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SingPost's Posting Moments Photo Contest

October 16, 2012, 2:42 am
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To celebrate World Post Day on 9 October, SingPosthas launched a photo contest on Facebook. The Posting Moment’s Photo Contestcalls for Singaporeans to share their cherished postal moments on Facebook. You stand a chance to win an iPhone 5 amongst other attractive prizes.
It could be a pen pal letter that you’ve kept for 40 years, a stamp collection belonging to your grandfather, or the postcard you just received yesterday. Just take a photo and submit to the Facebook page with an accompanying caption (of not more than 200 characters).


This is the photo that I have submitted. It is a page from my half-century old stamp album. The stamps you see here are from a time when Singapore was part of Malaya.
I used to collect stamps as a kid. Whenever I received a letter, or greeting card from a friend, I would carefully remove the stamp and paste it to my album. What a thrill it was to receive a letter with a stamp that I did not already have.

I would also exchange stamps with my cousins, classmates, and an Indian boy from Bartley School who came around to our kampong to sell snacks in the afternoon. We became friends. But sadly we have lost touch over the years. How nice it would be if he could read this post. And then we can become friends again. But this time, we would not be exchanging stamps, but memories.

PS – Please vote for me here. Remember to “like” first. Cheers.
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Official Launch of the C3A Portal

October 19, 2012, 10:29 pm
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Earlier this month, I attended the official launch of the Council for Third Age web portal and their new logo. It was held at the National Library Building at Victoria Street. After the official speeches by the guest-of-honour, Senior Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office, Mr Heng Chee How, and the Chairman of C3A, Mr Gerald Ee, and the explanation-cum-demonstration of the features of the new portal by Mr Paul Hidalgo, Senior Manager (Communications), myself and another guest from the National Library spoke briefly.

While Ms Valerie Siew, Assistant Direct, Public Library Services, spoke about the collaboration between the National Library and the C3A, I basically shared my views of the new portal and my experience in nostalgia/heritage blogging. I found this new portal very senior-friendly and encouraged the seniors present to share their memories there – which ultimately will also be deposited at the Singapore Memory Project, I suppose. I liked the very bright and cheerful appearance of the C3A site. The feature I liked most was the ability to increase the size of fonts with just 1 click. In fact, all the menus and buttons can be open with a single click. Check it out for yourselves here.

I met some old friends and made new ones at this event. Here are some photos.

This is the new logo of the Council for Third Age.

The two VIPs launching the new portal officially.

Me giving my presentation.

Me with Paul Hidalgo.

Met my good friend Dick Yip and we decided that the C3A Portal needed a ‘relaunch’ by 2 very thick-skinned FOYers (Friends of Yesterday.sg).



I chatted with the minister after the launch, and the first question he asked me was whether or not I knew James Seah. I told him that James was a fellow Foyer and Memory Ambassador of SMP. Those who have read my book, Good Morning Yesterday, would also know that he contributed three stories. Too bad he was not able to attend the event.

News reportof the event
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From my Inbox – Phil Hall remembers Bukit Gombak

October 23, 2012, 8:48 pm
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The photos of Bukit Gombak; especially this one, that I posted here brought back memories for Phil Hall who emailed me saying:


I was in the RAF at Bukit Gombak circa early sixties, before the large dishes in the photos were installed. Probably before many readers on this blog were born!

There was just a large rotating back to back radar to give bearing and distance and a nodding rotatable radar to give height. There was a radio building each side of the site. As per the photos the site was protected by double fencing the insides of which had to be cleared continuously.

Entrance was only by one gate with a guardroom. The operations room was the first building, with several admin rooms in a wing attached. Various other buildings were along a circuitous road leading to the top.

Two outstanding memories of the site were the strange secured door dug into the hill on the right hand of the road leading up from the dual carriageway: there was some suggestion of this being an arms dump. Not reassuring for us working on the top.

More importantly were the snakes on the hill!

Often we had to walk across the hill with just the moonlight. On one occasion I was with a colleague who was wearing flip flops and I happened to glance down and see his foot descending on a large cobra. All I could do was instinctively hit him out of the way, for which he berated me until he saw what I was pointing at.  At first light after a cooler night many snakes would be lying on the black tarmac of the road which had retained its heat overnight.
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FOYers lunch at my home

October 27, 2012, 2:01 am
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My friends, John and Ann Harper, are in town. Since they loved plant and flowers, I invited them to my home to see our collection carnivorous plants. I took the opportunity to organize a lunch gathering for the ‘senior’ FOYers (Friends of Yesterday.sg). Unfortunately some regulars like Peter Chan, Philip Chew, Dick Yip, YG Ong, Jerome, Shaik Kadir, Soh Kiak, Victor Yue, Char Lee and TC Lai could not make it. Still we had a grand time. Here are some photos.


