My first time …. using a smart phone (Nokia X6) ADVERTORIALI am 58 and have never used a smart phone before. Although I am proud of the fact that I was one of the first oldies (pronounced ‘oldeee’ not ‘old die’) in Singapore to start a blog, and have in fact been roped in by the folks at Infocomm123 to be their Silver Ambassador last year, the thought of myself doing all those ‘cool stuff’ on a tiny handphone, where I need to put on my reading glasses just to read the text, isn’t exactly my idea of entertainment. However, recently I had the opportunity to witness the amazing prowess of these little gizmos and it changed my mind.I was at a Chinese New Year family dinner. As I chatted with my son and nephew by the koi pond, we spotted a huge, rather unusual-looking catfish. “That’s a red tail catfish”, declared my son, the ‘David Attenborough’ of the Lam clan. Not convinced, my nephew whipped out his mobile phone and within a minute was able to access a website displaying photos and details of this beautiful creature. He went on to demonstrate some other nifty things that you can do with a smart phone, like looking up a map.“But it must be very hard to learn; especially for older folks like us”, I said. “No, it’s very easy one.” Sure, I thought to myself, that was exactly what I said to my retiree friend who said; “Chun See is very good. He can blog. So can teach us how to blog or not?”And thus I jumped on the opportunity to review the Nokia X6 when approached by Nuffnang and I am happy to report that it wasn’t that difficult to learn after all. However, I have to admit that for an oldie like me, it was a rather long learning process. I think if Nokia wants to market the X6 at seniors, they had better provide some hands-on training.Anyway, here are some of my impressions of the Nokia X6 (pardon the long introduction … I did tell you I was 57 going on 58 didn’t I?).Comes with MusicWhilst I enjoy music, you simply won’t see me on an MRT train or running around the parks with wires sticking out of my ears. The only time I listen to music is when I am in my car, or behind my keyboard at my work station. Hence, I never took to MP3 players or downloading music onto a mobile phone. And the only time I listen to music on my mobile phone is when I have to wait for my kids. I would tune in to my favourite radio station; Gold 90.5 FM.But Nokia’s Comes With Music is different. It allows you unlimited access to millions of tracks which you can download onto your PC. For those who prefer your music to be mobile, the X6’s 32GB on board memory allows you to store 11,000 tracks onto the device itself. And what’s more, you get to keep everything you have downloaded on your registered PC or Nokia handphone.Now I shall have many more songs to listen to as I work, in addition to the limited number that I had ripped from my CD collection. Best part is, there are lots of ‘oldies but goodies’ music to suit my taste. And the sound quality is really good. Even the ring tone sounds good.MapsI read in the March 3 edition of Digital Life that Nokia is giving away its navigation software Ovi Maps for use on its new phones. Once installed, the phone becomes a full-fledged PND (personal navigation device) which enables you to see where you are, find the places you need, put discoveries on the map, and it even comes complete with voice prompts. I am afraid I did not check out these advanced features, but I did explore the Singapore maps and I think it certainly beats the tattered street directory which I keep in my car’s glove compartment.The Touch ScreenThis is the first time I used a touch screen and I really liked it. The screen is so sensitive and responsive I could key in my messages, and make corrections (which is very often), much more quickly. With the scrolling function, it was also much easier to find a name in the address book.Also I find that the images on the screen very bright and clear, and big. I like to take photos and videos of the fishes in my fish tank to show to Matthew, my friend’s adorable five-year-old son. With the 3.2” widescreen, the poor kid needn’t strain his little eyes anymore.CameraFor me this is the most important function of all. I will reject any mobile phone that does not take reasonably sharp photos. This is because I take a lot of photos for my blog when I am moving about and I don’t like to carry an additional camera. I was surprised at the high quality of the images taken on the X6’s 5 mp camera even under low-light conditions. Likewise the video quality was better than expected.This shot of the Ulu Pandan Canal was taken with the Nokia X6I am afraid, I just did not have time to try out many of the other features that the X6 boasts; such as creating playlists and downloading games from the Ovi Store. Neither did I try updating my blog or Twitter (I don’t have an account) or Facebook (which I seldom access even from my pc). There are simply too many things to learn in such a short time. Even though I have been telling my friends that I embrace the new media because learning all the new stuff is supposed to be good for the brain and helps keep mental problems like dementia and Alzheimers at bay, I will have to do this another time.My biggest disappointment with this mobile phone was the messaging function. I don’t know, I just found it very difficult to get used to the functions and menus; and in fact I had to enlist my daughter’s help to send out my SMS’s the first time. But I guess the problem is with the user and not the product. But this was more than made up for by the really cool Contacts Bar which features thumbnail images for up to 20 close friends directly on the home screen.ConclusionGenerally, I was quite happy and impressed by the Nokia X6 and I think many seniors would take to it. But I repeat, if Nokia wants to target the seniors market, they must provide some hands-on training. Nuffnang's featured blogger for March Guess who is Nuffnang's featured blogger for the month of March?.............. Me!Read my article here. Have you seen this tiger? I guess it is appropriate that the first quiz I post in the Year of the Tiger should be related to this magnificent animal. Thanks to Russ Wickson I am able to do that. I received this photo from him in the email yesterday. Unfortunately, he himself cannot recall when or where this photo was taken. He wrote;“Where it came from I can no longer remember, but it has been there since 1967 when I was posted home. I actually sent it to the Asia Pacific Brewery (Tiger Brewery) some years ago but have never had a response, but no big deal, who am I in the larger wheels of motion?I wonder if the vehicle still exists, unlikely, but said in the nicest possible way, who knows in Singapore? If you have a few minutes please publish it on your site, see what response one can get.”So does anyone know where and when this photo was taken? This technically, is not a quiz because I myself do not know the answer. Thank you for the photos (Part 2) - Arthur Poskitt In my previous post, I mentioned that I received an email from a gentleman by the name Michael Frost who generously offered to share his photos with me and Peter. I must sincerely apologize to him for getting his name mixed up. Michael Frost was the name in the ‘Sender” of the email. But his actual name is Arthur Poskitt. I reproduce below excerpts of his emails to me first and then to Peter as well.####################################Singapore Jan 1948 – Jun 1949Hallo I would like to introduce myself.Arthur Leonard Poskitt (80) I served in Singapore as a Signalman and ran a drawing office at a village called Yio Chu Kang for about eighteen months with the Royal Corps of Signals.My main duties were supervising line parties to repair underground communication cables and service test huts as the location of all underground cable routes were destroyed at the onset of the Japanese occupation.The handwritten notes read: “Strangely miserable picture a few weeks after arrival at Yio Chu Kang!”While I was in Singapore I took the opportunity of taking several hundred pictures of the area through the eyes of a national serviceman. I covered the whole Island from the Causeway and the southern islands then known as Blakang Mati now known as Santosa, Paulu Brani and other islands in the area.Pictures include army life under canvas and city street scenes which no longer exist!I found your blog/website and thought you might be interested in the above. The handwritten notes read: “Birds eye view of the island city from the height of the Cathay Building”**********************************************Regarding army service, I departed from Liverpool on the White Star liner 'Georgic' (then converted into a troop ship) in December 1947 arriving at Nee Soon transit camp in Singapore in January 1948 and thence to join the Singapore District Signal Regiment at Yio Chu Kang and put in charge of the drawing office. My duties took me across the Causeway to Johore Bahru and further north until curtailed by the terrorist insurgency of 1948. This did not prevent me from taking leave in both Penang and Kuala Lumpur traveling by steam train. My close-knit group of army friends seem to spend a lot of time at the cinema. Does the Pavilion cinema and restaurant on Orchard Road still exist? Also the Cathay, once the highest building in Singapore! The Shackle Club will have long gone. We also spent some Saturday nights watching wrestling at the Great World arena.Hereby lies the problem. I have no prints except an album with captions and very substandard contact prints produced on return to England in July 1949 and thus unable to provide a sample. Everything is digital these days!You tell me you are interested in all things military in the late forties and this is all here, together with street scenes (ie: ancient tramcars on the Serangoon Road), country kampongs and rubber plantations in which we lived under canvas during the interminable monsoon. I also have pictures of the war cemetery at Kranji and the ancient graveyard at Fort Canning. Not only do I have negatives but also kept a very extensive diary of army life. Even the original camera still exists! Though now approaching my eightieth year I still travel extensively when my work as an advertising artist permits. Journalists with whom I have worked and count as friends say that I have enough material for a book and would hate to think that on my demise this unique and valuable archive might be lost forever.Regards.Arthur Poskitt. Finale to Upper East Coast Road: A Forgotten History (Peter Chan) This is a follow-up to “WW2 at Upper East Coast Road” which was posted on Chun See’s blog on December 09, 2009. Three questions were asked.1) Where was the location of the Bedok Hill Massacre site?2) What has become of Tanah Merah Powder Magazine, and the3) Bedok W/T Station?Here are the answers. Bedok Hill Massacre sitePhoto 4a was taken from the direction of a hill (blue arrow in modern-day photo) where there used to be a Chinese school. The Chinese school was later flattened to become Bedok South Road and Kew Residencia. In that same photo, a road could be visible between the sea and the low bluff. That is Upper East Coast Road; the stretch between Parbury Avenue and Bedok South Ave 3 today.For my “modern-day shot”, Block 163 was used because there was no suitable elevation to replicate the same 1941 photo.Somewhere behind the fence was the location of the 1942 “Killing Field” (blue arrow). At that time a small Chinese settlement stood at the edge of the fenced-up forest and Temasek Primary School. It was reported that sympathizers from this settlement gave shelter and provided emergency medical aid to the survivors.In 1981, the government announced plans to build the Changi General Hospital on the open space bounded by Blocks 155 and 163 on one side, Bedok South Road and Upper East Coast Road. It included the fenced-up forest. We learnt that the decision was reversed in favour of the Simei site. Today the open space is now shared by week-end footballers and the HDB residents except for the fenced-up forest.But why is the forest the only area still fenced-up? Was it because there was an ugly “past”?Tanah Merah Powder MagazineWhilst the nearby hills of what is now Bedok South precinct were leveled down, the Tanah Merah Powder Magazine was left intact until the mid-1970s when the SAF Bomb Disposal Unit was detailed to clear the area. In the early 1960s, I saw the building which had a brick wall facing Upper East Coast Road. For some reasons I was told by my cousin not to walk on that side of Upper East Coast Road. In the early 1970s on bus trips to Bedok Camp, I saw shrubs and trees growing wildly, and it was unusually dim. I can only think that the Baily bridge was blocking off the sunlight.The once powder magazine lies inside the fenced-up forest. The building foundation of the military barrack is the only piece left from the past, although there are traces of either a broken asphalt road or dirt track leading into the powder magazine