The following interviews have been conducted by Mr Loh Kah Seng with residents of both SILRA home in Singapore and Sungei Buloh in Malaysia. The interviews also included people who have worked with the leprosy affected. These interviews are fully transcribed and are part of Mr Loh Kah Seng's research. He can be contacted at his email address.

Synopses

• Synopsis: Personal and family background. Diagnosed with leprosy when young and early treatment. Admission to Trafalgar Home in 1933. Initial feelings about confinement. Treatment by chaulmugra oil. Relaxation of confinement at the Home. Inmates who escaped and returned. Story of refusal of service at a coffeeshop. Left Trafalgar to return home during the Japanese occupation. Father passed away soon. Why he returned to Trafalgar after father’s funeral. Hardship at Trafalgar during the Japanese occupation. Story of Chinese man caught operating a gambling den. Job as a hospital aide at Trafalgar after the war. Work of the Catholic nuns. Establishment of Silra Home. Unhappiness at present plight and living in the new Silra Home. Attitudes of his siblings towards his disease. Why he did not want to stay with his brother after discharge. Comparing life at Trafalgar and at the present Home.
• Place Silra Home
• Date 17.09.2005
• Interviewer Loh Kah Seng (LKS)
• Medium English
• Running time 72 mins

Lim Kah Lee (LKL)

• Synopsis Personal background and family. Initial treatment for leprosy prescribed by traditional Chinese physician and temple medium. Condition discovered when making identity card. Villagers had accepted him despite his affliction. Treatment at Trafalgar. Stayed on to study after discharge. Lost contact with family. Lessons, teachers and classmates in Trafalgar Rotary School. Special treatment for children in Trafalgar. Various forms of recreation and entertainment. Why stricter treatment for girls. Living conditions in the chalets and wards of Trafalgar. How corrective surgery led to the loss of his legs. Took his ‘O’-level examinations thereafter. Desire to inspire others. Himself featured in book celebrating Singapore’s 40 th year of independence. Philosophy of life and belief in lifelong learning. Why he took up painting. Able to meet government officials as a result of painting. Participation in sports such as boochia. How he helped the Trafalgar residents obtain ex-gratia pay from the government when they were moved to Silra Home. Work as a clerk at Trafalgar. Feelings about moving to Silra Home. Feelings about moving to present Silra premises. Attitude towards friendship. Interaction with Lorong Buangkok villagers. Contact with other Singaporeans and foreigners who visited the Home. Plans for the future. Love of nature.
• Place Silra Home
• Date 25.09.2005
• Interviewer Loh Kah Seng (LKS)
• Medium English
• Running time 68 mins

Lim Ah Hin (LAH)

• Synopsis Personal and family background. Had leprosy when he was sixteen and took Chinese medicine. Admitted into Trafalgar and types of treatment there. Why he did not return to his parents upon discharge. Stayed with sister but felt uncomfortable. Went to work in Malaysia. Life in Trafalgar Home was lively. Had no interest in studying. How he came to learn the harmonica. Performed at the Community Chest charity event. Secret societies, gambling and opium-smoking in Trafalgar. No difficulty finding work outside. Started family. Had operations in 1991, 1992. Friends and recreational activities in Silra Home. Conversion to Christianity.
• Place Silra Home
• Date 02.10.2005
• Interviewer Loh Kah Seng (LKS)
• Medium Hokkien (translated here into English)
• Running time 42 mins

Jane Collar (JC)

• Synopsis Personal and family background. Memories of her father when she was young. Her parents’ work at Trafalgar Home. Stayed mostly with grandmother. Her mother’s temper. How her grandmother sneaked them into Trafalgar to visit her parents. How her father passed away. How her mother suffered from diabetes. Friendship between her father and Mr Joseph Tan. Joseph Tan married her mother after her father passed away. Memories of Joseph Tan at Trafalgar and Silra Home.
• Place Institute of Mental Health
• Date 02.10.2005
• Interviewer Loh Kah Seng (LKS)
• Medium English
• Running time 48 mins

Chia Puay Song (CPS)