Hurray! Here comes James (Thimbuktu) Seah with the famous Indian rojak with Andy (left).

The 3 James' (from left Tann, Seah and Kwok) at the same table; and Wee Kiat.

Victor with John and Ann Harper


 Andy and Hong Eng

Seow Ser (right) admiring our pitcher plants with my son

Friends of tomorrow?
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Eating places near Bedok Rest House in 1952 (Updated)

October 28, 2012, 6:27 am
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Here are more photos, courtesy of Joe Elliott, of eating places, eating stalls and an itinerant food vendor. Joe recalls in a recent email:

“At the side of Bedok Rest House were stalls on the pavement and behind them on the beach were tables and chairs which you can just see on the photos. The stallholders were cooking various foods which I had at one of tables in 1952.  It was several pieces of meat (not sure what kind) on a thin wooden skewer and a small dish of sauce.  The meat when dipped into the sauce was out of this world - it just melted in your mouth and I've never tasted anything like it since. I knew at the time what they were called but in 60 years I've forgotten. "The memory forgets what they were called but will never forget the taste".

PS – I think Joe must be referring to satay.






Related posts:
This is the way we eat, part 1
Thisi s the way we eat, part 2
Itinerantfood vendors of yesteryears
Eatingplaces at Tian Lye Street 1
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ANCHOR BEER – the smooth beer for men (by Peter Chan)

October 29, 2012, 1:57 am
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I thought about this topic not because you might have been impressed that I am a hardcore beer drinker: truth is I am not even one.  Rather this beer reminds me of my frequent commuting by car as a young lad.  Frequent commuting sharpened my sense for road directions as well as a good memory for places.  Since my father was the driver, I sat next to him looking at the way he managed the steering wheel, gears and pedals but I would say most times this got to a point of being very boring.  So my eyes would turn to things outside the car window.

Every week, we visit my grandparents who lived in the pre-war Tiong Bahru S.I.T. Estate.  Tiong Bahru is quite a long distance from where we lived in Upper Bukit Timah Road.  From my memory, I recall taking three different routes from my grandfather’s abode to our home.  Two of the routes went through the Alexandra – Queenstown, Alexandra - Ayer Rajah Road areas and the third was through a “rich man’s area” - Botanical Garden and Holland Road.

Plate 01: Sketch-map of travel journeys from Tiong Bharu Estate to Upper Bukit Timah Road.

 When Jalan Bukit Merah was opened in the mid-1960s, a fourth route was added.  My father was never known to be a flexible person; there would never be a fifth, a sixth or any other alternative routes when there was one.  It always had to be the same for yesterday, today and tomorrow (even when I got my driving licence and became the “driver”).

This reinforced my memory of prominent landmarks, one of which was the Archipelago Beer Company, whose famous brand was ANCHOR beer.  In the light of the recent corporate take-over of TIGER BEER, we must not forget ANCHOR.  According to my father, ANCHOR had its factory in Alexandra Road before WWII.  What attracted me to the landmark was the good-wagons belonging to the Malayan Railway (now KTM Bhd) at the bonded customs warehouses.  Today the warehouse is now occupied by IKEA Furniture.  The factory was on the opposite side of Alexandra Road, now the Anchor Point and The Anchorage condominium.  Beer was produced at the factory and moved across Alexandra Road to the bonded customs warehouse using the concrete overhead bridge.

Photo 01: Canned ANCHOR Beer.  Nice when chilled.

Photo 02: ANCHOR Beer’s factory at Alexandra Road (c 1952).  Factory on the right, warehouses on the left and the overhead concrete bridge across Alexandra Road.

I would see workers loading crates of beer into the good-wagons and a locomotive would bring the fully loaded good-wagons to Tanjong Pagar Railway Station.  The railway siding crossed Jalan Bukit Merah and vehicular traffic stopped because the safety wooden level crossing was in place.  Today if you visit the empty plot of land between IKEA Furniture, you can find remnants of this railway siding. 

Now here’s a bit of mystery for me.  Maybe someone can crack this mystery and we all can know the answer. 

Recently when I visited the National Archives in England, I found something “unusual” about an aerial photo of the Alexandra Road area (Photo 03).  It not only showed the ANCHOR Beer factory with its unique guardhouse (now a restaurant in Anchor Point) but Nissen huts and  the railway siding as well.

