Then and Now – Anamalai Avenue

August 30, 2013, 7:14 am

≫ Next: Memories of Changi Air Base - by Peter Chan

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Here are two photos of Anamalai Avenue. The top photo is from the PictureSG website hosted by the NLB. It is accompanied by the following explanation; “This 1993 photograph shows Bukit Timah Road, towards Anamalai Avenue (southwards).” Actually, I think this explanation is incorrect. The photo actually shows Anamalai Avenue towards Bukit Timah Road. You can refer to the second photo which was taken by me earlier this month.

On the left of this photo is the Royalville Condo. Beyond this is Bt Timah Rd and behind the trees is the Bukit Timah Canal.

As you can see, the old shops are all gone. In its place is a new building which houses a branch of the OCBC Bank. Previously, the bank was located at the other end of Sixth Avenue Centre, nearest to the traffic lights. Do you know what was the name of this bank previously?

It was known as Keppel - Tat Lee Bank. And before that, it was simply Tat Lee Bank.

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Memories of Changi Air Base - by Peter Chan

September 30, 2013, 12:41 am

≫ Next: Memories of Upper Changi Road and Changi Grammar School

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September 14, 2013 When the bus made its way to Changi Air Base, my thoughts went back to the ‘70s when I was posted to Changi Air Base for a short period of time during National Service (NS). The ride along Loyang Avenue reminded me of the time when Loyang Avenue was called Kuala Loyang Road before it was widened and re-named. This was the usual route coming from Tampines and Loyang Camps into Changi Air Base, entering the base through Cranwell Road into Tangmere Road. Those roads were very much a part of the public road network but not so these days having been rendered as a part of the high security area of RSAF Changi West Camp.

Photo #1: MINDEF provided this comfy ride.

Many people make the mistake of identifying Changi Air Base strictly as an air base establishment for the Singapore Air Defense Command (SADC), the pioneering name for the RSAF. This was far from the truth because there was another big military establishment, the School of Basic Military Training, SBMT.

Photo #2: Temple Hill Officers Mess.

SBMT in Changi comprised 1^stBattalion and 2^nd Battalion SBMT; each battalion had 6 companies of recruits in any one intake. SBMT’s history mirrors the history of NS. In those days, infantry personnel were trained at the unit level; where there was always one company of recruits to three operational riflemen companies in a battalion set-up. Service personnel were trained at SBMT which provided manpower for vocations such as air force pilots, technicians, drivers, clerks, mechanics, and cooks.

SBMT moved from Pulau Blakang Mati (now Sentosa) to Changi Air Base shortly after British Pull-out in 1971 before it moved to Nee Soon Camp around 1976.

SBMT operated camps not only within the Changi Air Base but elsewhere in Tampines and Loyang. Pulau Tekong was never used by SBMT as a camp in my time except for field training and rifle range, though a live grenade range was available for operational infantry unit training. Within Changi Air Base, SBMT occupied the blocks around Martlesham Road, a block I recall was Block 117 which was HQ SBMT. The familiar M.T. Line with all the Bedford 3 tonners was a stone’s throw away in a fenced compound opposite the former ASTRA Cinema. You know that it can’t be any other military truck except a Bedford because these vehicles didn’t seem to have a clean engine start; bellowing dark exhaust smoke or giving out that pathetic “asthmatic sound” when the engine cranked each morning.

Plate #1: Changi Air Base. Legends: Yellow indicated places the toured sites.

The SADC (AETI) occupied the blocks nearer to Farnborough Road, i.e. Blk 79 vicinity. 1^st Battalion Commando was over at Hendon Road. 2 SIB HQ occupied the empty barracks after SBMT moved over to Nee Soon Camp.

Temple Hill was the convenient meeting place for the army and air force personnel where there was the Officers Mess. Here future friendships would be forged between the different Service Arms, as well as those between SAF regulars and NSmen over beer, darts and billiards. Officer accommodation was at Temple Hill where SBMT Officers occupied the chalets going up Temple hill on the right side of Temple Hill Mess, and the Commando unit officers occupied the chalets on the left side of the Mess. The SADC officer cadets (pilot trainees) occupied the blocks behind the SBMT officers chalets in the ravine.

Life was very spartan, so it left very much to the individual to get himself acclimatized to the environment. For married personnel and those without a car, it was a big problem. Those who were posted to Pulau Tekong received a double whammy because Tekong did not have adequate fresh water supply. Each day, the Changi bumboats would transport 50 jerry-cans of fresh water from mainland Singapore to Tekong. Changi medic veterans from the Changi Medical Center at Block 137B (there was no Changi Hospital then) can tell you the extra daily duties medics had to undertake; dropping water purification tablets into the water tanks to prevent a potential outbreak of an epidemic attack. On the bright side, Pulau Tekong jetty provided a good supply of big fresh prawns for the dinner table if you cared to buy them from the Malay fishermen.

Photo #3: SBMT recruits Take 5 after a run. The building in the background is one of three bungalows on Eastchurch Road. The bungalows were once the SAF Boys School Combat Wing, Logistics and HQ but is now the Changi Officers Mess.

Doing DO duties was never a breeze but it did bring a sense of relief as one could take a tour of Changi in the “GP car” or in the Land Rover. Interestingly some of the sights included an actual WWII Spitfire aircraft body (left behind by the departing British RAF) at the corner of Nethervaron Road and Cranwell Road. Then there was Sher Khan Garage in Eastchurch Road; as the name indicates, the one-storey building comprised two annexed garages. This Pakistani-owned business was famous for its private taxi service within the base. Sher Khan’s other business was the SHELL petrol kiosk over at Changi Village.

The Passing-out-Parade (POP) was a great day for the recruits because two months had already been “consumed” from the two-year NS liability. POP was held at a sports field which bordered the Changi Golf course. Parade Officers were issued with the Smith & Wesson pistols, which was a first for me because I never handled this weapon before. In the run-up to POP, you could feel the exhilarating mood of the recruits as they were taken for that one last traditional run around Changi Air Base. Even the PES C recruits displayed great physical stamina to finish the distance.

Photo #4: POP at the present Changi Golf Course. The buildings in the background are Blocks 59 and 60 Upavon Road. Separating Upavon Road from the golf course was Kuala Loyang Road (now renamed as Loyang Avenue).

When nightfall came, the base was a very quiet place, only making it more convenient for couples in cars using the many unused car-parks and grass verges around Upper Changi Road. You knew this had to be lovers haunt when it came to Area Cleaning the next day. Changi Airport was still under construction and it would be after 1981 when the still of the night was broken by aircrafts coming and going.

I am glad MINDEF was quick to put out this tour of Changi Air Base. For someone who once served at this place it was a feeling of not only home-coming. I achieved what I had hoped to do but had been unable to do so until now since the base had become another Out-of-Bounds site. Sadly I did not get to see many of the landmarks because many of the buildings were demolished and were now a part of the jungle. Gone were the former Changi Post Office, the Main Guard Room and the ASTRA Cinema.

Photo #5: The Main Guard Room at Tangmere Road: Then & Now

Though I am not privy to what are the future plans for Changi Air Base, I feel the least the authorities could have done was to keep Upper Changi Road accessible to the public - a road which brings back good memories when the place was called RAF Changi. I shall talk more about RAF Changi in another time.

