I am 70 years old and lived in Whampoa for 40 over years. I moved here from Owen Road. I left school when I was 13 years old and started working since. I worked until 26 years old and got married. I have 3 children from my marriage. When my eldest daughter was 5 years old, my husband passed away. I was 38 years old at that time. My husband and his relatives used to own a provision shop. I stayed there with my children and looked after the shop. After it closed, I worked elsewhere and brought up my 3 children. My son and eldest daughter are married. My youngest daughter is single and living on her own. I spent my time looking after my eldest grandson when he was born. Now he’s studying overseas. I like living in Whampoa. It is convenient. I also travelled to Bukit Batok to visit my younger brothers. Or to Potong Pasir to visit my cousin. I also take part in the community centre’s activities and was in the morning exercise group before it stopped because of the virus in March. The sewing machine was a wedding dowry given by my aunt. It has been with me for over 50 years. It has been very useful over the years. I sewed the kindergarten uniforms of my children and mended their primary school uniforms. The machine has not broken down so far. Sometimes I would make simple repairs here and there. I clean the house and 5 table fans on my own. I don’t ask my daughters. I’d like to continue using the sewing machine until I’m no longer around. I’m not sure how my children will deal with it. They don’t know how to use it. They asked me to sell the sewing machine. They said it’s too big and takes up space in the flat but I wanted to keep it.

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I worked in C.K. Tang from 1956 till my retirement in 2008. It was the only job I had.

I have quite a lot of things I’ve kept over the years. Some were passed down by my mother. One of my favourite pastimes as a child was watching Cantonese opera. I am a great fan of Yam Kim Fai, Fung Bo Bo- here are the flyers for their performances. I kept all of them in the box. These are the Chinese opera newspapers. I spent my pocket money, and later when I was working, my salary on the newspapers and movie magazines. Every year, I would eagerly wait for the opera troupes from Hong Kong to come to Singapore. I watched many of them and collected the photos of the opera stars too. It’s kept in a few envelopes. I have a photo of Queen Elizabeth’s II coronation celebration in Singapore. There was a procession and the buildings and streets were lit up. They also built these arches over the street. It was very beautiful at night. I think this was in 1953. Yes, I even wrote it down behind [Jessie turned the photo over].

Here is a box containing folded paper cups I made during my spare time. I used old magazines to make them and used them during meal times or to keep small items. You know how to make? Let me show you how to fold them. [starts to demonstrate with a piece of paper]. I also make paper cranes and kept them in a container. [brings out the container and pours the paper cranes onto the coffee-table].

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I’ve stayed in Whampoa for over 20 years. I was married on the 8th day of the 8th month on the lunar calendar. The sewing machine was my marriage dowry. There was also a charcoal iron and some iron basins. It used to be operated by a foot pedal but it took up too much space and I got it converted to a hand-operated machine. This took place a long time ago. The base is very heavy. When I was younger, I made clothes with the machine… children’s clothes like pajamas, school uniforms…but not anymore now because of my eyesight. I still use the sewing machine to mend clothes, make alterations or make pillowcases. They are easier and not as complex. I also used to make curtains before Chinese New Year. I kept a blouse which I made with the machine as a memento. I put in a lot of work to make this blouse. It took me a few weeks to make. I drew the paper pattern on the floor of my former flat in Redhill. I can still wear it! I have others but gave them away to relatives going back to China. Not many people wear this kind of clothes anyway.

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I’m 66 years old. This flask belongs to my father and he left it behind after he passed away. I’m not sure where he bought it. He used the flask every day at home. He stored hot water in the flask and used it to make coffee. I helped him by filling the flask with hot water. I was thinking of throwing it away but decided not to. I kept it since but did not use it. It’s so old. I’m not sure what to do with it. I thought of this flask when I was asked to share something from the past. We used to live in Kelantan Road around 1970. My father came from China and he sold coffee for a living. I moved to Whampoa after getting married in 1976. I first stayed near the Na Tuk Kong area before moving to close to the bus terminal. After 1 year, I had to move because the place was redeveloped. I then lived near the NTUC but moved again after a few years. The housing board person told me to buy this flat since I’ve moved several times. I was introduced to this flat by an agent. I was told an aunty was selling. I bought this flat in 1998 and lived here since with my son. My husband passed away earlier. Now my son is married, and he is living elsewhere. I’m staying here alone. He will come visit me, but he has his own family and cannot come often. I have no plans for this flask. My son will not appreciate this old thing. Nowadays, people prefer more modern things. He often asked me to throw it away.

