Chronicles of Old Singapore

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Quek Siow Kai felt he had hit a technician’s glass ceiling by the mid-1980s; to break it, he obtained an engineering degree from the University of Alabama at Huntsville – an eye-opening experience. He talks about the cyclical nature of the semiconductor industry, where one could be fired overnight in a downturn, and what he learned from his time with the US...

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Quek Siow Kai joined Gul Engineering and Singapore’s growing marine industry. He learned a lot there, but decided to leave for his own safety. Largely because management wanted to build and repair ships quickly, subcontractors and workers were often not aware of the dangers in a shipyard. This culminated in the 1978 Spyros explosion and fire – Singapore’s wo...

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Professor Bernard T.G. Tan recounts how the National Computer Board, est. in 1981, encouraged computerisation in the civil service and local businesses. Being able to build the computer yourself, he says, is important because it fosters creativity and entrepreneurship. Bernard also talks about his research into the history of Rollei. He believes that Rollei...

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Jeffrey Eng is the 3rd generation owner of Eng Tiang Huat, a shop selling traditional Chinese cultural goods such as embroidery and musical instruments. He recalls the Teochew community along Merchant Road in the 1960s where the shop was originally located, and how his father did business with suppliers in China, when the business was still good. 00:00 Intro...

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Quek Siow Kai relates his story as one of Singapore’s Technical Generation in the 1970s. He struggled in the Singapore Polytechnic as a Chinese-medium student, before graduating into the recession caused by the 1973-74 global oil crisis. He found a job in a textiles factory, managing an entire shift. The night shift was noisy and exhausting, and he had to we...

欢迎来到旧新加坡记事录。郭绍愷讲述了新加坡工艺学院中文协会关闭的原因以及 在1999 年协会如何举行第一次大型校友聚会，其中包括来自不同年代的会员。他谈到了协会出版的刊物及与当年新加坡其他大专学生团体的交流。如今，协会为贫困学生提供助学金，体现了其长期以来关心与回馈社会的宗旨。 Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Quek Siow Kai recounts why the Singapore Polytechnic Chinese Language Society closed do...

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Professor Bernard T.G. Tan shares his love of electronics and computers as a kid and how when he saw the sleek Apple II, he knew he had to have it. He talks about spending too much time browsing computer magazines and the early computer shops, including Lee Miles’ Computer Centre at Golden Mile Complex. 00:00 Introduction 04:29 A Brief History of Computing 0...

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Dr Edmund Monteiro relates dealing with two major infectious diseases at Middleton Hospital/CDC: cholera and HIV-AIDS. He reflects on social stigma, his colleagues and patients, the need to be ever-vigilant against infectious diseases, and what to do with the grounds of the hospital. 00:00 Cholera Outbreaks 08:52 Previous Medical Superintendents 13:36 HIV-AI...

欢迎来到旧新加坡记事录。郭绍愷讲述了过去大专学府华校生的一个普遍问题：英文基础薄弱。这就是为什么新加坡工艺学院中文协会在1962年成立的宗旨之一，协助华校生融入新的学习环境并帮助克服课业上的难题。他在1972年加入该协会，参与戏剧组的活动、也参加协会主办的假日营及对外文娱演出。会员对当时的社会问题也给予关注。 Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Quek Siow Kai relates a common problem of Chinese-stream...

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Maria Yap was in the education service from 1973 to 2023. She recalls her early struggles as a beginning teacher and how she learned to manage students. She gives her views on the streaming policy and teaching students from the Normal stream, whom she found to be very intelligent. 00:00 Introduction 01:54 Joined Teaching in 1973 08:18 I Loved to Learn 17:33...

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Dr Edmund Monteiro was the Medical Director of Middleton Hospital & CDC from 1980 to 1993. He remembers the first time he stepped into the hospital with his family during the Japanese Occupation. An Indian boy his age welcomed him at the gate and asked him, is the water here safe to drink, and can you swim? 00:00 Introduction 02:53 Earliest Memory of Middlet...

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Maria Yap remembers unforgettable places in Old Changi Village like the cinema, the beach, the creek, and the sea. The village diminished when the British forces left and her family moved to Chai Chee Estate. But Maria and her husband still visit Changi Village today for its unique charm. Memories of Changi Village: https://www.facebook.com/groups/3588603309...

