Major events of this
period
Sivadas s/o Sankaran, 82, is a retiree. He was a journalist with The Straits Times from 1947 to 1951. He became a sub-editor with the same paper after that and stayed with ST till 1971.
After the war, I joined the Malayan Democratic Union (MDU). The union had a cooperative society where I could buy stuff like cigarettes, which were in short supply then. I was a member -- gave only $10 to be a member. I joined so that I could buy things from the store -- lots of people were like me.
During the Japanese Occupation, people were eating tapioca three times a day. When the British came back, we had rice, but many other goods, such as toothpaste, were still in short supply. (As an MDU member) I used to buy toothpaste and toothbrushes, among other things.
My friends used to make me buy things for them on my card as well, because they were cheaper and not available elsewhere. We bought stuff like provisions or canned food, and cordial. One friend from Johor Bahru used my card to buy cordial to bring back to JB.
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