• Synopsis Personal and family background. How his family found out he had leprosy when he was young. People’s attitudes towards leprosy in those days. Why he considers that while his life is bad, his fortune is still good. How his mother loved him despite his illness. Treatment in Trafalgar. Work in Trafalgar and the problems he encountered. Difficulty of finding work outside. Need for one to show their appreciation towards acts of kindness. How he joined the Chinese orchestra in Trafalgar and learnt to play the dulcimer. Importance of hard work in learning the instrument. Difficulty in teaching others to play the dulcimer well. Why he was not bothered by the secret societies in Trafalgar in the 1950s. Did not think they were a serious problem then. Other problems he faced in his work in Trafalgar. Extent of ostracism of leprosy sufferers by the public. How he is able to relate to the volunteers at Silra Home.
• Place Silra Home
• Date 10.10.2005
• Interviewer Loh Kah Seng (LKS)
• Medium Mandarin (Translated into English here)
• Running time 134 mins

P Sulochan

• Synopsis Personal and family background. Has lost contact with her brother. Treatment for leprosy at Kandang Kerbau Hospital. How disease was caused by hardship during the Japanese occupation. Death of his younger brother then. Later on, cured patients in Trafalgar were allowed to get married. Worked as a cook there but seldom went out. Stayed outside for a while before being evicted and coming to Silra Home. Religious worship at Trafalgar. Contented with staying at Silra Home.
• Place Silra Home
• Date 10.10.2005
• Interviewer Loh Kah Seng (LKS)
• Medium English
• Running time 28 mins

Tan Teow Meng (TTM)

• Synopsis Personal and family background. Work in a coffee shop in Singapore. His early symptoms of leprosy. Admission into Trafalgar Hospital. Treatment and work at Trafalgar. Why he considers himself fortunate. Visits to places in Malaysia. Left Singapore to work in Indonesia during the Japanese occupation. Memories of strikes and riots in Singapore in the 1950s. His education in China. Why he likes to read newspapers. No desire to return to Hainan island. Life at the old Silra Home compared to that in the current place. Knowledge of different languages and cooking.
• Place Silra Home
• Date 16.10.2005
• Interviewer Loh Kah Seng (LKS)
• Medium Mandarin (Translated here into English)
• Running time 78 mins

Song Kok Huar (SKH)

• Synopsis Personal and family background. Admission into Trafalgar and his stay there. Why he was admitted a second time. Side effects of the medicine. Only his mother came to visit him. How he had been given to the Song family as an infant. Problem of ulceration after discharge from Trafalgar. Application for admission into Silra Home. Why he was unwilling to stay with his elder sister. Work at Silra Home. Coping with life at the present premises. Why he got his tattoos. His handicraft work. The new premises compared to the old Silra Home.
• Place Silra Home
• Date 16.10.2005
• Interviewer Loh Kah Seng (LKS)
• Medium Hokkien (Translated here into English)
• Running time 45 mins

See Yu Seng (SYS)

• Synopsis Personal and family background. How he was arrested and admitted into Trafalgar. His leg was amputated at Tan Tock Seng Hospital. His sworn brother’s family came to visit him. His family seldom did.
• Place Silra Home
• Date 23.10.05
• Interviewer Loh Kah Seng (LKS)
• Medium Hokkien (Translated here into English)
• Running time 15 mins

Tan Ah Boon (TAB)

• Synopsis Personal and working background. How treatment of leprosy by a Chinese physician made his condition worse. Treatment at Trafalgar Hospital. Basket-weaving at Trafalgar. What work he did and where he stayed when he was discharged. Readmission into Trafalgar and later Silra Home. Why he did not return to his family. Impact of the Japanese occupation on his illness. Life in Trafalgar and Silra Home. Eye surgery in 1989 and 1991. Relations with his family.
• Place Silra Home
• Date 07.11.05
• Interviewer Loh Kah Seng (LKS)
• Medium Hokkien
• Running time 38

Kuang Wee Kee (KWK) Ow Ah Mui (OAM)

