Early days: our careers as children

I come from humble beginnings and the circumstances at home did not provide an easy time for me and my siblings.

We had to work to supplement the family income while schooling. My elder brother who my siblings and nephews and nieces called “Naina” had to seek employment when he was in Standard 6. He started off as a handy man and later was offered the job of an Assistant in a bar at an army camp. To his credit he never consumed liquor though I must say there were opportunities while working among those who patronised the establishment. He got this job through the recommendation of a friend who was our age with circumstances similar to ours. My younger brother was a parking attendant for a contractor who obtained a contract to manage the cycle park at the Central Market.

I had a flair for English and did not have to seek employment at a bar - while in Form one I was able to provide English lessons for working adults at a Commercial School. When I was in Form 2 a tuition teacher at a commercial school was thrilled to discover my level of spoken and written English. He offered me the job of correcting English Essays of his Form Three Students. I was offered a salary of RM100.00 per month. I worked here till I was in form five, and provided tuition to children in secondary schools. The pay at RM100 per month was generous in the early sixties.

I still remember two children, a brother and sister in their upper primaries, who were spoilt brats coming to the Centre in a chauffeur driven car. I used to envy them and when they showed no interest in learning I reported them to the Tuition Master, hoping they would be punished. To my surprise he told me they come from rich families and we should let them be. They paid good money and if they didn't wish to learn it was their choice.

content (c) Ganapathy Ramasamy, mynameisgana.blogspot.com

image (c) Malaysia Design Archive

Comments

My first car

After my Higher School Certificate examination, I was appointed as a labour officer. This job paid well enough that I could finally afford a car for work. It involved a fair amount of travelling, the allowances for which could well cover my petrol bills. This first car was a second hand Volkswagen 1200, reg. AF 1085 in white. However I had just learnt driving and was not confident in taking out the car for my duties. So for the first few weeks, a friend of mine agreed to be a co-driver while I learnt to drive in my neighbourhood. Once I gained confidence, I told my friend that I was confident and he need not assist me while I drove around. The first day of independent driving, I reversed into a child’s tricycle. Fortunately the child had abandoned the bike in my driveway and went away to look for other pursuits that drew her attention. There was a dent to the rear of my vehicle that would require some money to have it fixed back into its original shape. ...

Pigeons always look for variety

One of my female pigeons left her nest and moved over to my neighbors pigeon Coop where she had taken a fancy for a male pigeon. I spoke to my neighbor and told him I shall trap my pigeon later that evening. But my neighbor like a budding lawyer told me “possession is 9/10th” of the law and since the pigeon was in his coop it is rightfully his. Now when I feed my pigeons I usually give a loud whistle for them to attend to their food. I told my brother to spray some green peas on the ground. My house was about 5 houses away from my neighbors where my pigeon had sought refuge with her boyfriend. When I gave a whistle my pigeon with 3 other pigeons left my neighbors coop to peck food at my coop. The neighbor was stunned seeing his 3 pigeons heading to my house. He mellowed and asked me to allow him to go over to my coop later in the evening to trap his birds. I used his same words and turned down his pleas despite his apologies. In the evening when the birds got into the coop I caught hol...

SENIOR CITIZENS AND THE QR CODE

Age is certainly catching up for me and my friends of my generation. Technology is moving fast and I find we are no longer able to fit into the fast paced modern age. The other day Ben, my friend and I set out to Bukit Damansara to meet up with an Investment banker. Both of us are retirees. I am in the 80's while Ben is a lot younger. We have been residents of KL for a long time, used to Pusat Bandar Damansara area as we had worked in that area many years ago. We decided to take a Grab to go to Bukit Damansara. As we got into the car and buckled up with the safety belt, the driver told us to scan the QR code a small piece of plastic stuck to each side of the window. It took some effort as the sticker was slightly bigger than a postage stamp while we are used to a big placard attached to the back of the front seat. It was quite a challenge to scan it as the car was in motion through some humps and bumps. To our surprise Pusat Bandar Damansara wasn't the place we knew. Our office...

My name is Gana

Search This Blog