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* Interviewee was born in 1932 at 31-A Rifle Range Road. Family background. Description of neighbourhood in the 1930s. Interviewee's family had about 4-5 acres of land. Recalled a small stream running parallel to Rifle Range Road which came from Bukit Timah hill. The kampong folks would do their washing next to the stream. Its water was very clear and young children would loiter in the stream to catch fish. The stream is still there today. Interviewee had plenty of fruit trees, such as durian, chempedak, nutmegs, rambutan, etc, on his land. Descriptions of interviewee's house. It was made up of two blocks of attap houses, including the porch. It accommodated interviewee's family of 7 siblings, a couple of amahs and a caretaker. The back portion of the house was a small laterite hill where they would burn their rubbish. They built their air raid shelter near it but it was not a good spot as there were no trees to protect the air raid shelter. The air raid shelter was merely a built-up area surrounded by sandbags.

Interviewee and family would move further into the Rifle Range Road in the middle of the night to take shelter at a neighbour's house. Interviewee's home was the property of his paternal great grandfather who had three wives. Shared that his great grandfather was a Peranakan but they hardly spoke Malay at home. They spoke Hakka as interviewee's mother was a Hakka. Recalled his mother dressed in sarong kebaya. The fruit trees were leased out to interested fruit sellers. Interviewee recalled that further up Rifle Range Road next to their land was a huge Malay kampung. Interviewee and his siblings were delivered by a midwife from the Malay kampung. The Malay villagers and Chinese farmers got along very well and shared the same washing area.

Interviewee was about 9 years old when the first air raid started. He attended St. Joseph Institute where his father was also teaching. Interviewee's father was an Air Raid Warden from the Air Raid Patrol team. His duty was to look after Bukit Timah and Bukit Panjang areas. As the shelling became more intense, interviewee's father decided to shift the family further down in town. Rented a house at Hoot Kiam Road in late 1941. Occassionally they would return to Rifle Range Road to stay. Interviewee's father got wounded during one of the air raids and was hospitalised at Singapore General Hospital for a day. He had to abandon his duties as Air Raid Warden. His father's main duty was to help in rescue work by getting people into the air raid shelters and see to it that people did not loiter around when the air raid siren was on. In areas where there were heavy shellings and people were injured, he would help them by contacting ambulance and providing first aid.

During one of the air raids when they were at Hoot Kiam Road, the bombings were quite bad. Interviewee's father felt that it was getting too close so he drove the family to Cathay Building and took refuge in the huge corridor for a couple of days. Interviewee's house at Rifle Range Road was badly looted and one of them brutally killed his St Bernard dog who tried protecting the property. They lost most of their furniture. Quiet and tense atmosphere after the British surrendered in February 1942. Execution of Chinese farmers from the Bukit Timah Chinese kampung. Why the Japanese hated the Chinese. What interviewee did on the first few days after the fall of Singapore. Recalled the Japanese banging on their door at Hoot Kiam Road one morning. Two of them entered the house with rifles and looked very fierce. They called for the men to line up. His father was told to get a few shirts and get out of the house. Interviewee's uncle bowed at the Japanese who thought he had a gun. He was kicked down the staircase. Interviewee and his brother helped his uncle to get up. The men were then brought to Stevens Road for interrogation. His father returned first that same evening and his uncle came later at night. Interviewee was glad that they were both safe but quite a number did not return at all. Interviewee's father was later sent to Bahau to look after a group of people and stayed there until the end of the Occupation.

Interviewee was thankful that the Japanese did not disturb his family when his father was not around throughout the war. In order to survive, interviewee and his brother would occassionally return to their home at Rifle Range Road to pluck fruits and tapioca and so on. To make money, his mother would fry the bananas, sweet potatoes and make some coconut cake. He and his sisters would walk from present day Grange Road to Malayan Motors, just before Dhoby Ghaut today, and sold their food. They would usually have sold all their food before they reached Malayan Motors.

After the interrogation at Stevens Road, interviewee's father was issued with a pass which said that he had been cleared. Lessons during the Japanese Occupation. The school used to give each children a loaf of starch bread daily which was usually as hard as a rock when its cold. Interviewee's mother used to cut the bread into slices, put out in the sun and deep fry them. He recalled that they had to eat one table spoon of red-palm oil daily as supplement. Interviewee attended school for a few months until the end of 1942 when the Japanese circulated a notice recruiting children to be sent to Taiwan. Interviewee's mother was afraid and stopped him from attending school.

Interviewee's aunt recommended him a job at a Japanese butai, a medical camp at Dempsey Road, as a bottle washer-cleaner. He was later promoted to make glass tubes for medicine bottles. He recounted that the job as bottle washer was quite miserable as he had a nasty and sadist boss who enjoyed punishing the young boys. When one person dropped a bottle, everyone would be asked to face and slap each other. One day he was caught by a higher Japanese officer and reprimanded. Daily routine at the Japanese butai. They would have to pass by a sentry on the way out every afternoon where they would be checked that they were not smuggling anything out of the camp.