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Blue Hut
197 Klang Rd
Kuala Lumpur
Malaya
16 June 1955

Dear Mummy & Daddy
Many thanks for your 2 letters, very welcome & for sending on the birth certificates (we had to have them to get Family allowances £1 a week here instead of 8/- but we need it !) I'm sorry I haven't written before but this last week has been a bit hectic.
I had a wire from Peter last Tuesday week to say he'd got an excellent bungalow for us & to come up on the Friday night train. However, 40 Base Workshops Orderly Room took such a long time to get cracking about getting our tickets etc. that we weren't able to have berths `til last Tuesday night, 12th. It cost us $22 extra to have air conditioned compartments but it was certainly worth it. It was the first time I'd slept on a train & it's certainly very comfortable - a double compartment for Guy & me, with 2 beds, 2 cupboards with wash basin & "potties", & a single the same next door for Susan, all spotlessly clean. Malayan Railways certainly show up British Railways in a bad light, judging by "The Pines Express"! We had to stop for an hour for the Customs at Johore Bahru, but they were very nice & only wanted one case opened & seemed very amused at Guy bouncing up & down in his bunk. They charged me $2 on a bedspread & pillow case I'd bought for SiSi in a lovely Chinese blue with a white band round the edge & a white junk or two appliqued on - only $10 the two. They took no notice of a hand embroidered linen tablecloth I'd bought at the same time for $35! The train left Singapore at 7.15pm & arrived here at 7.45am. Peter's Major at 40 base Workshops very kindly arranged for an Army truck to collect our luggage, & took us down himself to the station in his own car, saw us into our compartment, got the luggage aboard & had it registered AND did the tipping. Wasn't that kind of him? I was so glad of his help. Peter met us at K.L. station & with a taxi & the Fiat (to take the luggage). We came straight out here. It's 31/2 miles from the centre of K.L., which incidentally has one of the most impressive railway stations I've ever seen - lots of white stonework, minaret type towers etc & all so clean. That is one of the chief impressions you get of this town - it's cleanliness. Of course it's much smaller than Singapore but quite a nice place. The 3 big department stores of Singapore have shops here as well as the S'pore Cold Storage where you can get anything you can think of to eat & drink & where I get my food supplies. House keeping is certainly expensive here - everything is dearer than Singapore except rents & servants.
This is a very nice bungalow on the main K.L. -Port Swettenham Rd (buses into town stop at the gate ), Next door on one side is the owner & her parents. She is a Mrs Blake - a Malay in spite of her name. She is very young & nice, speaks excellent English & has been very helpful. She found our Amah for us & did the translating at the interview I had with her on our first evening, as Amah's English is very limited. There is a verandah in front of the bungalow with double doors into the house & double doors on the other outside wall, so we get plenty of air through them (they are wide open all day) as well as the windows (which all have 2" squared thick wire netting fixed into the walls across the open space - to prevent burglaries, I suppose, all the houses here have it.) The windows themselves have frosted glass so you can dispense with curtains. You enter into a large room partially divided into 2 by 2 half walls (so that each looks about the size of your lounge ). The first half is the lounge, furnished with 1 settee. 4 armchairs, 4 small coffee tables & 1 large coffee table, glass-topped in the middle, Like most of the furniture out here, it's rattan (cane) with loose covers. There's also a bookcase. In the dining part is a nice table. 6 chairs, small side table cum writing desk & a sideboard . The floors are mosaic, which are nice for keeping clean, especially with children. No carpets. The kitchen, bathroom (with bath & shower) & lavatory & washbasin are down a step - the last 3 through swing doors (like you see in a Wild Western film's saloon or pub). The kitchen is nice & large & airy with frig. & sink, 2 tables & a kind of kitchen cabinet. Leading from that is a passage, off which are the amah's room & wash room, where she does the washing. & her lav. There was no cooker so Peter had to buy a small G.E.C. & there is no water heater or fan. So far we manage by boiling 3 kettles (you don't want hot baths here) but we may get a heater later. We shall certainly get a fan. Peter pays $325 a month, which is cheaper than Singapore, as you'd have to pay $500 easily there for this, There's a very good garage & a large garden with plenty of "grass" for Guy & Susan to play on (they don't have grass as we know it, but masses of small leaved plants which form a green covering to answer the same purpose. There are 6 chi-chi trees in the garden, also several mango trees. We tried the former on Amah's recommendation & liked the fruit very much.