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Memories of Upper Changi Road and Changi Grammar School

October 6, 2013, 7:10 am

≫ Next: Return to Selarang

≪ Previous: Memories of Changi Air Base - by Peter Chan

Wittering Airbase, UK

In June this year, I brought my family to the UK for a holiday. I took the opportunity to visit my friends Brian Mitchell in Cambridge and John Harper in York. Enroute from Cambridge to York, we drove past the RAF airbase at Wittering. The sight of a fighter jet – I think it was a Harrier Jump Jet – at the entrance brought back some memories of the Changi that I used to know as a boy; especially the RAF Airbase at old Upper Changi Road.

Memory No. 1 – No Highway

Wittering Rd in Changi

When I was in Secondary 4, we had to study the book No Highway by Nevil Shute for our Senior Cambridge (equivalent of today’s O-Level) English Literature paper. The year was 1968. The name Farnborough was frequently mentioned in the book and I was rather curious as to why we had a road in Changi with the same name. I only found out years later that the roads in the Changi Airbase vicinity were all named after famous RAF airbases in the UK. Naturally, there was also a Wittering Road in Changi.

Memory No. 2 – Old Upper Changi Road

My memories of this part of Singapore are documented in my book Good Morning Yesterday. Here’s an excerpt from pages 147 and 148.

“The occasional trip to Changi Beach was always a great delight for us. From our home in Lorong Chuan, we used to travel to Changi via Upper Serangoon Road and Tampines Road. The sight of the solemn grey walls of the Changi Prison which greeted us as we came to the end of Tampines Road meant that we were nearing our destination. After that it was a straight stretch of road along Tanah Merah Besar which ran along the perimeter of the prison followed by a left turn into the coastal road called Nicoll Drive before arriving at Changi Point. My own favourite activity at Changi Beach was rowing the rented wooden sampans for an hour or two.

An alternative route that we took to get to Changi Beach was via Upper Changi Road. Until just a few years ago, this road led right up to Changi Village. We liked this route because we could see the combat aircrafts sitting at what I now know was called the Dispersal Area of the British Royal Air Force.”

Unfortunately, in recent years that stretch of the road had been closed to the public. Hence, it was a great disappointment that I could not bring John Harper and other UK friends to this part of Singapore which they so fondly remember.

Final stretch of Upp Changi Rd closed to the public

Visit to Changi Airbase (West)

A few weeks ago, I received a pleasant surprise in my inbox. It was an invitation from the MINDEF NS Policy Department to visit old SAF military camps; one of them being the Changi Airbase. Thus it was that on Saturday, 14^th of September, a group of bloggers boarded a coach at Spore Expo MRT Station which brought us to, first, Selarang Camp, home to SAF’s 9^th Division, and then to Changi Airbase (West). I learnt that this visit was mainly extended to bloggers who had ‘done time’ at these camps and could share their memories of these places with future generations of NSmen. I am not sure why they included me in this privileged group because my NS days were spent in Safti, Gillman and Mandai and not these two places. Could it be that it was because I was such a famous blogger and that many people have read my posts about my ‘army daze’?

Anyway, the highlight of the visit for me was the visit to the stretch of Upper Changi Road I mentioned above. Our guide, RSM Yip, told us that this stretch of road used to be a popular lover’s haunt after Changi Airport was built.

By the way, would you like to know what this piece of land on which the Changi Airport was built looked like in 1978? If you do, then please check out my post about the SAF Day 1978 here.

SAF Display 1978 on reclaimed land for Changi Airport

Former Changi Grammar School

Another highlight of my visit to Changi Airbase was to the blocks that once housed the Changi Grammar School. This was because my friend Brian Mitchell used to study here. Like John Harper, he too was disappointed during his visit to Singapore in 2009. When I brought him here, we could only view the buildings from outside the camp along Loyang Way. And we did not even dare to take any photos because of the warning signs on the fence prohibiting photo-taking. Anyway, I shared some of the photos with Brian and this is what he commented:

The area is obviously a bit smarter than in the 60s and the old attap huts are removed; but it’s all very recognisable. These blocks obviously go back to the 1950s and must rate as very old buildings in Singapore! I was surprised in a way to see that they survive in much their original form with the open corridors around the outside. I assume the rooms within are now closed in and air-conditioned, but of course, when they were used as barracks or then as a school building, our classrooms had large open doorways into the classrooms - this was after all the only source of light. There were very few air conditioned places in our lives in the 1960s.

The large tarmac area was where all the gharries or schools buses delivered us in the fairly early morning - so if I was on a bus that arrived early I would be looking up at the block and wondering if anyone had got to the coke machine on the ground floor - the cokes were often frozen first thing in the morning and were for some reason particularly prized. At the end of the school day, the gharries would draw up in lines in the tarmac area (actually a playground) and we would all board them. The end of the school day was for most days at lunchtime - the heat and humidity led to a different pattern of schooling from the UK.

When I was there, this area held the Grammar School (using two of the blocks - I think there was a third that was still a barrack block for airmen) and then around the tarmac area the Secondary Modern School and the Primary School - I think this is right although we hardly noticed the presence of these other schools. Then shortly after I left in August 1962, the Grammar School moved to the site on Upper Changi Road. This is the site remembered by many of the UKand then Australian and NZ kids from the 60s.

Conclusion

I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to these two old military establishments and seeing places that I knew about from decades ago; and which I thought I would never have the chance to see again. I thank Ms Stephanie Chia and her colleagues at the MINDEF NS Policy Dept for arranging the visits. Thanks also to the staff at these two places for their warm hospitality and presentations; and also staff from MINDEF Centre of Heritage Services. I look forward to future visits. The one place that I would really love to visit is the former Mandai Camp where I spent the last ten last months of active National Service.

1) ArmyHeritage Tour by James Tann

2) A Lightwhere there was Darkness by Jerome Lim

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Return to Selarang

October 22, 2013, 11:34 pm

≫ Next: From my Inbox – Judith Johnson remembers my kampong

≪ Previous: Memories of Upper Changi Road and Changi Grammar School

In my previous post, I mentioned about a visit to the Selarang Camp and the Changi Air Base last month. I said that I did not know why I was invited me because I did not have much memories of Selarang Camp. The only time I had visited Selarang Camp was around 1980. At that time, my section mate from Officer Cadet School, KG Lim, who had signed on as a regular with the army, was the QM (Quarter Master) of the armour regiment (I think it was 40 SAR) stationed at this camp. At that time the game of squash was very popular in Singapore, and as I reported previously, squash courts were very scarce in Singapore. And so, on one Sunday afternoon, KG, who was the one who introduced me to the sport, brought me and some friends to Selarang for a game of squash. Other than the squash courts and the officers’ mess, I don’t remember seeing any other part of this camp.