Photo 03: Aerial Photo showing the future Rumah TInggi area [bottom] and the ANCHOR Beer factory and the guardhouse [left-middle] c 1947


Though I am showing one portion of the Alexandra Road area nearer to Queensway, I can tell you this railway siding is longer than the one that terminated at the ANCHOR Beer warehouse.  It ran into Leng Kee Road (which never existed during WWII), across Tanglin Road into Belvedere Close, and finally ending at Prince Charles Crescent and Prince Philip Avenue (which never existed by name but only for the grid layout of roads). 

When the British Army pulled out of the Alexandra Road area in 1949, they turned over military properties to the Singapore Improvement Trust (S.I.T.).  The rest is history as S.I.T. built post-war estates at Prince Charles Crescent, Strathmore Avenue and Dawson Road in the mid-1950s.

Can I hear some answers soon?
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Aii Chan enjoys Good Morning Yesterday, the book

November 2, 2012, 9:09 pm
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From my Inbox (2012-11-02)

Hi Chun See,

Got back to Luxembourg for few days, first thing when time available - to read your book, now half way, thoroughly enjoying it! Congratulations on a project well done, so proud to be telling everyone:  it was written by my primary school classmate. I do have some comments (i.e. up to page 96 now)

1) Thank you for bringing us (our generation) down the memory lane via your book, I felt the book is even better than visiting the modern Singapore because everything/everywhere familiar is disappearing so fast, no memory lanes anymore left for us. This trip I felt like a "foreigner" visiting a completely new place - i.e. not like "coming home" feeling.

2) I do envy those who lived in your village - they could enjoy and keep your vivid descriptions of the whole neighbourhood.  How I wish someone could do this to our village too, so that Sock Geck and I could keep the memories in words!  Congratulations also to your brother Chun Chew for his super memory to help you too.

3)  You both are lucky to have an English-educated father, that means a world of difference because then he had a good job position, hence the possibility to buy cameras and to have typewriter/fridge/car at home.  With the cameras, you were able to get so many photos of the past (seeing is believing). I think your family house must have been a luxury of those days to, compared with the poor attap houses around.

4) Again, you were lucky to be living in a non-Cantonese community because you picked up a lot of Hokkien and Teochew dialects on growing up.  Most of the terms used by you were in Hokkien, which was commonly used in the other areas of Singapore (apart from Chinatown).  In fact for a Cantonese person, I think your Hokkien is excellent :-))

5)  I am amazed by the "Kan teko" (KTK), now that I am reading it. I do have some recollections of such a trade. We never had pigs (only chicken), but our neighbour (4 - 5 doors away had them), so now I do recall remarks about this person, maybe I was too young to know what he was doing.  On the other hand, I remember that there was such a person who came to "sterilize" the chicken from time to time.  I can recall watching him too.  But anyone can help me: why sterilize the chicken?

6) The last points are my questions.  I visited a place called Imperial Court at Thomson road this year, is this the old Imperial cinema?

a) At the beginning of Jalan Perminpin -Thomson Road there was a huge tree, we used to call it "Tau chiu ka" there were food stalls/coffeeshop there?

b) My last questionn:  I recall between Thomson Road (5 miles) and Sembawang Hill Estate (7 miles) a place we called in Chinese, "Ang Mo Tan keh";  anything to do with the fruit rambutan trees growing there?

One of my brothers-in-law thoroughly enjoyed the book (I bought for him at Popular).  He grew up in a different area, Devonshire Road, so things were quite different there. He appreciated very much what you wrote, since he was teaching at Nee Soon primary school (Yishun today) his students all came from the village area.

PS - Hopefully there will be a "future book" coming :-))

My Remarks

Thanks Aii Chan for your kind comments and for recommending “our” book to your friends. 

Yes; like many other friends, Aii Chan owns part of Good Morning Yesterday, the book. She contributed details to the sections on Braddell Rise School (Chapter 7), and games that girls of our generation played (page 114). She also narrated that interesting account of her encounter with the night soil carrier at Braddell Rise School in page 53.

Related posts
My Recollections of Braddell Rise School 
Return to “Police Catch Nuns”


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Open-air theatre at Somapah Village, 1952

November 5, 2012, 5:28 am
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Among the (year) 1952 photos that Joe Elliott sent me, are these gems of an open-air theatre which I believe should be at Somapah Village.

This is the external view of the theatre. The title of the movie, as far as I can make out is “小罗宾汉” (Little Robin Hood) directed by 梁深 (王字 旁） starring 羽马 and   佳缨.  Anyone heard of these names?

This is the entrance “to all seats”; Adult – 50 cts, Children – 30 cts.

Seating and screen area. The Gents is on the left of the screen.

This is the Projection box.

This photo shows the outside of the theatre. To the right of this photo is the open air theatre and in front - left to right - is Changi Rd. The road straight ahead leads to Mata Ikan.


This is Joe’s hand-drawn map of the area. 

