Tracing my amah Chew Joo Keng (Margaret)

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

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

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

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

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

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

Shona Trench"

Tracing my amah Rukiah

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

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

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

Many thanks.

Ingrid Kivikoski (nee Schroder)"

Rukiah and her daughter Senipah

Senipah at her wedding in 1966

Senipah at her wedding in 1966

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

Tracing my Amah – Judith Johnson

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

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

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

Judith, with her mum, Margaret and brother, Jeremy

From my Inbox – Judith Johnson remembers my kampong

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

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

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

Dear Mr Lam,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Best wishes,

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

Hi Judith,

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

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

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

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

Chun See

From my inbox (12 June 2013) – Karen Jane’s video of kampong in Sembawang

Hello Chun See

I have at last managed to edit some footage I have of Singapore around Sembawang area in about 1964. I really enjoy reading your posts and viewing your photos. I have started to post on some Facebook sites and am happy to share this with you, if you would like to put this on your website. I have uploaded it up on You Tube

At last I have managed with help to get some video footage up. I have tried to read the beginning writing at the start of this footage but cannot make out the above S'pore which may help to identify the kampong. I look forward to your comment and information about this. I lived in Sembawang in Queens Avenue and Thomson Rise between 1962 - 1964. P.s does anyone know my Amah?

Enjoy

Karen :)

Thanks Karen for sharing this precious video. Unfortunately, I am not familiar with that part of Singapore. Hope some of my readers able to help.

Related post:

From my Inbox – Robert Wong remembers Mandai and Seletar Camps

Dear Chun See,

I stumbled upon your blog when I surfed for articles for 35 SCE. Your blog is an excellent piece of work that let people like us take a nostalgic walk back to a much beloved past existence. Allow me to introduce myself and you will understand why your blog resonates so strongly with me.

I was born in 1951 and enlisted for NS in 1971. I took the 4th Combat Engineers Officers Cadet course (later on, they started referring to it as the JOE course, but not during my time)I was commissioned in September 1972 and took my first batch of recruits on Pulau Blakang Mati. After that, while waiting for my next posting, I was a GD officer and you know what: … I was the young 2Lt they sent to take over your beloved Mandai camp. It was brand new and empty. I was given a big box of keys and told to fit the right keys into every door and after that to pass the keys to the respective company commander. We moved in and I was posted to Plant Company.

Later on, I was posted to 35 SCE as Plant Officer and after ROD, continued my love affair with the beautiful houses left behind by the British, facilitated by 13 years reservist training reporting back to RETC. I remember the Yacht Club and the jetty and the big hangars that housed my heavy plants. And also the Officers Mess, where I had a big room to myself. I would give up a lot to go back to 1973 in Seletar Base.

Thanks to Geoffrey Pain for this photo of the RAF Seletar Entrance (dtd around 1965)

In the mid 1990’s, I went back again to Seletar Base, this time with my wife, to learn to play golf in the Seletar Base Golf Course. The road names of Lambeth Walk, Edgeware Avenue are very familiar. Even today with so many beautiful houses torn down (together with the SBGC clubhouse) to make way for the Aerospace Park, I still drive through sometimes, but all I get is a lot of heart aches. They have this highway that runs right through the golf clubhouse!

In 1972, when I drove through the main gates, the sentry would salute me. Even in the 1990s when we played golf inside there, we had to show our pass. Today the guardroom is deserted and forlorn-looking.

Thanks for reading my email. I am now 61 years old. All I have of Seletar is a lot of fond memories of a bygone era and place.

Thank you so much for your blog once again.

Lta Wong Peng Keong, Plant Officer (1973 ), 35 SCE.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Here’s another old photo from my good friend Stephen Lai.  Taken around 1969/70, it shows Gillman Barracks viewed from Alexandra Rd.

From my Inbox - Colin Liddell

Hi Lam

I have been looking at some of your photos and blogs.

I am a New Zealander who lived in Singapore in 1973 -75. My father was with the NZ Army, and I went to high school in Singapore. I was at Changi, then at Woodlands , lived initially at Serangoon Gardens and then at Seletar.

Serangoon Gardens 1973

Serangoon Gardens

Seletar

I am part of a group called the Military Brats of Singapore, made up from the kids who went to the school at the Australian & New Zealand Defence Force schools that operated from 1971 – 1989. We have a website and Facebook page and this year we are having a School Reunion in Auckland. We have great memories and some great photo’s as well.