area. The “State Land” signboard marks the exact spot of the entrance into the powder magazine.From the grapevine, there are “talks” that one of the stations on the Eastern Regional Line - the future MRT line from Marina Bay to Changi Airport - will be here. In late 2009, the Land Transport Authority appointed Soil & Foundation to carry out soil investigation along Upper East Coast Road.Bedok W/T siteBedok W/T Station (Photo 3a) is now the clock tower of Kew Green, a condominium off Kew Drive. The gradient of the hill (of 20 feet contour interval) is now replaced by four banks of vertical retaining walls to prevent soil erosion.Today this place is full of tranquility and close to man-made nature. At one corner of Bedok South Estate, are the private landed estates and condominiums. Accessibility is so much better than in the past; to major expressways, the airport, outdoor amenities on the East Coast Park, food centers, schools and wet markets. Did you know you can consult a General Practitioner for less than S$15 and there are four to choose from within 2 minutes walking distance? Thank you for the photos (1) Recently, I received two wonderful gifts in the mail.The first is Derek Tait’s latest book; More Memories of Singapore and Malaysia. Readers would probably know that this is Derek’s third book about Singapore. I have not read it yet, but flipping through the pages and seeing all those wonderful photos of the old Singapore is already a great fun. I gather that much of what is written in this book is a compilation of stories sent to him by friends; British folks like Tom O’Brien, John Harper and Brian Mitchell who spent a few years of their childhood here when their parents were stationed in Singapore as military personnel in the sixties.I am much inspired by Derek’s books and have decided that I too would like to compile stories from this blog into a book. I take this opportunity to thank guest bloggers and readers for their stories.The second gift was in the form of an old photo album sent to me by Russ Wickson who earlier sent me this email."Dear Lam Chum SeeI have had much enjoyment reading through 'Good Morning Yesterday'. I was stationed with the Royal Air Force firstly at Tengah and later at Changi between May 1965 and November 1967 when I was returned to the UK. Like so many of your readers and subscribers I have a plethora of fond memories and I have never given up the hope of returning one day to root around old haunts, although I suspect many have disappeared as your site suggests.Anyway, the purpose of this email is to say some years back now I was given a small photograph album by an RAF chap who served in Singapore 1946 to 1948. The album contains small black & white prints and I'm wondering if it might be of use to you.I'm sure with all the modern technology available these days those prints considered suitable could be reproduced and may give pleasure to others, but of course that would be up to you to decide.I am quite happy for you to have the album, assuming you would like it, if so can you give me an address where to send it.”And thus this mouldy but precious old album arrived in the letter box together with a small book entitled, History of Changi - original 1960's print. Russ explained in his cover letter that this photo album was actually given to him about 10 years ago by an elderly gentleman by the name of George Shaw. George loved his time in Singapore but was sad that his own children had no interest in his past and thus “would love someone like yourself to have the remains of the album and to do what you will with it”. (He said ‘remains of the album’ because some photos were missing from it.Besides Russ Wickson, I have also received photos from people I have not met before like Robin Brewster who emailed me those photos of the elephants exercising at Seraya Crescent, Gordon Carle who emailed me several photos of Chestnut Drive, Bukit Gombak and Bukit Panjang. And then there is Michael Frost. I tell you more the next time.I have said many times in this blog that I wished I had more photos of the old Singapore to illustrate the topics I blog about. Thanks to these generous and thoughtful friends from the UK, I will have plenty of things to blog about and can take on lots of “2nd Shot” (Then and Now) projects in the future.On behalf of friends of Good Morning Yesterday, Thank you very much, 谢谢, terimah kasih.Have a blessed Lunar New Year everyone. Funny restaurant sign Recently I was in Tangkak and saw this interesting sign outside a Chinese restaurant. Can you spot the error? What do you think is the name of this restaurant in Chinese? (Sorry for the poor quality of the picture. Took it with my mobile phone from quite distance.)This sign reminds me of a documentary I saw about a group of people who went around public places in Beijing to spot signs with bad English. This was during the period before the 2008 Beijing Olympics.UpdateAlex is right. The signs says 上海灘 (Shanghai Bund) in Chinese which is actually the title of a classic 1980 TVB period drama series starring Chow Yun Fatt. I did not like the series and have not watched it. Nowadays people identify this title with the theme song sung by Francis Yip who once said that she has never appeared in a concert where the audience did not demand that she sang this song. A perennial karaoke favourite it was one of several memorable hits penned by Joseph Koo.Speaking of Cantonese drama series, they were very popular in Singapore in the 70’s when RTS still aired dialect programmes. I think without doubt the most popular were the two series Men in the Net and 亲情 (cannot recall the English title). On evenings when the show was being aired, it was reported that you would not be able to hail a taxi because the drivers were all glued to their tv sets. For a while the most popular phrases among Singapore boys were; “Lei yau moe kau chor” and “Chee sin!” (crazy). Expressways, Flyovers and Bridges of the 1960s – Ayer Rajah Expressway (Peter Chan) 1966 marked the beginning of the second Singapore 5-Year Plan. The road network for Singapore was prepared in this second Plan. A major road termed as the Pan-Island Expressway was first mooted in this Plan to serve as a major route to link up new towns under construction, e.g. Jurong, Toa Payoh, Kallang Industrial Basin and other proposed new towns (Woodlands, Teluk Blangah and Changi). It was proposed to be dual 3-lane road with limited controlled access points to the expressway.There are two ways to design/build an “expressway”. One is based using existing roads. The other method is to build a new route through forest, cemeteries, acquired estates and inhabited settlements. Two places which come to mind by widening and extending existing roads are Ayer Rajah Road and Jalan Toa Payoh. Other expressways which were built by a new route method were SLE, BKE, CTE, ECP, KJE and KPE. When ready by 2015, the Marina Coastal Expressway (MCE) will be the first undersea road-in-the tunnel expressway.Ayer Rajah Road, fore-runner of the AYE, was between Gillman Circus and Clementi Circus, not to be confused with Upper Ayer Rajah Road as the section between Clementi Circus and Jurong Town Hall Road.Ayer Rajah Road was never appropriately considered as the first Singapore expressway when the public road infrastructure project got underway in 1962. It was a part of “Major Road Construction Projects” in Singapore at that time; meaning road widening and extension was all that mattered. So low was the priority that only S$0.385m was allocated for the Ayer Rajah Road project. As a child passing through this way many times over, the dramatic transformation of Ayer Rajah Road (into the AYE by the mid-1980s) and the surrounding landscape fascinated me. So I like to describe yesterday’s Ayer Rajah Road and its vicinity to you.We start with an aerial view of the area. How much has Ayer Rajah Road remains till this day?Photo 1: Aerial view of Ayer Rajah Road (circa 1960)Further down Ayer Rajah Road on the opposite side of what is now Science Park 1, I saw British military personnel playing rugby at Gloucester Field; now Portsdown Avenue. Depending on the time of the year, you could also catch a game of cricket or football. In the 1970s the field became a practice site for archers.A place I found most interesting was a huge British military base at what is now the ST Automotive Inspection Center. It is only in recent times that I found that it was the REME 40 Base Workshop. It was the largest British military transport repair facility in Malaya, Singapore and Hong Kong. There were Bedford trucks, Centurion tanks and Humber PIG armored vehicles under the sheds and in the open yards. Sometimes you could even see a small shunter pulling a flat-bed trailer.Photo 2: What remains from this photo are the buildings at Woking Road, off Portsdown Road. They are shown at the bottom of the photo. Gloucester Barracks and Rowcroft Lines merged to become Science Park 1. The SAF 3rd Transport Battalion and ST Automotive/ST Engineering occupy the former 40 Singapore Base Workshop. The original Ayer Rajah Road are lanes one and two of the AYE in the direction of Jurong.Kent Ridge looked so much higher than what it is too today. Probably the thick vegetation mask what was truly a magnificent natural highland especially when seen during sunset. I saw many double-storey bungalows neatly spaced out on top of the ridge whilst below in the valley were the Malay kampungs and terraced rows of military accommodations. The bungalows up on Kent Ridge are now exclusively used by the National University of Singapore but it was once the home of the top British Army military brass. After the British Pull-out in 1971, it was used by the SAF top brass like Maj-Gen (Rtd) Winston Choo as his residence.I came to Ayer Rajah Road area one last time in 1978 when I collected my graduation gown at the Kent Ridge campus (Central Library). By this time, Clementi Circus was demolished and a light-controlled junction was in place. Thank goodness I drove otherwise I would have to walk and puff all the way from the bus-stop at Clementi Road to the Central Library. Photo 3: Kent Ridge viewed from the junction of Ayer Rajah Road and North Buona Vista Road. The senior British Army staff bungalows on top of Kent Ridge but today they belong to the National University of Singapore. The properties are numbered 1 to 10 Kent Ridge Road. The former North Buona Vista Road is at the bottom of the photo with a British Army military base on the right. National University of Singapore’s Faculty of Medicine (MD 11) and the roundabout at Lower Kent Ridge Road now occupy the settlement at the foot of Kent Ridge.Additional comments by Lam Chun SeeI recall the time when the flyover joining North and South Buona Vista roads was being constructed. Incidentally, I checked my 1981 street directory. North and South Buona Vista roads were not joined together. How stranged.It must be after 1986 when this flyover was being constructed, because I was already working at NPB at its new building at Bukit Merah Central. I remember the horrific traffic jams caused by the road diversions here whenever I returned to NPB from Jurong. Around that time I also did some TQC training at SAE, or Singapore Automotive Engineering before it was renamed ST Automotive. My counterparts were the HR Manager and the QA Manager. I cannot recall the former's name, but I found out not long ago that the the QA Manager, Mr Khoo's daughter and my eldest daughter are the best of friends throughout their schools days and now in the NTU.Next article will be on PIE from Jalan Anak Bukit to Bedok North. My first published book Dear friends and regular readers of Good Morning Yesterday. I am very happy to announce that I have just published my first book, something I have always wanted to do. The title of my book is ideas@work and it is available at the online bookstore Lulu.com. It is about how to manage the suggestions programme or what is more popularly known here in Singapore as the Staff Suggestion Scheme or SSS. I have written a more detailed article about this book in my other blog; My 5S Corner.I should explain why I chose to publish my book on Lulu.com and not through a local publisher. The main reason is that the Singapore market is too small and I doubt any publisher would want to publish my book here. Unfortunately, going the ‘Lulu.com route’ pushes up the price considerably especially for Singapore buyers. This is because at Lulu.com, the books are manufactured on a Print-on-Demand mode.I want to take this opportunity to thank some people. Besides the three Japanese experts who taught me about Japanese management concepts, Mr Hajime Suzuki, Mr Motomu Baba and the late Mr Kazuo Tsuchiya, I should thank three Singapore friends. They are Mr Koo Sem Khen, Chia Yew Heng and Peh Seng Ket.Koo Sem Khen, or Koo-san as friends would call him, was formerly manager of the TQC promotion office at Matsushita Electronics (Mesa). I remember one occasion back in 1987 or thereabouts, when