Noor Aishah was pleased with the move to Melati, but it had come at a cost. Unknown to many people, Yusof had to pay the rent for Melati out of his own salary. As Lee Kuan Yew explained in the Legislative Assembly, the upkeep and maintenance of the Istana was "completely out of state funds" but the "household commitments in the bungalow inside the domain will be on his personal account".
For Yusof and Noor Aishah, it was a necessary price to pay for maintaining a sense of normalcy for the family. At Melati, they would be much more comfortable and the children could grow up away from the public glare especially since the bungalow was shielded from general view by a series of hedges. At the time, Orkid Kamariah was 11 years old, Imran 10, and Zuriana, six.
Yusof and his family were the only official residents of the Istana domain. The only other people living there were the Istana staff and servants. Occasionally, Lee Kuan Yew would bring his children to Sri Temasek to play with Yusof's, while he himself played a round of golf. Imran, who was a year older than Lee's elder son Hsien Loong, remembers playing with him and teaching him how to ride a bicycle. Lee's office was, at this time, still at City Hall and it was not till 1971 that he moved the Prime Minister's office to the Istana Annexe.
Melati was very spacious, with two large bedrooms. Throughout the house, there were wide verandahs to keep it cool. Later on, Noor Aishah had partitions installed in the bedrooms to create smaller rooms for the children. The Istana provided Yusof with a non-live-in domestic helper to assist the couple with looking after their children, and he employed another to help with the cooking and housework as Noor Aishah could no longer just stay at home to tend to the family needs. As the First Lady, she would have numerous duties. As The Straits Times - spelling her name wrongly as "Norisha" - publicly noted:
"For Che Norisha, the 'quiet girl' from Penang, the coming days are going to be the most hectic in her life. From today she will be the First Lady of Singapore. No more the quiet life with her husband and their three children... When the family moves into Government House, now named the Istana Negara, Che Norisha will be faced with 325 members of the staff and their families, many diplomatic functions, invitations to be the patron of social organisations, and all the other responsibilities that face a First Lady."
For Yusof and Noor Aishah, it was a necessary price to pay for maintaining a sense of normalcy for the family. At Melati, they would be much more comfortable and the children could grow up away from the public glare especially since the bungalow was shielded from general view by a series of hedges. At the time, Orkid Kamariah was 11 years old, Imran 10, and Zuriana, six.
Yusof and his family were the only official residents of the Istana domain. The only other people living there were the Istana staff and servants. Occasionally, Lee Kuan Yew would bring his children to Sri Temasek to play with Yusof's, while he himself played a round of golf. Imran, who was a year older than Lee's elder son Hsien Loong, remembers playing with him and teaching him how to ride a bicycle. Lee's office was, at this time, still at City Hall and it was not till 1971 that he moved the Prime Minister's office to the Istana Annexe.
Melati was very spacious, with two large bedrooms. Throughout the house, there were wide verandahs to keep it cool. Later on, Noor Aishah had partitions installed in the bedrooms to create smaller rooms for the children. The Istana provided Yusof with a non-live-in domestic helper to assist the couple with looking after their children, and he employed another to help with the cooking and housework as Noor Aishah could no longer just stay at home to tend to the family needs. As the First Lady, she would have numerous duties. As The Straits Times - spelling her name wrongly as "Norisha" - publicly noted:
"For Che Norisha, the 'quiet girl' from Penang, the coming days are going to be the most hectic in her life. From today she will be the First Lady of Singapore. No more the quiet life with her husband and their three children... When the family moves into Government House, now named the Istana Negara, Che Norisha will be faced with 325 members of the staff and their families, many diplomatic functions, invitations to be the patron of social organisations, and all the other responsibilities that face a First Lady."
Yusof also bought a small car - a burgundy Peugeot 204 with number plate SK5000 - and employed an elderly driver to take the children to school and Noor Aishah to the market or to wherever she needed to go. Noor Aishah enjoyed doing her own marketing at the Tekka Market (the old Kandang Kerbau Market) and was friendly with many of its stallholders. She recalls that it was at this market where one day, she was introduced to "Mama Lee" or Mrs Lee Chin Koon (1907-1980), mother of the Prime Minister. Her vegetable seller had told her that "Mama Lee" was looking for her because she had heard that she did all the cooking at the Istana. Mrs Lee was herself a famous cook and had authored the popular Mrs Lee's Cookbook. She was keen to go to the Istana to learn from Noor Aishah how to make her version of ondeh-ondeh. The two became fast friends afterwards and Mrs Lee was a regular visitor to Melati.
Yusof and Noor Aishah did not have many friends, but their solitary existence in Melati was punctuated by occasional visits from friends and relatives. Naturally, security clearances had to be obtained, but once in a while they played host to old friends from Malaya, and even some of Yusof's old schoolmates from Raffles Institution. Another regular guest for informal meals at Melati was the Istana's Comptroller of Household Jean Leembruggen and her family. Like a civil servant, Yusof was entitled to two weeks' leave each year which he took with his family in Penang.