With James Tann and Peter Chan

Still, I very much looked forward to this visit because I hoped to take some photos of old parts of the camp so that I could share them with my blogger friend, Tom Brown. Early followers of this blog would know that Tom Brown served in this camp at a time when it was still known as Selarang Barracks; and before the SAF was even formed. Tom arrived in Singapore in 1961 as a 19-year-old soldier with the regiment known as Queens Own Highlanders. Read Tom’s interesting experience of life in Singapore more half a century ago here, hereand here.

When I informed Tom about my forthcoming visit to Selarang, he asked me to look out for two places, if they are still existing – the guard room and the NAAFIbuilding. Unfortunately, when we arrived in Selarang, we were informed that most of the old buildings had been demolished. Only part of the parade square, the water tank and officers’ mess remained. Even then, we would not be able to see the Water Tank as that section of the camp is now part of the Selarang Drug Rehabilitation Centre. Still it was not a totally failed mission because from the old newsletter that we received, I was able to scan some photos of the old Selarang to share with Tom.

One interesting part of our tour was the visit to the Heritage Centre. There on the walls, I saw this old photo of the 9^th Division HQ and it brought back strong memories. Can you recognize this place?

Yes; it’s the Safti HQ/Admin Building in Pasir Labar. This is the place where I toiled for one-and-the-half years as a trainee in SBMT, SISL and OCS. This was one place that we trainees dreaded because of the many senior officers and NCOs there, and where one can easily get into trouble for not marching properly or not properly saluting an officer. But, unfortunately, it was one place we could not avoid; having to pass it on the way to the training grounds and when we booked in and out of camp. My friend Peter Chan, on the other hand, would have less unpleasant memories of this place, I suspect. This is what he recalls about this place.

It so happens that I have a 1974 photo of this part of Safti.

Legend

1. School of Infantry Section Leaders (SISL) HQ

2. Guard Room

3. MT Line

4. 25 Pounder in front of SAFTI Admin Building

5. SAFTI Main Gate

6. SAFTI Admin Building

The SAFTI Admin Building was shaped like a horse-shoe with the wing on the left on the ground floor being the main offices of the entire SAFTI including the director and other top brass. The official entrance into the building was that concrete roof at that wing on left of photo. The second to fourth levels of both wings housed the officers’ bunks. In the centre of the horse-shoe, (hidden by the wing on the right) on the third level, was the officers’ mess from which my photo was taken one morning. All officers’ bunks had wooden single beds. All bachelor regular SAF officers had accommodation in this building.

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From my Inbox – Judith Johnson remembers my kampong

October 30, 2013, 12:26 am

≫ Next: Where have all the bowling alleys gone?

≪ Previous: Return to Selarang

Below is an email that I received from Judith Johnson a few weeks ago. Judith lived at Chiltern Drive in Braddell Heights in the 1960s, and remembers seeing my kampong. To help orientate you to the places Judith describes, here is a scan of the Braddell Heights area from my 1963 street directory. What is indicated as Lorong Chuan here was my kampong. It was a dirt track, and people knew it as Chui Arm Lor in Hokkien; which meant Water Pipes Road. Our address at that time was 288 Ang Moh Kio, Singapore 19. The name Lorong Chuan only became known to us when it was upgraded to a metal road joining Braddell Road to Serangoon Gardens. The truncated Chui Arm Lor was renamed Lorong Kinchir, and our address was changed to 21-A Lorong Kinchir.

You can read more details in the opening pages of my book, Good Morning Yesterday.

My house is marked by an X in this map. Judith's house was near the sharp right-angle bend in Chiltern Drive. Braddell Heights was elevated above Lorong Chuan.

Dear Mr Lam,

I chanced upon your site when doing a little research prior to possibly organising a 'stopover' in Singapore on my way to visit my son who now lives with his family in Perth. My husband and I have been visiting Australia regularly now for several years and I have strongly resisted revisiting Singapore as I felt it had changed out of all recognition and I did not want to be disappointed to find that it was now just a sanitized version of what I remember.

I flew to Singapore in 1959 and attended the RAF Changi Grammar School. We did not live in Changi as my father was in charge of the Joint Air Traffic Control Centre at Paya Lebar Airport until our return to England in 1963. His 'mess' was at RAF Seletar, but we lived in a house on Chiltern Drive in Braddell Heights. I was so surprised to find that the estate and its houses are still there.

During the last couple of hours I have been nearly moved to tears exploring the wealth of information about life in Singapore during the 60's. We stayed in Katong Grange Hotel (which was then right by the sea) until we were allocated a 'hiring' by the RAF at Braddell Heights. My father joined the Singapore Swimming Club.

The front of our house faced north and directly opposite was a rather ugly square cement structure which was I believe some sort of sewage treatment. Whatever it was, it was possible to climb up on top of it and as a 13 year old tomboy I liked nothing better than escaping up there from where I had an excellent view of part of the local kampong. I watched daily life unfolding before me - the ponds, the pigs, the 'night soil deliveries, smoke rising from cooking fires and children playing in the dust. Sometimes I could hear the sound of a nearby wayang or funeral procession, at others the chattering of the mahjong tiles in a neighbouring house.

It was not long before my curiosity got the better of me and I plucked up the courage to find a path round the side of the 'bunker' (as it had been christened by my father!) and made my way into the village. I can remember squatting down to watch a woman cooking over a fire and throwing freshly gathered green vegetables into a cooking pot while the chickens scratched nearby and the cockerel crowed.

I don't recall talking, but I'm sure that we communicated in the innocent way that only a child can. I felt as if I had stepped into another world and I believe that I often had a strange sense of separation from the 'real life' of the island as I went back to my bungalow where our amah lived in he small quarters behind the kitchen.

My school friends all lived in RAF houses at the air bases and probably had less occasion to be involved with local people. I used to take the bus early in the morning to ride at the Polo Club before the heat of the day, travelling with all ages and races. I remember the shoe repair man calling, the brush and household goods seller, the gully gully man. We were very friendly with our Chinese neighbour Kenneth Cheong and his family. Looking at the map on your site I'm sure our house was very near your kampong.

A couple of years ago we had a long holiday in Burma, much of which I found very poignant as it reminded me so much of Singapore in the 60's, and ever since I have been toying with the idea of going back, which I swore I would never do. I am not very computer savvy and have never done more than read blog and forum entries, not having the courage or inclination to write anything myself. I don't do Facebook and haven't ever used Friends Reunited, but was fascinated to read all the posts on your site.

Your website I'm sure is serving a great need to preserve the memories of what was a unique time in the history of your island. I'm so glad that I stumbled upon it.

Best wishes,

Judith Johnson - daughter of then Sqn Ldr David Cutts and Margaret Cutts (dec'd)

Hi Judith,

Thank you for sharing your memories of Singapore. You are quite ‘fortunate’ in the sense that Braddell Heights has remained relatively unchanged over the years. Most of the roads are still there, although the houses have mostly been rebuilt.

I can understand why you are afraid to visit Singapore. You probably fear that you would be disappointed to find that everything you remember about this place has changed beyond recognition. But still, I would recommend that you come for a visit. I suspect some of the places you frequented, such as the Polo Club along (along Thomson Road?), are still there. Anyway, some of my UK friends whom I had befriended through my blog have visited and I even brought them around to see some of the places that they knew.