After studying the last photo and Joe’s sketch; and comparing it with the 1963 street directory maps of this area (below), I have come to the conclusion that this open-air theatre was located at what was then the Somapah Village; near or at the junction of Jalan Tiga Ratus and Upper Changi Road to be exact. The road leading to Maka Ikan is Somapah Road.



Here is a 2007 map of this area for comparison. Parts of Somapah Road remain.


Below are two recent photos of this area taken from Jalan Tiga Ratus. The first photo is from Google Streetview (probably taken a couple of years ago) and the second photo was taken by me this morning. As you can see, a great deal of construction is going on.



In my book Good Morning Yesterday, I gave a detail description (page 15) of the open-air theatre that I used to go to in the 1950s. This was the South Country Theatre (南国戏院)located at, what is today, the Raffles Institution in Bishan. Thanks to Joe’s photos, more details have come back. For example, the location of the toilets to the right and left of the screen were just like in Joe’s photo. I also recall, now, how we were quite fascinated by the beam of bright light that was projected from the box office over our heads and onto the screen.

As I did not have a photo of the South Country Theatre, I had to search the National Archives’ Picas data base and I managed to find this 1986 photo which I then used in page 132 of my book. According to the description given in the Picas website, this open-air theatre was located at Somapah Village. Could this be the very same theatre in Joe’s photos – albeit an upgraded’ version? Your views please.




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Attap houses @ Somapah Village, 1952

November 10, 2012, 6:51 am
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As a follow up to the previous post about the open-air cinema at Somapah Village, here are two more photos of attap houses along Somapah Road. Young readers who have never seen an attap house close-up and are curious about what the attap roof looks like can check out my post here. 




You can see more photos of attap houses in another part of Singapore in the mid-1960s here; photos courtesy of Geoffrey Pain. 

Finally here’s a photo of what Joe Elliott describes as a “toilet over cesspool”.
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Singapore, 1960s – The National Neon Tower by Tim Light

November 11, 2012, 11:12 pm
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Singaporeans in the 1960s were used to seeing neon advertisements, and for me they added enormously to the colour of urban Singapore, especially after dark.  My favourite was an animated neon sign at Newton circus, which showed somebody drinking something.  I can’t remember what the product was, but the animation consisted of three stages in which the character started with a full glass, then showed it at his lips and half empty, then finally with his head bent right back and the last drops going into his mouth.

As well as neon, there were giant objects displayed on buildings, or by the road.  I remember a giant bottle of Soy Sauce at Bukit Timah Circus, and an enormous jar of Brylcream somewhere. These were some of the things that made Singapore different and interesting.



Does anyone remember the National Showroom Neon Tower at North Bridge Road next to the Capitol Theatre?  According to the remarks at the National Archives Picas website, the National Showroom was opened by the former Minister for Culture, the late Mr S Rajaratnam in 1963.  It was highly controversial, because it was, to say the least, insensitive to its surroundings, and not at all in keeping with the classing buildings that surrounded it.  It was several stories high, and towered above buildings like the Municipal Building and St. Andrews Cathedral.  At night it was fully illuminated, and could be seen for miles. 

Opinion was divided.  The conservative view was that it was a blot on the landscape, and destroyed the historic character of the area.  The converse view was that it symbolised the modern Singapore, and that the old architecture of the colonial era should no longer be dominant.

Who was right?  It’s a matter of opinion. Personally I liked it at the time, but I would probably think differently today. 

What happened to it?  It’s not there today, and if it was, it would itself be dwarfed by other buildings. 

Below are 3 photos from the National Archives Picas collection showing the dismantling of this iconic National Neon tower in July 1974.



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Then and Now – the former Sussex Estate

November 18, 2012, 1:59 am
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In Singapore, old buildings have a way of disappearing overnight. Likewise, new buildings too have a habit of springing up seemingly overnight as these 4 photos of the former Sussex Estate at Clementi illustrate.



For years I have been travelling along Clementi Road and passed by this place called Sussex Estate. I noticed some low-rise buildings there including some kind of veterinary; but had never been curious about them until I visited the Memories of Singapore website hosted by Tom O’Brien and learnt that some British families used to live there in the 1960’s. But sadly, by then, the buildings in Sussex Estate had all been cleared and all that was left was an open field. Hence one day, in 2007, I decided to take a couple of photos of this place from an HDB block in Clementi Avenue 1 to share with Tom O’Brien and his buddies.

Five years have flown by, and that field too has disappeared, and a spanking new estate called Casa Clementi had sprung up. Meantime, across the road, a similar fate had befallen the Warren Golf Club. 

Someone just sent me this old photo of Sussex Estate. Thanks Peter.

