Typing skill

I never learnt the proper way of typing. My first exposure at typing was at my aunt's house in Irrawaddy Road, Penang. My uncle had an old typewriter there, and every time I went visiting with my granny, I would spend my time bashing at the keys. But still, I never learnt all those "asdf hjkl" stuff.

But the experience was valuable enough. When I started work at The Straits Echo, typing was an essential skill for everyone. If you are not proficient enough, you have a steep learning curve to get yourself up to speed. When we returned from any assignment, we would be required to bash out our story on a typewriter.

It was here that I refined this old skill. Still not typing properly during those six months, but I could get by fast and accurately with two right fingers and two left fingers (which I still do today.)

And suddenly, an old memory just popped into my mind. During my interview at Ban Hin Lee Bank in Penang way back in 1976, one of my interviewers asked me how fast I could type. I didn't know, I told him, but I could demonstrate it there and then. He never did take up my challenge but accepted my confidence at face value. Guess that was one of the points that clinched my employment.