Unforgettable Days sponsored by POSBank The Great Fire BY YONG SHU HOONG The day: May 25, 1961. It was unforgettable for writer Goh Sin Tub (left), 71. He travels back in time to re-live his experience as the head of a disaster camp with How Kwang Yeong, Tan Yi Ling and Vanessa Goh, all from Victoria Junior College IT was Hari Raya Haji that day. I was with my family near Changi Beach when an urgent call came. Fire! I rushed off to set up a camp for fire victims. As the deputy director of Social Welfare Department, I had to look after the camp made up of five adjacent schools at Kim Seng Road and River Valley Road. It housed 12,000 fire victims. At night, many families huddled together in classrooms and along corridors. Most looked dazed. Some sobbed softly, others were scared. Some slept. Others chatted. Surprisingly, a few even managed to joke. It was sad to see the things people managed to save from the fire - an old broken-down sewing machine, dented pans and even a chamber pot! I saw a child clinging onto her dirty plastic doll while a half-naked old man sat clutching a faded picture. I heard heroic tales of a Chinese youth who carried his Malay neighbour's grandfather on his back as their families fled to safety. Others helped to look after the children, sharing their meagre treasure of food and drinks, salvaged clothes and blankets. I hardly slept a wink that night. QUESTION TIME Vanessa Goh: Did the fire also bring out the ugly side of people? Mr Goh: I heard that one man sold tap-water by the glass to thirsty fire victims passing his house. There were also looters who stole the few belongings that people had salvaged from the fire. How Kwang Yeong: What was the reaction of Singaporeans to such a huge fire? Mr Goh: I saw compassion. The morning after the fire, the phones were ringing and a long queue formed outside my office. Suddenly, I saw a bespectacled man in a crumpled white shirt and baggy pants. It was the late philanthropist Datuk Lee Kong Chian himself. "Datuk Lee! What are you doing here?" I asked. "Waiting for my turn to see you." "You should have walked right in," I said. Datuk Lee took out a cheque for a six-figure amount - a very generous donation considering that you could buy a prime-area bungalow for $30,000 in those days. I asked if I could get a photo of him handing over his cheque for the press. He said "no". Then another man pushed his way in. He opened his brown paper bag and produced a dozen tins of condensed milk. "I heard a press photographer is coming, right? Can I be in the picture? Can also mention my shop's name?" I was too tired to argue. The press team came. A photo was taken, including the paper bag with the shop's name on it turned to the camera. Tan Yi Ling: What caused the fire? Mr Goh: It was most likely an accident. The huts were old and many electrical wires were in a bad state. How Kwang Yeong: How long did it take to resettle the people? Mr Goh: Within three weeks, we either moved families into available HDB flats or put them up in Social Welfare homes, or they found their own temporary accommodation while awaiting HDB flats. The HDB built flats on the fire site and many were able to return to Bukit Ho Swee later. -- The New Paper, Oct 7, 1998 MR Goh held senior positions in the Administrative Service before serving as a banker and a builder in the private sector. After his retirement in 1986, he became a writer. His latest book is One Singapore - 65 Stories by a Singaporean.   Copyright © 1998 Singapore Press Holdings. All Rights Reserved.