Amah arrives at 8 a.m. usually before. She came the morning after we arrived & cleaned the whole place well. She, so far, is working very well. She washes up the breakfast things, makes the beds & does the bedrooms, does the lounge & dining room & washes the floors, does the washing, cleans shoes, watches me cook (she cooked the Birds Eye frozen brussel sprouts today!) washes up, does the ironing, scrubs the kitchen & leaves sink etc clean & washes up the tea things. I'm going to try & train her to get the tea in time. She leaves at 6pm & has 1 day a week off. She will stay & `sit in' one night a week "up to 1am" but she must go then as she is breast feeding her latest baby! She has 7 children! The eldest (16) looks after the baby during the day but I don't know what the poor little scrap does for food all day! We pay her $90 a month for all this, going up to $100 after a month if all is satisfactory. We also have had to have a kebun (gardener) at 2hrs a day - 40 dollars a month & he's working well so far. At the moment I'm doing the cooking but we shall see about a cook when we've seen how much we have to spare after the first month's bills. We get 900-1000 dollars a month allowance & will see if we can keep within it.
So far K.L seems hotter during the day than Singapore & cooler at night. We shall all miss the beach but hope to join the swimming club, I thought we'd get Guy a paddling pool (like the one the little boy had at the back of "The Cottage" )for his birthday. It's certainly lovely to have a home of our own again, & it's very pleasant to sit on the porch & look at the garden & see the traffic whizzing by on the road outside the gates. Except for a small Malay house opposite & the dark skinned folk going by, you could quite easily imagine yourself on a summers day in England. I see you are having a hot spell - hope it lasts for you. That was a sad affair at Ascot - did you get the storms?
Do hope you & Aunties manage to fix up your coach tour in Scotland. Where do they go?
Yes thank you, I've quite recovered from the monsoon drain incident. I certainly had a huge bruise on my bottom - all colours of the rainbow! Fortunately Guy fell on me & was unhurt.
We are all missing our friends. SiSi however hopes to start school next week. There is an R.A.F. family living in a house behind ours with 2 boys about 9 & 6, but they & SiSi haven't got acquainted yet. I miss Esther & Laurie Holmes & Phyl Shaw, who was very kind indeed to me. Esther leaves next month.
Thank you for getting estimates for the cot - but what a lot of money! I think the best thing would be to put the cot & high chair in a sale room, if the cost of sending the cot is going to be more than £10.
Susan had a very good report from the S'pore school.
You ask if Guy is house trained. Well, some days he's very good & I have no wet pants & he tells me, & then he slips up & we get puddles! However he never wears a nappy except at night. Puddles are soon cleared up on these floors.
I haven't had Susan's school frocks yet so I hope they cancel them. Thanks for saying you'll send on a bargain or an M & S frock - one thing I should like is some more of those stretchable nylon socks for Susan please. I can't get them out here. Her shoe size is 12 though that doesn't really matter. Please take the money from the proceeds of the high chair sale (if it goes).
So glad you had a sea trip to Swanage & enjoyed it & that you're getting more golf Daddy. How is Mr Simpson?
Peter says he thinks you'd be wise to take £400 for the Vanguard as a new one is coming out soon so it'll drop more. But it certainly isn't much for a car in as good condition as yours. Average price for `57 Vanguards in 18 May `Motor' is £450 - 460.
Had a nice letter from A Ethel & will write soon. Also another one from Bettina - I owe her one already so must try & write to her tonight.
Peter has been Orderly Officer this weekend unfortunately - on duty at 6 am & home again about 7pm - however it doesn't come again at the weekend for 10 weeks.
Must stop now - lots of love to you all. How are Aunties peas & tomatoes doing? Your flowers sound lovely - I'd love to see the roses & delphiniums. The roses here are poor little things, not worth growing. We have got a double row of plants like sweet peas in the garden, with flowers like small orchids in orchid mauve.