my employers the National Productivity Board wanted to send me to Penang to conduct a seminar on SSS for the Malaysian Productivity Association. At that time, I was still quite new at this and wasn’t very confident. I remember Koo-san actually coming to my house on the night before my trip to share with me about the SSS at Mesa. He was very proud of his company’s SSS calling it the ‘kingpin’ of their TQC movement.The second gentleman is my old friend from my NPB days, Chia Yew Heng. Chia and I both went to Japan for our Productivity Development Project Fellowship training in 1985. After he left NPB, he worked as the training manager of TIBS; doubling as their productivity manager and taking charge of their SSS. I gave his managers a talk about SSS and gave him advice on how to manage and promote their SSS. Subsequently he went on to CIAS where he held a similar appointment. Whilst working with him on their SSS at TIBS, I gathered quite a bit of information from him.The third person is another old friend, Peh Seng Ket who was head of the SSS secretariat at ODE. Likewise, I did some training for them and also worked with him and learnt a lot from him about how their suggestion system.They say that a consultant is a person who borrows your watch, tells you the time and then walks away with it. I should thank these three old friends for their fine watches.As I turn the bend on the last stretch of my career, I want to move away from ‘hardcore’ training and consultancy (which is very energy-sapping) and do more writing. Hence, regardless of whether or not my first book sells, I aim, God willing, to write two more books. One will be on my pet subject, 5S, and the second I have not decided. Maybe with all the interest in Productivity being stirring up in Singapore lately, I will write something on this subject.My book is listed at Lulu.com online bookstore here. SGH Museum A few months ago, I accompanied a relative to the Singapore General Hospital. It was during the peak of the H1N1 scare. To avoid the hassle of temperature taking and so on, I decided to take a walk around the hospital grounds instead of waiting indoors. And I stumbled upon the SGH Museum.Actually, I was quite disappointed with the exhibits inside. A large section of the museum was closed off and some of the major exhibits were undergoing renovation. The rest of the exhibits were mostly about the pioneers of the health care industry and old medical equipment; the latter being too technical to interest me. However I did see something that brought back memories. They were the hypodermic needles of old. In those days, they did not use disposable hypodermic needles. Instead the needles had a stainless steel base which was mounted onto the syringe. To sterilize the needles, the nurse would use a stainless steel tray with hot water. As a kid, whenever we heard the clanging of the metallic tray, we knew what to expect.Looking at some of the old photos of the SGH complex, I realized how much the hospital has been transformed since the 1980’s when I occasionally brought my mum there for visits. I also recall one occasion when I accompanied my brother Chun Chew (Zen) there because he swallowed this huge fish bone. I will leave him to fill in the details for himself. Practically all the old blocks had been demolished except for the Bowyer Block which now housed the SGH Museum. In those days, all the blocks had English-sounding names; but I can remember only two - Bowyer and Norris. I think the Norris Block housed the dental department. And then of course there are the two roundabouts that I blogged about here.This is a shot of the Bowyer Block with its iconic clock towerThankfully, I never had to stay in SGH as a patient before. Actually I do not like going to the SGH. Usually I go there to visit friends and relatives. It’s not that I am superstitious or afraid of coming into contact with diseases. I really dislike the crowds and finding a car park is such a hassle. The bars of Sembawang Hills Estate – Edward Williams During the 60’s and 70’s, Sembawang Hills Estate had 3 bars which catered to the British and later ANZUK servicemen: the Sembawang Café, Kasbah and another which I cannot remember its name.1983 map of this part of Sembawang Hills Estate Sembawang Café stood at the corner of Jalan Batai and Jalan Leban, at the end of a row of two-storey shop houses along Jalan Leban. It served very good sizzling t-bone steak on a large wooden plate at $4 each. The café was a popular hangout for the Maoris from the early 70’s onwards. On one of its glass doors a kiwi sticker was stuck there, as a sign of their territorial claim.Present day photo of corner of Jalan Batai and Jalan LebanKasbah, an Indian bar and restaurant was situated along the row of shop houses in Jalan Kuras. This bar was run by a Sikh family who lived in the village not far from Sembawang Hills Drive. Mrs Singh managed the day to day operations of the bar with the help of her daughter Muni. I think the owner of the bar was an English woman who was related to Mrs Singh. The bar served a wide range of Indian cuisines. Of the three bars Kasbah was the “late comer”. It started in 1970 or 1971.Present day photo of Jalan KurasA few doors away from Kasbah, at the end of this row of shops, sat the third bar whose name escapes me. This bar was located at the corner of Jalan Kuras and Jalan Gelenggang. It was an “open plan” bar – people walking along the street could see right inside. Like Sembawang Café the bar was more western oriented where fish and chips and steaks were served. Since this was an “open plan” bar it was bathed in full sunlight during the day. Obviously there was no air conditioning here and ventilation was not an issue. I observed that this bar had a family atmosphere with a more sober crowd. I supposed being an exposed “open plan” bar it tended to discourage the rowdier groups.Present day photo of corner of Jalan Kuras and Jalan GelenggangIn contrast the interior of Sembawang Café was always dark, mysterious and intimidating, particularly late at night. The brightest spot in the café was the dart board, lighted by one solitary lamp above. It took about a minute or two to get accustomed to the interior once you stepped inside. Kasbah’s interior was bright enough during the day, with sunlight streaming through the glass window which formed the front façade of the bar.There was one common item which could be found in all 3 bars – a dart board. In fact I dare say that all bars frequented by servicemen had dart boards as this was a game everybody played, mostly for fun but sometimes for money or drinks.According to Freddy Neo, “From 1958 to about 1969, about 25% of the houses in the estate were rented to British Servicemen and their families.” During this period the corner bar and Sembawang Café were patronised mainly by British servicemen and their families. In the early 70’s the British presence was scaled down and was replaced by the ANZUK forces. At this stage Kasbah came into existence. The Maoris from the New Zealand contingent made their presence felt especially in Kasbah and Sembawang Café. They practically “colonised” Sembawang Café.Amongst the British, Australian and NZ servicemen, the Maoris (from the NZ contingent) were the wildest of the three. I recall one Maori wedding celebration at Kasbah. They booked the entire bar that afternoon and by the evening everybody was drunk (as usual) and the bar sustained quite a “trauma”. All of the brass ornaments that decorated the bar’s interior became objects of souvenir hunters. So the bar was stripped bare and the Military Police was called and order was eventually restored. Many of the servicemen ended up in the guard room (military lockup) and some compensation was paid to the bar. Within a week the incident was forgotten and hardly spoken about. Bar owners generally accepted such incidents and the occasional fights as a part of the life cycle of their businesses, and as long as the incidents did not go overboard they were tolerated. If you ban one customer from your bar you lose the patronage of that person and his mates as well.The Maoris also enjoyed communal singing. Give them a guitar and they’ll have a hearty sing-a-long. It doesn’t matter if they played or sang well. They were prepared to give it a go and everybody seemed to enjoy themselves tremendously. Once I even saw a Maori strumming a guitar with only 2 or 3 strings left. Nobody seemed to mind, or perhaps they couldn’t tell the difference after a number of drinks!I think Thursday was pay day for the servicemen. They’d go on a “pub crawl” starting from Sembawang, then to Nee Soon and finally ending up in Sembawang Hills Estate. By the time they reached our estate, most would be inebriated. However this did not stop them from partying through the night. Sometimes they drank till the early hours of the morning, on the night before a major exercise. Of course some would end up in the lockup the next day.In the early 70’s Kasbah was my favourite weekend hangout. I played 301 and Micky Mouse with anybody who cared to have a game of darts. It was mostly for fun although some of the patrons would insist on having a wager. There were 2 legendary dart players at Kasbah whose reputations were entrenched in the bars as far as Nee Soon and Sembawang. One was a local at the estate (from Jalan Lanjut) and the other hailed from Nee Soon. It was not uncommon to see one of them “splitting” the darts, so deadly accurate were his aims. Most players demanded a big handicap to play them, unless it was a “friendly” game i.e. no bets involved. On rare occasions when these 2 played against each other, everybody watched in awe as the game of 301 usually ended within a few minutes.Jason, another weekend regular at Kasbah, was a commando sergeant who taught me how to ride his motor bike one night after the bar closed. We were both not quite sober but I was having the ball of my life. I remember racing uphill along Jalan Kuras with Jason frantically chasing after me, yelling at me to slow down. I wasn’t sure if he was more afraid for his precious motor bike or me! One night he said to me, “Hey these guys (the ANZUK servicemen) are supposed to defend our country. How can they be, in that state? Tomorrow many of them would be too drunk to participate in our joint military exercise. So they’ll do time in the lockup.” I guess seeing the servicemen in such a drunken state the day before a major exercise does not inspire much confidence!When Jimmi Cliff’s “Vietnam” was released in 1970 it immediately became Muni’s favourite song. She’d play this song on a little portable cassette recorder during the bar’s quiet moments and danced her home-made reggae steps together with her cousin. Some of the boys would join in as the steps were pretty simple to follow. So the waitress Muni acted unofficially as the bar’s dancer when business was slack. Her mother Mrs Singh did not mind this unlicensed addition to the bar’s services as it kept the local boys happy and out of mischief.One colourful character in Kasbah was Ah Kow (not his real name) who was also from the SAF commando battalion. Ah Kow had tattoos all over his body and arms right down to his wrists, which explained why he always wore a long-sleeved shirt buttoned at the wrists to conceal his tattoos. A short story of his life was tattooed on his back. I was told that Ah Kow was a boxer and when took off his coat in the ring his opponent freaked out at the sight of the tattoos! Now wasn’t he literally a “colourful” character?During the early days in Singapore it was mostly the secret society members who spotted tattoos, as a symbol of membership and allegiance to their gangs. Apparently Ah Kow had a tattoo on his left shoulder which was a gang insignia. I heard that he ran away from home when he was a kid, slept in the streets and ended up joining a gang for protection and survival. Anyway I knew he was a reformed character after he joined the army and I noticed the he had a strong sense of loyalty to his friends. The army provided the much needed comradeship and security to his previously unsettled life.Kasbah closed at midnight but the Sembawang Café was opened till the early hours of the morning. They did a roaring trade with the Maoris. One night after Kasbah closed a group of us went to the Sembawang Café. Imagine the shock we felt when we pushed open the glass door and saw the bar packed with Maoris in various stages of inebriation. The worst affected ones were asleep on the sofa and floor. The air was hazy with thick cigarette smoke by this late hour. The Maoris were generally big men and one was nicknamed Buddha. I suspect this was because he was shaped like a Buddha, somewhere around his belly. One of the guys from our group proceeded straight to the dart board and played a few games for drinks. Buddha was still standing (unlike some of his friends) and he cheerfully obliged. We won several free drinks which kept our spirits high. Of course the more our friend drank the quicker