For all of us who were there, Singapore was the best years of our lives. We loved living there, and many of us have been back many times. We ate at the makan stalls and played rugby on the Padang, lived our days at the swimming pools, and snuck off to Bugis St at night, when it was still worth visiting.

Under 14s - Padang 1973

Colin labelled this photo Beach Rd 1973. I don' think this is Beach Rd.

Keep up the great work, and love the stories and photos.

Terimah Kaseh.

Colin Liddell, 16 Jan 2013

Aii Chan enjoys Good Morning Yesterday, the book

From my Inbox (2012-11-02)

Hi Chun See,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

My Remarks

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

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

Related posts

My Recollections of Braddell Rise School 

Return to “Police Catch Nuns”

From my Inbox – Phil Hall remembers Bukit Gombak

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

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

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

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

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

More importantly were the snakes on the hill!

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

From my In Box (April 2012)

This month, I received 2 emails from overseas readers.

Email No. 1 is from Karen Jane:


I have been reading your posts on 'Good Morning Yesterday'. I came across your site when researching Singapore. I lived there (Thomson Rise and Queens Avenue Sembawang) as a child from 1962 to 65 and have a number of photos and researched what and where they were of. It really seems like it has changed so much since I was there but it is so nice that you are sharing your memories.


I have enclosed one photo, I think it is one of the occasions I went to the Kampong where I think I went with one of my amahs and played there? I have a video of me with other children playing in door way and really think that was there. I have many photos and if you are interested would be happy to share them.

Email No. 2 is from Chris Wood:


My name is Chris Wood. I was a service personnel part-time projectionist at the "ARC" cinema in Ayah Rajah Road and also at the "Sampan" cinema in Tanglin Barracks. The civilian projectionist went on strike once and I had to man the Sampan on my own for a period. The "Kent" was being built when I left Singapore in 1963. I also went on a chief projectionist course with AKC, when I returned to the UK I left the army and worked for the AKC full time as a service engineer from the head office at Chalfont St Giles, the London office was in Dover Street in the west end of London.


I have returned to Singapore a couple of times and the "Sampan" was demolished the foundations could be seen but that's all and the "Arc" was also demolished and under the Ayer Rajah Freeway. The "Arc" was a huge metal air raid shelter, all the music played was supplied by AKC and we could only play that.


They were great days, the chief operator at the Sampan was an Indian, and at the Arc a Chinese guy. On Thursday night they use to show Hindustani films which were very well attended, these films would go on for hours, parts in B/W and parts in colour. The reason was that somebody would start making the film then run out of money and sell what he had made to somebody else who then made there bit in B/W. The film might change hands 3 or 4 times from producers!!!


Related post: AKC Cinema



********************************************************


Footnote: Thanks to Chris Wood for confirming something I remembered from my childhood days. I had blogged here that some of the later black and white Wong Fei Hong movies that I had watched at the Bright Theatre near Lorong Tai Seng had the last segments in colour. My brothers said they do not remember any such thing.

From My Inbox: From Vancouver, Poh Guan Huat shares his NS experience

Hi Mr Lam,

My name is Poh Guan Huat. I share your interest about passing our experiences and knowledge about the Singapore of old, especially in the 50s and 60s when we were growing up. I myself was born in 1950, in the Geylang Serai area, near a Malay and Indian kampong. Later, in the late 50s my family moved to Siglap, just across the road from the Siglap C.C. I am very interested in jotting down my memories regarding these places during those times.
My family and I relocated to Vancouver, Canada in 1992, but I still keep in touch with Singapore and read quite a bit about Singapore social history. My favourite books are those by Julian Davison and David Kraal's The Devil in Me.

I was among the batch of recruits who were sent to Tg Gul camp (6SIR), which was dubbed the Siberian camp of Singapore, being as you said located so far on the western tip of Singapore island. The saving grace was that this camp was one of the very few (perhaps the only one?) with a swimming pool at that time, which was 1973. However, I did not enjoy the pool which was deep all around, and I did not swim well, and as I remember, we were only allowed to use the pool about once a week. The camp commandant then was LTC Jimmy Yap, a slim, dapper man with a neatly trimmed moustache and sunglasses. The camp was so isolated that we had to walk along a dirt track to the nearest road, perhaps a kilometre or two away, and at night when we returned to the camp after weekends at home, we could only see the glimmering lights of the camp from the bus stop.

