A glimpse of No. 154

No. 154 is the number of our grandfather’s house on Jalan Ngee Heng that was once home to the Ng family and members of the extended family who used to lodge with our grandparents.

Group photo at our parents' wedding banquet held
on the badminton court at No. 154 Jalan Ngee Heng;
Group posed at the court side arranged on the driveway!

They were others who lodged at 154 before my siblings and I lived with our grandparents in Johor Baru while our parents were based in Masai for work.

Our fellow lodgers at 154 were cousin Philip while his parents were working with the Kota Tinggi Hospital and cousin Malcolm, whose parents were based in Penang.

With the current Movement Control Order (MCO) enforced here and lockdowns happening in countries like Singapore, Australia and the United Kingdom, family members are staying home and staying connected by looking up old photographs and reminiscing about a bygone era.

As we shared memories of life in grandfather’s house, we fondly refer to it as 154.

The sharing of old photos is certainly a healthy pastime for everyone who are staying home in compliance with the MCO and over the days (Day 23 in Malaysia!) we are discovering exciting rare shots from each other’s collections.

View of the long driveway at 154;
Aunty Elizabeth [Left] and Aunty Polly
seated, eating langsat fruits

A day ago, I was amused to receive a batch of Black-and-White photos from Uncle Arthur who, I believe, couldn’t resist but joined in by digging through his own collection to share with the family.

“Hello!” said Uncle on the WhatsApp chat, “Here are a few snaps that might interest you. See if you can make out where the four picnic photos were taken. My mother was still so young!” he added.

I recognised everyone in the photos taken at the picnic, including our very young-looking grandmother, who was very much part of these organised family outings.

Grandmother – whom I had dubbed, The Real Champion – lived to a ripe old age of 103 and it was sometimes difficult for junior family members to think of her as young and vibrant until we see her in these old photographs!

On such family trips, there was always a sharp-eyed camera-person who would inevitably shoot a candid shot of something horribly embarrassing (that would haunt you later in life…)

This one was of my brother – then a scrawny little kid – in a shot that showed his full-frontal naked bottom-half-of-body as mum was dressing him after his swim!

Uncle Victor with the badminton court behind him

While my sister guessed the picnic was at Ayer Papan in Mersing, cousin Bernice (now a mother of two sons) jumped in with a sarcastic question, “No shame ah?”

Another set of photos showed Uncle with his then girlfriend (now wife) on a visit to Penang on a sight-seeing outing with Malcolm’s parents who lived there.

Malcolm was delighted to see these precious photographs of his late parents because he had never seen them before.

This photo-sharing and exchanges of comments soon flooded my phone and I had to quickly download to clear some storage space because I anticipate more photos from aunties, uncles and cousins who have clearly caught the sharing-old-photos bug.

As I was taking a closer look at these shots, I decided to separate them into various collections and share them in My Johor Stories so that family members who have never been to 154 (the building has been demolished!) nor experienced life there, may catch a glimpse of what we are reminiscing about.

Aunty Polly behind the counter at Universal Pharmacy

Besides dad, who had a hobby in photography and thus had a vast collection of family photos, these old photos were probably from Uncle Victor, who was a member of his school’s Photography Club and skilled in handling a sophisticated camera to capture quality shots.

Uncle’s collection of photos of the Johor Chingay, an annual street parade which used to pass by our house on a route from Jalan Ngee Heng onto Jalan Trus to the Johor Old Temple, have provided excellent visual support for my stories on Johor’s Temple of Unity and its traditions.

Back then, Jalan Ngee Heng spanned from the junction of Jalan Kebun Teh Lama to the junction of Jalan Gereja.

A rare shot of the old kitchen-dining hall at 154;
Aunty Polly [Centre] with Aunty Sylvia [Right] and me!

From the upstairs windows of 154, we could watch this colourful, pulsating parade because it was the regular route for the Johor Chingay to and from the Old Temple to a temporary shrine, now known as Xin Kong, located at Jalan Ulu Ayer Molek.

Some of the earlier photos were probably by dad while the more recent (compared to the ancient!) photos were by Aunty Polly, who had a trusty little instamatic camera.

Readers who are familiar with my story, Han Su-yin and JB Connection, have been introduced to Aunty, who used to work as a sales assistant with Universal Pharmacy.

This modern pharmacy (the building was also demolished) was located along Jalan Ibrahim where Dr Elizabeth Comber, a Eurasian medical doctor who’s pen-name was Han Su-yin, used to work in the clinic upstairs.

Aunty Polly, helping grandmother in the old kitchen

As for the formal family photos in our albums, I guess they were taken by professional photographers who used wide-lens cameras.

An example is that group shot at our parents’ wedding banquet, an event which was held on the badminton court at 154.

Yes, the banquet was set up on the court.

From a series of photos, I saw that round banquet tables were set up on the court for guests to dine course by course, pretty much the way Chinese restaurants would serve the banquet meal.

