignments, working hours, uniform. How interviewee first met George Westerhout from Malacca when they were living at Hooper Road, and how he came to work for the ROV. How taxis were tested for brakes, rear view mirrors, tyres. ROV office at Middle Road. Chief Inspector would personally test driving skills of taxi drivers. Problem with taxis stopping at non-designated points and disrupting traffic. Common offences by taxis, buses. How there were no opportunities for sportsmen to be professional at the time.
Further elaboration on testing road worthiness of taxis, mosquito buses. Singapore Traction Company (STC) buses checked by Chief Inspector. Chief Inspector would check up on vehicle inspectors to ensure they were doing their work on their rounds. Inspectors had to write reports. Attempts at bribery were common. Common offences by taxis and buses. How he had no formal training and learnt everything on the job.
Future brother-in-law John Cockburn convinced him to join the Singapore Volunteer Corp (SVC), along with one of John’s cousins, Carl de Souza. Three uncles had joined the SVC before the first World War, including Noel Clarke. Description of the old uniforms. Training received as a volunteer, including arms drills, marching. Description of Lewis Gun. Joined SVC in second year of Raffles College in 1937. Went for training in the evenings. Joined Platoon 13 of D Company, Regimental No. 20161. Training held at Singapore Drill Hall at Beach Road, occasionally at Siglap and Telok Paku Camp. Camp was enjoyable, next to the sea. Only met platoon mates at training; did not meet socially outside.
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Reel/Disc 6 of 8
Metadata
- 2 Feb 2010
Recording Date
- 00:57:30
Running Time
- MP3
Format
- Open Access
Conditions Governing Access
Synopsis
*Training at Telok Paku Camp and Changi for the Singapore Volunteer Corps (SVC). Arms drills. Training was not tough. Feelings as Japanese swept down Malaya. How D Company was in charge of Tanjong Rhu spithead to Katong. Placing of barb wire fencing on the shore from Tanjong Rhu spithead to Singapore Swimming Club with bare hands. Responsibilities included manning beach posts and patrolling day and night. How Japanese artillery shells aimed at Kallang Airport landed in Tanjong Rhu. Reaction to sinking of Prince of Wales and Repulse. How Japanese advanced down Malaya into Singapore in rubber shoes. How his girlfriend visited him once in camp before being evacuated to India. Where his family was during the Occupation. Future brother-in-law John Cockburn also stationed at Tanjong Rhu. How Lieutenant-General Arthur Percival surrendered to prevent further unnecessary deaths. Conditions at Tanjong Rhu. Stayed at the Vosper Thorneycroft workshops. Received orders to be stationed opposite Goodwood Park Hotel. After surrender, volunteers walked from Goodwood to Changi Prison. Some volunteers escaped during the walk. How Eurasian volunteers did not take defeat as bad as English officers. Civilians stood by and watched as soldiers passed. At least three-quarters of volunteers came from Siglap/Katong. Shooting Flaming Onions at enemy planes. Incident where artillery shell landed near him while on sentry duty near Goodwood Park. Cleaning up of bodies after bombing near Cathay Building.
Life as a Prison-of-War (POW) at Changi Prison. His section in charge of retrieving food for others. Cleaning of utensils with sea water. POWs mostly left alone. Brother-in-law George Westerhout got him out of prison by sending a car with notices from the Municipality to return to work. Slept in barracks. Rations cooked by certain cooks. Description of rations. Feelings as a POW. Girlfriend evacuated to a mountain station in India. Letters received were censored by Japanese. Return to Registry of Vehicles (ROV). Former St Joseph’s Institution (SJI) schoolmate Chia Keng Hock still working at ROV. Work at ROV carried on the same during the Occupation as before. No changes working under the Japanese administration. Japanese used upstairs of ROV office to store requisitioned tyres.
Playing sports during the Occupation. Brother and friends started Harlequins hockey team. Most members from Upper Serangoon, including the Pennyfathers and E W Barker. During this time, Singapore Football Association also started organising football games. Playing against all-India hockey team at Anson Road. How Indian team inspired locals to play. Girlfriend’s house at St Francis Road left empty during the Occupation and looted. Engaged to girlfriend before her evacuation by ship to India. Some ships were bombed and some evacuees taken as POWs. Later rented out girlfriend’s house at St Francis Road for $30 a month. Mention of a Japanese sports administrator. Incident where Harlequins won two bags of rice instead of a trophy. Made ketupats with the rice and served with curry during victory celebrations at interviewee’s house at Race Course Road. Impressions of E W Barker, who was his junior.
