One of the girls in my Pre-U years at RI (Raffles Institution) was Wei Ling, the prime minister’s daughter. She would come to school every day with a female bodyguard.
Her bodyguard would sit in the tuck shop all day, chatting to the stall holders while Wei Ling was attending classes, as she had nothing to do.
On our biology field trip, out into the secondary forest (called belukar) in the Bukit Timah area, the bodyguard came in a fairly straight skirt (therefore not loose and free flowing) and (low-)heeled town shoes, with a handbag as well. We young 17-year-olds in our sneakers and jeans were sniggering at how inappropriately dressed she was.
When we struggled a bit climbing up a slope, she was the one to offer a hand and pull us up.
When someone cut her finger on a sharp branch, out of the handbag came a plaster.
When we needed to take a sample (of a leaf or twig), she produced a pen knife.
When we found a butterfly, out of the handbag came an envelope to store the butterfly in.
We were ashamed that we’d sniggered.
(Singapore, 1971–2)
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