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 Department.
After two weeks of the interview I received the happy news I was successful in securing a clerical job in the Department. I resigned from the Postal Department and was waiting for the posting with the Telecoms Department. After two weeks I received posting orders from the Telecoms which said I would be posted to the Telecoms Office in Alor Setar a distance of 160 miles away from my home. My weekly visits to Ipoh would have to be compromised as it was not possible to visit Ipoh and return to Alor Setar on a one and half day weekend , I approached the Controller of Posts in Ipoh and asked if I could withdraw my resignation. He said I was late as my resignation letter had been received by the Headquarters and they were in the process of filling up the vacancy. I could not afford to be without a job in view of my family circumstances and had no alternative but to accept the job in Alor Setar.
When I showed the letter to my mother; she said she knows someone in Alor Setar and she would accompany me to Alor Setar. Those were days when handphones were rare and communication was entirely by landlines. However she was a resourceful person with a network of friends throughout the country and she managed to find a contact who was willing to host me. Thus she did not delay in announcing my posting to Alor Setar and that I would board at his home until I was able to make alternate arrangements. So one afternoon in August 1961, I accompanied my mother to Alor Setar and was introduced to her ex-student whom she had not seen since leaving school. My mum’s student was employed by the Malayan Railways and was provided a wooden house that had no rooms but two partitions. The first partition was a hall that accommodated a sitting room set and a chest of drawers. The second partition had a space for a double bed and sufficient space for mats for the children to sleep on. I was to use the first partition as my bedroom. I did not like this arrangement as there was no privacy. I began living with the family when I realised I was a burden to them as their living quarters was small even for them with four growing up children.
I decided to look for alternate accommodation and sounded it to my new acquaintances in the Department. One of them was kind enough to take me around the town to see other colleagues who may be able to accommodate me. We found one colleague who was sharing a room in a shophouse who was willing to accommodate me and I moved over the same day.
The man of the house volunteered to show me around the town so that I would not be lost. That was a kind gesture as I found the town with similar features as in Ipoh with a river flowing through the town and dividing the town into two parts. He showed me an old building which housed the post office and told me that this wold probably be my place of work as the Postal and Telecoms Departments had recently undergone a split but were still located in the same building.
The next morning I got up early, had my breakfast and left for work. I approached the watchman who was at the rear of the building and asked for directions to the chief clerk’s office. He was a kind man who got down from his perch and directed me to a staircase and said the office I am looking for is located on the first floor.
I followed the directions and entered the office that was lined up with desks and staff poring into large ledgers and foolscap books. As I entered the office I was surprised to be greeted in Tamil. I looked up at the office and was surprised that all the staff in the room were Tamils.
I met Mr. D.S. Maniam for the first time who became a close family friend in later years. Mr. Maniam was in the finance section of the Department and offered a seat. He told me since this was my first day at work I should take it easy. He then passed me a few files that contained working instructions and the set up of the various agencies within the Department. Fortunately they were interesting. I was fully engrossed in it when I heard a familiar voice in Tamil to down tools and go for a tea break. I told him I am not thirsty but he was persistent. He told me that the canteen operator had a triple 5 notebook where he would list down the meals one had and the amount due. The accounts could be settled at the end of the month once we received our monthly salaries. He assured me that he will pay my bills until I got my first salary.
Mr. Maniam introduced me to the canteen operator and told him to open a new triple 5 book which he assured would be paid once wages are received. So I had a new triple 5 book with lean pages and my name on the cover.
That was my first credit card which documented my expenditure for the current month and date for payment of the dues.
I was often an invited guest in Mr. Maniam’s home for meals, as he was a bachelor living alone with his mum. Life became more pleasant later, as Mr. Maniam’s mum was a good cook and churned out various tasty dishes for lunch and dinner.
In the old days, the Government was very unsympathetic - I do not know if they still are. Imagine picking up children of poor kampong simpletons and posting them miles away from their homes to fend for themselves. The first pay will usually be made after three months of appointment. It was obvious the Heads of Department then felt that the new appointees would be able to some how fend for themselves in the interim when wages are delayed.
I am not sure if the system still prevails. Government employees usually are at the mercy of chief clerks who had petty cash for other purposes which they used to help out new employees. It was a risk they had to take as wages are banked into the personal savings account of the employees and if the new employee abandons his job for whatever reason there was no way for the recovery of the wages advanced.
#memoriesofayoungman #mynameisgana
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