his skills deteriorated but the more he was convinced of his invincibility. Fortunately for him, his opponents were usually in a worse state of sobriety! I staggered home around 5 in the morning. That was my last memory of Sembawang Café.It has been almost 4 decades since I last saw Sembawang Café, Kasbah or the corner bar at Jalan Kuras. Sometimes I wonder if they still exist today. Most likely they’d have given way to other shops many years ago. These bars thrived during the colonial and post colonial era, up to the mid 70’s. As the ANZUK contingent was scaled down businesses in these bars would have been increasingly less viable. It will come as no surprise to me if all the bars, including those in Nee Soon and Sembawang, have long been confined to the historical past.Footnote: My thanks to Chun See for taking the photos of Sembawang Hills Estate to go with this story. Now I know the answer to that last question above. “Happy Birthday to You” - Peter Chan This Christmas season, I spent time going through a stack of old photo albums and a bunch of KODAK envelopes of photos and rows of film negatives. I was delighted to find a set of photos which brought back good memories of my children’s birthday parties of the 1980s. It also reminded me of the time when my birthday party was a solo one - done with just one Haw Pau Tan coated in black soya sauce, a piece of slightly salted fried chicken drumstick and a plate of plain white rice. Not that our family was in some dire situation but in the 1950s birthday parties were strictly reserved for the elderly, like grandparents.Photo 1: You can tell that the guests were very appreciative of “Buffalo Wings” and packets of Yeo’s lychee drink. Just listen to this bare-bodied boy describing his experience to his friends. These “young gentlemen” certainly have a big stomach even for the adult menu.Being a young parent and full of enthusiasm, I enjoyed being the events organizer. Hosting a house-party required a lot of efforts unlike hosting at MacDonald’s. We actually did it once at MacDonald’s over in East Coast Parkway. Though it might have been a good decision considering there was no need to worry about the after-party chores, clean-up and washing of dishes; something was missing. Maybe MacDonald’s looked too commercial or the ambience was missing.Almost every year since the age of pre-school till PSLE, we made sure our boys invited their classmates, their “best friends and “best cousins”. We never dressed up the house with balloons and birthday banners, never hired a magician nor gave away goodie bags. There are some lessons to be learnt here because it is all about the basic tenets for sincere friendship.Photo 2: I never knew when it comes to entertainment, girls were like boys. The girls could even square up to the boys over NINTENDO. I dread watching that girl holding the plastic cup. Will my carpet get stain?Typically a good children house party should have dishes suited more for children than for adults. We complemented the food caterer with our own selection of fried sotong balls, buffalo-wings, and pork sausages, inevitably producing a future class of obese young adults. Of course you had to order the birthday cake from Lana’s Cake Shop at Greenwood Avenue. The children enjoyed the sweet and moist Lana’s chocolate cakes until Sweet Temptation came along. When I later saw the same bunch of children in their JC Year, many had flaps around their bellies and had thick arms.Good indoor entertainment was very important. This was the age of the VHS tape recorder. Instead of playing Micky Mouse and Donald Duck stuff, it was the time for a selection of MASTERS OF THE SEA UNIVERSE, CRASH DUMMIES, TRANSFORMERS and TEENAGER MUTANT NINJA TURTLES; recorded straight from the regular TV channel. Besides spoilt for choice of TV action-movies, there would usually be some wise kid who “pretended he was some action hero” and went around prancing as well imitating the voices of their favorite heroes. “Aidoh, please don’t crash your head into my TV”, said my wife.Photo 3: Water-snooker was a popular apparatus and I was “praying” this girl would not do it in the house. I wonder what the boys were up to. There was so much giggling. Did they find the PENTHOUSE magazine?When it came to playtime, there was neither private boundary nor adult initiatives needed. Kids made their way into my “office”, jumped on the bed and powered on the Apple Mac. There was one time some kids “played water” in the toilet until I found they filled several condoms with water. “Uncle, how come this balloon very special one. Can grow to be very B-I-G like this………(using two hands to demonstrate the length). Some more don’t plomp! Why ah?” Now this is a very intelligent question coming from a girl.Photo 4: Outdoor fun late in the afternoon. Those sweaty bodies made their way into my apartment, again heading to my “office” or wherever there was an air-conditioner.I was fortunate to live in a condominium but mine was no “District 9 or 10”. You see our condominium did not have fabulous facilities like tennis courts, jacuzzi or a swimming pool. All we had were the sand-pit, sea-saw, merry-go-round, slide, monkey-bar and tree-house, very much like those you find in a HDB estate.Things began to wind down by 7.00pm when parents arrived to pick the children. It was time to head home after a long afternoon of fun and excitement. I wonder how many of them can remember this birthday bash at a classmate’s place because many came from Tao Nan Primary School. They should be approaching their 30s now.Photo 5: ONE FOR THE ROAD, as they say. This photo was for a small group because I couldn’t find the rest. I am sure 25 kids turned up but I counted 12 here. Hands up those who agree Recently I had another ‘pleasant encounter’ with a couple of ‘old friends’ that I had not seen for decades. I was at the Safti Military Institute to witness the commissioning parade of my son when my attention was drawn away from the fanfare in the parade square to these two magnificent ‘creatures’ in the distance. Oldies, including possibly our British friends like Brian Mitchell and John Harper would probably remember these two Merdeka Lions that used to stand guard on either ends of the Merdeka Bridge along Nicoll Highway. The big brass in the army probably have some profound logic for placing these two lions at the footsteps leading to this tower. But I daresay, readers of Good Morning Yesterday would agree with me that it can’t be more important that the thrill that guys my generation will experience when we see the return of something that we thought had been destroyed along with the many other relics of the Singapore we grew up in. Related post: My seven wonders of Singapore And they called us car park attendants If you traveled along Dunearn Road from Eng Neo Avenue to Adam Road, the most prominent landmark that you will pass by is the beautiful, sprawling new campus of the Nanyang Girls’ School. Do you what institution used to occupy this piece of land?Answer: Singapore’s first junior college, the National Junior College. This year (only a few more hours left of 2009 even as I hammer away at the keyboard) marks the 40th anniversary of the founding of NJC and yours truly was one of the 572 seventeen-year-olds who formed the pioneer batch of students from all over Singapore. To commemorate this occasion, a group of my fellow NJC-69ers decided to put together a book compiling our memories of those two years spent in a place that no longer exists in Singapore’s ever-changing landscape.Thanks to Good Morning Yesterday, an unknown kid from an unknown kampong called Lorong Kinchir got to pen two stories in this special book titled, And they called us car park attendants. Both stories have been told in this blog (see links below) before and so I shan’t repeat them.Time does not permit me to share with you my other memories of NJC, except to say that I enjoyed my two years in there, even though at that time a few of us were branded traitors by our former school. Good thing I am one of those you would call a “blur sotong” and so I did not even know about it until recently.Interestingly whenever I think of NJC, pictures of two other places come to mind. One is the huge field next to our campus. During the initial months, before we had our own canteen, we had to trudge across this huge field and climb a long flight of stairs to have a lunch in the tuck shop of the neighbouring Dunearn Technical School. The other place is the former Ministry of Education complex at Kay Siang Road. I remember nervously going there to collect and submit my application forms. I think I also attended an interview there.What did I enjoy most about NJC? The two things I blogged about - the badminton and the outdoor activities club. I also treasure the opportunity to meet new friends from diverse backgrounds, such as the group from Bartley Secondary. I even got to know some boys from Malaysia as well as friends from the Chinese stream.And here’s wishing all friends and readers good health and success in all that you do in 2010. Happy New Year everyone!Related posts:1) Memories of Pulau Tekong2) Kampong badminton3) Bukit Timah Heritage Trail 4) NJC's 40th Anniversay Dinner5) 40th Anniversary of NJC's 1st Gunong Tahan expedition6) Great reunion after 40 years Tribute to a humble profession (2) In our recent trip to Yong Peng, we also had the opportunity to visit a rubber plantation. Our hosts who were rubber tappers were very enthusiastic to explain to us about their work. Below are some photos of things you will not find in Singapore - including close-ups of the rubber tapper's knife.QuestionRemember the light that I strapped to my forehead. Nowadays the light is powered by batteries. But in the old days they used something called chow tor - literally, ‘smelly earth’ - in Hokkien. Do you know what was that?We also discussed the problem of snakes. I happened to chat with a Malaysian friend about this the other day. He is now a Singaporean PR (permanent resident). When he was growing up in Pekan Nanas, he too used to help out in the rubber plantations. He told me he had to wake up at 3 in the morning and start work at 4 am. He said that snakes was not a big problem as long as you do not ‘disturb’ them, although he does recall seeing or peng’s. Do you know what snake is that? The biggest problem apparently was the mosquitoes which came in swarms. They had to cover themselves from head to toe leaving just a slit to see through. What a way to make a living!Younger readers may not know this. Not so long ago, rubber plantations were a common sight in Singapore. For example, if you were to check out this World War II topographical map which my friend Kenneth put up at Flickr.com, you will see many rubber plantations in the Thomson-Braddell area. (you have to zoom in). In fact, in my previous posts, I have mentioned seeing rubber factories in places like Lorong Chuan, Bukit Timah and Upper Thomson Road. So I believe there are actually living in our midst Singaporeans who once made a living from this humble profession. Do you know anyone like that?QuestionCan you name some places in Singapore where you can still find rubber trees? Of course I am not referring to the islands around Singapore. I am sure there are still lots of them on Pulau Tekong and Pulau Ubin. I can think of three such places.1) The forests of MacRitchie near the Venus Drive area.2) Chestnut Drive near the water pipes. I think I saw some the last time I went there for my brisk walking exercise (see photo below).3) Woodland Town Park East. Whilst researching the whereabouts of Marsiling Hill 180, I saw many rubber trees here. Related posts:1) Tribute to a humble profession2) Toys Were Us - Rubber seed pods Looking for people who lived around the Singapore River Area I received this request for assistance in my inbox. If you are able to help out please email me. Thanks.