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It’s not a “one-off case”

November 20, 2012, 6:22 pm
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According to this report, the recent case of baby mix-up at KKH was a “one-off case”.

“Other hospitals My Paper contacted also said that they have a strict and robust system in place to prevent baby mix-ups, and that the recent incident at KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH) was a one-off case.”

And in page A3 of today’s Straits Times, a report of the same incident quoted thus:

“But obstetricians said they have never heard of two babies getting mixed up before in Singapore. Private obstetrician Jothi Kumar said that in his more than 30 year’s experience, “this is the first time I’ve heard of such a thing happening”.


Well, these people are all mistaken. I remember clearly a similar case happening at one of Singapore’s leading private hospitals sometime in the early 1990s. At that time, we at the National Productivity Board were promoting Quality practices and the principle of “100% Right”, and hence I was always on the lookout for such news articles. A quick newspaper search at the NLB’s newspaper archives revealed the following article in page 2 of the Straits Times, dated 23/2/1992:

“Hospital mix-up sends baby home with wrong mother”.
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Link Hotel Discovers the Past - People, Places & Events (by Peter Chan)

November 27, 2012, 11:54 pm
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Blocks 53 & 54 are a pair of refurbished buildings which sit at the peripheral of the Tiong Bharu Conservation Area - the first public housing project in Singapore.  These buildings have history in them though not on the same scale like the Palladian architecture of City Hall or Fullerton Building.  It is a post-war low-cost S.I.T.housing developed by the British Colonial Government, though many would link this type of housing to the Lim Yew Hock Government which never was the case.  Precisely how this rumor originated, I am not certain of its source but back in the 1950s this could have been politically motivated.   

Photo 1: The view from Link Hotel of Tiong Bharu Road – 1930s S.I.T. block (left) and 1900s Straits Chinese shophouses (right).  This was the same bus stop I journeyed to school at Grange Road.

I recall different trades took up space on the ground floor whilst on upper levels were the residential units.  There were three trades that spring to mind as I speak. 

One was a tailor shop where I had my first long pants tailored-made at the age of 9 for the Chinese Lunar New Year.  I must have “purposely” forgotten the name of this tailor shop probably because of hot arguments with my father over styling.  Coming from the old school of thought, he insisted that that trousers should have a small fold at the ankle level, pleated and loops for holding up the belt which I felt were not cool.  Even my primary school uniform shorts were tailored-made and were knee-length, making them looked like a pair of bermudas rather than “shorts”.
  
Photo 2: Tiong Bharu Estate layout (c 1948).  Do you recognize that 1950 telephone set?

Not expecting to grow taller at any time soon, I used a pair of scissors to shorten the school shorts.  When I was questioned by my father I had a ready answer: shrinkage due to poor textile material and frequent washing.  So out came my suggestion if he ever thought of going to the tailor: Never buy Japanese textile materials especially from that tailor shop at Block 53.    

Photo 3: This was before Block 53 became Link Hotel (left) and a Hock Lee Amalgamated bus on Tiong Bharu Road going towards Bukit Ho Swee (c 1955). 

The other thing I detested was the visit to the Chinese street barber, whose make-shift space was the staircase.  In my opinion, this barber took the easy way out by using the clipper to trim-off my “kalipok curls” and I ended up with an ugly inverted “bowl-shape” head to show.  When I reached the age of 13, I found my “new freedom”; no more visit to that barber.  I went to the air-conditioned Indian barber shop diagonally opposite the Eng Hoon Street temple, paying 50 cents instead of 30 cents for a hair-cut.  
  
Photo 4: Former resident tries the “Five Stones” game.

The last shop was Lucky Studio which carried more pleasant memories for me.  I took my IC and passport sized photos here, and the last visit was for my graduation family photo-shoot.  In those days, there was no instant photograph development service.  You come back a week later to collect. 

Photo 5: Previous tenants of Blocks 53 & 54.

Today Tiong Bharu Estate is re-born with a different kind of charm.  The resident demographic remains cosmopolitan -- young and old, foreigners and local residents all happily co-exist side-by-side and call Tiong Bahru home.  This is a suburb of contrasts: mornings see the elderly congregating and lingering over a simple breakfast of Cantonese cheuk (rice porridge) and others, over cups of kopi and espressos.

You can only be young once.  Thank God I was a teen thru the 1960's. Good times & great music then.  Here’s one a big hit at the height of the Vietnam War done Acapella style.♫

Nearly 40 years later, I shared my memories with the Link Hotel management (the current occupants of the former Blocks 53 and 54).  My two friends Lam Chun See and Yeo Hong Eng also got to do their bit at a special event to mark the hotel’s fifth anniversary and Christmas Light Up.  Chun See displayed his “Good Morning Yesterday” book whilst Hong Eng show-cased his vast collection of heritage paraphernalia. 