I won this radio from a lucky draw. It’s been with me for over 20 years. I listened to the radio stations 97.2, 95.8, and 933. I usually listened to the news in the morning around 7 and in the evening around 5. Sometimes I listened to songs. Last time people told me the radio will broadcast winning lottery and TOTO numbers. I used to listen when I bought lottery but stopped listening when I don’t buy anymore. I’ve not used this for a long time. The batteries ran out quite fast, and I had to keep buying them. I decided I’ll stop using. I have no use for the radio anymore.

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I’ve lived in Whampoa for 19 years. I bought this camera before I went for my overseas holiday. Since my children have all grown up, I like to take the opportunity to travel and see the world with my husband. I bought the camera in 1986 in People’s Park. We were planning to go to Thailand. I wanted to use this camera to take sceneries of my travels. I’ve not taken that many photos of people. I’m the only one using this camera. It comes with me every time I go overseas. It comes with me when I leave the hotel…like a child. I ’ve taken many photos since then. 2005 was the last time I used this camera. Around that time, I noticed not many people used cameras. I felt a bit strange using mine. People were using their phones to take photos. Some people asked me to take photos using their phones, but I did not know how to do it at that time. Since 2005, I’ve kept the camera. Even though I can still use the camera to take my photos, it is difficult to find a shop to develop them now. Last time there was one near my place. I would visit the shop to buy the film and extra batteries. Usually around 4 to 5 rolls of film. The batteries do not last long. At most 2 rolls of film before I have to change them. I don’t throw the batteries away. I used them for my clocks. You cannot use the camera when the batteries are weak. The photos will not be beautiful. I’ve also started using my phone to take photos. It is more convenient. I’ve traveled to many places since Thailand. My most memorable cities are Beijing and Xiamen. I was in my 30s at that time, and I’ve traveled to many places in China- Suzhou, Hangzhou…Tangshan. I spent a lot of money developing the photos. I still have the photos in my albums. Some photos I wrote the dates, places and stories behind. I will carefully label each roll so that I can remember where I took the photos. I will make sure everything is labelled even though the trip could be rushed. I hope this camera can pass on to my grandchildren when my children have kids. Maybe they can learn how to take photos with this camera. You cannot anyhow take. With 36 photos, you need to plan and control properly. If not it’ll be wasteful. That’s the good thing with the camera. You have to focus and will cherish the photos more. Now phones can take many photos. Those you don’t like you can delete them. I have many photos in my phone. Sometimes I do not know whether to keep or delete them. I will feel sad if I don’t have them anymore. It really gives me a headache. Here is the last roll of film. It’s been around for a while. I’ve not used it yet.

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We moved to Whampoa from St. George’s road in 2012. My supervisor gave me this set of coins. I’m not sure why. Each of us received a set each. They were brand new but I don’t think we cherished the coins much in the past. We wondered why gave us these coins and I’ve kept them since 1984. I guess I liked the design of the lion head figure on the coin and the coins reminded me of him… He was a very good person and took care of us. He liked to buy us food when we had to work overtime. He treated us like his children, all twenty over of us. I had originally wanted to work in the office but my mother discouraged me. She found this printing company job for me. My task involved hot stamping of calendar, invitation cards, Christmas cards. The busiest times were the Christmas and New Year seasons. And Valentine’s Day too. We bought a small cake for him to celebrate his birthday. He was very happy and his happiness moved us very much too. I guess he was touched since he was not married and had no children. We were like a family working together…took our afternoon break chatting over tea. He loved to drink coffee and asked if anyone wanted coffee. He would give us money to buy coffee, cakes and biscuits. It was not easy to find such a person in the workplace now. One of my favorite times was the day before the Chinese New Year. We had to clean our machines and I was very happy doing it. It was a half-day workday and we left the factory once the task was completed. When work resumed on the 4th day of the Chinese New Year, we had a buffet lunch and received a red packet. Inside the red packet was this set of coins. I was told I could sell the $1 coin for $10 but I won’t sell even if it increased to $50. I will forget him if I sold the coins. I might give them to my children but what if they sold them? I kept the coins in this special purse, and the purse is locked up in the cupboard. I have not told my children this story or showed them the coins. Next time I’ll share the story with them. I can still vividly remember his face now. He was quite plump… like the Mi-Lo-Fwo. He was very jovial…he loved to laugh. Every time we came to work, we would see him at is desk. If we had any questions we would ask him. He was a Cantonese and his name was Wong. We called him Wong-san. I learned the Cantonese language from him. He even pronounced my name in the Cantonese style…he called me Ah Tum. I have not used this name for a long time. Now I used Joyce but the elders find it difficult to say ‘Joyce’. So I use Ah Tum again when I’m with them. My supervisor was also quite good in scolding us, like whenever we made a mistake. He would often doze off at his desk while wearing his spectacles. We had to be extra careful when we needed to wake him to avoid scaring him. If he were alive, he would be in his 90s. He was already in his 60s when he gave us the coins. I have not kept in touch with him since I left the printing company after working there for 9 years.