***********************************************Dear Mr Lam,I am Mr Seow Hwye Min from Select Books. I came across your blog and was wondering whether you would be willing to help us contact people who lived around the Singapore River area from before the war to the 1950s.Select Books is the publisher of the Hike It! series. This is a series of children's walking tour guide books. The series is supported under the National Heritage Board's Heritage Industry Incentive Programme. The first book in the series, Hike It! Bras Basah & Waterloo, was published in August 2009. We are now working on the second book, which will feature the Singapore River area.In the course of the research, we felt that it would be ideal to identify a few people who lived in that area, so as to weave their stories into the book.Thank you in advance.Yours sincerely,Mr Seow Hwye MinDirectorSelect BooksEmail: publishing@selectbooks.com.sg Trip to Yong Peng Pt 1 Recently I visited Yong Peng with my brother Chun Chew (Zen), my sister Pat and her husband KC, and her friend Hui Choo. It was a very short trip and we stayed only 1 night. You might think that Yong Peng is such a small town and thus there isn’t much to see. But Hui Choo is from Yong Peng and her brother and sister-in-law brought us to see some interesting things that you certainly would not be able to enjoy in Singapore; such as the traditional pasar malam, roadside chendol stalls and this durian farm. It belongs to Hui Choo's brother. It was a small plantation and they have only about twenty trees plus some mangosteen and dragon fruit trees.Unfortunately, our timing was not very good as the durians have not ripened yet. But our hosts invited to visit again when the time is ripe. Question? Why are there so many durians on the ground?Answer: Monkeys pluck them and chuck them on the ground. They would return in a few days when the durians start to rot and then eat the fruits. Of course the monkeys did not pile the durians into a neat pile like these. Our hosts did that.Another question. How can you tell if a durian was plucked by the monkeys or if it dropped off naturally. I did not observe until we talked about it later; and so I will leave it to Chun Chew to explain. To deter the monkeys, they strapped zinc sheets to the tree trunk, but apparently it wasn’t very effective.Quiz:Here’s a little quiz before I sign off. What is the lamp on my forehead for; and what is the object that I am holding in my hand used for? Hint: Our hosts used them for their work which starts at 4 am every morning. Some things never change (5) Last week I visited a small Malaysian town called Yong Peng with my brother Chun Chew (Zen), my sister Pat and her husband KC, and her friend Hui Chen. I will blog about some of the interesting things that we did and saw there later.We were in a cake shop when I spotted an interesting traditional snack that I have not seen since my kampong days. I don’t even remember its name. I think we called it Kok Kok Tong (candy) in Cantonese. Neither can I remember what it tasted like. I only can recall that the vendor came around on bicycle with a circular alluminium pan at the back just like in the photo below. I think this kok kok candy was white in colour or it was covered with a white powder. The vendor would use a sort of metallic cutter to slice the candy and he would announce his presence by clacking this cutter against the pan.Anyway, the printing on the box says Biskut Gula Tarik in Malay and Sparkling Candy in English. I hope readers can add more details of this delightful snack from our childhood days.Related post: Itinerant food vendors of yesteryears World War Two at Upper East Coast Road – Peter Chan It all started when I received some exciting bits of military intelligence reports about the role of the Americans in Singapore during WW2. All this time, I was under the impression that only the British fought for the liberation of Singapore from the Japanese. Between October 1944 and July 1945, American B29 bombers conducted intelligence and bombing sorties on selected targets in Singapore. The targets included POW Centers, oil storage installations, airfields, enemy bases and key installations.Photos 1a & 1b: American intelligence report (circa 1945). The handwritten ‘answers” illustrates my guesswork; a major part of the blame was because we dealt with the British Imperial metrics. Having to deal with “feet & yards” metrics in the age of S.I. was quite a challenge.From aerial intelligence reports, two items caught my attention. They were a “Tanah Merah Powder Magazine 1,100 yards WSW of Bedok Village” and an “unidentified installation 335 yards west of Bedok Village”. Since Char Lee (aka “Icemoon”) and Chin Siew Min had vested interest in this geographical part of Singapore, they pitched in time and resources to investigate further, without which this article would not have been possible.Photos 2a & 3b: View of photos from Parbury Avenue. TOP; 11 Kew Drive was the yellow dotted line box; a concrete bunker. 1 Kew Drive was the yellow bold line box, a heavy machine gun nest inside a pill-box. At the top of this photo is Bedok Corner (circa 1960). BOTTOM; Tanah Merah Powder Magazine (circa 1962). Tanah Merah Kechil the dirt track starts at the middle-bottom of this photo and would eventually connect with present-day Tanah Merah Kechil South.The Tanah Merah Powder Magazine operated as an ammunition depot and was first reported in General Gillman’s 1927 report on the defenses of Singapore. General Gillman (whose name was given to Gillman Barracks) drew up defense plans in view of the perceived Japanese threat. It was not just a normal British ammunition depot but a depot that was co-owned by one Tan Seng Poh (whose name gave rise to Seng Poh Road in the Tiong Bahru Estate area). Tan Seng Poh was an enterprising local Chinese merchant of considerable status and did business with the colonial government.Insofar as the “unidentified installation” is concern, there was no precedence because it was not built by the British. The local spy networks confirmed that it was built by the Japanese and manned by several infantry soldiers. Originally it was thought to be an Observation Post (OP) monitoring possible enemy naval movements off the east coast of Singapore but an air-recon on 12 July 1945 found it to be a wireless station. The Bedok W/T Station had 3 tall tubular masts set out in the form of a triangle of sides 235’ X 250’ X 130’ and the masts were built in the open space between two houses. It was managed by the Imperial Japanese Navy.Photos 3a & 3b: TOP: Bedok W/T Site lies abandon. The two houses are circled in yellow. Below is Upper East Coast Road with a car heading towards Bedok Corner (circa 1960). During the Indonesian Confrontation era of 1963 - 1966, the site was occupied by British anti-aircraft guns. BOTTOM: a jetty was built to unload ammunition for the Tanah Merah Powder Magazine (circa 1937).There were six feet deep trenches dug north of Upper East Coast Road. The beach was fortified with barbed-wire from Tanjung Rhu to Teluk Ayer Mata Ikan (3 meters in thickness, 50 - 150 meters from the shoreline) and only visible during low-tide. If the Japanese had not surrendered on 16 August 1945, could this part of Singapore be another “D-Day”, in similar fashion to the Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied France?During our pursuit of the subject, we discovered a more somber past. Many are familiar with the massacre sites at Siglap, Amber Road, Upper Changi Road and Changi Creek but Bedok Hill Massacre is seldom mentioned. Why is this so? Unlike the Sook Ching victims, Bedok Hill Massacre involved captured Malay and Chinese military personnel who stood in defense of Singapore. Just after 6.30pm on February 28, 1942, 100 captured men from 1st Bn. Malay Regiment, 4th Bn. Straits Settlement Volunteer Force from Malacca, and the Negeri Sembilan F.M.S. Volunteer Force were machine-gunned down and their bodies dumped into the trenches.Photos 4a & 4b: TOP: British mobile light anti-aircraft gun on top of a hill. A partial view of Upper East Coast Road bend can be seen to the left of the group of soldiers (circa 1941). The sea is on the left. BOTTOM: the sea is off Upper East Coast Road. In the distance are the hills of Pulau Karimun, Indonesia (circa 1941).Where was this Bedok Hill? From one survivor account: “We stopped on the seafront near Bedok close to a low hill. Here an anti-aircraft gun had been sited by the British. The whole detachment marched up a lane round the side of a low hill. A level patch on the hill slope was the site of the trenches. Dwellers in a nearby kampong still remember the stench of rotting corpses which hung over their houses when the wind blew in from the sea a week later”.From my personal recollections, I knew there was a British-built WW2 pill-box at Kew Drive. There were similar constructs along Bedok Road next to the Bedok Methodist Church, one on the grounds of Temasek Secondary School and the other at Bedok Corner facing Bedok Junction.So where was the location of the Bedok Hill Massacre site? What has become of Tanah Merah Powder Magazine and the Bedok W/T Station? Watch this space again!Related posts:1) Balek kampong to Bedok Corner 12) Balek kampong to Bedok Corner 2 The pastimes of the older generation and stereotyping kampong lads - Edward Williams What did the old folks in my neighbourhood (Sembawang Hills Estate, Phase 2) do to pass away their time while their children are at work? A group of them in the estate went for morning walks at Pierce Reservoir. One old man had a morning ritual in his front garden which I observed for many years before setting off to school. He stood near the fence, pressed one of his nostrils closed with his finger, and sneezed out hard, expelling mucus from the open nostril. Then he repeated the process with the other nostril. I assumed the mucus from both nostrils landed on or near the same spot. After this he cleared his throat by letting off a loud rolling sound and spat out some phlegm. I never knew if this landed on the same spot as the mucus. Once he was finished with this morning ritual, his wife would join him on a walk to Pierce Reservoir. On the way there they were joined by their friends, usually of the same dialect group. I noticed there were many Hainanese in this group.Of all the Chinese dialect groups, the Hainanese is the loudest. Their conversations seemed lively and often sounded like an argument. That’s just the way they talked. But the Hainanese is the closest knit group amongst the Chinese. They consider each other as brothers and sisters. If a Hainanese has a problem, all the other Hainanese in the neighbourhood helped out. For example, if someone passed away in a Hainanese household, all their own kind will be there helping with the funeral arrangements, cooking, serving the guests and washing up after. There is an unmistakably strong familial bond amongst the Hainanese who considers each other as “kar ki nun” (own people).In the afternoons some of the old folks played mah-jong. The games were played for money and I heard that you could lose up to $30 per day (or night) if you had a bad run. That was a lot of money in those days. Sometimes they played at night, even into the early hours of the morning. It was usually the women who played mah-jong. It was almost like a “Mothers’ Club”. My mother sometimes joined them, but only during the afternoon. Usually she played in her own mah-jong group.In the evening it was not uncommon to see a family enjoying a stroll around the estate in their pyjamas accompanied by their dog (no pyjama for this one). If the weather was warm, the men and boys donned pyjama trousers and a singlet.The old folks also enjoyed listening to Rediffusion, especially the storytelling programmes in Chinese dialects. A series (covering one complete story) could last several weeks. Households who could not afford a radio set in the old days subscribed to Rediffusion for only a few dollars each month.When television was introduced into Singapore in the early 60s not many families could afford one. By the late 60s almost every home had a television set. It was, of course, black and white television. Colour television was only introduced in 1974. Anyway, the ethnic Chinese programmes, such as the Wong Fei Hong movies (that Chun See mentioned in his article on open-air cinemas), were very popular with the entire family. Chinese comedians like Wong Sar and Yah Fong were the oldies’ favourites. Although the comedians spoke Hokkien, I noticed that every dialect group enjoyed their shows.The grandparents have an important role in looking after their grandchildren. For the little ones who stayed at home, Ah Kong and Ah Por would be their constant source of companion. Primary school children in their early years were often escorted to school by grandparents. This approach allowed the parents to be gainfully employed.One day an old man passed away in the next street. As is common with Chinese custom the coffin was brought home. The family had a temporary canvas shelter built at the side of the house (it was a corner house) and the coffin and an altar were placed at the front end. Anyone was welcome to come in and pay their respect to the deceased. This was done by lighting an incense and saying a prayer at the altar. After that they could sit on one of the many tables and food and drinks will be served. I cannot remember how many days the coffin was kept there but the “open house” funeral preparations went on throughout the night. One night a group of men from the kampong at the back of our estate came into this house, paid their respects and sat down on the table. When the host asked if they’d like some refreshments, they requested a set of mah-jong. She obliged and brought them the mah-jong set. They played mah-jong till quite late. She came to my home and spoke to my mother about the guys from the kampong, afraid that they were gangsters who could cause trouble. My mother then went to her house and saw the kampong lads who called out to her “Ah Sor” (“aunty” in Hokkien) as they knew her. My