I have attached a scanned map of the Braddell Heights area from my 1963 street directory. My house is marked with an X. You will see that we were practically neighbours. And we are probably around the same age too. I am 61. As what I told my UK friends, John Harper and Brian Mitchell, who I visited recently when I went to UK, it’s so strange. Back in the 60’s we stayed so close to each other physically, and yet we were living in different worlds as our paths never crossed. Now we are living physically thousands of miles apart, and yet we have become friends.

If you do come to Singapore this year, I would be happy to be your guide and show you some of the places that you knew, such as Braddell Heights, Polo Club and maybe Bartley Road and Paya Lebar Rd.

Chun See

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Where have all the bowling alleys gone?

October 31, 2013, 4:30 am

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You may find this hard to believe. The very first time I tossed a bowling ball, I got a strike. You will find it even harder to believe if I told you where I achieved that feat. It was at a bowling alley named, Hyatt Bowl. Do you know where that was?

I used the past tense because, like many of the bowling alleys that I used to patronize in my younger (bachelor) days, this one has long ceased to operate. Back in the early 1970s and early 80s, bowling was one of my favourite pastimes. My brothers and I, and our friends went to many different bowling alleys all over Singapore. Most of them are no longer around. For example, when I was working in Philips, my colleagues and I bowled practically every Saturday afternoon (during competition period) at a place called Plaza Bowl. Do you know where that was? We used to have inter-departmental competitions and the better ones even represented our company in inter-company competitions. I don’t think I qualified for that privilege. I would have remembered.

With my Philips colleagues at the Plaza Bowl. Sports is an excellent way to build bonds with colleagues from other departments.

Grinning from ear-to-ear as I represented my dept to receive the Inter-dept Championship trophy. This was at an event called Audio Jog held at the MacRitchie Reservoir on 24 Dec 1982.

This photo and several others were taken at Anson Bowl in International Plaza during a Dept gathering with dinner followed by bowling session.

I am trying see how many bowling alleys that I can recall from that era.

4) Jackie’s Bowl. I think this was Singapore’s very first bowling alley with two outlets in Katong and Orchard. My brothers and I usually went to the latter because it was closer to our home at Farrer Road. Anyone know if this bowling centre still exists at the present Orchard Cineleisure complex?

This is a 1994 photo (from the National Archives collection) of the Orchard Cinema at Grange Road. Can you see the side entrance to Jackie’s Bowl via the door on the left side of the photo?

5) Kallang Bowl. Located at the Kallang Leisure Drome, it was the largest in Singapore at that time, occupying two floors with twenty lanes each. This was our favourite. My brothers and our friends often came here on Saturday evenings. After our game, we would adjourn to the nearby hawker centre at Old Airport Road for supper. My brother David loved the Chinese-style mutton soup there.

This is the new Kallang Bowl in 2013.

This is the Old Airport Road hawker centre. Was pleasantly surprised to discover that it is still in operation.

6) Peace Centre– cannot recall the name of the bowling centre here.

1993 photo (from the National Archives collection) of a rather run-down Peace Centre.

7) Kim Seng Bowlat the Kim Seng Shopping Centre. This shopping centre has been replaced by a condominium.

8) Jurong Bowl at Yuan Ching Road. It is still operating.

9) Pasir Panjang Bowl located at the complex along Pasir Panjang Road near to the famous 88 Seafood Restaurant. I believe that complex is now known as Yess Centre.

10) Finally, there is Queenstown Bowl. The one was situated in the complex that also housed the Queenstown and Queensway theatres and a KFC restaurant. It was demolished recently along with other buildings at the nearby Margaret Drive.

The Queenstown Bowl was located within this building which was recently demolished.

Two other bowling alleys that I’ve been to were not commercial bowling centres. The first one was at the Shell Club on Pulau Bukum. Of course you needed friends who were working in Shell company to bring you in. The other belonged to the British military. It was a small place and was next to the Kent Theatre at Dover Road.

There were probably others whose names I cannot recall; and I am not referring to the newer ones which had sprung up in recent years.

As my bowling buddies and I grew older and settled down and started our own families, we gradually stopped going to such places.

OK. By now, I trust that you have figured out the locations of Hyatt Bowl and Plaza Bowl. Hyatt Bowl was located inside Hyatt Hotel. I think it was on the second floor. Plaza Bowl was in Sultan Plaza at Sultan Road.

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Converting VHS tape to DVD

November 6, 2013, 2:11 am

≫ Next: I have been doing this for the past few years

≪ Previous: Where have all the bowling alleys gone?

My friend, Peter Chan, heard that I know how to convert VHS tapes to DVD using my VCR and DVD recorder and so he asked me to do him a “small favour”. Oh no! I thought to myself. This is going to take hours because I haven’t used my VCR for ages and the RP (Record-Playback) head was probably covered with fungus. Likewise his old video tape. I tried to stall, but he wouldn’t take no for an answer. And so here is my report.

This is my VCR. I bought it a few years ago from a small shop in Boon Lay Shopping Centre after trying in vain at the big departmental stores like Courts and Harvey Norman. I used it to convert my collection of VHS tapes to DVD. When my children were young, I shot many hours of video of them using a video camera that recorded the video onto small VHS tapes. To play the tape on a normal VCR, you need to use a special adapter. I also have some expensive training videos from my work.

Just as I had expected, Peter’s video turned up a blue screen when I inserted it into my machine. Either his video was dirty with fungus, or my video head was dirty – probably both.

Next I searched for my tape cleaner. This machine cleans the mouldy VHS tape by spinning it at high speed both forward and reverse. Keeping my fingers crossed, I inserted Peter’s precious video tape into the machine and pressed the Forward button. Hallelujah, it works.

After spinning the tape a few times, each cycle taking several minutes, I tested it again on the VCR. Just as I had feared, it still produced a blue screen, but at least this time, there was some audio. And so came the tedious part of cleaning the video head. Without a cleaning tape, (what nut keeps a VCR cleaning tape in 2013) I had no choice but to do it the old fashioned way; by unscrewing the cover (just finding the Philips head screwdriver was a challenge) and cleaning the head manually with cleaning fluid and cotton buds.

After another frantic search I managed to find my bottle of video head cleaning fluid, only to discover that all the alcohol had evaporated. But thank God for a super-efficient wife who brought out a PC cleaning kit complete with alcohol, cotton buds and even an air brush; courtesy of a colleague from her school’s IT department.

After painstakingly cleaning the video head several times, I was confident that that Peter’s video could finally be played. After so much trouble, it’d better be good, I told myself as I inserted his precious video one more time into the VCR. I was expecting to see some romantic footages from his courtship days, but what eventually played was an episode of Money Mind featuring Martin Soong and a panel of business honchos. What can possibly be more boring, I ask you.

Anyway, the rest of the exercise should be relatively straightforward. Connect the VCR to the DVD recorder, record the programme on the hard disk, and then burn it onto a DVD by a process called dubbing. That’s what I thought, at least. But, for an oldie like me, with 老花眼(presbyopia), just connecting the audio-video cables to the Audio and Video Out ports was a hassle; requiring the aid of a torchlight. But that’s not all. There is still the tidying up; and I discovered that the wires at the back of my AV equipment were covered with a thick layer of dust.

