Bernice dear,
Let me continue from where I left off about you, our
Miracle Baby because sharing this is an affirmation of God’s goodness and
mercies towards you and your family.
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| Aunty Polly with baby Bernice on your One Month Old celebration at 154 |
When you were old enough to understand, I believe your
parents may have shared this Miracle Baby incident with you. It was then buried
away because the horror of this traumatic incident was just too painful and
ugly to bear.
When I discovered this set of photographs among the
collection of photos by Uncle Victor, I couldn’t help getting vivid flashbacks
to that awful night at 154.
The impressive quality of these Black-and-White shots
have kept so well since 1972 and they serve as a firm record of what happened
to you and your mother on that unforgettable night.
These photos are proof that it was truly God’s Mighty
Hand that shielded you and your mother, and of course, Saroja the helper, from
harm.
Ber, I was there too, and this is my version shared to
give thanks and praise to GOD Almighty for preserving you and your dear mother
through that ghastly incident.
I’m also sharing this with a SERIOUS WARNING to
drinkers who drive under the influence of alcohol, to remind them to NEVER EVER
drive after a few drinks.
Alcohol in the body will cause drinkers to lose
control of their faculties and they are in NO condition to drive a motor
vehicle. So please say NO to Drink-Driving!
 |
| Aunty Polly feeding baby Bernice; She is seated on the low bed inside the bedroom. |
Grandfather’s house at No. 154 Jalan Ngee Heng, was a
double-storey bungalow with an adjacent badminton court that was surrounded by
tall bamboo bushes growing through the wire fence, to keep breezes out during
badminton training.
The downstairs section of this bungalow was
constructed in bricks and concrete while the staircase and upstairs section was
built of wood. After the building renovation, the kitchen, bathrooms and
toilets downstairs were rebuilt in bricks.
My mother told me that during World War Two, the
family left the house to hide from the Japanese invaders and this property was
left in the charge of a caretaker.
Built of such sturdy materials, this old house
survived the ravages of war and later when it was safe to return to town, the
family moved back to 154.
Jalan Ngee Heng was then a two-way main road in Johor
Baru for motor vehicles and public buses so while we lived at 154, we got used
to the street sounds of motorists passing to and fro, from early morning till
late at night.
The road behind 154 led to a round-about with roads
that branched out to Jalan Tebrau, downtown to Jalan Wong Ah Fook and to the
Causeway into Singapore.
It was a busy thoroughfare and every now and then, we would
hear cars hooting or screeching to a sudden halt and sometimes it would end
with a loud crash followed by heated arguments when vehicles happened to
collide.
Whenever we heard a loud crash, it was normal for us to
head to the nearest window upstairs to watch the altercation with morbid interest
for any bloodshed, violence or gore, and to see if the parties settled the
matter or if the Police would be involved.
As you know Ber, your mother welcomed you into the
world in the absence of your father, who was then in Tasmania, Australia, on a
Government study scholarship.
I’m sure he dearly wished to be by your mother’s side
as she advanced in her first pregnancy, but they had reached a brave decision
for him to proceed with the study course because it was a rare opportunity to be
awarded such a scholarship.
Grandfather and grandmother were thrilled to have you
at 154 and we, your cousins, were happy to have the newest addition to the
family in the house for us to play with.
Our second sister, Pearly, was gifted in caring for
others so your mother would entrust you into her care quite confidently. (Her
skills were put to good use because later she qualified as a nurse in the UK
and enjoyed a long and exciting career there.)
Your mother also had Saroja, a helper who stayed in
the same room with the both of you, ready to lend a hand especially when you
got up for feeds at night.
Your mother and Saroja slept on two single beds that
were arranged end-to-end, with both beds lined against the right wall of the
room, and the higher bed was placed closest to the room door.
In the room, your baby cot was placed parallel to your
mother’s bed, the lower one (used by Uncle Billy when this was his room), arranged
close to the back wall.
Back then, houses were designed with strategically
placed windows for cross-ventilation because people lived with natural
ventilation and there was no such thing as ceiling fans or air-conditioners.
There was probably an electric table fan to use but
during the confinement month, the new mother was traditionally not encouraged
to expose herself to any wind.
If grandmother were to sit down to relax, she would be
steadily waving a hand fan to cool herself down. Hers was usually a strong satay
fan that carried more wind. So, if your mother felt warm, she only had a hand fan
to cool herself.
At night, the room windows were closed to keep out
mosquitoes and other insects and on most nights, the double-doors of your bedroom
downstairs would be closed.
But on that unforgettable night, it was just too warm,
so the room doors were left open to allow more air to circulate from the
sitting room and hall.
It happened that Aunty Annie and her baby, Derek, were
staying at 154 because her husband was then based in Batu Pahat for work.