The food at the camp was very bad, as the "cooks" were all NS men, and very few of them really knew how to cook. I remember the mee goreng, which was gluey and quite tasteless, but I enjoyed very much the red bean soup (ang tau) which was served after night training.

After Tg Gul camp, I was posted to SAFTI for the section leaders training. I was part of Golf Company, who Company Commander was a rather flamboyant man, LTA Chong. Among the things I remember about this camp was the cross country night training we did a number of times. On one of these training sessions, we had to pass through the Chua Chu Kang Chinese cemetery. While there, we were ordered to take cover, and each one of us had to sit or keel beside a tombstone. Another landmark in the area when doing night training was the Hindu cemetery. What an exciting time we had. There were many horror stories told about these times, e.g. a recruit who fell asleep while waiting for order to move on, and he had a nightmare and couldn’t wake up until his friend next to him, shook him up. When awake, he said that he felt something or someone preventing him from waking up, and when he did, he was shocked to find himself staring at a picture of the deceased person on the tombstone.

Well, there are many other stories but I will write about them another time.

A recent photo of Tanjong Gul Camp taken by LCS.

A 1986 photo of reservists doing their IPPT in Tanjong Gul Camp (from the National Archives of Singapore collection) watched by minister Yeo Ning Hong.

Related stories:

1) The Nantah Arch

2) Philip Chew’s memories of Geylang Serai

Ex-British Servicemen visit Good Morning Yesterday

These past few days, this blog received many visits from ex-British servicemen. Apparently they were alerted to Peter’s article about the gun battery at Chestnut Drive. In particular, Ken Nichols and his friends recognized Peter’s photo and remember serving in Singapore in the 1960’s. This is what he wrote in the comments section:

Thank you for responding to my post, and to answer your question,…I found the link to “Good Morning Yesterday” here and I immediately became interested in Bukit Timah Heritage Trail - Gun Battery at Chestnut Drive because I am one of those British soldiers who served on one of those guns and I still have some very happy memories of those days in Singapore in the 1960s.

You have said the photo wasn’t taken at Tengah so perhaps my memory isn’t as good as it was, after all, it is 45 years ago since I was there but when I saw the photo I immediately thought it was of my site which was located some distance to the right of the road which you would travel on when approaching Tengah from the Singapore city direction.

To reach the site that I remember, you would need to follow a track leading off that main road which wound its way through a kampong and then you would negotiate a steep hill which was very difficult for the trucks to ascend until several truck loads of course gravel could be laid down. Once at the top of the hill the site had such a commanding view of RAF Tengah and the runway that I can remember actually tracking larger aircraft such as the American B52 and a British Vulcan bomber which visited Tengah about 1965 as they trundled down the runway during take-offs and landings.

And I remember there were kampongs located towards the base of the hill on three sides, but on the fourth side, although not visible to us from the top of the hill, was a cemetery which I can vaguely remember being instructed to avoid.

Incidentally, as a point of interest, if the photograph wasn’t of one of the Bofors gun deployed around Tengah then it would have to be either at Changi or Seletar because these three airfields were the only three locations where guns of that type were deployed

Cheers, Ken
Ken also remembers speaking to young kampong boys who came up to him. I wonder if he ever imagined that not much later, these boys would take over their role in defending Singapore.

At the same time, there is a discussion going on at this forum. One interesting question been discussed, with Peter actively participating is the location of this photo posted by Roger-Hatchy which I have downloaded below for your reference. I hope some of our readers here can recognize this place and help us to confirm where exactly it is. You do realize of course that this photo is 45 years old!

From my Inbox

On a different matter, I received a very pleasant email from Fred Steele who served in the Royal Military Police from 1961 to 1973. He was probably stationed at Gillman Barracks. This is what he wrote:

“I would just like to say how much I enjoyed reading your blog and bringing back happy memories of my days in Singapore and its wonderful people, they were perhaps the best days of my life, a thought which is shared by many of my friends as every year we hold a Singapore Reunion to chat about the ‘Good old days’. Perhaps you may like to view my own website.

