To those who went through the hard times in the 50s/60s/70s and even the 80s

[wikiphile]

Hi bros

I noticed that a lot of you guys who grew up in the 50s to 70s did not had it easy. Even a piece of broken biscuit made many poor kids happy for it was all they could get for a treat. A senior of mine once commented on how easy my generation had it, even something as simple as washing water had to come from somewhere and not from a tap.

Please share your stories?

p.s. Even GMS can share his stories as long is not political here, though i doubt he has anything interesting. Prove me wrong can?

 

[erection2015]

yes bro ...most families were like mine....struggling to make ends meet. Stayed in a rented place for a large part of my childhood and even into my teens.

Shared 1 room with 2 brothers while my sis shared the other with my parents....and we weren't even considered poor.

Gave tuition in the 60s to supplement my pocket money. Got 50 cents each time i helped my neighbour's kids with english and math.

50 cents may not seem much now but it was exactly what i got from my dad every week for pocket money so if i gave this tuition then

my pocket money was doubled for that week.

Will try to recall more and post again if something comes to mind.

Hi bros

I noticed that a lot of you guys who grew up in the 50s to 70s did not had it easy. Even a piece of broken biscuit made many poor kids happy for it was all they could get for a treat. A senior of mine once commented on how easy my generation had it, even something as simple as washing water had to come from somewhere and not from a tap.

 

[Equalisation]

Agree.

It was indeed hard and torturous for me in the 1940s during the Jap Occupation.

I was 3 or 4 years old then. Had to run to bomb shelter every now and then and also ate tapioca for most of our meals.:(

 

[gz0707]

went to neighborhood school, no chauffeured car rides. during rainy days, we put our shoes into plastic bags and carried these to school to be changed later. walked through the rain in slippers.

 

[Cruxx]

You young people don't know how lucky you are today. Majulah PAP!

 

[wikiphile]

Agree.

It was indeed hard and torturous for me in the 1940s during the Jap Occupation.

I was 3 or 4 years old then. Had to run to bomb shelter every now and then and also ate tapioca for most of our meals.:(

lu sudah tua liao, WWII stories!

 

[erection2015]

ya ..from what i recall of previous posts....bro equalisation and windsor are all in their 60s. Some others too. Wait for them to contribute

to this thread.

lu sudah tua liao, WWII stories!

 

[yinyang]

..struggling to make ends meet. Stayed in a rented place for a large part of my childhood and even into my teens. Shared 1 room with 2 brothers while my sis shared the other with my parents....and we weren't even considered poor.
Gave tuition in the 60s to supplement my pocket money.

You more fortunate (relatively). Old man a lowly truck driver. Moved out when I was 18, stayed in tiny rented (windowless) room with 2 other bums in old shophouse opposite old national theatre. Once, pocket money ran out, and too proud to ask for "bridging loan", rather go hungry for 3 days. One night, stole egg and stale bread from neigbour tenant but darn needed boiling water to do the yakun. Awful common loo and bathroom ..so used to pay princely 20cts for public swimming pool (across river valley rd) for a dip and shower. :o Entertainment was free shows from behind national theatre (Straydogs and Pest Infested era)

Fast forward a bit, also gave tuition. Kns, some lazy students (Indon chinese) can sometimes ask to ponteng see movie (suit my skiving too, chiao sng (still count in tab). Reward meself with a decent ze char then.

At 19/20, tried to date a chio chabor on bus. Got to her, but kns when she ask got wheels ---> zapped my ego. No dice:o

 

[Glaringly]

Am I the only one feeling the reverse.

Give me the life back in the 60s 70s, though tough but you don't feel so much pressure living in the rudimentary 90s 00s where everything is a race.

I am lucky, not my kids.

 

[Raiders]

yes bro ...most families were like mine....struggling to make ends meet. Stayed in a rented place for a large part of my childhood and even into my teens.