In those days, teams of cooks would cater for banquets by cooking live from an on-site kitchen set up at the dining venue.

An aerial view of 154 during its renovation; Note the
tall bamboo fence on the front and side of the property;
Also the back windows of rooms upstairs and downstairs.

There were probably few restaurants big enough to host a large banquet back then or maybe it was more fun to host this celebration at home!

Even from these old photos, we obviously have a treasure trove of memories from grandfather’s house.

Now this double-storey bungalow and its entire compound with a long driveway and a badminton court, are part of Jalan Tun Abdul Razak.

The property was acquired by the Government for development and after the expressway was built, what was left of our former home was just part of our driveway.

An enterprising warung operator set up his food-stall here and under the fronds of a shady tree, his business developed as customers from this area became regulars.

In the renovated kitchen-dining hall; Aunty Polly and Aunty
Sylvia laying the table for a meal with grandmother
at the built-in cabinets [in the background]

Recently I drove pass the site of our former home and saw that the warung had expanded its business premises and the ground under the matured tree was leveled with floor tiles!

Two grainy old photos with scenes in grandmother’s kitchen reminded me of the kitchen in the rear section downstairs that was constructed in wood.

I remember grandmother used to cook using traditional charcoal stoves (for slow-boiled soups!) and kerosene stoves, that were then considered a modern invention.

Her two younger daughters, Aunty Polly and Aunty Sylvia, were helpful in the kitchen and when my sisters and I lived with our grandparents, we were also trained by grandmother through being assigned various kitchen duties.

Grandfather [Left] with Uncle Robert and his wife,
Aunty Helen; Note the big sink and draining board
where we washed many, many dishes!

While we, the grandchildren, were living at 154, three aunties and three uncles who were still single, also lived with our grandparents.

So while grandmother managed the home by catering meals and doing the laundry, we had the experience of folding clothes, serving meals and washing up for this large group of people.

I remember that Uncle Arthur, who was then attached to the Royal Malaysian Navy, would only be home occasionally when he was on furlough.

Bear in mind that houses were designed without the convenience of ensuite bathrooms or toilets because back then there was still no proper sewage system.  

This house had a bucket toilet located close to the back gate and I recall being awakened by crashing noises in the wee hours of the morning when the night-soil collectors came in their truck to remove the bucket and replace it with an empty one.

View of the round-about from our open balcony on rainy
day; Note the partially submerged cars in the flood!

Meanwhile, children were discouraged from using the toilet to avoid the danger of missing a step and falling into the bucket… and this very thought kept us obedient to grandmother’s instruction to use the traditional chamber pot instead.

In fact, each room in the house was assigned a chamber pot and this privy convenience was especially useful at night because our room was located upstairs.

In our (children’s) room, there was a duty roster for each one to take turns in bringing the potty into our room at bedtime and in emptying the potty in the morning. This was a deeply humbling experience as we learnt to serve one another.

In the 1960s, the double-storey bungalow at 154 underwent a major renovation where the kitchen and bathrooms were reconstructed in bricks, complete with modern toilets that used the flush system.

On the balcony posing on the water storage tank; [L to R]
Pearly, our mother, Aunty Sylvia, [Seated] Kenneth and
Ruby, Aunty Polly [Right] Cousin Malcolm and me are
squeezed under the tank!

The renovated section of the ground floor had a flat roof which created an open balcony with a water storage tank, the only structure up here.

A door upstairs opened to this concrete platform and a window from our room also opened to this platform. Sometimes, we would climb out through this window…  

From this vantage point we enjoyed a panoramic view of the upper section of Jalan Ngee Heng, Wisma Gim Shew and the motor workshop behind, a section of Jalan Tebrau opposite that led uphill from the round-about (with a petrol station) and another road which led downtown to Jalan Wong Ah Fook.

The construction of Jalan Tun Abdul Razak that used to lead directly to the former Causeway checkpoint into Singapore, resulted in the demolition of 154 and the removal of the round-about, which changed the entire landscape here.

Grandfather relaxing in the sitting room [TV next to him!]
with someone else - only his knee can be seen!

The row of pre-war shophouses next to 154 remains standing to this day but the bungalows on the site next to No. 163 (last unit on this row) were also demolished and in its place, the former Tropical Inn hotel was built.

The rows of terrace houses opposite 154 were then demolished and Wisma Maria was built on this site.

The row of shophouses close to the junction where Jalan Ngee Heng meets with Jalan Gereja were also demolished and this site is now occupied by the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel.

As the city developed, the length of Jalan Ngee Heng from the junction of Jalan Kebun Teh Lama to the former Causeway checkpoint was renamed Jalan Tun Abdul Razak, an expressway that was further extended into an interchange where the former round-about was situated.

Now Jalan Ngee Heng is just a short road that spans between the junction of Jalan Gereja to Wisma Maria, where the road joins with Jalan Tun Abdul Razak.

To be continued. Look out for the next exciting episode…