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Maria Yap recalls her tough but memorable childhood growing up in Old Changi Village before the British vacated RAF Changi. Her father was a cobbler in the village and her mother a washerwoman in the airbase. Memories of Changi Village: https://www.facebook.com/groups/358860330966889 00:00 Introduction 02:40 Moving to Changi Village 08:32 Father’s Shoe Shop...

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Brian Richmond takes us back to the ways football was played, strategised and refereed in the past. He tells us his best game and what an honour it was to captain the Singapore team. He pays tribute to the greatest team in Singapore football and considers the Lion City’s football heritage. 00:00 Tactics & Formations in the Early Days 04:15 Strict Referee...

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Yeo Hong Eng remembers illegal wine distilling and secret societies in Kampong Chai Chee, as well as how the villagers tried to maximise their compensation when they were resettled in the 1970s. His sisters worked in the Rollei factory at the new Chai Chee Estate, and he became an avid collector of Rollei cameras. 00:00 Moonshining in Kampong Chai Chee 06:42...

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Brian Richmond, the beloved voice of Singapore football, talks about a lesser known side of his romance with the sport – his early playing days from the 1950s to 1971. He represented the Singapore/Malaysian youth teams before being promoted to the Singapore national team. He recalls some great players and coaches he met in his playing days and afterwards. 00...

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. American geographer Jack Humphrey looks at his old photographs of Kampong Potong Pasir and recalls its houses, residents and flora. We talk about the resettlement of the kampong in the early 1980s and the politics that happened during that time. 00:00 Potong Pasir’s Houses 10:39 Malay Fishermen 16:05 Resettlement 20:07 Politics & Chiam See Tong 27:19 Ing...

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Yeo Hong Eng, a retired teacher, wrote two books on the places of his childhood – Tanah Merah Kechil, which was part of Bedok Village, and Kampong Chai Chee. He talks about both kampongs and working on his family’s farm in Chai Chee. 00:00 Introduction 07:11 Tanah Merah Kechil & Bedok Village 13:28 Moving to 262-B Peng Ghee Road 19:56 The Family House 30...

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Jack Humphrey was an American geographer who conducted a study of Kampong Potong Pasir in the late 1970s with his Singaporean students. He talks about its layout, origins and multiracial population. He found that unlike what people had told him, Potong Pasir was not a bad slum, but a safe and friendly community. It was also being demolished but people were d...

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Jean Ang remembers setting up a games stall at Duxton Road when she was young and moving out to a HDB flat at Lengkok Bahru. She talks about the different jobs she concurrently held in the hospitality industry, and why it is important for seniors to continue to ‘look up over the rainbow’. 00:00 I was a Stallholder at Duxton Road 07:05 Gangsters & Brothel...

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. As a teenager in the early 1960s, Jean Ang and her mother went to the wharves to work as longsai, a corruption of the word ‘alongside’. Jean describes how they cleaned the insides of ships, braving the dangers of work that was done by women. Jean lived at Duxton Road and her mother was previously a samsui woman. 00:00 Introduction 02:24 The Longsai, or Ship...

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Rey Pereira remembers growing up in a kampong at Jalan Wijayay (now expunged), part of Kampong Kembangan. He also loves collecting mementos. One fateful day in 2008, he felt Singapore has changed so much that he decided to set up a Facebook group and a blog called Nostalgic Singapore to share memories of Old Singapore. Nostalgic Singapore: https://www.facebo...

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Charmaine Leung talks about the community at Keong Saik Road and her struggle to find her identity after moving out. She wrote her book with her mother’s agreement and was overwhelmed by the response. The heritage of Keong Saik Road, she says, should include the lives and struggles of the women who worked there. Charmaine Leung, 17A Keong Saik Road: A Person...

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Irene Hoe remembers her childhood at Old Dhoby Ghaut. She recalls the two businesses her mother Wu Chuen Chuen ran – Stamford Café and a hairdressing salon. I was surprised by her story of how her mother gave her up for adoption when she was very young so she could have a better life (though she returned home soon), and how she obtained closure over the matt...

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Charmaine Leung grew up along Keong Saik Road in the 1970s and early 1980s, her house next to the brothel which her mother operated. She tells us about the pei pa zai who worked in the entertainment houses, the transition to a red-light district after the war and some of the women who worked in the brothels. Charmaine Leung, 17A Keong Saik Road: A Personal S...