Not bad already lah. At least now you upgrade to a 3 room hdb flat. From rented become leasehold

 

[wikiphile]

You more fortunate (relatively). Old man a lowly truck driver. Moved out when I was 18, stayed in tiny rented (windowless) room with 2 other bums in old shophouse opposite old national theatre. Once, pocket money ran out, and too proud to ask for "bridging loan", rather go hungry for 3 days. One night, stole egg and stale bread from neigbour tenant but darn needed boiling water to do the yakun. Awful common loo and bathroom ..so used to pay princely 20cts for public swimming pool (across river valley rd) for a dip and shower. :o Entertainment was free shows from behind national theatre (Straydogs and Pest Infested era)

Fast forward a bit, also gave tuition. Kns, some lazy students (Indon chinese) can sometimes ask to ponteng see movie (suit my skiving too, chiao sng (still count in tab). Reward meself with a decent ze char then.

The Mohammed Sultan side shophouses bro along River Valley Road?

 

[Raiders]

ya ..from what i recall of previous posts....bro equalisation and windsor are all in their 60s. Some others too. Wait for them to contribute

to this thread.

Theres only 3 chinese words t describe the 3 of you? Start with 老

 

[erection2015]

Aiya ...why didnt you stay in this rented place with 2 other chios or at least milfs? Life would have been more enjoyable and since windowless then no

one can ''catch dog '' when you doing your stuff.

Straydogs ? Pest Infested ?........that describes many of the guys here :p

Moved out when I was 18, stayed in tiny rented (windowless) room with 2 other bums in old shophouse opposite old national theatre. (Straydogs and Pest Infested era)

.

 

[erection2015]

oi ..i'm 58 not 85 leh :o

Theres only 3 chinese words t describe the 3 of you? Start with 老

 

[yinyang]

The Mohammed Sultan side shophouses bro along River Valley Road?

Yo, side lane Ord road. Now unrecognisable Clarke Q. And entertainment was jalan to Peoples Park

Below was teochew muay shop, with porrigde going 5cts (rice 10cts). But best part was 3 swee teochew muay. Ooooh, so sweet ah hia. Oops too much info:p

 

[erection2015]

your info not updated lah......i went back to 2 room rental flat a few months ago.

Not bad already lah. At least now you upgrade to a 3 room hdb flat. From rented become leasehold

 

[erection2015]

No dice and no dive into her too i guess.

.

At 19/20, tried to date a chio chabor on bus. Got to her, but kns when she ask got wheels ---> zapped my ego. No dice:o

 

[Raiders]

Yo, side lane Ord road. Now unrecognisable Clarke Q. And entertainment was jalan to Peoples Park

Below was teochew muay shop, with porrigde going 5cts (rice 10cts). But best part was 3 swee teochew muay. Ooooh, so sweet ah hia. Oops too much info:p

Ellenborough street?

 

[sleaguepunter]

those born in the 70s experience the transitions of the nation. i remember having bus conductors/ticket sellers then bus turn into OMO. from coin based fare to stored value magnetic card. first few years of my life in rural setting then grew up in hdb. i was from the era where third kid was discourage but by the time my cousins were born, the more the merrier. i had to enrol to a far away kampong school because i am the third kid wheras my cousin had problem enrolling because he is the first child. i had to spend an hour and take two buses just to reach school. That why i apply for a bus concession card in primary 1. i was the only one in primary 1 that apply for it. The bus stamp if i remember correctly was $5-$7. Even NS also transition, secondary class mate who went JC enlist one yr earlier than me have leopard crawl, change parade to almost everything ban when i enlist one yr later. i started with army cooks operated cookhouse to ntuc foodfare/sfi cookhouse. ORDed in M113 but MRed in Bionix.

i went around kampong to collect beer bottles to sell back to cak-i (provision shop) for 10cent a piece. Even soft drink bottles also can sell but not as much. also sell ma bill bo for newspaper vendor and even manned the newspaper stand b4 for $6 a nite from 5pm till whatever time the newspaper man come to collect back the unsold newspapers. Also keep old newspapers then sell to the fruit distributor for 20-30 cents a kilo. those days paper cost more. load the newspaper with a trolley borrowed from the fruit distributor and push it back to sell the bundled old newspaper. i also work as hawker assistant too, served food, collect back the utensils and wash them. what to do, family no money mah...

 

[cunnilaubu]

Theres only 3 chinese words t describe the 3 of you? Start with 老

Do you mean 老 Ham Ku or 老 Yao Siew?