ONE interesting feature of Singapore in the 1930s was the 10-cent stores. They were run by the Japanese.
Said Mr T.S. Khoo: "There were about half a dozen 10-cent stores scattered all over Singapore, but the most popular one was in Middle Road; everybody in Singapore knew it.
"It was run by a Japanese named K.Baba. It was made up of two adjoining stores, and had everything a department store would have.
"You could pick anything for just 10 cents, anything, except for the shirts, which cost about $1. The K.Baba shirts were made in Japan, and they were of good quality - I had one which lasted me for years.’’
Mr Mohd Ariff Ahmad, 73, a retired teacher and writer, also remembers the 10-cent stores, or cheap Japanese stores well. "Before the Japanese came, we heard so much propaganda about the kindness of the Japanese. (For example) there were several shops in Middle Road owned by the Japanese.
Mohd Ariff Ahmad
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"These shops sold things cheap. Something that cost 25 cents in other shops, we bought for five cents from the Japanese shop. (sic)
"Concession price were given to the people of Singapore…to catch the mind of the people, they jual murah (sell cheap). (sic). I think they did not make much profit."
In those days, people used to send their clothes to the tailor, too.
"Most of my shirts were done by our family tailor," said T.S. "He charged 80 cents for a shirt, and $1.50 or $2 to make a suit. He used to come up to our house before Lunar New Year, and pick up a lot of orders, just from my family, since there were about 80 adults!
"Our tailor was a Khek (a Chinese dialect group.) His pet reply, whenever we asked him if something could be done, was "tia tiok aei sai!" (Definitely! Of course it can be done!)
Then of course, there were the up-market shops catering to the wealthy - and to the British.
"There was a famous shop in High Street called Wing Loong. Its towkay (boss) became a millionaire, because his shop was so well patronised by the wealthy.
"They charged $7 to $8 for a suit; ordinary folks used to say: "Wah, so expensive, so expensive."
T.S. said the fashion of the times for men, was to have their trousers made extra long, so that they could be fashionably folded up at the ankle.
T.S. Khoo's life:
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