By now you must be wondering why our friend was so ‘kan cheong’ (excited) about this boring tv programme from decades ago. Well; here’s the answer.

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I have been doing this for the past few years

November 8, 2013, 5:59 am

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≪ Previous: Converting VHS tape to DVD

My fellow nostalgia/heritage bloggers must have welcomed the news that former civil servant, Mr Quek Tiong Swee, has donated 8,000 old photos of Singapore to the National Heritage Board. Mr Tiong had the foresight to see that, with Singapore’s rapid development, many places would disappear from the face of Singapore, and so he had captured them on film since the 1980s. I am proud to report that I too have been doing this, albeit in a small scale, for the past few years. Ever since I started blogging about the Singapore that I grew up in, I have been consciously taking photos of places that I suspect might undergo drastic changes shortly. This included old buildings and roads. And I have even encouraged readers of my blog to do the same; as I did here.

Unfortunately, due to lack of time, I did not do it in an organized manner. I seldom take the trouble to go to a place just for the purpose of photographing it; unless I planned to blog about it. Usually, I would take pictures of places that I happen to visit or pass by during the course of my work or leisure. Thankfully, my job requires me to travel all over Singapore, and thus I have many opportunities to do this. Another thing is that, I avoided going to the ‘popular’ places like the Tanjong Pagar Railway Station or the Bukit Brown Cemetery because I know that many people will be taking pictures of them and posting to Facebook or Flickr; and so there was no urgency for me to hop onto the bandwagon.

Regrettably, I may not be able to do this with the same amount of frequency soon because the COE of my car is expiring next month. With COE (Certificate of Entitlement) prices at the crazy levels that they are in, I can’t afford to cough out $80+k to renew my COE or replace it with a new one. But, I’ll still try my best.

Anyway, here are a few photos from my own collection of places/buildings that have already disappeared from the ever-changing landscape of Singapore since 2006. Let’s see how many you can score 10/10.

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The humble OHP

November 27, 2013, 7:00 am

≫ Next: The Ying Fo Fui Kun building at Telok Ayer Street

≪ Previous: I have been doing this for the past few years

I remember clearly the first time I used an OHP (Overhead Projector). It was a disaster. At that time, I was an Industrial Engineer in Philips Singapore; and I was offered an assignment to conduct a basic IE course for our butterflies and line leaders on a Saturday morning. “Butterflies” is the name we used for experienced female operators who had sufficient experience and skill to ‘float’ along and take up any position in the production line whenever the need arose. The honorarium they paid me was quite generous, even though I had no teaching experience.

The trouble started right at the beginning of my class. Before I even began my lecture, the light bulb of the OHP blew and I had to learn, on-the-job, how to change the bulb. I learned later that you should never move an OHP with the light turned on because the vibration could cause the fragile hot filament of the bulb to break. I must have looked like a bumbling idiot in front of those young ladies in my class.

This slim foldable 3M projector was popular with the trainers because it was highly portable; but it was expensive.

After I joined the National Productivity Board in 1984 as a trainer and management consultant, using the OHP became second nature to me. It is interesting to recall the evolution of the overhead transparency that was part of my daily tools for two decades until its demise with the advent of Powerpoint and the LCD projector.

First there was the Write-on Transparency. For this, you have to manually write the words on the plastic sheet using transparency markers of various colours like those below. My favourite brands were Faber Castell and Stabilo.

Then came the Photocopy Transparency. The year was probably around 1987, when we started to use the laser printer in NPB. I remember, we trainers had to submit our jobs to the typists to type out our transparencies on the Apple Macintosh and print them on a laser printer. Of course, the transparencies at that time were all black and white. Whenever I wanted to highlight certain portions of my slide, I had to cut out strips of sticky colour sheets and paste them over the relevant portions ... like this.

After that came the colour transparencies. But because they were quite expensive, I used them sparingly. I remember being one of the first to purchase a digital camera and I converted some of my important colour photo slides to transparencies to use in companies which did not have a (photo) slide projector. As a 5S trainer, I used a lot of (photo) colour slides.

The trainer’s life at the NPB was tough. At that time, we had an executive director who was a merciless slave driver. He seemed to harbour a special dislike for us trainers – possibly because we were such an egoistical lot (well, some of us at least), and dared to argue with him – and made life hell for us. Because of him, we demanded a meeting with our chairman, Mr Mah Bow Tan, to air our grievances. But, being the seasoned politician that he was, Mr Mah had little difficulty handling this bunch of featherweight trainers, and skillfully sidetracked the issues so that at the end of the meeting, we did not get to deliver a single of our carefully crafted speeches.

The toughest part of my work was when I had to travel overseas to conduct training. I had to lug along stacks of heavy transparencies in a huge bag like those used by airline pilots and doctors; not daring to include my precious transparencies in my check-in luggage. Hence, you can understand why, even at a quite senior age, I was quick to embrace the newer IT technologies like Powerpoint, and digital cameras when these came along in the 21^st century. They made our lives much easier.

My eldest brother Chun Chew making a presentation at a PSA QCC Convention.

Me conducting an IE class at the NPB training room in the Cuppage Centre. Year should be around 1985 or 86. Judging from the training aids on the table, I must be teaching a class on the Principles of Motion Economy.

Me conducting an in-house 5S class. Cannot recall which company. Notice the gigantic (film) slide projector?

Incidentally, during my undergraduate days in the early 1970s, our lecturers did not even get to use the OHP. Everything was chalk and blackboard.

In my reservist days, I remember the SAF trainers used to come to the class with a plastic folder (green colour of course – every in the army seems to be green in colour) full of OHP slides mounted on cardboard frames.

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The Ying Fo Fui Kun building at Telok Ayer Street

December 21, 2013, 5:07 am

≫ Next: Old Buildings Quiz #19

≪ Previous: The humble OHP

It was reported in today’s Straits Times that tunneling works for the construction of the Downtown Line had caused cracks to appear in the walls of the Ying Fo Fui Kun building at Telok Ayer Street; a building which was gazetted for preservation as a national monument under the Preservation of Monuments Act in 1998.

Did you know that this building used to be a Chinese school? As it happens, I have a neighbour, Mr Yong, who is a retired teacher; and he graduated from this school in 1954. The name of the school was Ying Xin School (应新学校).

Mr Yong's (at age 13) graduation certificate

I was unable to find out much information about this school until, by a stroke of luck, I stumbled upon an article in an old book that I happened to possess. The book was The Straits Time Bilingual Collection, Vol 1, which I bought in 1982. In it was an article written by Tan Ban Huat entitled, Mandarin becomes the lingua franca of the Chinese here (华语学校，源远流长). The article traced the teaching of Mandarin in Singapore up to the time of the Japanese Occupation; and ended with these words:

“The Japanese Occupation of Singapore saw the temporary setback of Chinese education. However, during the post-war period, Chinese schools mushroomed and by the 1950s, Mandarin had become the lingua franca of the Chinese-educated. By the same token those who could not converse in it were considered uneducated!”

Although the article made no mention of Ying Xin School, it was accompanied by this gem at the end.

