Mother Care

Apr 1956

Before NTUC Fairprice and 'Bring Your Own Shopping Bag' days, women went to wet markets with a basket. Not markets neatly organised into meat, fruit, vegetable and sundry sections, mind you - they were just common grounds where anyone could come and set up shop, licence be damned. It was against such a backdrop in the 1950s that women - with more stay-at-home mums than career girls - would go about cooking, cleaning and caring for their young. This was a common sight - a mother clutching her child as she buys her necessities for the day, which she does everyday because she has neither refrigerator nor domestic helper. Singapore was still in the throes of post-war transition - British rule; a fledgling PAP, racial clashes and communist threats. But whatever their day's agenda, most people would return to both a home-cooked meal - however simple - and the children who would grow up to make Singapore what it is today.