mother then reassured the lady that they were not trouble makers from the kampong, just young men enjoying a game of mah-jong. She was relieved to hear that. Of course, the night ended with no incident.The funeral incident illustrates a fairly common attitude of the estate residents towards the village lads. Village or kampong people were sometimes stereotyped as either gangsters or potential trouble makers, uncouth and prone to anti-social behaviour. Admittedly, many kampong men often punctuated their sentences with excessive expletives that sounded more threatening than is the actual case.I have made many trips to the kampong at the back of our estate for fishing trips (to Asia and Cathay fishing ponds, for example) and to buy groceries from the local shop. It was just behind Jalan Lanjut and Jalan Mengkudu, not far from Lorong Kinchir. My neighbours and I have fished in their muddy streams for cat fish and once a group of us joined some of the kampong boys to smoke out a bee hive on a tree. I have worked in a provision shop run by the villagers, ate communal lunch with them and got to know some of them quite well. Thankfully I never had any trouble with the village lads. The most terrifying experience I had was being nearly attacked by a flock of aggressive red nose geese (“hor ark”). The pigs usually ignored me, preferring to lie in their muddy haven while the chickens and ducks were too timid to be a threat. Stories of gangsters and secret societies in the villages have in part contributed to the negative stereotyping of villagers. The snobbishness of some of the estate residents was another contributing factor. How often have I heard derogatory references made to villagers (e.g. “sum par loh”), such attitudes born of deeply ingrained prejudices.Singaporeans are now better educated and have more comfortable lifestyles. I do not know if the society is more egalitarian or whether such prejudices still prevail given that the kampong environment is vanishing.Related posts:1) Days of black and white TV2) Rediffusion and Big Fool Lee 3) Chun Chew’s article about gangsters in his school days How the British withdrawal affected our family – Lam Chun Chew I was approached by historian, Dr Loh Kah Seng, through my brother Chun See, to recall our experience of how our family was affected by the British military withdrawal from Singapore. My father worked at the British Naval Base in Sembawang most of his working life. I would like to share with readers what I wrote to Dr Loh via email. But I am afraid you are going to be disappointed if you expect tales of severe hardship and struggles arising from this ‘tragic’ turn of events in our family’s history.A page from: SINGAPORE, An Illustrated History 1941-1984, Ministry of CultureThe irony was this. There were many retrenched base workers having a hard time, but not for my father - the opposite was true. All these years, right from prewar days to his 'golden handshake', he led a tough life - Japanese occupation, staying in a kampong, looking after a family of 7, while sustaining on a small income. This was especially so when two of my younger brothers were going to the university.But things changed after being retrenched. He received a decent five-figure retrenchment cash benefit which included salaries accrued during the war years. The timing was perfect with all his children coming out to work, the family was in fact very much better off after his retrenchment (or retirement).During those hardship years (before his retirement) in the sixties, I worked in the PSA as an operations staff and my sister was a primary school teacher. In short, we helped to supplement my father’s meagre salary during the lean years. To be fair to my father, I was not good in my studies like my younger brothers, hence had to start working after my 'O' level and this was a natural course of action taken by me (and many of my contemporaries in those days).As for my father’s reaction to the ‘bad news’, he did worry a bit for Singapore when the British decided to leave Singapore, but had a great confidence in the Mr Lee Kuan Yew government to solve Singapore problems. However, he did criticize the government for acting tough to the British at first, and later on pleading with them to delay leaving Singapore.The retrenchment benefits were given quite fast to him - a matter of months. He was not asked for retraining to other jobs. Upon retirement (or after being retrenched), he worked a year or two in his friend’s accounting firm and later on left to work in a timber firm for a couple of years and fully retired at the age of 60. Since he worked in private companies he was unaware of matters pertaining to other retrenchment workers.As far as I know, he was not offered to migrate to UK. Anyway he was deeply rooted to Singapore. Travel to Kuala Lumpur (KL) – Peter Chan My impressions of KL landmarks were developed over a period of time and came about as a result of a) Planned holidays, b) University of Singapore versus University of Malaya at sports, and c) Business. When I became knowledgeable about KL, I found many “Lampor Yan” can be from different dialectical groups but the preference is to communicate in Cantonese.For me there were two memorable events that came as a result of a planned holiday; one took place in the mid-60s and the other in the early 70s. I start off with the early 70s event.Just before my NS enlistment, my best friend “Fei Lo” Weng (buddies since Secondary Two) had to go to sea. Fei Lo completed his radio marine diploma course at the Singapore Polytechnic and like many others who took up flying or went sailing it was one way to financially support a family whilst conveniently to avoid NS. You see after Secondary Four, those who joined Singapore Airlines (SIA) – as commercial pilots and flight engineers, and Neptune Orient Line (NOL) – as marine officers – need not serve NS. This was highly unusual as most of us think of NS deferment for tertiary studies or part-time NS - in the Vigilante Corp or Special Constabulary.Fei Lo knew that by working for NOL he was going to be away from home for 6 months to a year; in fact on the very first trip he went away for almost 5 years until we met again when I was in the university. During this period we kept in touch through snail-mail. Often when he returned to Singapore, he was on “stand-by”; ready to board another vessel in Singapore waters or fly to Nigeria to board a new vessel. He finally called it “quits” when he turned 33. Thus this trip to KL together was one way to spend our remaining days together.Photo 1: Fei Lo, Aunty Ingrid and I in the Lake Garden (circa 1972). I took this hair-cut hoping that I could clear through NS Enlistment day but unfortunately failed to pass the actual test and ended up “4 X 2”. We took more photos at the National War Monument and an oval-shaped building in the Lake Garden.We arrived in KL by train and our accommodation was at his maternal grandmother’s house in Salak South Gardens, a fairly new residential estate in the early 1970s. Nearby was the Salak South railway bridge. Salak South Garden had rows of terraced houses on a hill-slope.I tasted the best sui kow and char siew fan from a kopitiam in that estate; “Lampor Yan” friends tell me it’s still the best in the KL area even now. Sui kow was for breakfast, the other being yow chay kwai with “Pai Kuak Tong”. I was very impressed with the size of the sui kow because in Singapore I could only find small wantons. Malaysian kopitiams were unusual from those in Singapore; the suburban kopitiams had at the most two stalls and a drinks operator. Most times one stall stayed open. I learnt something about Malaysian morning breakfast habits; Nasi Champur for Malays, Roti Prata for Indians and noodles for Chinese. Singaporeans will definitely have a hard time adjusting to Malaysian breakfast habits because bread is not often served at kopitiams.Aunty Ingrid and her boyfriend drove us to many places, Port Dickson (nearest place to swim in the sea), Port Swettenham, Lake Gardens, Kajang (for satay) and Genting Highlands. That was the first time we stepped into a casino but it really was not a pleasant sight. I saw squatting women in tears, women who went to this little small window to pawn their jewellery for cash, and men who aimlessly paced up and down the corridor outside the casino.Fei Lo and I went out on our own on some days. We visited the Merdeka Stadium and Fitzpatrick Supermarket at Weld Road. We even had time to pop into Bukit Nanas Convent to see my friend. Little did we know that among my friend’s friends, one pretty Malay student was later destined to be an UMNO politician/Minister. On one visit to Petaling Street, Chinatown we shopped for “Kat Chye”. Photo 2: Left; Father’s letter to us (circa 1964). Right; PAP election headquarters at Batu Road. Batu Road reminded me so much of South Bridge Road in Singapore with all the typical advertising signboards and Chinese inscriptions on pillars (circa 1964). By September 1965, when the party was de-registered, there were 1,700 party cadres in Malaysia.In 1964, I received my father’s telephone call from KL. As the trunk telephone link between KL and Singapore suffered “noise disturbance”, I heard him telling me he welcomed me to join him for a short holiday. My father was in KL because the PAP contested the Malaysian General Elections. So my mother sent me off at the Tanjung Pagar Railway Station for the train ride into KL and I had with me Malayan Dollar $20. It was a very enjoyable trip for this little young boy because his primary school textbook, “Malayan Geography Series” came “alive” about rubber trees, people at work, and valleys and hills. Interestingly I found many train employees were Indians and Sikhs, holding positions like train drivers, ticket inspectors and maintenance crew. Photo 3: Left; Royal Selangor Club on the left of the Padang which in turn faced the Sultan Abdul Samad buildings (circa 1970), Right; The former Odeon Cinema@ Batu Road was also known as Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman in the mid-60s (circa 2007)I arrived at the KL Railway Station and walked along a road leading to the Padang and the Royal Selangor Club. After taking road directions from some adults, I came to a mosque at the confluence of two rivers; Sungei Gombak and Sungei Klang. This part of town was highly unusual; many buildings look like they came out of the story book, “Aladdin and His Magic Lamp”. I never had seen so many buildings with Middle East architecture. Even in Singapore the slight exception was “The Arcade” in Collyer Quay. Photo 4: Left; Klang River and Gombak River meet here and history tells us that this was the original spot where Kapitan China Yap Ah Loy founded KL (circa 1974). Right; Mountbatten Road (circa 1970). Some KL street names could also be found in Singapore such as High Street, Cecil Street and Cross Street.When I met up with my father at Batu Road, I was not sure how to judge his facial expressions. I learnt a few things about politics; the bull symbol was for the Socialist Front, the boat stood for the Alliance Party, and “Sip Sip Ling” was PAP. As everybody was busy with the elections, there was a “Lee Suk Suk” who took care of me for the rest of my stay including making sure I boarded the Malayan Airways flight from the old KL Airport in Sungei Besi to Singapore. We went to see a Malay “silat” movie at the Odeon Cinema. Then off to Bukit Bintang for street-makan and playing the swings, merry-go-round and slides in BB Park (now Sungei Wang Plaza). Many years later I realised “Lee Suk Suk” was the DAP MP for Bukit Bintang. No wonder he knew Bukit Bintang so well at his finger-tip. Maybe “Lee Suk Suk” knew besides baby kissing, there was also baby-sitting.Photo 5: Left; View of KL from Menara KL. Right; Tengku Abdul Rahman rode on this convertible on his way to the Merdeka Stadium to proclaim Malaya’s independence in 1957.KL has changed so much that I can hardly “connect” with her. It’s too urban. Even up on Menara KL, I cannot make out the landmarks because the “old” is gone. However I did have a bit of luck. I spotted the first Malayan Prime Minister’s car which was used during the 1957 Independence Day ceremony. Phone cards Like the humble coin phone, phone cards are fast becoming extinct in Singapore.I think the first time I used a phone card was in 1985 when I was in Japan. Along with a group of colleagues from the National Productivity Board, I had been sent to Japan for three-and-a-half months of training. It was called the PDP (Productivity Development Project) Fellowship Programme and we were housed at the newly completed Tokyo International Centre.We bought phone cards with which to call home. I remember the difficult time we had using the two public phones in the centre. To save on the cost of our trunk calls, we used to make our calls after 11 pm at night which would be midnight Singapore time. And there would usually be a long queue of other residents who wanted to use the public