Conversations with Granddad – Life during the Japanese Occupation

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In 2010 I posted a video of my granddad talking about his childhood. I followed up with the second part (of the same interview) a year later. It was something that I wanted to consistently do, yet never quite got around to it. A few days ago I finally got my act together and went over to my grandparents’ place armed with my camera and tripod.

My granddad leaned back on the sofa as I set up my gear, adjusting my position and checking my focus. “What do I talk about?”

“Your time during the war? Do you remember the first day?”

“Yes, I remember. My father told us and then I had to go to school because I had to sit the Cambridge exams. I think it was History…” And off he went.

About five minutes later I finally succeeded in getting his attention. “Kong Kong! Kong Kong!”

“What?”

“You’re too fast, I haven’t even started recording yet. You have to start again!”

“Alamak!”

Still, he told the story again, just as he did when I was a little girl. A part of Singapore otherwise confined to textbooks and monuments came alive in the telling. An interview with my granddad is not really an interview at all; all you have to do is prompt him once and he’ll go on and on. At the age of 87 his head is a chock-a-block with history, experiences and memories.

And when he was done we packed up, changed and went out for dinner at Ichiban Sushi.

[ylwm_vimeo width="560" height="315"]47883986[/ylwm_vimeo] In 2010 I posted a video of my granddad talking about his childhood. I followed up with the second part (of the same interview) a year later....