My father was a poor immigrant kid. He was intelligent but instead of concentrating on his studies .He played truant at school.

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His priority was to help make money to support the family. His hangout was the famous Bugis Street. His teachers (brothers of Catholic order) were fond of him but had to cane him for truancy. My father was "cane smart". He was allowed to choose the size of cane for the punishment. He chose the thicker cane as the finer cane inflicted a lot more pain. His teachers had a soft spot for him because he was very athletic, cheeky and ebullient and his ‘never say die attitude.” He was a sprinter and ways won trophies for the school.

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The highlight of the year was 1st January of every year during the colonial days. There will be 100 metre dash for teenage boys to celebrate New Year’s Day. This took place at the iconic Padang. The race was run on grass as the participants were so poor they could not afford shoes. It was survival of the fittest. There was a lot of pushing and shoving to get to the starting line. My father had the speed and always won the race. His prize money was 3 new crisp $1. He gave $1 to his mother and kept $2 for himself. He was the sensible filial son.$1 bought many things in those days.

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My father had a wonderful likeable personality and was always the life and soul of any event.

My father’s indomitable spirit was extinguished by stomach cancer at a relatively young age of 67.