Malaysian artist Latiff Mohidin first arrived in Singapore from his hometown in Negeri Sembilan in 1949, when his father moved here for work.
As a scruffy, carefree boy, he would hang around the Bugis Street area, hawking curry puffs for pocket money.
“The whole of Beach Road was my playground then. We used to have a house in Arab Street and my father’s office was in Java Road,” recalls the soft-spoken 75-year-old, who evinces a razor-sharp memory as he easily reels off names and life events.