Arrival and KD Malaya

Below are a few more of my father's memories of our time in Singapore and Malaya in the 1960s (taken from my book More Memories of Singapore and Malaya).

'Royal Navy wages, and those of the armed forces in general, were not very good pre 1965. We went to Singapore with the meagre proceeds of an old banger that we had to sell before we left. From the time we were lucky to have enough money left on a Monday to put 4 gallons of petrol in the car, which cost £1, we went to a point where we could save a bit and enjoy a comfortable lifestyle.
A married accompanied draft to a far eastern country was a dream come true. Apart from the thrill of living for 3 years in a fascinating country, it meant that I could be with my family continuously for that period. It also gave me a financial boost as I received 'overseas allowance' and several other local benefits.
None of us enjoyed the many inoculations, vaccinations etc but I suppose they were necessary. Once we were in Malaysia, we still had to have booster injections and we had to take salt tablets and anti-malaria tablets (Paludrine) regularly.

We arrived at Singapore airport as dawn was breaking with a pinkish-orange glow. Even at that time of day, the heat and humidity hit us. After formalities, we were transferred to the Straits View guest house in Johore Bahru where we stayed for several days. The local people, the food, the temperature and humidity, the different lifestyle were all a bit overpowering. My wife had a few tears and wished that she was back home. Looking back, I think that you needed at least a month to acclimatise and settle in.

When I arrived in Singapore, I was met by an Australian who was also seconded to the Malaysian Navy. Bob Beaman drove me to the shore establishment, KD Malaya. He introduced me to the other members of our group - we were all Ordnance Artificers - and various other people. The Malaysian Navy at that time had a fleet of Fast Patrol Craft and they were soon to take delivery of an ex RN frigate. Our branch was a real multi-racial crew. There was Bob the Aussie, Poon the Singapore Chinese, Sharma the Indian, a Malaysian and three English - myself, Jim, Bill and a bit later on, Ron. Bob was a tall, good looking, down to earth, Aussie. When I say good looking, I mean good looking for an Aussie! He wasn't there for very long after I arrived. I remember him mainly for the amount that he ate. Breakfast to him was a huge steak with all the trimmings. This was at the time of the troubles up-country with Indonesian incursions with Malaysia. Bob volunteered to go to the 'war zone' for six months. By serving there, he qualified for an interest free mortgage when he returned home.

Sharma was seconded from the Indian Navy. He was different to the rest of us, I suppose, because of race, religion and personality. Whatever the reason, he was hard to get along with. After the ex RN Frigate arrived, one of us had to go to sea on her for a while. Nobody fancied this with the heat and conditions on board. After an elimination process, it was decided that only three of us were eligible because of various commitments - myself, Poon and Sharma. I put each of our names in a hat with the full agreement of the other two. We then got an impartial bystander to pull out a name.
Sure enough, Sharma’s name came out. As a joke, I said, ‘It was bound to be you, Sharma, as I put your name on all of the bits of paper!’ He grabbed the lot and dashed off to the office block. It transpired that he had gone to see his Divisional Officer to complain. Of course, when they unfolded the pieces of paper, each of our names were on them. Nevertheless, he wriggled out of going. The official excuse was that he could not eat the food on board and couldn’t even eat food cooked in their pots and pans as his religion would not permit it.

Several months later, another close friend had completed his secondment and was flying back to the UK. As was the custom, he laid on food and drinks in a room behind the bar. Jim made sure that he bought everyone who came in a drink. There was curry, rice, prawns, sandwiches etc and more than enough for all. After the farewell party had been in full swing for a while, Sharma turned up. He picked up a plate and loaded it with curry, rice and prawns. For good measure, he put a couple of sandwiches on top. He then realised that he couldn’t find a fork to eat it with as they had all been used. He turned to Jim and explained his dilemma. Jim said it was no problem and picked up his own used fork, licked it clean, gave it a quick twirl in his pint of Tiger Beer and handed it to Sharma.
‘Thanks, Chief!’ he said and immediately got stuck in. After he’d cleared his plate, I said to him that I thought that he wasn’t allowed to eat the same food or food that had been prepared in other people’s pots and pans.
‘That’s right, Chief.’ he said. ‘I’ll have to do a penance.’
‘What might that be?’ I asked.
‘I’ll have to wash three times a day for a week.’ he said.
I couldn’t think of an answer to that. Nevertheless, I’ve always wondered how many times a day he washed normally.

