Quek You Zhen and Jolyn

Quek You Zhen:

I have 6 siblings and we grew up in a poor family. My late father was a seaman and he was always not in Singapore with us. Sometimes, he would return and leave again and would not return till a month later. At that time, all of us depended a lot on my small built late mother. My late father was tall and strong.

My late mother worked very hard to fend for all of us. She has to resort to working in a construction site, carrying pails and pails of cement up using stairs, step by step. Who took care of all of us? Sometimes, she would lock all of us at home! Imagine, we are all so well behaved, we won’t play with fire nor fight. Sometimes, she would bring us together and we would sit at one corner and see her working. That memories till now cannot be erased from my mind.

When we all started school, we did not have money to buy new textbooks nor school uniform, school bags. It was either, my late mother would pick from dustbin, cleaned it and we would use it as new. Life at that time was very very hard, but my late mother insisted that all of us must have an education and went to school.

Though life was very hard and difficult back then, we are very united and worked hard. In school. Each sibling was given 10 cents for recess time to eat. If I were to lose that 10 cents, I would have nothing for the rest of the day. There was no school bus to send/pick us from school, we walked long distances to school, rain or shine.

The greatest lesson I have learned as a child/youth, is to treasure what we have now. I’ve went through many ups and downs, successes and failures, we have built better lives and now our children have a better life, a brighter future. Stay united, reflect on how Singapore is today, continue to inculcate good value to our children to build a better Singapore for our future generation!

Jolyn:

FAMILY
I have 2 siblings - an elder sister and younger brother. My parents work regular 9-5 office jobs and so we occasionally spend time together in the evenings and during the weekends. My father loves tinkering with different items and is into DIY activities while my mother loves cooking and watching relaxing or insightful videos.

CARETAKING ARRANGEMENTS
When my siblings and I were younger, we had a helper who helped to take care of us while my parents were at work. Sometimes, my grandparents would also come over to look after us and other times such as when our helper went on holidays, our neighbour would very kindly take care of our needs before sending us to school. Occasionally, my mother would rush back from her nearby workplace during lunch-time to ensure we’re all ready for school before rushing back to work in a hurry.

SCHOOL
I really enjoyed going to school as it was a place where I can learn, have no fear of making mistakes, spend time with friends and listen to interesting stories and life lessons teachers share. As I attended the same primary school as my sister, I used her uniform and textbooks as well. I remember being given about $1 to $1.50 as pocket money each day, which was sufficient for about 2 meals - one during recess time and the other before CCA. I was in the New Media Club, where I learnt how to operate a computer, take photos and also photoshop/edit them.

ENRICHMENT
My siblings and I had the privilege of enjoying very fulfilling after-school and weekend enrichment activities - such as ballet, swimming, wushu, badminton, ballroom, piano, art classes, etc., many of which were held at the nearby community centre. We had a whale of a time and created many fond memories to look back on. My favourite back then was swimming as it made me feel free and momentarily detached from reality. I am extremely grateful for all these opportunities and am glad that I eventually grew to turn some of these activities into hobbies of mine.

Looking back, I do acknowledge that our generation has had it easier than previous ones, for which I am thankful for. I hope Singaporeans continue to stand together during both the good and tough times and extend a helping hand to one another readily because perhaps a good measure of our life will be how deeply we’ve been able to impact others with our time and energy.