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Reel/Disc 7 of 8
Metadata
- 10 Feb 2010
Recording Date
- 00:56:57
Running Time
- MP3
Format
- Open Access
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Synopsis
*Strict treatment of Eurasians by Japanese during Japanese Occupation compared to other races. Origins of Eurasian community in Bahau. Interviewee did not go because he had a job at Registry of Vehicles (ROV). Two of his brothers went along with other Eurasians by goods train or lorry and later contracted malaria. How Japanese contacted Dr Charles Paglar to gather Eurasians to Bahau and how Eurasian community was happy to move. No correspondence between people in Bahau and Singapore. Description of his short visit to Seremban and Bahau. Brothers had built huts, cultivated land and reared pigs. Problem of malaria and how he contracted it. Dr Paglar provided medical services at Bahau. Description of brothers’ hut and their feelings living in Bahau. Cultivation of agriculture and rearing of poultry and pigs. How Eurasians celebrated Easter and Christmas there. Impressions of Dr Paglar. Dr Paglar treated him when he got malaria in Bahau and sister Marcia and brother-in-law George Westerhout took care of him in Singapore. Hearing the announcement of the end of war over the radio and seeing the British troops at the Padang. All Eurasians were asked to assemble at the Padang. Sentiments of the crowd. Diet during the Occupation. Japanese money was useless after the Occupation.
Changes in life after the Occupation. When Bahau community returned to Singapore. Evacuees to India returned to Singapore by ship. Then-fiancee Margaret Cockburn worked at the Censor’s Office in India. Pursuaded by brother-in-law John Cockburn to join Shell in 1946. Worked at Seletar Airfield refueling Royal Air Force (RAF) planes, bowsers and flying boats. One Christmas, refueled plane with jerry cans and sieve. Also worked at Tengah, Kallang and Sembawang airfields as crew supervisor. Main office of Asiatic Petroleum Company (later Shell) at Collyer Quay. Later in charge of refueling tankers. When in Shipping Department, sent to London for a year in 1960. Wife quit job to join him with their two children. Duties in Singapore, in charge of sending out cable instructions to tankers to proceed to Sambu Island, Indonesia or Pulau Bukom (Bukum) for refueling. Reasons for Shell sending staff to UK were related to government’s push to train locals to take over higher posts held by British. Using company scheme to take a trip to Batavia after marriage in 1947, where he stayed with wife’s cousin (Hoffman) who married a Dutchman.
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Reel/Disc 8 of 8
Metadata
- 10 Feb 2010
Recording Date
- 00:57:07
Running Time
- MP3
Format
- Open Access
Conditions Governing Access
Synopsis
*How he met his wife Margaret nee Cockburn. Description of their courtship, having confectionary and ice-cream; dining at a Chinese restaurant opposite police station at Serangoon. Incident in which he went driving with Margaret, her brother John and John’s girlfriend to Telok Kurau Road where they had noodles by the road side. Description of an occasion when he went to the Roxy Cinema. Going to the open cinema at Upper Serangoon Road before the War. Description of his wedding in 1947 at Cathedral of the Good Shepherd. Did not have to pay for the ceremony because he had been an altar boy for many years. Honeymoon in Johore, where sister-in-law lived. Returned to Singapore and immediately went up to Seremban, Negri Sembilan to play hockey for Singapore. Played in same team as Sir George (Geno) Oehlers. How sporting activities picked up after the Occupation. Reason he enjoyed playing hockey for Singapore Recreation Club (SRC) more than for the national team. Description of match against Negri Sembilan. Played cricket with Non-Benders Cricket Club when 44 years old. Reason for the name “Non-Benders”. Origins of the club, racial composition.
First child delivered by Caesarian section; wife operated on by Dr Benjamin Sheares. Reason why they only had two children. How Dr Sheares was a famous doctor at the time at Kandang Kerbau. Interviewee employed an amah to take care of the children as both he and his wife were working. Wife was formerly a school teacher and knew how to take care of children. She pampered their son but was also strict. How women in his family tended to be the disciplinarians. Description of his own parenting style. How he did not have a television in the house, and how the children would only want to watch television while the family was in London. Attending church as a family at the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd. Wife would stop by at Tekka market after service to do marketing. Description of old Tekka market. Description of his experience staying for months at Singapore General Hospital (SGH) in 1951 for possible tuberculosis after collapsing at the Padang while playing hockey for SRC. Description of his ward. Volunteer work at the Church of St Michael as a warden and altar boy. How the St Vincent de Paul Society was started to help needy people.
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