Photo 6: Many like this when she comes around.

Most theme nights are developed around fancy dress, food and decorations but that evening, Link Hotel took guests for a walk back to the 1950s in a slightly different way.  Old photographs showed the spatial geography and heritage paraphernalia found in the Tiong Bharu area. 

Photo 7: Where East meets West over Kopi, F&N Orange and red wine.

Beside the desire to promote one of Singapore’s heritages and bring back the old charms of the Tiong Bharu area, Link Hotel went one step further.  Guests included former residents and neighbours of the two blocks.  The guests gathered together to reminisce the past and updating notes of their well-being.  For me I was kind of half expecting to see that Chinese street barber again but I guess people do fade away with time.

All too soon the evening ended.  Too much food and drinks but still we made it home safely.

Additional Information:

http://tiongbahruestate.blogspot.sg/2011_07_01_archive.html
http://www.linkhotel.com.sg/
http://www.facebook.com/tiongbahru
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Traditional bakeries in Singapore

November 28, 2012, 10:47 pm
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There’s an interesting article in today’s Straits Times about the dwindling number of traditional bakeries in Singapore. According to the report, there are only 8 such bakeries left in Singapore.


But I am a bit puzzled, because, just earlier this month, my friend James Kwok brought me to see one such bakery in Block 39, Teban Gardens; and it is not in the above list. The owner was his ex-neighbour.  Could they have made a mistake; or has this shop closed down since James and I were there just 3 weeks ago on the 5th of November? 


Do you know of any other such bakeries in Singapore that are not mentioned in this article?  I have seen one at Lorong 6, Toa Payoh; but that was a couple of years ago. Not sure it is still there.

Anyway, I think such shops deserve our support. In you are in the neighbourhood, do drop by and patronize the shop. Don't forget to bring your camera along and take some shots. Even if the business survives, this old building may not escape our government relentless 'upgrading' efforts.
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Koh Sek Lim Road, 1952

December 5, 2012, 5:13 am
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Here is the latest batch of photos received from Joe Elliott. They show the Koh Sek Lim Road which ran from Upper Changi Road to the beach at Bedok. To help you to orientate yourself, I made a scan from my 1963 street directory.

Explanatory notes by Joe Elliott
Photo (1) shows Upper Changi Road from left to right. In front is the Koh Sek Lim Road leading to Bedok Beach and Padang Terbakar. The sign at the start of the road is a Wimpey Sign for the Bedok Sand pit. (The Chinese sign says “公立中莱公学” read from right to left – not very sure about the 4thword)
Koh Sek Lim Road today
Photo (2) – Walking up the road towards the beach.
 
Photo (3) - Coconut trees on both sides of Koh Sek Lim Road leading to Bedok Beach. 

Photo (4) – When you get to the beach, you see this Pill box from the war on Bedok Beach.

 Photo (5) - Bedok Beach at Padang Terbakar showing the Pill box in the distance.

Photo (6) - The beach at Padang Terbakar with the Pill box behind us. To the right of this photo a few yards over the bank, are the Attap Houses of Padang Terbakar. These are shown on photos 7 to 10.


If you look at the map you sent me of the Koh Sek Lim Road - the top of the road shows a right turn - the Houses were on the dotted section of the map and behind these houses was the river marked 'Sungei Bedok' 


Photos 7 and 8 are photos of the Attap House Church which was the original Bedok Methodist Church from 1946 to 1952. In 1952 they had the new church being built down Bedok Road. This was finished by the end of the year.  You can see this on the 1963 map. 

I looked on Google for the Bedok Methodist Church, found their website and contacted them.  I then sent these photos to the Pastor Rev. Sng Chong Hui. He was delighted to see them and said they were going to use them for the 66th Anniversary Celebration which was on 21 October 2012 which they did.

I noticed on one of your Blogs there was a Ron Ho who knew this area and talked about Koh Sek Lim Road. I think he might like to see these photographs as a memory of the past. 
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Christmas Gift Idea

December 9, 2012, 11:57 pm
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Christmas is just around the corner. And if you are pondering over what to get for someone who, like me, is from the baby-boomer generation, why not get him a copy of my book, Good Morning Yesterday. So far, many of my friends who have read the book have thoroughly enjoyed the trip down memory.

