Hello friends, thank you for staying with us on Sweet Memories, Sweet Success, an autobiography by Mrs Kate Cheah.

Last week, we heard about the faith of Kate’s parents, especially that of her mother. Today, let’s listen to how Kate spent her younger years.

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A Christian version of old English nursery rhyme goes like this:

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe,

She had so many children and loved them all, too.

Kate’s family was like that. All 27 of them lived in a big house in the eastern part of Singapore. There were Kate’s eldest half-brother, his wife and 6 children, her second half-brother, his wife and 7 children, Kate’s mother and her 9 children.

In the 1940s and ‘50s, school was enjoyable. There was not much homework nor pressure to do well. After school, there was plenty of time for play. Life for Kate was carefree – going to school with her siblings, nieces and nephews, helping at the bakery when they were older when help was needed, playing at pretend cooking, running around a pond at a nearby school, playing rounders and badminton, and cycling around the neighbourhood. O! Life couldn’t’ be more busy, noisy and fun!  

In those days, many of the family’s domestic helpers came from mainland China. When they visited China on home leave, they would bring along bales of cloth and clothing, canned food, cooking oil and if they can manage, even bicycles for their relatives in China. When they returned to the Chan family, they brought many stories of life in China: everything was rationed, and food was scarce. Many Chinese tried to swim from the mainland to Hong Kong Island – some drowned, some were shot by the Chinese coastguard. Those who made it might be arrested by the Hong Kong authorities and these illegal immigrants faced imprisonment, beatings and repatriation. The few who managed to settle in Hong Kong lived in constant fear of being discovered.

When Kate was eight years old, she had the chance to visit Hong Kong. Her mother owned two blocks of 3-storey flats. Chinese refugees had built their homes on the roof tops. To earn some money to live, they would prepare food to sell. One chilly morning, Kate watched them going down the stairs to the street below. Each person carried a bamboo pole on their shoulders. On the two ends of the bamboo pole hung things that they needed to set up simple stalls to prepare and sell their cooked food. In the evening, they would bring everything back up again. This scene would repeat every day just so the refugees could earn a little to have something to eat. Even as a little girl, Kate’s heart was moved with compassion for the refugees. When the tenants asked her mum to drive them away, her mum replied that she could not for she had pity on them.

Years later, the Lord would remind Kate of these scenes from her childhood.

Kate’s mother was a staunch Christian and Kate was baptized as an infant. As a young child, she was taken to Sunday School regularly and heard many Bible stories. When she grew older, she attended worship services.

As the children in the extended family grew, the big house was fast becoming too small. And in 1950, Kate’s 2 older half-brothers with their families moved to other houses. The big family home now seemed quite empty with just the 10 of them.

But every Sunday at church, they would meet their beloved nieces and nephews and have great fun. After church services, the extended family often went to a nearby cinema to watch the latest movies. But after the fun ended, a sense of emptiness began.

Friday Bible Class

Then in 1955 when Kate was a teenager, her schoolmate, Elaine Phoon, invited her to a Friday Bible Class. At first, Kate was reluctant. Afterall, she was already attending church. But Elaine was patient and persevering and always seemed full of joy. Elaine’s love and enthusiasm for Christ and her courage in witnessing touched Kate. Finally, to please Elaine, Kate and her niece, Jane – who was in the same grade and the same school – went together to Friday Bible Class.

The person who ran Friday Bible Class was a Dutch lady called Miss Maud van Hien. She looked like a prim and proper matron. She dressed modestly; her hair plaited and neatly tied up. She had a very kind, smiling face. She shook each girl’s hand warmly and her eyes sparkled with joy as she received each girl. She remembered every girl’s name and took a personal interest in each one.

The session was held in Bras Basah Bethesda Church, opposite Kate’s school. The girls sat on chairs arranged in a semi-circle. In front of the girls were the chairperson and the speaker. Miss van Hien, other teachers and missionaries would teach from the Bible. There was also a little old organ. Every Friday, they sang choruses and hymns. Sometimes, as many as 30 girls packed into the room. Kate was surprised that so many stood up to read the Bible, pray, and share their testimonies or the spiritual lessons they had learnt. Her experiences there seemed very different from being in church.

The girls at Friday Bible Class were friendly, helpful and looked very happy; the atmosphere was always warm and vibrant. Kate enjoyed these Friday meetings and began to attend them regularly.

At Friday Bible Class, Kate was quiet and shy. She always arrived a few minutes before class started and left almost immediately after the meeting. She sat at the back so that she would not be asked to share, pray or read from the Bible. Kate’s conversion experience was not sudden. Through these sessions, Kate gradually realized she was a sinner and felt a need to have greater meaning and purpose in her life. She desired a closer walk with God.

Around this time, she watched the movie, The Ten Commandments. She was moved by God’s greatness and His love for the oppressed and how He showed mercy to the Israelites. Slowly, she came to a personal conviction that only Jesus can save her and give her a purpose and direction in life. She resolved to love God more and yearned to serve Him. The emptiness in her heart disappeared and she did not feel the need to run after worldly entertainment for fulfillment.

It was decades later in 1998 that Kate visited the United Kingdom and caught up with Miss van Hien. Miss van Hien told her how Friday Bible Class began.

In 1949, a Sunday school teacher opened her home to give weekly bible lessons to a girl who was not allowed to go to Sunday school at church. She was not the only one. By 1950, Christian girls were accompanying their friends to the teacher’s home after school to have bible lessons and sing Christian songs. About the same time, a Mrs Thelma Teskey felt a burden to teach the Word of God to these girls. She and another Sunday School teacher began to pray that these Christian girls would have a deeper thirst for God’s Word. In just 2 weeks, a group of Christian girls asked Mrs Teskey for more Bible lessons. So, Friday Bible Class begun. Some members of a local church also offered to help – they wanted to encourage Christian girls in their faith and to create awareness of the need in Malaya and elsewhere for full-time missionaries. During the school holidays, the girls had opportunities to stay with missionaries in Malaya and learn first-hand of their work.

Kate reflected, “Through the Friday Bible Class, God shaped my life in an unexpected way. Without that I would have remained a lukewarm Christian at best or an indifferent Christian at worst. The Friday Bible Class kindled in me a desire to serve the Lord. Many girls were similarly challenged and we found our love for God bursting forth from the embers of our faith.”

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After completing her secondary education, Kate enrolled in Teachers’ Training College to be prepared as a teacher. The course lasted 3 years. After that, she expected to teach in schools. But the Lord had other plans. What were these plans? How did He guide her? Did she ever make use of her teacher training? Or did it all go to waste? Do join us next week to find out!

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