Poon was a terrific bloke. His English was excellent although a lot of it had been learned on RN ships. As a result, he thought that some swear words were normal language. These could pop out at any time and embarrass any ladies that were around. He could speak English, Mandarin, Chinese, Hokkien Chinese and Malayan. I used to ask him what language he thought in, as he could switch from one language to another effortlessly. We came into contact with each other a lot. I knew him as a work colleague and a friend with a ready sense of humour. I remember one day when we were working at Tanjong Rhu dockyard in Singapore calling into his home. The main room as you
went in was dominated by a shrine to his ancestors. It looked very oriental with joss sticks burning. The floors were stone and many of his family slept in the same room. Their beds were simple canvas directly on to the floor. Nice and cool but pretty hard!
He came to visit us after we came back to the UK. He was standing by a ship being built in France and managed to get across. We wrote to each other for several years but eventually lost touch. I'd love to find out what happened to him. Poon was a nickname - he got called Albert Poon after a well-known Chinese racing driver. His real name sounded very Chinese but in subsequent moves, we lost his address.'

Bugs and other beasties

My father recalls the many bugs and beasties which could be found in Singapore and Malaya at the time:

'Mosquitoes were an absolute menace. They loved the fresh British meat and the whiter you were, the tastier. For the first month or two, I was bitten to bits. Mosquito coils were a blessing - a slow burning chemical compound which killed any mozzies that came close.
There were ants of all shapes and sizes and some of them could give you a nasty nip. The thing that all ants seem to have in common is their sheer industry. Any crumbs or other tit-bits which were dropped were immediately carried off. If the object was too big, they joined forces and carried it together. If there were obstacles in their way, they went around them or over them or, if it was lying on one of their main thoroughfares, they carried it out of their way. One small boy, I recall, delighted in squashing a column of ants climbing up a wall with the heel of his hand. Then, before his mother could stop him, he licked them off.
As soon as it got dark, the crickets would start their chirping making a continuous noise all night. These were accompanied by deep, resounding croaks from the frogs and toads who resided in the monsoon drains. Chit-chats, small lizards, ran up and down the walls eating moths, ants or any other insect that they could get hold of.
Cockroaches thrived in abundance but we seldom saw one indoors - perhaps this was thanks to the Amah who quickly dispatched them with her bare feet. We had a reel to reel tape recorder which we brought back home. When it eventually broke down, I took it to bits to try and fix it. Inside was a huge Bombay runner, quite dead.

The monkeys in the Botanical Gardens will be remembered by all who visited. We loved feeding them and they roamed freely throughout the grounds. I made the mistake of leaving the car window open and one of the cheeky imps repaid me for the bananas I gave him by leaving a deposit on my seat!
Hornets were common. We had a huge nest of them in our workshop in the Naval Base. We didn't bother them and they didn't bother us. However, one day an Australian engineering officer was driving along Woodlands Road. As he passed our dockyard area, a hornet flew straight up the leg of his shorts. He swerved off the road and knocked down a street sign. Fortunately, he was unhurt and not even stung.
There were also other creatures in our Naval Base. A huge monitor lizard lived under the jetty. I never saw this lizard clearly because as soon as he heard a noise, or felt the ground vibrate, he would crash away into the undergrowth. It must have been three feet long at least. They are carnivorous but are no problem to people.

A friend of mine and his workforce were clearing an area of land close to our workshop one day. As they moved a couple of empty oil drums, they came upon a King Cobra and its nest of young. Fortunately, no-one was bitten. There are about forty different types of snake in Singapore. About six of these are dangerous notably the King Cobra and the Black Cobra.
We had a snake indoors one day when I was at work. It was killed by the chap next door after my wife ran for help. I took it into work to try and get it identified with no real success. My colleague Poon said that it wouldn't harm you unless you were ill or had a heart condition. I wasn't much the wiser. Tales abounded about pythons coming ashore from merchant ships and being found after swallowing a dog.

Who could forget the huge, colourful moths at the Amah's markets up Bukit Timah Road? They were attracted by the oil lamps which lit up the stalls. Much bigger than our UK butterflies, they were lovely to see. Unfortunately, the oil lamps attracted other nocturnal visitors, many of which would bite you.'

(These excerpts come from my book 'More Memories of Singapore and Malaya')