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I have lived in Whampoa for around 38 years. I moved here in 1999. Before that, I was staying around Bukit MRT area with my father and mother. I lived there since I was 4 years old. I have 11 brothers and sisters. I had to help my mother take care of them, bathing…washing clothes…till my hands had blisters. So, I stopped studying after primary 4. There were some old houses there in the past. My father had a stall selling herbal soup. In the 80s, there was a TV series called Xiao Fei Yu (Small Flying Fish). They shot some scenes near my father’s stall. It’s hard work running the stall. There are many things to prepare in the morning even though the stall opened in the afternoon. We all helped out. He closed his stall in 1985 when the government moved everyone to the hawker centre. The stall was small over there and he was also getting old. After he retired, he travelled to China often. I also accompanied him to his hometown in Southern China.

My second daughter bought the wristwatch for me when she received her pay. My daughter studied computer science and she worked in the same industry after graduation. The watch is at least 23 years old. It is made in Japan and is still in very good working condition and looks new. I keep the watch in the box. It has another layer of protective sponge. I wear the watch during special occasions. My elder daughter would buy me clothes and the youngest daughter bought me an arm massager. They usually buy me something on their pay days.

After my husband passed away in 2007, I took in a mao mao (cat) from the ground floor. He is very smart. Look at the photos! (Showing the cat playing with the shoes). My daughter will comb his hair. One day, he refused to eat. We took him to the vet and he stayed there for a night. After visiting 3 vets, it was found that he had a cancerous tumor in one of his legs. He was later put to sleep by the vet. After his cremation, we spread his ashes in the sea.

I’m used to this place. If you asked me to live in Punggol, I will be lost. I will stay at home and slowly lose my mind. Here, I can go to Kwong Wai Sui to take part of the activities for seniors. I am a member there. Every year, I make a donation..$50, $100…There are exercises, and an elder care centre. It’s only a few steps from my home. You can stay there for the day, watch TV, play mahjong or chat with friends. I recall during one Mid-Autumn Festival, the MP (Member of Parliament) sang an old Cantonese song by 許冠傑 (Sam Hui Koon Kit) on stage.

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I’d like to share with you my collection of objects from my wedding dowry. They remind me of my marriage. Like this sewing machine. My mother told me she used my savings of $300 to buy the sewing machine for me. Wedding dowry was a must. My mother bought all these objects. I was only 17 years old at that time. I left school when I was 15 years old, learned how to sew at 16, and got married at 17. My mother told me not to study so much. She used the money instead for my younger brother’s education.

My mother found my future husband for me. He was born in Singapore but lost his parents when he was three years old. His uncle, who was a camera repairman, sent him to China and he grew up there. He came back to Singapore when he was around six and later learned to be a photographer. We met in the apartment that we rented from his uncle. He and his brother opened the Rainbow Studio. His work included studio shots, outdoor shootings, and for advertising. In the 80s, slides were popular. He took a lot of photos of us until his stroke in the 2000s. Nowadays you cannot see the actual photo. I don’t like that. The three rooms in my apartment are filled with photos.

I studied in a Chinese school and later transferred to an English school because we were told it was better. I used a little bit of English when I helped out in my husband’s studio. So this object [points to the ruler embedded in a pot filled with rice] was used the night before the wedding. The marriage dowry included a metal spittoon too but it became rusty after all these years. This basket was used to hold the pastries on the wedding day. There would be cakes and sweet biscuits. On the wedding day, I had to offer tea to my parents-in-law. This ritual took place in the mornings for over a month. This is the bed head lamp. It came as a pair but one was broken.