Lots of love Joan

197 Klang Rd
Petaling
Kuala Lumpur
Malaya
29 June 1955

Dear Mummy & Daddy
Many thanks for your letters - I'm sorry you had to wait rather a long time for my last one but it took a little while to get settled in here. Glad you liked the look of the place - now we've got a fan ( we managed to get a "shop soiled" Japanese one quite cheaply) & a small water heater (11/2 gallons ) over the bath, we are much more comfortable & like it here very much.
I've just come back from the K.L. Central market where I've learnt to shop for fruit, eggs, meat (at any rate pork & lambs liver which are all I've tried so far - have stuck to the Cold Storage for the rest as it looks more appetising!) However, when I can ignore the smell, I think I'll get fish in the market & today I've bought a chicken there - all alive-oh! I picked him out of his big cage and looked at his claws which seemed pinkish & felt his breast (of course they're much smaller out here than at home ), paid $1. 40 a katty ( about 11/4 lbs ) for him, & brought him home with his legs tied together, body wrapped in newspaper & head & tail sticking out. I was well laden when I got on the bus with 2 big baskets, the fowl & my bag! Amah says chicken is `good' so we'll just have to hope for the best. At the moment I haven't the heart to kill it so she's cut the tail feathers off & those on the top of his head & tied it up on a length of string to one leg. Guy loves it! Perhaps we could fatten it up a bit.
So glad your holiday is all fixed up. When do you go & what places are you calling at & how long do you have at each? Make sure of your reserved seats - you don't want a journey like the Pines Express' . One R.A.F. wife & child who came up on it with us & went on the Empire Clyde had to travel all the way from Cheltenham to Liverpool in the luggage van - in spite of 1st class tickets!
Do hope you enjoy your stay at Pury - it will be nice for you to see them all again & the alterations to Vine House. Has A Amy another tenant in view for Vine Cottage? Is A Hilda staying on her own? Do give them both our love & all at Towcester too.
Thank you very much for despatching the cot & wrapping it up so well. It will certainly be very useful as Guy is apt to fall out of a single bed unless barricaded in, & I have to stay with him until he falls asleep as he keeps getting out if I don't - it's going to be difficult to break the habit as I've had to do it for so long now.
Yes Peter likes his work much more than 40 base W'shops - he's virtually his own boss & is responsible for keeping 222 vehicles on the road, including the G.O.C.'s Humber Pullman! He has 8 B.O.Rs & 36 Malay O.Rs under him. His office hut has a thatched roof now so is cooler, & a fan inside. He's fetched each morning by a nice little Malay O.R. called Saidee & brought home at lunch time in an army Land Rover. He takes the Fiat in the afternoon. Last night was "Dining in Night" so I was left on my own, but I wasn't `frit' although Peter thinks it will be advisable to have a watchdog. So we are taking one over from a family who are going home in 2 months time. Apparently this dog (Heinz variety, Alsatian size ) is excellent with young children & a splendid guard. Next door they have 2 Alsatians.
Your garden sounds lovely - congratulations on getting such marvellous results in such a comparatively short time - all that hard work last March/April eh, Daddy? Guy still talks of `Gabar' when we're in the garden (he obviously connects the garden with Grandpa & Nana). He knows you're a long way over the `water' (sea). When we were on the beach I showed him the big ships & told him they were going over the water to Nana & Grandpa, & he often used to point to them afterwards & say `Nana, Gabar'. He's being very lazy with talking like Susan was. So far he is very fond of `Mine!' He grabs all the toys etc that are his in sight & repeats `Mine' several times very firmly - this is because Jonathan, being 6 months older, used to take everything Guy had! He's getting on fairly well with `Please may I ` instead of `I want' Incidentally he loves those pull-along ducks you gave him at Christmas. They go to bed with him every night although I should think they make most uncomfortable bed fellows! We bought him & Susan a little cane armchair each (3 dollars) & he is very pleased with his. They're very light so he can carry it where he wants it.
Susan started school 3 days after we arrived. She is collected by an army T.U.C. about 7.45am & returned just after 1pm. There's no afternoon school again but here they go on Saturday mornings. There are 2 boys in a house at the back of us who also go to school with her, but they haven't proved very friendly. However, half a mile down the road are living some children she met on the Empire Clyde so they came last Sunday to play. She is having another school medical examination on Monday morning & on Wednesday, it is the school Open Day & prize day so I shall probably leave Guy with Amah & go - no young children are invited. He seems to stay with her quite happily so long as he doesn' t actually see me go, so at last I'm getting a few hours in the daytime to go out on my own.