• Synopsis Personal and family background [Kuang]. How people in the kampong reacted to his disease. People who committed suicide because of public ostracism. Treatment at Trafalgar Home. Why he did not stay with his family upon discharge. Forced to change residence repeatedly. How leprosy was like mental illness and tuberculosis. How he got to know his wife in Trafalgar. His job as a security guard in Trafalgar. Secret societies and gambling in Trafalgar. Security was tight at the Home. Personal background [Ow]. Her feelings upon admission into Trafalgar Home. Why they refused to stay in the new Silra Home. What women did in Trafalgar in their free time. Why she did not stay with her elder brother upon discharge. Not close anymore with her family. How women and men alike who contracted leprosy were abandoned by their partners. Children who had leprosy were also abandoned by their parents. How Trafalgar patients were transferred to Penang and Sungei Buloh. Coffee shop owners who refused to serve leprosy patients. Similar problem faced with bus conductors. Arguments between patients and taxi drivers were not due to leprosy. His distrust of reporters.
• Place Blk 3, Hougang Avenue 3
• Date 07.11.05
• Interviewer Loh Kah Seng (LKS)
• Medium Hokkien, Mandarin (Translated here into English)
• Running time 146 mins
• Note Joint interview (Husband & wife)

Eddie K (EK)

• Synopsis Personal and family background. Admitted into Sungei Buloh when he was 15. Treatment and reaction suffered. Was chosen for a trial. School life in Sungei Buloh. He was unable to find work outside. Why he did not return to stay with his family. Work and pay in Sungei Buloh. Recreational activities. Compulsory for children to attend gospel. Gambling in Sungei Buloh. Drugs. Moonshining. Secret societies. Roles of the associations and clubs in Sungei Buloh.
• Place Sungei Buloh, Kuala Lumpur
• Date 18.11.05
• Interviewer Loh Kah Seng (LKS)
• Medium English
• Running time 40 mins

Rattan Singh (RS)

• Synopsis Personal background. How he was diagnosed with leprosy in school. Attitude of Punjabis towards leprosy. Attitudes of the Chinese in contrast. Communist influence in Menglembu. Life during the Japanese occupation. Strikes in Sungei Buloh in the 1950s. What happened to the strike leaders. How he tried to escape from the settlement once. Suicides that he knew of. Why he did not want to stay with his family. Marriage.
• Place Sungei Buloh
• Date 18.11.05
• Interviewer Loh Kah Seng (LKS)
• Medium English
• Running time 61 mins

Leong Kiew (LK)

• Synopsis [LK] Personal and family background. Her parents were afraid of leprosy. Studied in the Sungei Buloh school. Became a nurse upon graduation. Married and had a son. Life in Sungei Buloh. Fear of leprosy among the Chinese. Difficulty of finding work outside. Thoughts of returning to China. [OWN] The prison in Sungei Buloh. [CUST] Had transferred from Pulau Jerejak. Why Sungei Buloh was preferable to Pulau Jerejak. Reduced number of residents in Sungei Buloh.
• Place Sungei Buloh
• Date 18.11.05
• Interviewer Loh Kah Seng (LKS)
• Medium English, Hokkien
• Running time 36 mins
• Others Coffeeshop owner (unnamed, OWN), and customer (unnamed, CUST)

Ismail Mawar (IM)

• Synopsis Personal background. Visited a Malay bomoh when he first had leprosy. Herbal treatment was not effective. Parents were sympathetic to his condition. Description of his transfer from Trafalgar Home to Pulau Jerejak. Why he was sent there. Contented to stay at Sungei Buloh. His family and children. Work in Pulau Jerejak and Sungei Buloh. Sadness at separation from family. Memories of the Japanese occupation. Malay views of leprosy against Chinese attitudes. Malay concealment of leprosy sufferers.
• Place Sungei Buloh
• Date 18.11.05
• Interviewer Loh Kah Seng (LKS)
• Interpreter Azman Abdul Majid (AAM)
• Medium Malay (Translated into English by Dr Azman at Sungei Buloh and by Junaidah Jaffar in this transcript)
• Running time 26 mins

Michael K(KN)

• Synopsis Personal background. How he was admitted into Sungei Buloh. Relapse of the disease after he was discharged. Worked in construction. Stayed with his family. How he was readmitted to Sungei Buloh.
• Place Sungei Buloh
• Date 18.11.05
• Interviewer Loh Kah Seng (LKS)
• Medium English
• Running time 18 mins

Entry made December 9, 2005