Thanks Fred. I have visited your site and noticed that the photo of the kampong with pigs roaming about which I used in my previous article is in your photo gallery. I hope I have not inadvertently infringed on your copyrights. I did get permission from Tom O’brien to use images from his wonderful website Memories of Singapore for my blog.


Anyway, as Singaporeans, we feel honoured that our British friends have such strong and endearing memories of our little country after so many years. We thank you guys for your service in protecting this country, a role that we took over and have since passed on to our children.

From my inbox

I had a couple of pleasant surprises in the email this past week.


(1) Royal Singapore Flying Club

Bob Nobbs sent me this 1952 photo of the Royal Singapore Flying Club. Can you recognize the building? If you are have been reading this blog for more than a year, you probably would. It was the subject of one of my Old Buildings Quizes. Bob wrote;

“I spent three years in Singapore during the 1960s (Tengah) and I am still in love with the place. I still hope to come back one day although I know it’s changed beyond all recognition.”

Bob. We certainly hope to see you in Singapore. I guarantee you will not recognize Chua Chu Kang Road. John Harper was here last year, and Brian Mitchell will be visiting next year.

Thanks again for the photo. And thanks also to my friend and regular guest blogger, Peter Chan for this even older photo of the same place. It was taken in 1936.

Below is a photo of the Merdeka Bridge/Nicoll Highway courtesy of Memories of Singapore.

For the purpose of comparison, I post here some 2006 photos of this building which at one time was the headquarters of the Singapore Netball Association.

(2) Troika Restaurant

In some of the earlier articles about food and dining, the name Troika Restaurant was mentioned by you the readers in the comments section. For example my article about Coffee Houses and possibly, Peter’s article about Dining in the Old Days, and perhaps also on Victor’s blog.

I was indeed pleasantly surprised to receive an email from Arwyn Rees who wrote from England.

Dear Mr Lam Chun See,

The wonders of the Internet have brought us together in a most unusual way. I was looking through a scrap-book which I had kept from nearly 40 years ago when I had the great fortune of living in your wonderful City. The scrap-book contained an advertisement card for the Troika Restaurant, a place I visited many times for the wonderful food. My interest made me put the name into the computer to see if it still existed, and looking through the pages a reference was made to your blog site that apparently mentions the place. I consequently started reading your Blog with nostalgic interest. I enclose a copy of the advert for the Troika that may be of some interest to you. Thanks for a enjoyable hour of reading.

Best Regards.

Arwyn Rees (England)

Arwyn. On behalf of all readers at Good Morning Yesterday, thank you for that picture of the Troika Restaurant. We certainly hope you visit again.

And as usual, Peter’s memory proves to be uncanny. As you can see from the picture above, Troika was located at the Liat Towers in Orchard Road. In case you want to make a reservation, their telephone number is 371833.

From my inbox: 11 July 2008

Robin Chiang writes all the way from California. Coincidentally, many of the things Peter and I have blogged about featured in his younger days as well.


Dear Mr Lam,

I read your "Good Morning Yesterday" blog and would like to thank you for sharing your experiences. There are quite a few common points. I grew up in Singapore in the 70's (I was born in Taiwan) and did my NS in 84-86. I lived in Nanyang University where my father was a lecturer. In 82 we moved to Clementi, just 2-3 blocks from the Ulu Pandan Railway Bridge.

In NS I was in SAFTI, and then SMM (School of Military Medicine), and then posted to 30 SCE as an LCP medic. By then 30 SCE was based in Khatib Camp. I was in Charlie Coy for 7-months, then HQ coy. As a platoon medic in 85 I witnessed the last Bailey Bridge built by the SAF. I am quite familiar with many of the SAF points of interest.

After NS, I came to California for my univ and have not returned (except for short visits). 2 decades later I recall fondly my days in Singapore and am reading up on her history and finding out how ignorant I am. I hope the Min of Ed places a greater emphasis on teaching history to the country's youth. (emphasis LCS's)



Related posts:

1) The Ulu Pandan Rail Bridge
2) 30 SCE
3) SAFTI
4) Bailey Bridge
5) Nanyang University

PS: Please remember to vote for me for the OMY awards here.

Looking for members of the Satellites Netball Team from Serangoon Gardens

Some months ago I received this email from an overseas reader. I think it is self-explanatory.