phones. Sometimes I just gave up and paid the extra cost of calling from my room. Most times I just write. No emails or Skype in those days. It was an interesting stay in Japan, but I think I shall blog about it to another time.This is a photo my room at the Tokyo International Centre in Nishihara. Notice the phone on my table? I wonder if my ever sharp-eyed friend Victor noticed something else interesting thing in this photo?My …. how much the world has changed since then. Earlier this year my daughter was in Sweden for 6 months on an exchange programme. Most nights we would chat online for free. One Sunday night, we even had family worship ‘together’; singing hymns and taking turns to read verses from the bible. She even created a blog to share her stories and photos.The other times when I used the phone card a lot was when I was traveling in Malaysia. In the early 90’s, I used to travel to Kuching and Bintulu quite frequently for my training and consultancy assignments. I also had clients in Peninsula Malaysia and that brought me to various towns like Malacca, Kirteh, Kuantan, Port Dickson and even Ipoh. But the one I hated most was Kuala Lumpur because of their notorious traffic.Using the public phones in Malaysia was quite a hassle because they had two telephone companies - Uniphone and Telekom Malaysia. Uniphone was popular in Sarawak and you can recognize them by the yellow colour booths. However, over in Peninsula, it was very difficult to find these yellow booths. Instead, you see the blue colour Telekom Malaysia booths everywhere.Hence I had to keep two different phone cards. And I still have one of them with me today. The humble coin phone The other day, I was at a mamak shop located at the void deck of an HDB flat in Toa Payoh when I caught sight of this pathetic looking coin phone. It was dirty and looked like it had not been used for ages.I took the opportunity to try out my new Sony-Ericcson Cybershot C903. By the way, would believe I paid only $1 for this 5 mega-pixel beauty? Of course I had to renew my mobile plan with Starhub for another two years, but then my plan was the cheapest they had, costing only $20 per month. Although it may not be as ‘cool’ as some of the latest touch-screen models or the famous iPhone (I just cannot understand why anyone would queue overnight just to be the first in Singapore to own one), it has everything I need; namely a decent camera that I can used to take pictures of Singapore’s fast-vanishing landscapes for my blog.I cannot recall the last time I used a coin phone; but I can remember when I first used one. It was the first (and only) public phone that was installed in our kampong just across the road from our house. Like the one in this photo below (picture from the collection of the National Archives), it was housed in a wooden cabinet which had two doors which opened outwards. The cabinet rested on a single concrete stump and base. Chained to the cabinet was a phone book.The year must have been around 1961. This public telephone was just in front of our neighbour, Chiew Soh’s house. Hence their family became the village telephone operators. I remember one time when we received a call from my dad. Both my younger brother James and I wanted to speak into the phone and were fighting over the receiver when suddenly we heard a stern voice from behind us. It was the technician from the telephone company. He thought we were playing the fool with it, and snatched the receiver from us and hung it back on the hook.Can you remember how much it cost in those days to make a call? I think it was 10 cents for three minutes. Anyway, we had a cousin from Johor Bahru who knew of an ingenious way to avoid putting money into the phone. Instead of dialing the number on the circular dial, you tap the phone’s receiver hook a certain number of times in quick succession. For example if the number was 4, you did that 4 times, pause briefly and then repeat the process for the next number. I remember he demonstrated that to us when we were in JB one time. I wonder if any engineers out there can confirm if this was possible.Over the years the public phone has evolved considerably. Below are some photos that I have taken recently, including one from Malaysia.This one is from my friend Peh’s house. Although it looked pretty cute, he hated it because it was so troublesome to dial the numbers.Next time, I will blog about my experience with phone cards. Seeking stories of the British bases and military withdrawal Yesterday I received an email from a historian, Dr Loh Kah Seng who is looking for participants for his book project on the British bases and military withdrawal from Singapore. Below is his open letter published at his blog. If you would like to offer your assistance in this worthwhile project, please visit his blog. Thank you.Dear fellow Singaporeans,I am a Singaporean historian looking to speak to people who remember the British bases and their withdrawal in the early 1970s. The withdrawal was the first major crisis independent Singapore faced. The 56 bases, contributing a fifth of the country’s GDP, were its largest industry, and the pullout threatened the livelihood of one-sixth of the labour force, including an estimated 8,000 amahs.The pullout also transformed the economy, society and landscape of Singapore in the 1970s. Most of the bases were converted to commercial use, while many base workers underwent a 3-month retraining crash course. Technical and vocational education also expanded, as new laws sought to increase labour productivity and attract foreign capital investment.These developments resonate with us today: the retraining programmes, the mobilisation of the young, the philosophy that ‘no one owes Singapore a living’. There is also a forgotten social history to unearth: how retrenched base employees coped with the crisis and how workers adjusted to new work routines.If you remember the British bases and rundown, or have a family member, relative or friend who does, kindly contact me to lend your voice to an important episode of our national story.Please pass this message along to those who might be interested.Thank you.Loh Kah Seng (Dr)Visiting Research FellowInstitute of Southeast Asian Studies, SingaporeEmail: LKSHIS@GMAIL.COMMobile: +65 81981172 Old Beauties Quiz (7) Can you identify the old beauty in this photo? Eh …… I am not referring to the two-legged one, though I must say that my old friend Peh Seng Ket looked rather dashing.I am also very curious about this place. It looks terribly familiar but unfortunately my friend Peh cannot remember where this photo was taken. Travel To Johore Bahru (JB) – Peter Chan My very first trip outside Singapore was to JB to watch a Mandarin movie, “Sun, Moon & Star”. That was in 1961. “Sun, Moon & Star” as far as I know was never screen in Singapore and we had to drive to the Cathay-JB Cinema. There was a very prominent Cathay logo neon signboard on top of the building visible from Woodlands in Singapore.Photo 1: “Sun, Moon & Star” (part 2). Who is the one with the crutch?My parents must have been very loyal fans of Grace Chang; like many others who knew her from the days of the “Mambo Girl”. Apart from the inconvenience of crossing over the causeway and the stringent official custom checks, there was no need for international passports. You produced your Singapore ID to the Malayan immigration officials. For me, I didn’t even need to produce my birth certificate.I was never a fan of Chinese black & white movies unless they were Cantonese action movies like “Wong Fei Hung” or slapstick comedies starring “Nga Chat Soh”. To give you an idea on the length of “Sun, Moon & Star”, it was screened over two sessions; Part 1 this week and Part 2 two weeks later. Cinema-goers had to retain one portion of the ticket as proof for viewing the other part. Within each part, there was even an intermission. I remembered Part 1 was all about “a boy falling in love with girl(s)” but it had too much dialogue. Poor me I was looking for the English subtitles at the bottom of the screen but they were colored yellow and being seated somewhere at the Back Stall, this was a real eye strain. I was very restless throughout the movie and my father had to raise his voice to shut me up. Finally he asked me to wait outside the cinema. This was a great opportunity for me to explore the streets outside Cathay-JB. I think there was a Hotel Malaya at one end of the street and itinerant pushcart hawkers selling drinks, kachang-puteh and kueh-kueh outside the cinema.Part 2 was action drama because it showed the fighting between Chinese and Japanese soldiers but the war drama was hardly the sort I was looking forward to like in “The Guns of Navarone”. The action began with the blowing of the bugle, the waving of flags (sounds Communist alright), artillery shells flying and the charge of the human wave towards the enemy position. For some strange reasons, the camera never focused on the Japanese soldiers but most of the time on the beautiful Grace Chang and Julie Yeh. After many decades, the only question I would have loved to ask; who was the person walking with a crutch in that movie?For many people, JB might be a quiet place. Not for me.Photo 2: Left; On the causeway and in the distance is Lumba Kuda flats in JB with its prominent water-tank on the roof top (circa 1967). Right; Cathay-JB Cinema next to the Lumba Kuda flats (circa 1964).For example after that Mandarin movie, my family headed to the second-best place for satay; after the Beach Road Satay Club in Singapore. The satay stalls were located next to a public toilet facing the JB bus terminus for Green Bus, Alec Bus Company and South Johore Bus. Sampling JB satay and mee rebus was a common occurrence for me because my father loved country-side driving and sometimes drove to view the newly-built residential estates, one of which was Marine Vista in the Jalan Straits View vicinity.The old customs house just after the Malaysian immigration checkpoint was a prominent landmark for me. It was here we thumb-up for free lorry rides to Kuala Lumpur and Penang after we completed our Secondary 4 exams. We knew that the Malaysian-registered lorries had to clear the Johore customs after their delivery trips to Singapore. Getting that ride was never easy and on most occasions we had to wait for hours. It was not because the drivers turned us down. Rather we had to check with each lorry driver on his ultimate destination. We were not looking for lorries stopping at Yong Peng or Segamat; we were on the look-out for lorries going to towns nearer to Kuala Lumpur such as Seremban or Cameron Highlands. Coming back to Singapore from up-country, we hitch hiked the Straits Times early morning delivery truck from Jalan Tiong, Kuala Lumpur to JB. Even up to the late 1980s, I found that the New Straits Times daily newspaper was only printed in Kuala Lumpur and distributed to the other Malaysian towns. Thus, a JB New Straits Times reader could only get his newsstand copy by mid-day.Photo 3: Left; JB Bus Terminus (now City Square). In the background is Jalan Wong Ah Fook. The row of two-storey buildings still stand – it’s called Central Building. (Photo courtesy of Fred York. circa 1956) Right; The old customs house on Persiaran Tun Sri Lanang. This part has been cleared to make way for the second Malaysian Immigration and Customs building. Bukit Chagar CIQ is the third development. You can see Woodlands in the background.Before Taman Sentosa became popular with Singaporeans, we patronized the cinemas such as REX along Jalan Wong Ah Fook and the Capitol Cinema at Jalan Stesen. The JB cinemas screened X-rated movies like the “Carry On” Series which were terribly censored in Singapore. You could never understand the story how come an about-to-be naked woman screamed one moment and then a smiling Sidney James chuckled. At other times when we saved enough pocket-money, we went to the Seaview Hotel to watch those forbidden floor shows. No they didn’t have those wrestling with python shows. It was more like “Bend it like Beckham”.From a bus-stop on Jalan Wong Ah Fook opposite the JB Bus Terminus, we took the local Alec Bus Company to far-away places like Jason Bay and the Kota Tinggi Waterfalls. No part of Johore was too far for us. Each time we came up to JB, we learnt more of the street names and the buildings. We didn’t come up for window-shopping. Very soon S$1 no longer had the same value or interchangeably as M$1; perhaps telling us that we were no longer school-boys.Photo 4: Approximate location of the old Cathay-JB Cinema on Bukit Chagar. Jalan Lumba Kuda was the road in front of the cinema but it is now outside the CIQ security fence.Photo 5: Broadway CinemaToday JB is no longer a sleepy town but like Singapore; many of the historical landmarks have made way for economic development. So it has become a bit of challenge for me now to try to find the former Cathay-JB Cinema, REX Cinema, the old customs house, Chung Kiaw Bank building, Seaview Hotel, the unique-looking