It also happened that Uncle Arthur was home because
the next morning he was to head to Kuala Lumpur to represent the Royal
Malaysian Navy in a badminton tournament.
I have mentioned that Grandmother dubbed Uncle, “Tah
Poh Wan Sek,” meaning he played badminton for a living, because he often
represented the Navy in this game.
There was plenty of room at 154 so Aunty Annie and her
son slept in the Girls’ room with Aunty Sylvia and our eldest sister Ruby,
while Uncle Arthur slept on a canvas bed, set up in Uncle Victor’s room
upstairs.
It was an ordinary school night for us, the children,
who prepared for bed after doing our homework and studies because the next
morning was a school day. So, the four of us, Philip and Kenneth, Pearly and I,
went to bed in the Children’s room.
As usual, Uncle Arthur, Uncle Victor, and other
players were at badminton training on the court while the grandparents would watch
television before turning in for bed after the News.
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| The force of this crash that brought the fence down [under the car!] and through the brick wall into this bedroom at 154; The solid window frame is resting on the car; A chilling sight of the baby pram... |
Just as they did in the previous weeks since you and
your mother returned from the hospital, Aunty Polly and Saroja settled you down
for bed after your feed.
The uncles were probably the last people to turn in
for the night and then everyone in 154 were in bed, drifting off to slumberland.
All of us were already in deep sleep when we were
rudely awakened by such a shockingly loud bang that I thought it even shook our
bed.
From such a loud bang, we naturally assumed that it was a nearby collision
and instinctively got up to open the back window to have a look.
Aunty Annie, who was sleeping in the Girls’ room
located directly above your mother’s confinement room, heard the loud bang and
she too felt her bed shake.
She too jumped up and opened the back window in their
room almost the same time as we, the children in the next room had thrown open our
window to look outside.
But in our initial scan of the panoramic view, there
was no sign of any collision.
It was Aunty Annie’s screams that drew our eyes downwards
and we were momentarily stunned when we saw the back of a car sticking out of
the wall of the room directly below hers!
Fearful that the upstairs room might collapse, Aunty
Annie immediately grabbed her son and rushed downstairs.
The shocking realization that no collision happened on
the road but that a car had crashed INTO our house, galvanized us to move and all
of us rushed downstairs.
A cloud of smokey dust had arisen from the rubble
which obstructed our vision in the pitch darkness and our nostrils were greeted
by the pungent smell of a mixture of concrete/brick dust, vegetation (broken bamboo!)
and petrol.
Aunty Annie urgently called out instructions to open
the front door and windows because she was worried that there might be an
explosion.
Power supply was suddenly shut off because electricity
cables were suddenly severed, and this overwhelming darkness added to our fear.
I am unclear about the sequence of events because
everything happened so quickly. But the situation was simply chaotic.
I heard voices of grandfather and grandmother but as
children who might get in the way, we stood aside (trembling in fear!) while
the uncles dashed ahead into the horrific scene.
 |
| The lower bed, on which Aunty Polly was asleep, had been shoved under the higher bed by the impact of the crash! |
When they saw the bonnet of the car half-way INSIDE
the bedroom with a layer of bamboo fence under the car, surrounded by rubble
from the broken wall and window strewn all over, emotions ran strong and wild
in a mixture of fear and anger.
Grandfather panicked because he assumed that the baby
cot was under the car!
While he called repeatedly, “Bernice! Bernice!” grandfather
frantically dug through the rubble with his bare hands, attempting to find baby
Bernice!
Someone stopped grandfather and assured him that
Bernice was safe because the impact of the car crashing through the wall, had
hit the wooden cot and sent it sliding safely out to the sitting room through
the semi-opened room doors!
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| The baby cot, draped with a mosquito net canopy [Right] went safely through the open doors of the bedroom! |
It was indeed Divine Providence that kept the room’s
double doors open that night for your cot to slide out smoothly through its
doors, safely into the sitting room!
When they opened the pink canopy that covered your cot
Ber, they saw you lying down quietly, still soundly asleep!
You were gently lifted and cuddled – waking you up in
that process – and your soft cries were the most beautiful sounds we heard
because you were virtually unharmed.
Assured that you were safe, grandfather turned his
attention to your mother and by the light of torches, he searched for his
daughter, urgently calling out repeatedly, “Polly! Polly!” because she was
nowhere in sight.
As described, the two singled beds were arranged
end-to-end with the lower bed on which your mother slept, placed nearest the
wall and window that had collapsed.
Because that very spot for this bed was then occupied
by the car which had crashed inside, the next few moments was of pure panic
again…
Once again, it was Divine Providence that the impact
of the horrific crash had sent the lower bed DIRECTLY under the higher bed,
where your mother still laid!
 |
| Aunty Polly was retrieved from under the higher bed; Note the dark outline on the bed that marked the spot where Saroja was still asleep when the brick dust settled on her bed. |
She might have passed out for a bit due to the impact
because her muffled cries led us to discover her lying below the higher bed.