Peter is having a scooter made for SiSi at the L.A.D.- we are going to see about her bike, as she could learn up & down the drive here.
Peter is buying me a new frock for my birthday if I see one I like, or something from the Malayan Industries shop. There are none of the Chinese crafts for sale here as in Singapore, where there were lots of camphor wood chests, carvings, ivory, exquisite table linen. brocades etc. etc., not forgetting plenty of Siamese silverware. Here there are some Indian wares & Malay - the latter specialising in rush weaving, (bags, hats, mats etc.) silverware, (quite different from the Siamese) wild silk lengths & some wooden articles. They have some lovely strong walking sticks - I'd like to bring one home. I think while we're out here we ought to get some examples of local crafts, don't you, we shall probably never have the chance again & you can't get them at home. There are a lot more Indians here then in Singapore & not nearly so many Chinese.
I was surprised to hear the Bs had bought property at Wrington - they've certainly picked a lovely spot but I thought she was set on B'mouth. Perhaps they found they couldn't get a £4000 house for £400! Anyway I hope Mrs Thomas does it well for them & they like the rural life when they're there - I can't see Liz in that role, I must say unless she's going to run the W.I. etc. However she won't be far from Weston or Bristol. Are they keeping on the car?
We are sorry to hear the Neilsons have gone - hope they had a good day for moving & are happy in their new home - have you seen it? Won't her mother miss them & they her! Do you know the people who are coming or rather, have you seen them? Hope the people from Ceylon have a house built near you if they're nice. Did they decide to have one like yours?
Your flowers seem to have stood the move very well - how are the rose bushes doing in front of the french doors? They don't seem to go in for many bedding/herbaceous plants as we know them here. It's mostly flowering trees & shrubs although in the shops you can buy gladioli, some red & pink daisies something like a very large dandelion, orchids & several others but you never see them growing in gardens. I bought a pomuli the other day in the market. We've got a tree in the garden but they're not ripe yet. They are as big as a honeydew melon only pale greeny -yellow in colour, & just like a grapefruit inside. We had a pineapple too, 30 cents for a big one & bananas are 30 cents for 12 in the market but Amah says that should be 20 cents, only I couldn't make him come down any more. He asked for 40.
I really must stop now - lots of love to you & Aunties & all at Towcester & London.
I forgot to say we had a bit of excitement last week - I heard a lot of shouting just after I'd got Guy to sleep at 12.15pm. I went outside in the garden & there I saw a lorry had come right through the fence into a corner of the garden, jumping a 2'6" ditch to do so & just behind in the ditch, was a bus on its side! Fortunately no-one was hurt but it caused a great commotion & crowds ( a Chinese with a ``portable`" - on a bike - cafe did a roaring trade & the ice-cream man!) They are appalling drivers out here - apparently this is the second time this has happened in a year.
Lots of love Joan

197 Klang Rd
Petaling
Kuala Lumpur
Malaya
2 August 1955

Dear Mummy & Daddy
Hope you all enjoyed your stay in Pury - tell Uncle that Joseph Travers have just had a very large office block built in K.L. Why can't Tate & Lyle export sugar syrup out here? Our sugar comes from Hong Kong.
Many thanks for your registered letter yesterday containing the socks for SiSi they are fine & just what she wanted - thank you very much. Thank you too for her card & Guy's (we've put that away `til the 12th). Susan was pleased with hers - she came home yesterday with another report from this school (they break up on Saturday). They had marked her on arithmetic ( mental - A, mechanical - A, problems - B) written english - B, spelling - B & reading (by Schanell her reading age is 10 yrs 1 month)
A = above average of British children of same age
B = just above average
C = average
So we were very pleased indeed. She moves up into a higher form next term (the average age of her present class is 8) Doesn't look as if she's going to take after Mother in arithmetic, does it? Tomorrow a.b.w.we go to her Open Day. I hope they'll get down to teaching her some geography next term - she really seems awfully backward in that. No school she's been to seems to teach much. Broadstone did some but of course she wasn't there long. History seems to have fared better. I hope she'll learn some plain needlework too, not this fancy handwork. She's knitting at the moment - plain & purl.
