I kept my sweetest memories inside a cream cracker tin

After all the biscuits were eaten, the tin became a box of treasures. Photo: Filepic

My young handsome bridegroom did not say a word but he brought home a tin of Jacobs cream crackers which was polished off in no time – downed or sometimes dunked in kopi-o every morning and afternoon if we felt peckish. He diligently washed the empty tin, dried and sunned it and gave it to me. That was 50 years ago. The start of “our family.”

This was the practice of his parents and also my grandparents and parents. Why the tin? In case of a fire outbreak, the precious tin is grabbed before running. Tins can be buried in the soil where it can be safe from theft, fire and floods. They have always known and treasured documents. Documents which are irreplaceable and which we need throughout our lives such as the all-important birth certificate which proves our citizenship without a doubt.