My name is Gana

I was in Sitiawan while my family was in Ipoh. It was 60 miles to Ipoh and as I felt homesick every week I was hoping for a transfer to Ipoh. My wages were low then and weekly visits were a drain on my meagre wages.   I wished to be nearer home to save costs and applied for a transfer to Ipoh. The reply from the Postal Department was always “we have taken note of your request; there is no vacancy just yet and we shall consider your request when a vacancy arises”. I decided to apply for jobs outside the Postal Department and started looking at press advertisements for vacant posts in other     Government Departments.   I read in the classifieds that the Telecoms Department was recruiting clerical staff for which I was qualified. I visited the Telecoms Office and was informed there was indeed a vacancy in the Ipoh Office. I applied for a clerical job with the Department clearly indicating my interest to work in Ipoh. I was successful in getting a job with the Depa...

In 1961, as soon as my Form Five results were announced I walked up to the General Post Office, met the Controller of Posts, showed him my Form Five results and inquired if there was an opening for me. He said “Yes!”, but the vacancy was in Sitiawan a town 60 miles away from my home. I told him, yes I don’t mind the distance and so I prepared to go over to my first formal employment. My mum was a very resourceful person looked up her memory bank and found a contact in Sitiawan who were prepared to accommodate me. She accompanied    me to Sitiawan to ensure that    I was safe in the new place.             My mum’s contacts were her former students when she was teaching in a private school at Ipoh.They were rubber tappers with two young children of their own. Before going to work the husband and wife would be busy preparing meals for themselves and their children who would be left in the Child Care Centre run by the estate. The Centre was ...

  In the early years before Independence the then Malaya imported a lot of labour from China and India. The Chinese were brought in by Chinese tin miners while the Indians were brought in by the British to work on the rubber plantations which were being opened up by vested interests. The first group of Policemen were brought in  from Punjab to help in the security of the country as there  were threats to  kill Englishmen.   Most Government Departments were either staffed by Ceylonese or Indians. A number of them found jobs in Government Agencies. The registration of Births and Deaths were generally administered by these imported Labour. As they were not familiar with the languages spoken by a variety of immigrants who were flooding the country the names of the immigrants were usually distorted at the registration of children. An Indian child called Kunjuni  had his name as Kong Yong Nee giving the name a Chinese twist in his birth certificate. When he ...