This is a dress that I wore on the shang tou [hair combing ritual] night, before my wedding day. I made it by myself. I made the dress I wore during the dinner at night too. Out of all these objects, my favorite is the wedding dress. I cannot wear this anymore. My body cannot fit into the dress now, but I could not bear to part with them. On the day of the wedding I had to wear the dress in the hot weather. It was so hectic, rushing from wedding registration to the studio. When we took the wedding photos, I could hardly smile. And I did not have money to buy a lipstick. I used a rouge paper and applied it on my lips. But for the evening dinner, my aunty helped me with my make-up.

Nowadays the younger generation will not cherish these objects. My daughter-in-law said I could donate to the government. I have already given some to my younger brother. One of my great grandsons loves to collect heritage objects. He wanted to start writing an ancestry book. He asked me about my past, my father and mother. He came every weekend to look through the old photos and took some home to keep.

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I am 78 years old this year. I’ve lived in Whampoa for over 40 years. My eldest son was born here. I used to live in the old, crowded houses in Muar Road and relocated here when the government moved us. We chose this small flat because we were poor. This home is very convenient and I wouldn’t want to move. My legs are painful. I don’t have to walk far to buy food from across the street. I try to stay independent and not bother my children. Their lives are stressful already. Tsao Foundation organises a lot of activities. I don’t feel bored. They keep me busy. This perfume bottle belongs to my jia po (mother-in law). If she were alive, she would have been over a 100 years old. It reminds me of my jia po. This is what she had because she was from a poor family. She left the perfume bottle for me to use but I don’t use perfume. I’m not used to perfume. So there is still quite a lot left. The scent is very strong. I think a lot of people now may not be used to this scent. I find the glass bottle very interesting. If I’m not here anymore, most probably the perfume bottle will be thrown away. My children won’t use it. I’m happy to donate if anybody wants it. As a souvenir from the past. My mother also had one quite similar to this. It’s also very old. I’m not sure if she bought it here. It was already with her. She came here from China. My mother is from Malaysia.

This a buttonholer. You attach it to the sewing machine. I think it’s still available now. You can make different sizes of button holes by turning and adjusting the knob.

Here is a photo of my mother taken in Malaysia. It was taken in a photo studio. She was 20 years old at that time. Her name is Soo Si Mei. She was an only child and was adopted. I cherish this photo and don’t want to throw it away. I have 3 other sisters. They are still in Malaysia. The oldest is over 90 years old. I visit them a few times every year in Ipoh. But I can’t go back this year and rely on the phone to keep in touch. My son sets up video chats for me. We had a party and sang birthday songs. I also have relatives in other parts of Malaysia, like KL. If I travel to Ipoh, I would make stops along the way to visit them. I came from a big family. I have 7 brothers and sisters. I also have relatives in the U.S., U.K., and China together with my sister and her daughter. I visit China very often. U.K. is the only country I’ve not been to. I went to California in The U.S. to visit my sister’s daughter 2 years ago. After that I travelled to Canada to visit my daughter. She went there to study, work and got married. She’s staying in Winsor, a small city. I prefer Toronto. It’s busier. One trip is enough for me. It was 26 hours but we stopped over in South Korea before flying to the U.S. and Canada. I don’t like the U.S but enjoyed the food. I loved the cheese pizza. My daughter asked me to move to Canada but I refused. I’ll be very bored there. It’s very cold too.

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“This ruler was passed to me from my mother-in-law in Meizhou city in Guangdong province, China. It has seen five generations—my mother-in-law, myself, my son, my grandson, and my great-grandson. It was brought over by my husband when he came over to Singapore when he was young. His mother, a Hakka descendent, had already passed away in China. I first saw this object when I was 18 years old. I think it is very hard to find this kind of object these days. So, I treasure it very much.

Each time I see this object, I think about my husband. Previously, I used it to measure cloth when I was sewing and tailoring clothes. The ruler used the old measurement system from China. Women in the past would spend most of their time sewing and doing household chores. My children have seen this object before and I intend to leave it to my daughter-in-law and grandchildren. It has a lot of history and should be preserved and kept.”

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