Hello Mr Lam Chun See,

Please forgive my intrusion but I saw your website which brought back some lovely memories of my time in your wonderful country from 1966 to 1969. As you may have guessed my husband was a serviceman and whilst in Singapore I joined a netball team that played in Serangoon gardens called the Satellites. My plea to you is; can you please put me in touch with a website that might be able to help me contact some old team members? I met some lovely people that I would like to contact again and I have been trying for some years now without success and you are my last hope. Once again I am sorry for the intrusion and if you can't help I will understand.

Kind regards

Rachael Oremek.

I have actually referred Rachael's request to my friends at Redsports. But apparently they have not been successful. Maybe their readers tend to be of a younger set. So I hope some of the older readers of this blog maybe able to help out.

Thanks.

From My Inbox (12 August) – Rubber Factory along Lorong Chuan

You blogged about Lorong Chuan some time back, and I left a comment about an old rubber factory there. There is an old ruin still there now, round about where the rubber factory was. I'm not sure whether this might have been an old guard house at the factory or something else.





These pictures were taken at the curve of Lorong Chuan, where it presently intersects boundary road, behind a row of new houses (no.258-260). The ruin is just visible from the main road when driving by.

Ngiam Shih Tung

From My In-box: To all those who were born in the 40’s to 60’s and early 70’s.

I received this email from a 50-something relative. I was asked to forward to others of my age group and my kids as well. But, I think it's easier to just post it here:




First, we survived with mothers who had no maids. They cooked/cleaned while taking care of us at the same time.

They took aspirin, candies floss, fizzy drinks, shaved ice with syrups and diabetes were rare. Salt added to Pepsi or Coke was remedy for fever.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention.

As children, we would ride with our parents on bicycles/motorcycles for 2 or 3. Richer ones in cars with no seat belts or air bags.

Riding in the back of a private taxi was a special treat.

We drank water from the tap and NOT from a bottle.

We would spend hours on the fields under bright sunlight flying our kites, without worrying about the UV ray which never seem to affect us.

We go to jungle to catch spiders without worries of Aedes mosquitoes.

With mere 5 pebbles (stones) would be a endless game. With a ball (tennis ball best) we boys ran like crazy for hours.

We catch guppy in drains / canals and when it rain we swim there.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually worry about being unhygienic.

We ate salty, very sweet & oily food, candies, bread and real butter and drank very sweet soft sweet coffee, tea, ice kacang, but we weren't overweight because......


WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, till streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K.

We would spend hours repairing our old bicycles and wooden scooters out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem .

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, multiple channels on cable TV, DVD movies, no surround sound, no phones, no personal computers, no Internet. WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and we still continued the stunts.

We were never at birthdays parties till we are 21,

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and just yelled for them!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

Yet this generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!

The past 40 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned

HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL! And YOU are one of them. CONGRATULATIONS!

** He forgot to mention that we had to shit into ponds or buckets, and bathe from well water or public taps. :)

(Photos from: Singapore, An Illustrated History, 1941 ~ 1984, Information Division, Ministry of Culture)

From My Inbox - 31 March 2007

Hi, my name is Tom Brown. I am from Edinburgh, Scotland UK.

It brought alot of memories back when I came across your website, Good Morning Yesterday. I know your site is for Singaporeans and friends of Singapore of your generation, Lam. I could not help myself from sending this mail.

I was 19 year of age when I was in Singapore, in 1961. I was with the First Queen's Own Highlanders stationed in Selarang camp, Changi. When I went out of camp, I met a lot of friendly people. They always had a smile for you. I always remember the shops, food stalls. At night, I used to walk from Selarang to Changi Village, and I loved the beach

Thanks for the memorries. Hope to hear from you.

Tom



Today, Selarang Camp is home to the a drug rehabilitation centre.

More information on the names mentioned in Tom's email can be found below:

Selarang Camp
Queen's Own Highlanders

#########################################

Hi, from the comment by Aiyah Nonya about the torture of British & Australian POWs in Selarang during the 2nd World War, I decided to do a bit of research and found a website with interesting information of the famous Selarang Incident. You can also read about Selarang Barracks in 1942 here. I have also copied one of their photos showing Selarang Barracks in 1942 above. I hope the owners of the photo will be understanding about my infringement of their copyrights. - Lam Chun See, 05 April 2007.