In these circumstances, as Sylvia’s family was in
Malaya, going back was not an option. She, as well as
the brave medical and non-medical staff of the General
Hospital, soldiered on whilst artillery shells fell in the
hospital vicinity. Medical staff, young medical students
and nurses who were her friends were killed.
Intriguingly, it was the impending fall of Singapore
that set in steady motion a sequence of remarkable
events changing the course of Sylvia’s life. While
wondering and praying over what to do, the thought
of getting a steamship ticket to leave Singapore entered
her mind. Desperate to join her fiancé Kho Hock
Chiao in the Dutch East Indies, (now the Republic
of Indonesia) Sylvia tried to get a passage on the last
vessel out.
As she nervously queued up to secure a ticket, an
elderly English lady in the queue at the ticket office
fainted. Nobody helped her. Stepping forward to
assist and revive her, she lost her place in the queue
composed entirely of British nationals. One man
refused to let her back in as she was Chinese. Her kind
act did not go unnoticed and a staff member quietly
handed her a ticket.
Afraid that she might not make it to the harbour
in time to board the vessel, she panicked as air raid
Her time in Semarang, Indonesia
after her marriage was well-spent
learning dressmaking, cookery,
hairdressing and cake decorationbelow Sylvia made gowns
for hundreds of brides in a
career that spanned 40 yearsabove A custom-made
headdress, fashioned with
wires and stitched with lace