Sivadas s/o Sankaran, 82 , 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.
Before and during the war, there were these places, private homes, where you could go and eat. It wasn’t a restaurant or anything like that; they were private homes and the owners cooked food, and you could go there to have your meals. It was quite common in those days.
I was staying at Sophia Road, near Mount Emily, and my friends and I used to go to this place nearby for our meals. I’d go and eat in the mornings and in the evenings, and we’d get rice and two dishes. I was working then, so I could afford to pay for the food, and the food was cheap, then.
Before the Japanese occupation, you could ask for seconds, but during the Japanese occupation, food was scarce, so we never asked for a second helping. The quantity of the rice and food was also limited. At night time, if I felt hungry, I’d stop by the same house to drink water.
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