You asked how our crocks fared on the journey - I'm afraid we lost a lot. I've only 2 cups left out of your tea service & 2 saucers so had to buy another tea set out here. I was going to get a cheap one for everyday as you know, but this has to do for best & everyday now - I paid $20 for 6 cups & saucers, plates, teapot, milk jug & basin - English ware , not Hong Kong. My mixing bowl & pudding basins have gone, also 2 Pyrex casseroles & soup plates, the 2 Braunton pottery soup bowls you bought me just after we were married, 2 meat plates from the dinner service & 1 glass. However, when you consider the treatment the packing cases got en route I suppose it's not too bad, although I'm very sorry about the tea cups & soup bowls.
Had a nice letter form A. Hilda today, also a birthday card from Doitch & a letter from Esther Holmes telling me Singapore news - I do miss her, she was such a nice person & such a good friend. Haven't seen so much of Mrs Jacowitz lately (she's the mother of the children Susan met on the Empire Clyde who live near us here. She turned up here almost 3 mornings running & had coffee & said I must come & see her (she'd let Christopher know when ) - I'm still waiting for the invite! She's married to a Pole in the R.A.F. I was rather surprised to hear from her what resentment there is, especially amongst the R.A.F. officers out here, against the 2 or 3 Poles amongst them - apparently they are referred to as "B- - foreigners" to their faces, which I think is appalling don't you? Peter has a Polish Sergeant in his L.A.D. & he says what a good chap he is.
A. Hilda made our mouths water with your garden produce again - are you still having the heatwave? Must have meant a lot of watering for you all. I've asked our kebun to grow some lettuces in the garden but it remains to be seen whether they materialise. Nobody seems to grow any vegetables in their gardens, so he probably thinks it's another mad English idea & will conveniently forget all about it! I must see if I can get a pkt of seeds in the English store - Robinsons.
Peter bought me a very gay frock yesterday, It's a Corvette one in red, blue & white & grey checks, with scoop neckline ( the best out here ), plain bodice & full skirt - $65 (£7 5/- roughly) so you can see that English cottons are dearer here than at home. Thank you for looking for a frock for me but don't bother now until next year when M & S will have some more. Actually I only want 36" now but of course I want the length. Did you ever get your suit Mummy? Or find a frock you liked? With the heatwave you've been having, I expect you wanted it. I expect you won't be sorry in some ways when it ends! I find I'm all right here in the mornings but very limp in the afternoons - much more so than in Singapore. I hope that Peter gets a move somewhere on the coast when his year here is up - we'd all like Penang but don't suppose we shall be lucky. However, we're all quite happy here now & like our bungalow very much. I have finished that red & white striped sundress & bolero we started for Susan just before we left at last, & will try & tackle something else. I could do with a machine though as it's neater than by hand - must see if they are expensive to hire.
One of the things that has impressed me most out here is the spick & span cleanliness of the Malays & Chinese - you NEVER (apart from those actually engaged on road work etc. who can't help getting a bit dirty ) see anyone in a dirty outfit the men mostly wear white or light coloured trousers & white shirts & they're always fresh, uncrumpled & spotless. Ditto the women, whether the Chinese in their pyjama-like trousers & jackets, or the wealthier in their cheongsams (a sheath-like dress, fitted to their tiny figures with a little mandarin collar & 2 long slits at the sides of the skirt), the Malays in their sarongs or the Indians in their saris.
Susan & Guy are busy playing `pirates', though they've just heard the ice cream man's bell so there's a temporary halt while they rush to the gate with their 5 cents to get ice lollies. The ice cream men are artful - they ring their bells for all they're worth some way before they reach our gate & then stand there waiting, unless I shoo them off. Guy knows the bell now unfortunately. However he only gets one a day & I make Susan take a pkt. of raisins to eat at school instead of buying an ice lolly there - she can have that with Guy. Susan had another thorough medical yesterday & was pronounced quite O.K. fortunately. She & I are both going to the dentist next week. I had to have a double tooth out in Singapore. Expect Starling-Boulter would have saved it but you know what these army dentists are.
Our cockerel is still staying contentedly in the garden - Guy feeds it each morning so I don't know whether we shall have the heart to eat him next Sunday or not!
