Our grandfather with his grandkids

“Been reading the 154 trilogy and more…” said the first line of chat message from cousin Dennis, who is based in Melbourne, Australia, with his family.

Grandfather on holiday trip to Genting Highlands
with my sister Ruby, and Aunty Polly's daughters,
Gillian and Bernice

The prevailing Movement Control Order (MCO) here and Lockdowns happening in cities around the world, are keeping us safely at home and giving us time to read and reminisce about a more carefree time of our lives.

“Keep it up!” he encouraged.  Dennis had a habit of writing brief lines such as this.

“I have little recollection of 154,” he said and in the next line, “Except in sneaking out from school to grab a snack from our neighbour’s shop,” he confessed.

Ah! Its confession time: Now we know he was among the St Joseph’s School boys who were regulars at our neigbour’s provision shop before, after or even during school hours!

Dennis, the only son of Uncle Billy, have been visiting 154 since he was a toddler.

Grandfather with our brother, Kenneth,
on his lap, with [L to R] Aunty Lily,
her son Richard and Aunty Polly [Right]

He made an unforgettable impression upon me because I observed that grandfather, who was Teochew, conversed comfortably with this young kiddo in Teochew dialect.

Compared to Cantonese, I thought Teochew had a distinctive sing-song twang to it.

By being around Dennis, I learnt my first few phrases of Teochew dialect from his mother and grandfather when they spoke to him.

“Chiak pung,” = Eat rice, and “Mai see sua lai,” when his mother warned him to behave himself.

I also noticed that his parents conversed with him mainly in Teochew dialect, unlike the rest of us who followed, grandmother’s Mother’s Tongue dialect, Cantonese.

Later I learnt that Dennis’ mother and maternal grandmother’s Mother’s Tongue was Teochew, so it was natural for him to speak in Teochew instead of Cantonese.

“Did Ah Mah ride that Vespa?” Dennis continued in his one-liner chat with me.

Grandfather holding cousin Jessie, with
some grandkids at 154; the badminton
court is in the background

“Like “Minahrempit”? he joked. I replied that grandfather’s scooter was a Lambretta and curbed his wild imagination by telling him that grandmother only rode pillion.

“Got any photo of the badminton court, full court?” he asked.

In the next one line, he explained that he wanted to show his son whom he was training and who was keen in following the family’s footsteps in badminton.

[The court was probably such an ordinary part of our lives at 154 that nobody thought it necessary to take photos of the court itself...]

I explained that I only managed to find these old photographs that showed partial views of different sections of the badminton court, so we must make use of our imagination to visualize the entire court.

Dennis was among our younger cousins who have little or no recollections about 154 because they were just too young to remember, and I’m pleased that my grandfather stories are giving them a better insight into the family during a bygone era.

Just as he did for other (future!) grandkids, our grandfather doted on Dennis and bought him a toy bicycle to cycle around the 154 compound and badminton court.

Grandfather and grandmother with
cousin Philip and his sister, Catherine,
dressed in Malay costumes

My earliest encounter with the name, Dennis, was from Beano comic books that featured a comic strip character named, Dennis the Menace, a boy who was always up to some pranks and being caught for his mischievous behaviour.

Our Dennis, however, soon earned his nickname as Dennis, the Destroyer because he handled his toys so roughly that they were quickly damaged or destroyed!

The family version of his nickname was Ler Thow Chia, Teochew word for bulldozer because he would break his toys in the same way a bulldozer would crush anything in its way!

He was a happy, active and curious child – and whenever he was in 154, we would consciously keep fragile things out of his way – so this nickname stuck with Dennis for a long time.

Very early in his life, Dennis displayed an aptitude for learning.

I remember grandfather had a pack of playing cards to amuse himself with games of Solitaire. As for Dennis, playing cards was the tool he used to hone his skills in mental arithmetic!

Grandfather with cousin Dennis
AKA Ler Thow Chia, at 154

For some of us (like me!) who cannot count to save our lives, this skill was simply mind-boggling and very impressive.

From old photos, I saw that grandfather had a relationship with his grandchildren, including Dennis and some of our younger cousins.

These shots of grandfather with his grandkids are proof that there were many family gatherings at 154 that included the grandchildren throughout the years.

At that time when Uncle Roland and his wife, Aunty Elizabeth, were based in the Kota Tinggi Hospital for work while our parents were attached to the Health Sub-Centre in Masai, a visit to 154 was a major excursion with a long drive via the old trunk roads.

In those days it was a novelty to dress children up in Malay costumes and we have photo proof of cousin Philip in Baju Melayu complete with songkok while his sister, Catherine, was dressed in a flowered Baju Kurung, when they visited from Kota Tinggi.

When Philip started Primary School with St Joseph’s School, he came to live with our grandparents, just as my siblings and I did, and we were fellow lodgers at 154.

Our grandmother often joined her children and families on outstation trips and travels, but grandfather hardly ever did.

Since his retirement, grandfather was a homebody, very much part of 154 and always at home to welcome any visitors.

Grandfather and grandmother, holding cousin Gillian, with Dennis [Front Row Center]
and cousins [L to R] Melina, Bernice, his sister Adeline and cousin Derek [Right]

After grandfather had suffered a stroke and was rehabilitated, he was ready to enjoy an adventure with Aunty Polly and Uncle Steven along with their daughters, Bernice and Gillian.

This was why that trip with grandfather to Genting Highlands – might have been his first and only holiday trip – was such a rare and significant one.

Enjoy these precious photos of our grandfather with his grandchildren!