My book should be available at Popular, Times and Kinokuniya (best to call first). It was last seen on the shelves at the following outlets:
  • Popular @ Clementi Mall (Tel: 6514-6710)
  • Popular @ Toa Payoh (Tel: 6358-1700)
  • Popular @ United Square (Tel: 6478-2318)
  • Kinokuniya @ Ngee Ann City (Tel: 6737-5021)
  • Times @ Centrepoint (Tel: 6734-9022)
  • Times @ Plaza Singapura (Tel: 6336-8861)
  • Times @ Tampines (Tel: 6782-7017)
Besides these book stores, you can also purchase them at Haf Box and Betel Box. Haf Box deals mainly with lifestyle products for what they call “active agers”. Betel Box, on the other hand, runs a hostel and Bistro in Joo Chiat Road and also conducts heritage tours. Their details are as follows:

HAF Box Pte Ltd
19 Tanglin Road #03-32 Tanglin Shopping Centre, Singapore 247909
Tel: 6235-4560
www.hafbox.com


Betel Box Hostel, Bistro & Tours in Singapore
200 Joo Chiat Road, #01-01, Singapore 427471.
Tel: 6247-7340
www.betelbox.com
Thanks to Catherine Ling for this photo.
Incidentally, the restaurant at Betel Box serves great Peranakan food in a traditional Singaporean ambience. They even have a special corner where you can browse and purchase Singapore heritage-related merchandise like books, dvds and heritage items.

Recently a group of us, heritage and food bloggers, were hosted to a Peranakan lunch by Betel Box’s boss, Tony Tan. Although I am not much of a ‘foodie’ – whenever I go to a food court or hawker centre, I just go for the stall with the shortest queue – I could tell that the Peranakan cuisine here was very good …. at least my fellow bloggers thought so. We were served dishes like botol kacang, ikan sumbat, ngo hiang, hae cho, asam pedas red snapper, nonya yong tau hu and laksa goreng. My favourites were the botol kacang (salad), ikan sumbat and laksa goreng. 
With Tony Tan. Behind us are display shelves of heritage merchandise, including Good Morning Yesterday the book.
Tony giving an introduction to his business and their food

Notice that only Philip Chew and I not taking any photos of the food. We were waiting for the young people to finish their obligatory shots before we could sink our teeth into this delicious salad call Botol Kacang.
Can you guess where this shot was taken? That's me in the toilet mirror. Photo courtesy of Juria T
Back to my book. If you have difficulty getting it from the above places, or if you want to get several copies, you can contact me directly at: cslam@hoshin.com.sg and we will work something out.

Have a blessed Christmas.

Information on Popular’s outlets and locations here.
Information on Times’ outlets and location here.
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Singapore, 1960s – Orchard Road by Tim Light

December 17, 2012, 6:47 pm
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It’s the mid-1960s.  We’re on a shopping trip to Orchard Road.  We take an STC bus from Whitley Road and jump out at the junction of Scott’s Road and Orchard Road.  Across the road is the Lido Cinema, a stunning 1950s creation, showing The Sound of Music, but today our first port of call is C. K Tangs.  The building is a prominent landmark, with its Chinese style roof and awnings.  Inside it’s a department store with an Eastern flavour, and my parents loved to look around. My mother still has a camphor wood chest from Tangs.  My brother and I would head straight for the toy department … probably the best toy department on the island.  They had some wonderful model railways, mostly Marklin, from Germany, including a working layout.  My mouth would water when I looked at those lovely models, and my eyes would water when I saw the prices.  Anyway they were not compatible with our Triang trains, so we were happy to just look.  The other German import that I loved was the Schuco car system.  It went straight to the top of my Christmas wish list, and Santa came up with the goods.  I still have a couple of cars from that system.






Next stop was Fitzpatricks, for some grocery shopping.  This was a short walk along Orchard Road.  At this time Orchard road was a busy dual carriageway, with traffic flowing intensely in both directions.  Most of the road was lined with traditional old shop-houses, interspersed with more modern buildings like the Lido, C.K. Tangs and Fitzpatricks.  This was a time of transition.

In the mid-1960s Fitzpatricks was the model of a modern supermarket, with novelties like check-out belts and push-button tills.  No bar codes back then.  I don’t remember much about the food section, except for a massive sign advertising Foster’s Lager.  Upstairs was a café and a bookshop (where I spent my pocket money on Biggles and Jennings stories).  If I’m not mistaken, there was also a record store where I purchased my first-ever Beatles album.

Next we walked on to Cold Storage.  To get there we had to pass Princes Hotel Garni … a classy looking hotel/restaurant that I never entered.  Then there were more shop-houses, including a rather grand men’s hairdresser (or Barber, if you prefer) where we had our hair cut.  This was like the barber shops you saw in old American films from the 1920s, with panelled walls, and huge, plush leather barber’s chairs that could be raised and lowered with levers.  Part of the joy of waiting your turn was to read some of the American comics (Superman, Batman, etc.) that were provided.  Out on the street there were always a few hawker stalls, cooking food to order on mobile woks.  These hawker stalls contributed to the unique smell of downtown Singapore, which I’m sure was a cocktail of … well, lots of things!