I'm sorry Peggy Robinson isn't all that thrilled with Rhodesia - perhaps she's a bit like the schoolmistress at the Waverley who had regrets about coming out here, I think. I gather she rather expected a hectic social life, & of course unless one finds a wealthy escort that isn't possible - an escort is absolutely essential as no woman ever goes out by herself at night & I expect it is the same where Peggy is.
Well, Amah has just come in to set the table for tea (I wish I could lend her to you , Mummy - it IS so nice to have someone get tea - & wash up afterwards!)
Lots of love & thanks to you both Joan

197 Klang Rd
Kuala Lumpur
29 August
Dear Nana & Grandpa
We have got a kitten now, Daddy brought it back from the L.A.D.
Thank you very much for saying you will send me a book out here. Guy loves to play with water. The boys at the back are moving to a Quarter today. I have made friends with a little girl called Pauline and when we went to the swimming pool. I saw her (R.A.F.) I have a little garden in our garden & I have planted some sage, parsley & snap dragons. Kebun gave me some cannas. Daddy is going in for the motor car rally in Ipoh. We had a duck but we thought it had flown away but Kebun found it a few days later. It had gone to the other side of the road. Guy likes to play with the buttons & Mummy thought she would ask you to send her some but Mummy was only joking. Gut & me played school this afternoon. Guy was the pupil & I was the school mistress. I taught him to read & I read him a story.
Love & kisses Susan & Guy xxxxxx


197 Klang Rd
Kuala Lumpur
7 September 1955
Dear Mummy & Daddy
Many thanks for your letters Mummy, & yours Daddy to Peter, & for sending on the Sunday Times & the photos - my, doesn't the garden look nice now. Your herbaceous border looks as if the soil there must have been jolly good - everything looks so luxuriant! What a change from all that expanse of brown earth when we left! Were you very satisfied with the turf & is it looking a little less bald in the front now? How have the roses fared? I quite like the name "Penn" for your house - it's most unusual - what made you hit on that? Thought you all looked very well in the photo & A. Ethel much better than when I saw her last year - but of dear, what made her buy that hat?
It WAS nice to see an English paper again - one gets a bit tired of a non-stop diet of what Mr Marshall is doing in Singapore & what Tengu thingamybob is saying about independence for Malaya up here. Reading between the lines, it looks as though he & Lennox-Boyd didn't see eye to eye very much on the question of independence & the British clearing out in 3 or 4 years, particularly on the defence question. I wonder what will happen to this country when they are on their own - the Malay seems to be such a lackadaisical, dreamy. easy-going fellow. Maybe the Chinese & Indians here in the Alliance government will keep them up to scratch. Tengu himself seems a very able man but he's got a very hard task in front of him. Thank you for offering to send the O ? Mail but an occasional copy of your paper when you've finished with it is quite O.K. thanks - seamail would do too.
Do hope you had a good journey up to Scotland & are enjoying your holiday & getting good weather & food - including those enormous Scottish teas! Expect you hope it won't be as hot as you have been having earlier in the month - must have been very trying for you all, especially having all the work to do & no amah like me! Incidentally, how is Mrs Hoare these days? Still going strong I hope.
Thank you for the recipe - I've tried it out this morning. I bought a huge pineapple in the market last Friday for 90 cents (it was 12" long, not including the stalk & bunch of leaves at the top!) Up to now, I've bought smaller ones (about 7 -8" long) but Mrs Blake told me last week that they use the smaller ones for cooking out here & buy the big ones to eat as a dessert fruit as they've more flavour & are sweeter- hence my large one. She was quite right about the sweetness etc. but of course it means an awful lot of pineapple to be eaten between the two of us - Susan & Guy won't touch it.
It IS fun doing the marketing out here & being able to pick out each apple, tomato etc. for oneself as they weigh a kati for you. I'd love to see the faces of English shopkeepers if I did that at home - Though I've a good mind to try it on. After all, the Chinese certainly aren't losing money by letting their customers pick & choose, so why should the English put the good things in front & give you the second rate from the back! One can be very much more choosy about the meat one buys here too. They will bring out lots of pieces for one's inspection & then cut off all the extra bits of fat, suet etc. to make the joint, chop etc look really appetising!