When your mother was retrieved from her tight cocoon,
it was a huge relieve to see that she could stand up in spite of some bleeding
from wounds on her knee and she was helped to walk to the next room (the
grandparents’ room) where she rested.
Later your mother and Saroja were taken to hospital
for a thorough examination and while Saroja was treated as an outpatient, your
mother was admitted for observation.
Your mother described this hospital stay as two of the
most dreadful days of her life because she was apart from you, her newborn baby
girl.
Meanwhile someone had dispatched the uncles to inform eldest
brother, Uncle Roland, who was then based in the Johor Baru General Hospital
and lived in the Government quarters there.
 |
| Right view of the car halfway inside the room! |
Uncle Arthur rode pillion while Uncle Victor drove
grandfather’s Lambretta scooter.
Moments after the brick dust had settled over Saroja
(the outlines of her prone body were evident from her bed covers!) she got up
to the shocking scene of the bonnet of a car INSIDE their room.
Covered in a whitish coat of brick dust, Saroja looked
a strange sight and we remembered the first words she uttered in shock, “Nasib
baik, kaki tak patah!” [Malay for, So fortunate that my legs were not fractured!]
As the cloud of dust cleared, they saw a strange man
standing in the room – the driver of the car – who was obviously drunk because
his first reaction was concern for his car!
Everyone was in shock and so stunned that nobody knew
how to confront him!
 |
| Left view of the car; the tortoise aquarium was on the ground [Right] and grandfather's orchids hanging on the stand |
At some point the uncles returned with Uncle Roland,
along with a lawyer friend who was in a better position to offer professional advice.
When Uncle Roland witnessed the horrific scene that
involved his sister and newborn baby, he could not help his furious reaction
towards that drunkard driver.
We know Uncle Roland… and this irresponsible driver
would have suffered untold physical damage if Uncle unleashed his barely
suppressed fury on him but thankfully, grandfather stopped Uncle from laying a
hand on him.
By this time, it was already dawn and we, the children
were ushered away to get ready for school and firmly instructed not to breathe
a word about what happened.
Everything that unfolded later that day passed in a
blur because we were still in shock and with so little sleep, the unsettled
feeling was like a horrible nightmare.
Someone must have done a physical assessment on the
building structure and deemed it safe to go upstairs even though that wall
downstairs had collapsed.
 |
| Bernice at the JB Railway Station with her mother [Right], cousin Catherine and my sister, Pearly [Left] all ready for a train ride; 1974 |
In the light of day – and from these explicit photos – we
saw that the car had shot through the thick fence of wire and tall bamboo,
crashed on shelves of grandfather’s potted orchid plants and across Uncle
Victor’s tortoise aquarium on the ground before it smashed through the window
and wall of the bedroom.
Uncle Roland then spent the rest of the day at 154
helping to sort out the situation.
I later learnt that Uncle was scheduled to participate
in a badminton tournament the next day. But due to this horrific incident at
154, for once he gave a poor performance in his game.
Meanwhile we were worried that grandfather’s heart might
fail him, but thankfully he held up quite well. After the debris was cleared,
the wall downstairs was quickly rebuilt.
I do not know the outcome of this case, but I
overheard snippets of adult conversations and learnt that the drunkard driver
was in fact, a Police Inspector.
Ber, on the two days while your mother was warded in
hospital, Aunty Annie cared for you with the help from our sister, Pearly, and
of course, all of us at 154.
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| Cousin Bernice and I share a special bond |
At the hospital, the doctor’s examination revealed
that there was damage to your mother’s inner ear. While the wounds on her knee may
have healed, this horrific incident left her with hearing issues that continued
to bother her over the years.
So, at your One Month Old celebration we had every
reason for thanksgiving because my dear Ber, you were our beloved Miracle Baby,
preserved by God’s merciful grace!
On your father’s return to be with his beloved wife
and first-born babe, words could not describe your parents’ joy and great relieve
when they were reunited again.
Even though this was so many years ago, we can still look
back and acknowledge that it was clearly GOD’s divine intervention that
preserved our precious Miracle Baby.
And by God’s grace, this Miracle Baby grew up to be a charming
girl and confident young lady who developed an exciting career that took you to
live and work abroad, and now, blessed with a loving husband and two handsome
sons.
Ber, God is always so good.
Much, much love
from your Peggy jie jie
Note: Photos of the horrific incident by Victor Ng; Information gathered from first-hand experiences of Polly Ng-Choo, Annie Ng-Gan, Sylvia Ng-Mok, Arthur Ng and my sisters, Ruby and Pearly.
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