Singapore,
October 2010
Dear Mrs Penrose,
I am very sorry to be the bearer of sad news, but I am writing to inform you that my grandmother, Ah Ling Wong, passed away last month after a short illness. She was 93.
She wished me to return these photographs to you and to offer you her deep gratitude for your unfailing friendship over the years. She talked of you often and loved to reminisce about the happy times you shared during your time in Singapore.
Yours sincerely,
Julia Chan (Mrs)
Singapore? Dotty? What on earth was going on? None of this was making any sense.
At that moment, Annabel’s mobile started ringing, startling Monty who was comfortably snoozing with his chin resting on her leg. It was her brother. After a brief hello, she jumped straight in.
‘Will, did you ever hear Dotty mention anything about Singapore?’
CHAPTER 7
Singapore
June 1938
Dorothy Templeton never wanted to leave London. She was nineteen years old and perfectly happy with her life when her father announced the news. Her best friend Daisy, whom she had known since they were babies in their mothers’ arms, lived on the same street – Queensmill Road – and the two were quite inseparable. They spent their free time going to the pictures, playing tennis together, shopping on Oxford Street or catching the number thirty tram to go dancing at the Hammersmith Palais. The two families were close too, regularly getting together for Sunday dinner and a good old sing-song with Daisy at the piano. Life for Dorothy was good.
She had recently enrolled in a secretarial course near the family home in Fulham and, according to the teacher, was showing real promise with her typing and shorthand. It was the first step to achieving her dream: to work for a newspaper agency. She was an intelligent and curious young woman, and the thought of being one of the first to find out the latest goings on in the world thrilled her. The news that the Templetons were relocating to South East Asia had, therefore, come as a rather unwelcome interruption.
The driving force behind the move had been her mother. Olivia Templeton wore the proverbial trousers in her marriage and had aspirations for her gentle, easy-going husband and his career in the rubber industry. The idea of mixing among the colonial elite of Singapore made her bright blue eyes brim with excitement.
‘Oh, we simply must go, Anthony!’ she had told him, ‘This is how you will make a name for yourself in the company! And think of the advantages; the people we will meet, the circles we will mix in! It will be such an opportunity for Dorothy to find a husband, can you imagine? I don’t know why you even need to think about it!’
Like his daughter, Anthony Templeton had also been perfectly happy right where he was. He was an easy-going man who loved his family and worked hard in his role in the London office of McKinley’s Rubber Company. The company had headquarters in London, India and Malaya, and as the rubber industry was expanding at a rate of knots, they needed to increase their presence in the latter. Anthony had been selected to oversee the expansion. In the end, he had to agree with his wife; it was too good an opportunity to turn down. The company would provide a house, a car and servants. ‘We are certainly moving up in the world!’ Olivia had gushed, revelling in the prospect.
‘Don’t worry, my little Dodo,’ Anthony had reassured his daughter. ‘It’s only for a couple of years, just while we set things up over there. We’ll have some fun, see a bit of the world, then come home again in time for tea!’ Dorothy had hoped that would be true.
Three months later, having bid a tearful farewell to Daisy, Dorothy found herself standing on the deck of SSNalderaasit dropped anchor in Singapore harbour. She squinted into the blinding midday light and gazed out at the city landmarks. A series of grand buildings lined the waterfront, many with ornamental turrets and towers. The imposing facade of the General Post Office was the one that really stood out, with its elegant pillars and lofty portico. Dorothy was not sure what she had been expecting, but found herself impressed by what she saw.
They had left her older brother, Thomas, behind in England. He was studying to become a doctor at Cambridge and had just finished his second year. Dorothy was missing him already. Yes, he would come out to spend holidays with them, but it wouldn’t be the same. Until now, he had managed to come home for regular visits. It felt strange for Dorothy to be on her own with her parents.
The temperature had been rising steadily ever since they had left Marseilles, but this was a different kind of heat. Just two degrees north of the equator, it was humid and oppressive; a solid wall that smothered her. Her white cotton dress stuck to her damp back and sweat trickled down her legs. She longed for a cool drink. How would she ever get accustomed to this heat? She had attempted to stay cool in her cabin, lying in just her underwear beneath the ceiling fan with a damp flannel on her forehead. But taking her eye off the horizon, even for just a few minutes, had resulted in terrible seasickness. They had spent weeks at sea, with only brief respite in Marseilles, Bombay and Colombo, and she couldn’t wait to set foot back on dry land.
After what seemed like hours, they disembarked and made their way through the shiny white building of Customs House. It was a relief to escape the unforgiving heat and she stood fora few moments beneath a ceiling fan, enjoying the sensation as it cooled her clammy skin.
The family was met by a clerk from her father’s company, Mr Kent, a polite young man in a cream linen suit, who shepherded them out into the glaring sun towards a smart black sedan.
The scene along the waterfront was unlike anything Dorothy had ever witnessed; a veritable hive of activity with sailors, tradesmen, hawkers and locals all moving around the quayside, carrying out their business as if in some well-practised dance. It fascinated and terrified her in equal measure, with foreign sights, sounds and smells overloading her senses. Rickshaws weaved in and out of motor cars and trams, and she marvelled at the resilience of the Chinese workers who pulled them, trotting along in the full glare of the afternoon sun.
They left the bustling Collyer Quay and drove along a palm-lined avenue, past shops and office buildings, as they headed out of the town. Dorothy felt her eyelids grow heavy with the rolling motion of the motor car and her head drooped onto her father’s shoulder.
When she awoke, with a foggy head and beads of sweat on her upper lip, they were pulling up outside a beautiful two-storey villa surrounded by greenery. ‘A bungalow, as we call them here,’ Mr Kent explained. ‘And your new home! Welcome!’
Dorothy stepped out of the car and gazed at her new surroundings. The house was painted a bright white with black timber beams and black and white blinds. It appeared to be on stilts, with a covered veranda circling the ground floor. The house was surrounded by tall green trees and lush vegetation, reminding her of a school trip to Kew Gardens some years before. It felt like they were in the jungle and she couldn’t wait to go exploring. Once she’d had a rest and had cooled downa little, naturally. She wiped the back of her hand across her damp forehead, then followed her parents as they made their way towards the house. Pretty green bushes with trailing stems of pink and purple flowers lined the path. ‘Bougainvillea,’ Mr Kent explained when her mother asked.
In front of the house was a neat lawn, in the middle of which stood a line of Chinese servants, waiting to meet their new employers. They were dressed in the traditional samfu, with white tops and black trousers, that looked, to Dorothy, a bit like pyjamas. One of them stepped forward, offering glasses of iced water which the Templetons accepted gratefully. Dorothy pressed her glass to her forehead and closed her eyes for a moment, enjoying the icy coolness, before gulping it down. She looked up and saw a maid step forward with a jug, ready to refill her glass. ‘Thank you.’ Dorothy smiled. ‘What’s your name?’
‘Ah Ling, Miss.’ The maid gave a shy smile, then made a slight bow before returning to the line.