We have decided to keep our Amah - she was literally falling over herself trying to find more jobs to do (like going round the garden every half hour or so to see if Guy or Susan had left any toys about, & then putting them away) - she obviously didn't want to lose her job! However, she apparently talked it over with her husband (what he says goes, without any argument, out here I gather) & she has agreed to stay & `baby-sit' 4 nights a week (if needed) to any hour without payment, & also to sleep here if Peter is going to be away all night. We thought that was very fair & until we can afford a very good cook, house-amah or couple, I think we'll stick with her, especially as she gets on so well with the children.
Wednesday
Tonight we are going to the Jacewicz's for Canasta - Peter went night flying with Jan last night to Port Swettenham & back. Jan did the take -off & landing & Peter took over in between. He's going to take Peter up to Siam for the day when he has to fly there next. Peter has been given permission by his C.O. for a fortnight's attachment to the R.A.F. station to get helicopter experience, & he's toying with the idea of trying for his pilot's licence now which also might help in the helicopter plan. He did 15 hrs solo in Trinidad. He likes his work at the L.A.D.& seems to get on very well with the O.C. of 69 Coy R.A.S.C.to which he is attached. In fact he wants to be Peter's navigator in the local equivalent of the R.A.C. rally which is being held out here at the New Year - up to Ipoh. Tests there & then a run down to Singapore. All being well we are all going to S'pore (me & the children by train) for about a week then. The O.C. is also putting Peter's name up to be a member of the Golf Club here (for tennis playing & they've got a marvellous swimming pool too apparently, not nearly so crowded as the army one ) when he comes back from his leave in the Cameron Highlands. They have had a bit of trouble with a Capt. in 69 Coy who has just gone home - he did the W.O. & Sgts Mess accounts & as he was leaving, Major Coulthard asked Peter to take it on until the relief arrives in Jan. Of course they had a check over & found some very funny business had been going on with a lot of discrepancies, so Peter asked for a Board of Officers to go into it before he took over. However, it's been more or less straightened out & the C.O. is going to do it himself now with help from Peter - this Capt had to fork out $500 quickly, as if they'd had an inquiry, he'd have had to miss his boat home, to say nothing of not doing himself any good.
On Friday night we're hoping to go to a super new cinema, the Odeon, just opened yesterday, very modern apparently, to see `Doctor at Sea'. There are about 6 cinemas here, 3 of which are quite modern & O.K. - the others mostly show Tamil, Hindustani & Malay films. We don't get many good British films shown - they're much too fond of Wild Westerns - I wonder the supply hasn't run out the number that are shown!
Do hope A. Amy's cold was better before setting off on your holiday & that you, Daddy & A. Hilda are quite O.K. Susan was interested to hear you'd seen Linda & Clare & mother - I should think Mrs G would be in her element out here.
Thank you very much for sending Susan that book - she's looking forward to it very much. It will be a good book for her to keep. Peter has had the insurance consignment receipt for the cot - many, many thanks for seeing to it all for us & packing it all up - it WILL be useful.
Sorry to hear U. Herbert is having such a worrying time & from what you say, it doesn't look as if there's much hope of things getting better. I wish some of the enormous labour force over here could be shipped across - it's amazing the number of Chinese who can speak some English anyway.
What sort of house are the Brader's building?
Our seeds are a washout - the snails (about 6 times the size of those at home ) ate all the spinach & the lettuce don't seem to grow much more than 1" high. We got some snail killer & no more seem to have been eaten, touch wood, but our second lot of spinach & Susan's sage, parsley & Snapdragons haven't come up. However, a row of broad beans is just putting in an appearance so maybe that will come to something. Couldn't get any runner bean seeds here - the seeds we get are Yates from Australia.
Yes, Guy sticks to "Sam" - in fact. I'm afraid I do too, now! He is talking a lot more just lately. At the moment, he's having great fun on his own on the lawn just outside the door (so I can see him, in the shade) playing with bowls of water & his bricks & Susan's old dolls' teaset things. Susan is having a dolls' washing day (Amah irons them all for her afterwards).
Has Richard decided what he's going to do now he's passed the G.C.E. - congratulations when you write. It would be strange if he turned up here to do his National Service while we're here! Anyway, he could choose a lot worse places I'm sure - as long as he steers clear of the Chinese lassies!