star-fish flats next to Cathay-JB and even the former JB Bus Terminus.I found that Cathay-JB is now a part of the Buki Chagar CIQ facility. To find its exact location look out for the three blocks of flats in Photo 2. The buildings are still standing. Rex Cinema is a private carpark opposite KOMTAR. Chung Kiaw Bank building is now UOB building, next to the first flyover after your cross the causeway in the direction of Buki Chagar CIQ. Flying from Singapore to the UK – in three days! (Brian Mitchell) Good Morning Yesterday has brought together people across great distances and also across many years. Some time ago GMY published my blog about plane spotting in the 1960s and recently an old friend from 47 years ago, David Taylor, saw himself in one of the blog photos and added a comment. David (who I misnamed Malcolm on the blog) and I have not been in touch for nearly five decades but I am now looking forward to chatting to him and perhaps meeting sometime soon.David immediately sent me a rather poignant photograph which I had no idea existed and which my brother, sister and I are absolutely delighted to see. It is from August 1962 and shows the Mitchell family, my younger brother Ian, my father John, myself, my mother Emily and my sister Carol. We are boarding a Comet 2 at RAF Changi to return to the UK – this is our final moment in Singapore after living there for two and a half years.David, who lived nearby in what is now the Changi West SAF airbase, was on hand to record the moment, he emailed me; “I recall that not many families were flown by Transport Command. Most of us came and went by BUA Britannias from Paya Lebar...I was very envious that you flew in a Comet!”So GMY has enabled my family to see this photograph and I have the opportunity to renew a friendship from long ago. David has other photographs and I may be able to share some of these with you in the future. Perhaps David can be persuaded to blog as well?But I want to tell you about that flight home from Singapore because it was rather extraordinary – the Comet flew only by day and it took us three days to reach the UK. This was also the last passenger flight on this route by a Comet 2 – we were told that as we boarded that ramp our footsteps were being recorded for a film record of the flight (which I have never seen).We left Changi in the afternoon, flew over Sumatra and as evening fell reached a tiny atoll called Gan in the middle of the Indian Ocean. I can still see the intense blue green sea and white beaches of Gan and my brother remembers walking on the beach with my father. I recall very little of Gan except that we spent the night in wooden huts and that there was raucous singing and shouting outside the women’s accommodation by airmen as a very attractive young lady was on board our flight!The next morning we set off across the Indian Ocean and reached Aden in the Middle East for a refuelling stop. There was civil unrest in Aden and (perhaps I am imagining this) but I recall hearing gunfire as we left the plane. In the afternoon we set off across the African continent. This was a journey I saw little of – for some reason there was a shortage of seats and I was volunteered to travel this leg with the baggage! No - not in the hold underneath the passenger compartment – most of the baggage in the Comet was held in rope cages immediately behind the flight deck. I made myself as comfortable as I could on the bags just behind the navigator’s seat! For a while it was interesting to watch the flight crew but I eventually settled down with my book – a bank heist thriller called ‘The League of Gentlemen’. I recall leaving the baggage area just once – to look down from a cabin window as we crossed the River Nile.By late afternoon we reached Libya, this was in the pre Gaddafi days and the RAF had an airbase in the desert about 20 miles south of Tripoli. It was a desolate spot. Both my brother and I recall swimming in a pool, surrounded by a high wall to stop it filling with sand. I also walked to the main entrance looking down an endless straight road leading eventually to the sea and at the enormous dunes piled up around the base. So a second nights rest on our journey from Singapore – this time in the North African desert.On the third day we flew north across Europe, as we did so we lost the sunshine we had become so used to as a thick bank of cloud covered Northern France and England. We landed at RAF Lyneham in south west England on a damp, dull and cold day – it was the English summer! None of our family had any warm clothing and I remember that we gathered in the only warm place we could find, a clothes drying area with hot water pipes! So we were finally home after our three day journey – was I glad? Not at all, I wanted only to return immediately to Singapore! Elephants @ Seraya Crescent Yesterday, I received a pleasant surprise in my email. Mr Robin Brewster sent me some 1965/66 photos of Singapore. Among them were two that my guest bloggers Freddy Neo and Edward Williams, and other old timers familiar with Sembawang Hills Estate would love – photos of an elephant strolling along Seraya Crescent. According to Robin, the animals (yes, more than one) were being exercised, and it was a fairly regular affair. Unfortunately I don’t have any other details to share. Hopefully Edward and Freddy can shed more light on this interesting sight that we are unlikely to ever witness again in 21st century Singapore. Hehee ….. maybe that bare-chested kid in the photos is our friend Freddy? Naa …. in 1966 he would be around 14 already.PS - If you do not know where is Seraya Crescent, please refer to our previous post. Edward Williams remembers Sembawang Hills Estate - The churches and shops in Phase 1 Phase 1 of Sembawang Hills Estate is the area bounded by Casuarina Road, Seraya Crescent and Old Upper Thomson Road. I assumed that this sector was built first before the homes across Thomson Road, which stood on a hill. The latter part of Sembawang Hills Estate where Freddy and I lived is generally known as Phase 2.1963 Map of Sembawang Hills Estate (Phase 1)The Sembawang Baptist Church was situated on the end of Casuarina Road where it met Old Upper Thomson Road. In this two-storey building sermons and hymns were conducted in Mandarin. The cobbler of Jalan Leban was one of the regulars here. I suspected that he only attended the night services, due to his work commitments. Large pieces of white paper hung on a simple wooden stand where the words of hymns were written. The lay preacher used a long stick to guide the congregation along the sheet, as they sung. I cannot remember if musical instruments accompanied the hymns being sung. I have a vague recollection of an organ being played. Lay preachers taught Sunday school in two rooms upstairs. During Christmas Eve, parishioners go carolling in a lorry, visiting many homes in nearby villages and the estate till the early hours of the morning. They returned to the church at about 5 am, were fed a simple hot meal and slept on the floor of the rooms upstairs and on the hall downstairs. It was a lot of fun for the young ones especially, spending the night away from home.The terrace house at the corner of Nemesu Avenue and Old Upper Thomson Road was used as a Presbyterian Church. Sermons and hymns were conducted in English in this church, led by Pastor Heng who sung with a soprano voice. The church had a small organ and I believe a guitar was occasionally used to accompany the hymns being sung. Many of the estate locals attended this church. Services were often conducted at the front of the house, under an extension. The parishioners here were generally younger than those at the Sembawang Baptist Church. Because it wasn’t a “standard” church building, the informal atmosphere in this terrace house was more like a Sunday school which suited the younger crowd here.A row of shop houses were congregated in a strip besides the Sembawang Baptist Church. I can only remember 2 of the shops here – a coffee shop (kopi tiam) and a provision shop. At the back of this row of shops, facing Thomson Road stood a number of hawker stalls. Two of the stalls were operated by the son and daughter of the cobbler of Jalan Leban. Their stalls sold ice ball, ice kachang and tahu goreng.In the Chinese provision shop the usual household goods were retailed but I remember it for another reason. At the back of this shop was a slot machine which my friends and I had many attempts at trying to beat the odds. If you enter by the rear of the shop and asked for the machine the owner would remove the gunny sack which covered it. The back of the shop was the storage area for sacks of dry goods like rice, flour and sugar. It was dimly lit and had a distinct musty smell. The slot machine was, of course, illegal in those days. It cost 10 cents for each pull of the lever. Three reels would be spun and if the pictures were all the same when the reels stopped, then you won. You could win from 30 cents up to 70 cents if you hit the jackpot. It was a great thrill to hear the coins hitting the tray for every win. The 70 cent payoff was rare; most times you won 30 cents and occasionally 50 cents. It took only several minutes before we lost all our money to the machine. The next weekend we’d be back again for another go. We were convinced that there was a way to pull the lever which would deliver the jackpot. We tried everything possible – from slow motion pulling to a fast quick jerk of the handle. Nothing seemed to work. After several weeks we decided that it was a scam!The coffee shop was a typical Chinese kopi tiam of the 50s and 60s with ceiling fans and spittoons under the tables. There was an Indian stall inside which sold curry, rice, roti prata, chapatti and murtabak . The most unforgettable thing about this kopi tiam was its toilet. Only once did I attempt to use it but when I pushed the door opened, what I saw was simply too revolting to describe. So I‘ll spare you the details. There was no lighting and the stench was so overpowering. This toilet was the worst I’ve ever seen; one quick glance was enough to eliminate any pressing reason for you to be there.I took this photo of an old coffee shop in Kelapa Sawit, Kulai, recently. The ceiling and ceiling fan that Edward mentioned above must have looked like this – Chun See.The owner of the coffee shop was a Chinese man who wore a singlet, pyjama shorts and slippers. He had huge lumps on his shoulders and back which looked like benign tumours. He was obviously not concerned about the effect of its appearance on his customers. One day my friend and I dropped into this kopi tiam for a cold drink after a jog along Old Upper Thomson Road. The kopi tiam owner chipped a block of ice on a container with an ice pick and then plunged his bare hands into the container, scooped up some ice and filled two glasses with it. Soft drinks were poured into each glass. The cooled drinks tasted most refreshing, and we silently hoped that his hands were clean. As we were enjoying our drinks and conversation, he stood in front of us, 2 tables away, leaning against the counter and … to our horror he slipped his hand under his pyjama shorts, and casually scratched his scrotum, seemingly oblivious to those around him. My friend and I looked at each other and a thousand thoughts must’ve flashed across our minds. Thoughts like “will we survive this episode?”, “what deadly diseases will we be afflicted with in the next 24 hours?” etc. This old chap obviously wasn’t concerned about personal grooming or habits, or its impact on his customers. Of course what he did was socially unacceptable because it was done in public, rather than in the privacy of one’s home. We made a note that in future we would order our drinks without ice or glass. Just drink it straight from the bottle with a straw.Clearly the standards of hygiene at this coffee shop were appalling. The revolting toilet was used by the coffee shop staff as well as the Indians who operated the curry corner. This scenario was quite typical of the 50s and 60s – unclean toilets (an understatement) coupled with unhygienic practices (personal habits and food handling). Many hawkers were just as guilty, especially where the washing of their dishes and cutleries were concerned. A basin of water could sometimes be used for a long time, until the colour of the water turned greyish with remnants of food floating about. This usually occurred when the hawker does not have easy access to clean water. Of course the advent of the food centre brought about vast improvements in food hygiene.Food handling practices improved from the late 60s on, mainly in response to the government’s initiatives. Today all food handlers have legislative obligations to fulfil, such as typhoid inoculation, chest X-ray and a basic food hygiene course which includes personal hygiene and grooming, cleaning and sanitation. This is a giant leap forward, and no longer should we fear the ghastly toilets or being served by staff with poor personal habits.