I WAS born five years after Singapore’s independence. My late father came from Malacca in his teenage years to work for Singapore Traction Company which operated trams. It was a blue-collar job that required him to stand under the hot sun and in the rain to operate a system which decided the direction the trams would take.
When Singapore Bus Services started, he joined them as a bus conductor before being promoted to bus driver. Our first house was a rented one-room flat which meant that there were no bedrooms, just a living room and kitchen with a bathroom and toilet.
At night, we would take out the mattresses to sleep in the living room and when morning came, the mattresses would be folded...
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