Peter has ordered a D.K.W. car from Fraser Nash in England (it's a German car) & it's supposed to be on it's way. When it arrives he's selling the Fiat (which is too small for 4 of us in this heat & giving a bit of trouble). I don't approve of his choice (I wanted an M.G.Magnette!) but there, as you know when it comes to cars I might just as well save my breath as he'll do just as he likes. As for the Lancia, the Mills apparently collected it from Broadstone garage the other week & towed it back to Lulsgate, where it's going to be stored! I have tried my best to point out the folly of this but I've got nowhere, so there you are. It's too hot to argue much out here anyway. However, I thought it might be a good idea to see if we couldn't save enough out here to enable us to buy a house when we get back - somewhere near a Service area, so that we could let it to a Service family while we weren't there & the rent would pay the mortgage. It would mean we had got a home of our own somewhere which we could use when needed. So many Service folk we have met have done this or are hoping to do so. However, we'll see what's what when we come home again.
Hope you won't have any more fires near you like the one you mentioned - must have been very frightening.
Guy's prickly heat is much better, but he still hasn't got rid of it. it seems almost impossible to prevent him getting wet with sweat - it seems to have been hotter than ever these last few days (even Amah's feeling it - especially this afternoon when she's scrubbing out the entire bungalow - she chooses to do it all on Thursday afternoon as they like to do jobs in the order they like.) I took Guy over to the Malay Command H.Q. M.O. & she gave me some lotion for his rash - calomine with something that smells like Dettol in it. Susan & Guy have now got like the Chinese ( & indeed all "locals") & go around the house barefoot. We've all got some Chinese "slip-slop" shoes (just a sole with 2 strips across the toes) which are very cool & easy for the feet. It's very important to keep the feet as cool as possible to prevent `foot rot' setting in - very difficult to cure. Mrs Blake said she got it at school & it took 7 years to clear up! Of course they're very backward in the medical way here - apparently the only decent hospital in the federation is the B.M.H at Kinrara, about 3 miles from us.
Thank you for forwarding on Shira's letter & for his offer of help if we go to Japan - whether we get there remains to be seen but it was very kind of him.
From the papers it looks as if things aren't too good at home. They'll certainly have to cut their prices in export goods, especially where Japan is competing. We noticed here the other day a Triang trike for sale in one shop & 2 shops away they had what looked in every respect the same toy, & just as strong, for half the price of the Triang one - it was made in Japan. You can get a "Ronson" lighter (exact copy) made in Japan for $5 here, & loads of other things so I don't know what will happen to British firms if that continues.
Really must stop now - hope you all had a lovely holiday & lots of love Joan


197 Klang Rd
K.L.
Wed eve 15/9
Dear Chris & Edith
Joan has been hiding your letter in her constantly overflowing writing case so we owe you a joint apology for not replying earlier.
I gather your record heatwave has come to an end by now & hope it has not left the garden all scorched up.
I like the freedom of my new job and provided we turn out the vehicles in good order, I am virtually my own boss. We are getting ready for an inspection visit by our Brigadier from Singapore due to arrive next Wednesday.
Thank you for your help over the proposed Japanese trip, it will be most useful when the time comes. We are not very well served for radio out here & I heard no commentaries on the latest Test Radio Malaya starts up after lunch and includes a number of B.B.C. recorded programmes but choice is limited to about 2 programmes on our portable.
I had an interesting 2 hour night flying in a Pembroke with twin Alvis Leonides engines last week. Since it's a dual control machine I took over for about 1/2 hour and enjoyed it thoroughly. Next project is a day trip up to Siam & a trip in a Harvard to Singapore & back in a day.
We now have hopes of a new neighbour from Radio Malaya with children so Susan's playing problem may well be solved.
We did not meet Lt. Col. Tateman during our rather brief stay in Singapore.
Congratulations on your wattle fencing manufacture - a new industry for Broadstone?
The family livestock now includes 2 pidgeons & a tabby kitten & they seem to be settling down quite well.
From your latest letter your Scots holiday seems to be going very well you sound as though you may be returning next year for more.
The amnesty out here seems to be having limited success but none at all in the worst area of all which is Johore. I can't see it resulting in a shorter stay for us out here unless it gathers much more momentum
Love to you both Peter

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