Embedded Files
I was taken straight to the Commonwealth Office in Melbourne. A liaison officer gave me a briefing of Australia and Melbourne. A week's itinerary was planned for my orientation to Melbourne. I left the Commonwealth Office happily knowing I was with kind people. The liaison officers were warm, they gave me a great welcome and kept me at ease. After meeting the liaison officers I was driven to Queen Victoria Hospital. I was received by the Matron and taken to the Nurses' Home. I remember everybody appearing very kind and giving me a good welcome. I was introduced to Cynthia Samuel, a nice Indian girl from Malaysia.
Cynthia was my company for that evening. I was glad to know she was a Christian. We did not go to the same church, but all that mattered was that we believed in the same God. I knew I had found a friend then.
Photo: Lai Fun with Cynthia Samuel (c. 1963, archive ref. A01/148)
Photo: Lounge room in nurses' quarters (c. 1964, archive ref. S19/023)
It was quite exciting to look around me. The Nursing Home had a tennis court between the home and the hospital. There was a table-tennis table in the basement where staff played table-tennis during their lunchtimes. The pantry was reasonably sized with cooking facilities for residents. The home provided meals at the hospital cafeteria and snacks at the pantry. I remember the delicious tray of cookies brought in for us each evening. There was milk provided with cocoa, tea and coffee. Everything was new to me. A lot of white faces with hair that was blond, mousy, brown or red, instead of the usual black haired people. There seemed to be big people with voices that were soft and they seemed to have different mannerism too. There was a queue for everything. People walked into their bedrooms with their shoes on. People knocked before walking into your room rather than just charging in. There was often a thank you when a favour was given.
My taste buds were not choosy, so western meals were no problem to me. I did not understand why the Australians called 'tea' their evening meal whilst I called it 'dinner' like the English. My curiosity had the better of me and I asked one of the girls at the same dining table with me. I was told the farmers go out during the day and they come home for tea which is a big meal like dinner.
I was taken around Melbourne by Commonwealth personnel for the first two weeks of my stay. I enjoyed myself and was impressed by what I saw. I did not see a single paper on the road. People were civic minded and appeared to be proud of their surroundings. They treated public places like their home, unlike the Malaysian cities which were foul smelling with dirty surroundings. In Malaysia people threw rubbish wherever they liked, even though waste bins were provided. The monsoon drains were not cleaned regularly and with blockages in the drains with all the waste, the smell was strong. Australian buildings around the cities appeared well kept and maintained too, because unlike many Asian attitudes Australians were willing to spend money on maintenance. From what I saw the Asians liked to suck as much money as possible from their properties and not reinvest money in maintenance. At least Malaysia has improved greatly in recent years.
Photo: State Library Victoria (c. 1963, archive ref. B01/011)
Photo: Sidney Myer Music Bowl, Melbourne (c. 1963, archive ref. B01/009)
Photo: King George V Monument (c. 1963, archive ref. B01/013)
I was given a single room facing Swanston Street. I enjoyed looking out of the window from my room onto the street. It was noisy no doubt, but it was quite a sight to see the trams pass by. In September every year I enjoyed watching the Moomba Festival from the window. There was a single bed and a study desk and chair in the room. I found the winter bitterly cold in my first year, as there was no heater in the room except along the corridors of the nursing home. Girls had to buy their own heater for their rooms if they could afford it. Those who had no heating in their rooms would either wear heavy jumpers and layers of clothing to keep themselves warm or suffer the cold in winter. I often studied in bed with my blankets over me to keep warm. I remembered even though there was heating along the corridors it was still cold if one did not have warm clothing on.
We were expected to keep our room clean and tidy. The domestics would empty our waste paper baskets and vacuum the rooms. If we wished to sleep in, we would leave a sleep in sign and our waste paper basket outside our room for the domestics. We shared bathrooms and sitting rooms and pantries on each floor of the rooms. No males were allowed to come beyond the visitors' sitting rooms. There were two visitors' rooms on each floor of the nursing home. In those days male student nurses were virtually non-existent.
Photo: Float at the Moomba Festival taken by Lai Fun from her window facing Swanston Street, Melbourne (1964, archive ref. S03/020)
Photo: Lai Fun (far left) with matron and other student nurses (c. 1965, archive ref. B02/004)
In the evenings a number of Asian girls would gather together and cook their favourite Asian dishes in the pantry when they were off together for the evening. It was great fun socially as well as a good break from Western food. We frequently found the Western food bland and uninteresting and the vegetables over cooked. I remember our nursing home supervisor would walk into the pantry with the huge tray of cookies and milk for the evening and comment on the smells coming out of the pantry. We had to be so careful not to offend the residents and her with the smell of our cooking. If we used garlic, the smell would be commented on even the next day, unlike today, where garlic is eaten by everybody and even thought to have medicinal value. We were reminded often to clean and tidy up the pantry after our cooking. We were often accused of leaving a mess even though we had tidied and cleaned up after ourselves. The nursing home supervisor was strict on us. She was a trim lady. She walked upright with her starched non-creased uniform, veil and polished brown shoes. She appeared stern; a smile was difficult to get out off her. I saw that it was not unusual for the authorities to appear stern and unfriendly as it was believed that to gain respect from their subordinates they should not be friendly to their juniors. The nursing home supervisor checked on our behaviours and attire around the nursing home and made sure that the regulations of the nursing home were adhered to.
There were many regulations which we had to follow. For example, we were expected to be back to the home no later than 10 pm and if we needed to come back later than the curfew time, we had to sign out at the assistant matron's office. The nursing home supervisor would check in our rooms at the signed out time. The privilege of a late pass could be withdrawn if there was any infringement of the nursing home rules. Of course there were nurses who broke the curfew and got caught. I saw nurses sneaking in quietly late at night with their shoes in their hands hoping not to be caught. Nurses had to be so careful they did not fall pregnant whilst in training. The institution wanted nurses to be single and not pregnant whilst undergoing their training.
At the nurses' home there would often be calls from navy or army personnel who were in town asking the nurses to go out to parties with them or accompany them out. It appeared the nurses were easy to get as they were friendly and obliging. I witnessed many nurses who were escorted by many strange men in the nursing home. Nurses were not only called up by the navy but by the intern doctors too. Many nurses were dated by them and were sneaked into the doctors' rooms at the residents' quarters for the night. What they did together in the residents' quarters, nobody knew and would not dare to ask.
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