Yin Sin - one of the earliest schools to teach Mandarin

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Old Buildings Quiz #19

December 27, 2013, 7:42 pm

≫ Next: Tracing my Amah – Judith Johnson

≪ Previous: The Ying Fo Fui Kun building at Telok Ayer Street

Here are 2 buildings built in the 1960s.

ANSWERS

No. 1used to house the Singapore Family Planning and Population Board located at the junction of Dunearn Road and Gilstead Road. When I was studying in ACS in the 1960s, I often walked past this place to get to Newton Circus from where I would take a Tay Koh Yat bus to my home at Lorong Chuan.

No. 2 was a cluster of buildings which housed the SAF Married Quarters at Upper Jurong Road. Located near the junction with Benoi Road, it is today a dormitory for foreign workers – judging from the laundry hanging out to dry when I took that photo a couple of weeks ago. But back in the early 1970s, it was the only sign of civilization in that part of Singapore. For us NS boys serving in SAFTI at that time, the sight of this place and the bright lights of Safti, would cause our spirits to sink right to the floor of the Green Bus no. 175 as it turned the corner of Upper Jurong Road and brought us back every Sunday night to begin another week of drudgery.

My friend and regular guest blogger, Peter Chan, recalls doing guard duty here – which for some strange reason, I never did.

“The SAFMarried Quarters guard duty was less exciting except that when it came to food we had this coffee-shop at one of the unoccupied four blocks. There was one Hokkien Mee food vendor and so you had little choice except to eat many bowls of Hokkien Mee soup.

Doing prowler duties at Married Quarters was boring. I still can remember one Sunday during SSL I was assigned to Married Quarters duty. The only sound I could hear by day was our radio set. By nightfall, there was no sound except crickets. In our time, the blocks were totally unoccupied so the silence was to be expected. There was nothing much to do except to read the newspapers over and over again. The arrival of the lunch ration land Rover from SAFTI only temporarily brought cheers to us. The one sickening part of doing guard duty at this place was the long walk along old Upper Jurong Road because Married Quarters was outside the SAFTI compound. We took a good 15 minutes to march in single-file back to SAFTI main gate because of the narrow 2-lane road and on a busy Monday morning at 0700 hours was certainly a bad start to a new week.”

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Tracing my Amah – Judith Johnson

December 31, 2013, 7:27 pm

≫ Next: Tracing my amah Rukiah

≪ Previous: Old Buildings Quiz #19

Judith Johnson, who shared her memories of Braddell Heights here; has approached me for assistance in tracing her amah, who was with them during the 1960s when she stayed at this house in 10 Chiltern Drive, Braddell Heights. If you have any information, please contact me. Thanks.

“Her name was Ah Moi, but unfortunately I don't know her maiden name. After we left, she married Tan Jee Yong who used to work at the Sea View Hotel (during a notorious strike and eventual liquidation). Ah Moi and he used to write to my parents in England - I have some of the letters. He eventually found work, after the Sea View Hotel's closure, at the Singapore Recreation Club in 1965 (formerly Eurasian Club). They had a son, Tan Kia Heng, born 18th June 1964. Their last known address was 63, Jalan Daud off Jalan Eunos, S'pore 14.”

Judith’s father, David James Cutts (Sqn Ldr), was in charge of the Joint Air Traffic Control Centre at Paya Lebar Airport.

Judith, with her mum, Margaret and brother, Jeremy

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Tracing my amah Rukiah

January 16, 2014, 5:11 am

≫ Next: Retracing the Iceball Trail - Edmund Arozoo

≪ Previous: Tracing my Amah – Judith Johnson

Like Judith Johnson, Ingrid Kivikoski would like to contact her amah Rukiah and her daughter, Senipah. Ingrid wrote in her email:

“I lived in Singapore from 1958 to 1968. I lived on 214 Dunearn Rd when it was flats owned by K.P.M/R.I.L (Dutch Shipping Company) which then became Orchid Inn in the late 60's. I went to school at "De Hollandse School" on Orange Grove Rd (which is now the Tennis Pavillion of the Shangri La I believe) & frequented the Singapore Swimming Club every weekend as well as The Dutch Club (which are both still there!!!).

I would dearly love to find our amah, Rukiah or her daughter, Senipah - or their children. I only have their first names though. I think they lived in a kampong near our flat but I don't know where exactly. Below are some photos of Rukiah.

Many thanks.

Ingrid Kivikoski (nee Schroder)"

Rukiah and her daughter Senipah

Senipah at her wedding in 1966

Rukiah with my brother in 1958 at the back of the flats at 214 Dunearn Rd

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Retracing the Iceball Trail - Edmund Arozoo

January 22, 2014, 5:38 pm

≫ Next: Gotong Royong

≪ Previous: Tracing my amah Rukiah

Last month, I had the pleasure to meet with another 'new old friend'. He is Edmund Arozo. Like me, Edmund grew up in a kampong and we shared many common memories. Like me, he too received a 30-cts allowance a day during primary school to pay for bus fare and recess. He recalled how he sacrificed his bus fare home one day in order to enjoy an ice-ball; and walked the few km from school to home. Here is his story.

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Your whole life flashes in front of you when you experience a near death moment. Memories come flashing back. Memories of all the good times and bad – and times that one had forgotten or chose to forget come back vividly. Having been in that position almost two years ago there is one strange memory that strangely stood out in my mind and often came back to me after that.

It takes me back fifty or more years ago when I was in primary school at the then Holy Innocents School (which later became Montfort School). Those were the days when the Ponggol Bus Company or aka the “Yellow Bus” Company serviced routes in the Serangoon and Ponggol District. My generation of users of this service would remember the wooden louver windows these buses had in those early days!

Well, the average daily “pocket money” for school kids our age then was 30 cents. 10 cents for bus fare to and from school, 10 cents for a plate of Char Kuay Teow or Mee Siam etc, 5 cents for a drink and 5 cents for Karchang Puteh or sweets.

On certain days after our morning school sessions when the urge for a “cool” after-school treat was high a group of us, living close to each other, would decide that if we walked home we could use the 5 cents saved to buy the refreshing “ice ball” – shaved ice shaped into a ball (like a snowball) and sweeten with various coloured sweeteners and a dash of evaporated milk. This was handmade and looking back was pretty unhygienic but it was a special treat for most of us to quench our thirst.

Well the walk from our school, which was next to the Church of the Nativity, back to our homes in Jalan Hock Chye, off Tampines Road, covered a distance of about a mile. We were usually hot, sweaty and thirsty by the time we reach the “kaka” (Muslim Indian) shop that sold iceballs. However walking the last few yards home sucking on an iceball was simply “heavenly” then.

I was in Singapore recently and a strange urge came over me – I wanted to walk the iceball trail again! (I did not think it was the progression of a second childhood coming on).

