If there was one phrase to describe dad was : "Service to the community". Our house was often host to people coming in and out asking for help with issues relating to government department and community matters. In those days, there was local council elections. The villagers would elect the local leaders to manage the village's affairs and to liaise with the state departments, to source funds for the village's development etc. I remember the exciting local council elections - you can read about it here.
Sometimes my brother and I would go to the village hall cum government department and peeked at the council holding its meeting,
Here's a group photo of the team. Seated (R-L) : Mr. Lim (Dad -Treasurer) Mr. Teo (Chairman) En. Muthusamy (council member). Standing (R-L) En. Sabto (official clerk and secretary), En. Amin (Council member), the last 3 whom I don't know their names.
This was basically "The Team" and the chairmanship often rotated between Mr. Teo and Mr. Lim. Sabto was the one who kept minutes of the meetings.
I often wondered why dad was so nice to En. Sabto until I found out that he was related to dad. En. Sabto was actually my dad's brother-in-law for he married one of my father's sister (the one who was given away to a Malay family). Her name is Asmah. And if you are wondering how she looks like, well, aunt Alicia is a carbon copy of Asmah
2 comments:
love these posts!
Yes. These posts are for the younger generation - lest they forget their past
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