Another place we sometimes frequented was Hiap Chiang and co.. This place seemed to sell a variety of things from swimming costumes to pewter ornaments.  For some reason, my parents took a liking to this shop and patronised it when they could.  But today we walked past Hiap Chiangs to the Cold Storage Creameries for a milk shake or an ice cream soda.  The Creameries was a good example of American cultural influence … a classic Soda Parlour.  The Creamery was a good place to cool down and watch the world go by. 

We gave Cold Storage a miss on this occasion, having got what we needed at Fitzpatricks.  We continued our walk down Orchard Road past the market buildings.  I only once ventured inside the market, and for some reason I found it a bit scary.  Perhaps this was the first time I had seen raw butchery close-up.  Not pretty.

More shop houses followed, and eventually we came to MacDonald house, where my father worked.  We had arranged to meet him after work.

Last time I went down Orchard Road, about 10 years ago, I was astounded at the change.  It was almost impossible to get a sense of where I was, because there was almost nothing left that I recognised.  MacDonald House was still there, and the Presbyterian Church, but everything else was completely alien.  Even the ultra-modern Lido Cinema had given way.  C.K. Tangs was a massive disappointment … just another department store.  I don’t know any other place on the planet that has been transformed as comprehensively as Orchard Road.
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Workmen @ Padang Terbakar, 1952

December 22, 2012, 6:52 am
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Here are 4 photos just received from Joe Elliott. They show work being done at Bedok/Padang Terbakar. Joe cannot recall what the workmen were doing at the time. Maybe they are building a bridge using coconut tree trunks. Hope readers can throw some light.
 Here’s a Guide to Singapore book in Singapore 1952. Inside, it had maps of postal districts etc. and a street guide of the city centre itself. Notice there are 3 icons on the cover. The top is unmistakeably the Cathay Building, Singapore's tallest building at that time. Are you able to decipher the other two?


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Appearing on TV

December 27, 2012, 7:49 am
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Did you watch last night’s episode of On the Red Dot on Channel 5? If not, you can view it online here.

I was interviewed for this programme for my views on the demolition of the old National Library at Stamford Road as well as my views, in general, of conservation old buildings and what factors should be considered etc. etc.

As expected, in the final programme, I appeared only briefly for less than half a minute. Nevertheless, it was still much better than the episode of Project Neighbourhood on Jurong which was aired on Okto Channel in October last year. For that interview, the whole tv crew came to my home and set up camera, lights, sound etc. After spending practically the whole morning; plus an earlier meeting with the researcher, my appearance in the programme was just a flitting 5 or 6 seconds. I must confess that I felt quite let down.

Recently, I was put in charge of producing a video to commemorate the 40thanniversary of my church. I interviewed many old timers including former pastors for that 15-minute video. In the end, I could only use a tiny segment of some of the interviews. I think some of my friends are going to be quite disappointed; but that, I have come to understand, is “part of the business”. Still I have a valid excuse. I am an amateur with no experience in this business.

Anyway, while they were filming me at my house, my wife did some filming of her own; and so I might as well not waste the footage and let my readers here in Good Morning Yesterday, have a rough glimpse of what they could have seen and heard that night. 

Although I never lived in Jurong, they were interested in my memories of my army days in Safti. At that time, we spent a lot of time training in the public areas like Hong Kah and Jurong (behind Nantah). I talked, among other things, of how the civilians used to sell food and drinks to us, and rushed to pick out the spent rifle cartridges (blanks of course) to sell as scrap. The interviewer was also quite interested to hear my stories of Peng Kang Hill and the famous, supposedly haunted Magazine Tower (#2?) at Safti.



Once bitten twice shy. No more Oak Trees for me.
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Then, Then, and Now – Stamford Road

December 28, 2012, 5:37 am
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I wish I had this photo when I blogged about the old National Library at Stamford Road here. My recollections of this place generated much discussion and speculation about the shops along this stretch of Stamford Rd.


Zooming in on this photo, I can roughly make some of the signboards which have pictures of handbags and crocodiles; and names like Wah Siong Leather, Malaysia …., a vertical Chinese signboard which says; “马来西亚_Japanese word_ 皮屋” (Malaysia ___ skin house). I would guess that that Japanese word says crocodile or reptile. Another Chinese signboard says, “鳄鱼蛇皮商行(Crocodile and snake skins trading).

My thanks to Mike Robbins for sending me this mid-1960s photo which was taken by his former colleague, Ray Kirkman. The other two photos were taken by me.




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