Well on 10^th August 2012 I and my wife caught a bus from Upper Thompson Road to Houggang Central to do the trail. Sadly my old school is no more there but the Church of the Nativity is still there and that was my starting point. With camera in hand I recaptured memories of various roads and lorongs that were landmarks then. Fifty years has seen lots of improvement on what was then on a whole a rural environment. Some lanes like St Joseph’s Lane have gone but it was nostalgic to recap what was and still is present. Very few landmarks of old remain. I knew we were getting close to our destination on approaching Lim Ah Pin Road. By then we were thirsty and welcomed a cool soya bean drink at a shop opposite Lim Ah Pin Road before heading for Kovan MRT station. This station used to be the terminus for the STC bus company that ran services into town and other parts of the island in those days.

Sadly too Jalan Hock Chye is no more around, being replaced by Hougang Avenue 1. However other landmarks are still there to pinpoint precisely where we used to get our iceballs. The Kaka shop used to be directly in front of the start of Jalan Teliti which is still there; and where my old home used to be is where Block 230 now stands and diagonally across there was a small lane that is now the present Jalan Hock Chye.

Well fifty years on I am glad I still could do the ice ball trail again and to all the old Monfortians who did the walk with me then – life was very simple then but very much cherished. However no ice ball for me at the end of the walk this time – had to settle for an ice kachang as a substitute!

Gotong Royong

January 27, 2014, 10:03 pm

≫ Next: Tracing my amah Chew Joo Keng (Margaret)

≪ Previous: Retracing the Iceball Trail - Edmund Arozoo

Not long ago, I came across a book entitled, Citizens, Conversations and Consultations. I think it was published by the Peoples Association to commemorate the institution known as the Citizens Consultative Committee. In it, I saw some photos of soldiers helping out in a gotong royong. They reminded me of the time I was involved in a similar project when I was serving my full-time national service.

What is Gotong Royong? It is a Malay term for an event where the members of a community put their hands together to carry out a project for the benefit of that community (my own definition). Typical projects involve building a road, or clearing a stream and so on.

The year was probably 1977 and I was a platoon commander in 30 SCE in Mandai Camp. Our project involved building a short stretch of road to join Kranji Way to Neo Tiew Road. At that time, Neo Tiew Road was a thriving kampong. We often passed through this kampong when we went to Area D (Sungei Gedong) for our training. Our combat engineer battalion was an appropriate organization to help out in such a community project because we had both the manpower and the equipment for such work. For example, in our battalion, we had a heavy plant company.

It was quite a common practice in those days, when there were still many kampongs in Singapore, to involve the army units in such gotong royong projects. However, it is very unlikely that our army boys today, would be called upon such a project. Firstly, Singapore is so well-developed now, and our government departments are well-equipped to carry out such work more effectively. Furthermore, the population of NS boys has decreased considerably. And with full-time NS reduced to only 2 years, the army camps themselves are facing a labour crunch and have to outsource many non-combat functions like transporting of troops and cooking. Still, I think they would benefit from occasional involvement in such a project.

Operation Broomstick. Source: Citizens, Conversations and Consultations

Below is an example of a gotong royong project at Bukit Panjang. Description and photo from the National Archives Picas collection dated 28 June 1973.

Singapore’s “Keep Our Water Clean” campaign got off to a good start when 300 young men began a two-day operation to de-silt the Sungei Pang Sua in Bukit Panjang. Joined by Member of Parliament for Bukit Panjang, Lee Yiok Seng (on the bank with rake), the men, 200 of them national servicemen, spent eight back-breaking hours shoveling mud and weeds from the river which carries rain water to Seletar Reservoir.

Related article on Gotong Royong in Remember Singapore.

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Tracing my amah Chew Joo Keng (Margaret)

February 8, 2014, 1:11 am

≫ Next: Meeting my new old friend Judith Johnson

≪ Previous: Gotong Royong

Like Judith Johnson and IngridKivikoski, Shona Trench would like to contact her amah Chew Joo Keng (Margaret). Shona writes:

“Hello, I am a British expat, living in Singapore now for four years, with my husband and two teenage children. I was born here in 1961, as my father was a photographer in the RAF and was based at RAF Seletar. I just wondered if you would be able to help me?

Would you know how I might be able to contact my Amah? Her name is Chew Joo Keng but we knew her as Margaret. It would be nice to meet her after all these years (50!) if she is still living in Singapore.

This photo is of Margaret, my sister Karen, and me (I'm the baby)

We lived at Seletar Camp, 13 Oxford Street. I had an older sister Beverley too.

My parents names are Campbell Bryan, and Irene Bryan. Our house is still at Seletar Camp, it's a B&W terraced house. We love being here, and exploring Singapore, Dad too, although it obviously has changed in the last 50yrs.

Shona Trench"

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Meeting my new old friend Judith Johnson

March 11, 2014, 8:54 am

≫ Next: Never too old to blog

≪ Previous: Tracing my amah Chew Joo Keng (Margaret)

Last month, I met another of “my new old friends”, Judith Johnson, and her husband, Robert. I brought them to see two places that held strong memories of her years in Singapore, the Changi Airbase in Loyang Avenue, where her school, the RAF Changi Grammar School used to be located; and Chiltern Drive when she used to live. She gave me a CD of old photos of Singapore, a few of which were from my former kampong in Lorong Chuan. I have been very busy these past weeks and have not had time to organize them and share them with readers. She also gave me a DVD of her dad’s cine films, segments of which contain scenes of Singapore in the early 1960s. Finally she also gave me a CD containing photos of the Joint Air Traffic Control Centre at Paya Lebar Airport, which her dad helped to set up, to hand over to the relevant organization.

Our first stop was the Changi Airbase West in Loyang Avenue. Although she was not able to obtain permission to enter the premises, we were, nevertheless, able to view the buildings close-up from the nearby golf course. She shared with me many stories of her time in this school; especially of how naughty the boys (Brian Mitchell, are you reading this?) used to be.

After a short drive around the Changi Village vicinity, we proceeded to visit the house that Judith lived in at 10 Chiltern Drive in Braddell Heights. Judith was fortunate in that the house was still standing, and did not look very different even though it had undergone major renovation. Unfortunately, there was nobody home, and we were not able to enter the compound for a closer look.

1961 photo of Judith's house

2014 photo of Judith's house

Judith showed me the place opposite her house where there used to be an “ugly square cement structure” from the top of which she could see my kampong. She brought out her iPad and showed me photos that her dad had taken of our kampong. I was a bit disappointed because I could not recognize the place in the photos. As you can see from the map below, it was probably quite a distance from where I stayed. From her description of the farms and ponds that she saw; including the trellises where the gourds were planted (described in detail in my book, Good Morning Yesterday), I concluded that she was referring to the area presently occupied by St Gabriel’s Primary School. Nevertheless, I am truly thankful to be able to get hold of these precious photos of my kampong. These photos were taken around 1961, which was prior to the construction of the Lorong Chuan in 1963. This new Lorong Chuan linked Braddell Road to Serangoon Gardens; and separated my section of our kampong from the section shown in Judith’s photos.

The "ugly cement structure" opposite Judith's house in 1961

This place is now a playground. The building in the background is St Gabriel's School, I believe.

The Lorong Chuan in this 1963 map is a dirt track which we kampong folks referred to as Chui Arm Lor (Water Pipes Rd) in Hokkien. Actually it continues all the way to Upper Thomson Road (refer to my book for details). X marks the spot where my house stood; and Y is the area shown in Judith’s photos. I can tell by referring to an old topographical map of this area which showed the ponds and the streams.

After taking several photos of Chiltern Drive, I brought them to the entrance of the Australian International School at Lorong Chuan and pointed out to the spot where my house probably stood. From there we drove to the Saddle Club travelling along stretches of Braddell Road and Thomson Road that Judith would have traveled on her way to her riding lessons. We proceeded for lunch at Toa Payoh before I brought them to their last destination at Geylang East Central where they had arranged to meet the family of her amah, Ah Moy, who unfortunately had passed away just two years ago. I understand that they had quite an emotional meeting.

I am glad to have met my “new old friend” Judith Johnson. I am glad to have played a small part in helping her recall found memories of her childhood years in our little island; and I have been richly rewarded by her gift of many precious old photos (of very high quality) of the Singapore of my childhood days; including a few of my kampong. I share some of them with you below. I will upload others to the Good Morning Yesterday Facebook Page.

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Never too old to blog

March 23, 2014, 9:10 pm

≫ Next: A story Lee Kuan Yew told

≪ Previous: Meeting my new old friend Judith Johnson

Did you see the article in the Straits Times today, where I was featured together with my fellow senior nostalgia bloggers, Philip Chew, James Seah and Victor Yue? There’s a photo on page A4 of me and James. And do you know where this photo was taken, what’s that thing that I am holding in my hand?

Answer. I was holding my primary school report book. The school, as regular readers of my blog, as well as those who have read my book, would know, was the Braddell Rise School. The reporter wanted to take a photo of James and me as a location that could be linked to our fondest memories of the old Singapore. For James, it would be Bukit Ho Swee; whereas, for me, it was my kampong at Lorong Kinchir off Lorong Chuan. Unfortunately, both these places no long exist, and so I suggested we met at Mount Alvernia Hospital and took our photo at the site of the former Braddell Rise School. I told her that I had studied in BRS from 1960 to 1963, and had literally seen the hospital next door sprout from the ground. The BRS buildings are slated for demolition soon to give way for a new wing of the Assisi Hospice. Fortunately, the demolition works had not started yet and so we could sneak in for a photo-shoot.

I requested that the report make mention of my book Good Morning Yesterday….. for obvious reasons. Many people know me to be a blogger, but many do not know that I am also an author; and even fewer people know where to purchase it. I myself am not sure, since it has been two years since the book was released, and many bookstores no longer carry it; but I am quite sure that the Kinokuniya branch Orchard Road does – at least that was what my distributor says.

Another place where you can purchase my book, at least for this weekend, is at the 50Plus Expo organized by the Council for Third Age (C3A). The expo will be held from 28^th to 30^th March at the Suntec City Hall 401-404. For the 3^rd time in a row, I have been invited to speak at the Forum, and so has my friend James Seah. My book will be on sale at the Booth C27 (Spring Publishing Pte Ltd). If you would like to attend the 50Plus Expo, please register at the C3A website.

So here again are the details.

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A story Lee Kuan Yew told

April 16, 2014, 4:36 am

≫ Next: Remains of my kampong

≪ Previous: Never too old to blog

I cannot recall for sure; but I think he told this story to a bunch of foreign correspondents at an event in Helsinki. Anyway, this story is based on a Chinese idiom; 塞翁失马，安知非福*. This story can be found in The Straits Times Bilingual Collection, Vol 1, page 86, under the title, Fortunes and misfortunes.

But when I was telling this story to my children when they were young, I titled it, The Story of Sai Weng.

* Sometimes written as 塞翁失马，焉知非福

Long ago, there was an old man who lived at the border. His wife had died more than 10 years ago, leaving him with a son, whom he brought up. The old man had a mare which he took good care of. When the mare became pregnant, he became very busy and happy. He planned to sell the colt when it had grown so he could use the money to get a wife for his son.

Unfortunately, when the mare was about to deliver, it suddenly disappeared. The old man and his son searched everywhere, but could not find it. The old man was very sad. After some time, however, he was himself again and behaved as if nothing had happened. His neighbours came to comfort him. The old man, moved by their concern, said: “I do appreciate your concern. However, do not vex yourselves over my problem. Although I have lost my horse and cannot afford to have a daughter-in-law now, no one can say for sure if this is good or bad.”

Several months passed; and on one clear and windy night, the old man heard the familiar neighing of a horse from his bedroom. He hurried out and saw 3 horses coming towards him. When he realized that one of the horses was his very own mare, he shouted for joy. There was also a small horse which apparently was the mare’s offspring. He hastily brought them to his stable. When the neighbours, who had been awakened by the noise, learned what had happened, they came to congratulate him. The old man was extremely happy. After some time, however, his face darkened briefly and sighing, he said calmly; “Let’s not be too happy. This could be a misfortune.” His words caused laughter, and everyone said he was over-suspicious.

The old man’s son loved the young colt and rode it often. One day, while galloping along a mountain track, he fell and broke his leg. Many surgeons were consulted, but he could not be cured, and eventually became a cripple. The neighbours came to comfort him. After thanking them for their concern, the old man said: “Though my son has become a cripple, there is no need to grieve, for who knows what good may come out of this incident.” The neighbours were puzzled by what he said.

One year later, the imperial court decided to wage war against a neighbouring state. All the able-bodied young men were conscripted into the army and most of them never returned from the battle field. The village became deserted and quiet. Only the old man’s son who had been disqualified because of his disability escaped conscription. Thus even in the midst of the chaos of war, he got married and soon had a son. The old man and his family lived in peace and happiness.

Many people who witnessed this admired and said of the old man: “When the old man of the frontier loses his horse, it may be good fortune; when he gains another horse, it may be a misfortune.”

The End

At the end of every story, there’s a language tip like this. I learned my hanyu pinyi partly from here.

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

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Remains of my kampong

May 11, 2014, 9:05 pm

≫ Next: The Golden Hairpin

≪ Previous: A story Lee Kuan Yew told

I have often been approached by students; usually from NUS or NTU, to assist them with their projects. Usually they found me through this blog or my Goodmorningyesterday Facebook Page.

Much as I enjoy speaking to young people about the Singapore of my childhood, I usually turn down their requests because I simply could not afford the time. Besides students, my fellow nostalgia/heritage bloggers and I also get requests from media professionals and documentary producers. Usually, I would tell them that the information they are looking for; for example what it was like to visit the New World or Great World Amusement Park, can easily be obtained from their parents or older relatives and neighbours. If for certain reasons, they are not able to do that, I would accede to their requests. Here are two recent examples.

The first was a Malay boy from NUS who wanted an oral interview about the Chinese operas that used to be organised in our kampongs. The second was also from NUS. He interviewed me for his project about the everyday life of Chinese kampong folks. As part of his assignment, he produced a short video of the place where my home once stood. I share it with you here.

Postby Yang Sheng Syamsul.

PS - One thing I have always wanted to tell anyone who approached me for such assistance; but was too shy to say so openly, was this; if you want me to spend a few hours of my time to assist you with your project, shouldn’t you at least show your appreciation by purchasing a copy of my book? Even if you don’t read such books, you could give it to your parents as a gift, right?

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