Old Buildings Quiz #19

Here are 2 buildings built in the 1960s.

ANSWERS

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

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

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

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

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

The Ying Fo Fui Kun building at Telok Ayer Street

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

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

Mr Yong's (at age 13) graduation certificate

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

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

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

Yin Sin - one of the earliest schools to teach Mandarin

Old Buildings Quiz 18

This is what the place looks like today (Jul 2012)

Answer: It’s the Nurses Quarters at Singapore General Hospital. But did you know that this was known as Vickers’ House? Lot’s of history and memories behind this place. Read more about it here and here. It has been torn down to make way for the National Heart Centre.

Then and Now - Selegie Arts Centre

In my previous post I shared with you Tim Light’s 1960’s photo of Selegie Road. One of the old buildings in that photo has been preserved and is now called the Selegie Arts Centre. According to my brother-in-law who lived grew up in a house Prinsep Street facing this building, there was a corner coffee shop called the London Coffeeshop which used to sell the popular Indian rojak and fresh cow/goat milk. There was a taxi stand next to it and further down Prinsep Street was a government clinic and the ROV (Registrar of Vehicles). In the morning many people would have their breakfast at this ‘London’ coffeeshop.



Photo number 1 – Dated around 1948, Selegie Road and Prinsep Street viewed from the top of Singapore’s tallest building then, the Cathay Building (link)

Photo Number 2 – Dated in the mid 1960’s, it shows the junction of Selegie Road and Prinsep Street. The pick-up truck is making a left turn into Prinsep Street.

Photo Number 3 – Present-day photo where the junction is removed and the tail-end of Prinsep Street is now joined to Selegie Road as one continuous road.

Photo Number 4 – This 1993 photo from the National Archives collection shows the row of shop houses along Selegie Rd being demolished. Only the corner, wedge-shape building is preserved and today it is called the Selegie Arts Centre; recognized by its bright yellow colour.

Photo Numbers 5 & 6 shows the same building in 1993 and 2007.

1981 map of this area

Old roads quiz (3)

Here are two photos that I received from my UK friends, Russ Wickson and Geoffrey Pain. Photo number 1 should be easy because of the famous landmark in the background; but number 2; taken in the mid-1960s, is a bit tough. I think it is a street nearby. What do you think?

Can you make out the name of the building on the right in the above photo?

Update (23 Jan 2012)

Below are two more photos of this area contributed by Tim Light. That building at the end of the street in Photos 2, can now be seen from a different angle. It looks like my Old Roads Quiz has turned into an Old Buildings Quiz.

Old buildings quiz (17) - Answer

I asked you to identify the old buildings in these photos. The first was taken by Geoffrey Pain’s father sometime in 1965-67 and the second is from the collection of the National Archives of Singapore, which carried this caption; “Housing Board flats for sale in Queenstown – 19/2/1964”.

The correct answer (I think ) should be Blocks 81, 82 & 83, Commonwealth Close. So I went down this afternoon (the place is only 5 km from my home) and took a few photos to confirm. But unfortunately due to the presence of many trees, it was impossible to get a ‘second shot’, which had an unobstructed view of these flats. The best I can manage are these.


 

And Keith was right. The view from the top of Block 81 was magnificent. The place was deserted. The few old folks that I saw, if they had been living there since 1965, must have witnessed the spectacular changes that had occurred in front of their very eyes over the past four-and-a-half decades.; and still occurring even at this very moment.



Old buildings quiz (17)

I think both the photos below are of the same building. The first one (colour) is from Geoffrey Pain and was taken around 1967. The second one (black and white) is from the collection of the National Archives. Happened to stumble upon it and thought there is strong resemblance.

I think readers should have no difficulty in figuring out where this place is. After all, how many HDB estates were there in Singapore in 1967?

PS - I think Geoffrey had accidentally flipped his photo horizontally. After I flipped it again, it is obvious that the two photos are of the same building. In fact, it is interesting that two photographers should take a photo of the same building from almost the same angle; although there is likely to be a time gap of 2 to 3 years.

Then and Now – Queenstown Library

The answer to the Old Building Quiz No. 16 is: Queenstown Library. The black and white photo is of the proposed site of the Queenstown Library at Margaret Drive. I saw this photo at the National Archives website a few years ago; but when I try to look for it now, I am not able to find it any more. So I am not able to tell you the date of the photo. I trust that I have not made a mistake. I hope some of the older readers who are familiar with the old Margaret Drive can confirm that this photo is indeed of Margaret Drive.

The second photo technically is not a ‘Now’ photo because I took it about 2 years ago in October 2009. Among all the public libraries, Queenstown Branch is my favourite. I have been going there for decades. I can remember clearly what the layout was like before the renovation. As you entered the library, there was a broad staircase on the left leading to the second storey, the Adults Section. Straight ahead were the service counters; and to the left would be the Children’s Section. My children spent many hours there when they were small.

Here’s another shot of the Queenstown Library taken from an angle that you are unlikely to be able to do now, or ever again. I took this photo from the multi-storey car park next to the NTUC Fairprice Supermarket. This car park was recently demolished together with everything else around it. In a few years’ time, you will see a completely new Margaret Drive.

I know many Singaporeans harbour fond memories of the old Queenstown, especially Margaret Drive. My earlier post about this area drew an incredible 80 comments! I hope this article has stirred up your memories of the old Queenstown Library. Do share them with our readers here. You can also share them with other Sinaporeans at the Singapore Memories Project website here.

Related Post: Gather moments while you may.

Old buildings quiz (16)

The old building that I am referring to sits on the land in this photo (from the National Archives Collection). If I showed you the photo of the building, you would certainly recognize it.

So do you know the name of this building? Hint – there are lots of demolition and development going on near it now. But it is still stands.

Wisma Indonesia (in the mid-1960’s)

Last week, Geoff Pain sent me 3 mid-1960’s photos of the Wisma Indonesia at Orchard Road. Anyone remember this place? It was relocated to Chatsworth Road and in it’s place the Wisma Atria was constructed.

Below is a scan from my 1981 street directory. You will notice that many of the landmarks there have been either demolished or rebuilt; e.g. the Lido Theatre. Do you see a hotel called Irama Hotel next to Wisma Indonesia? Anyone remember this place?

Quiz:
1) What was the name of the Chinese restaurant at the International Building next to Lido?
2) What was name of the institution that previously occupied the premises marked Raffles Junior College?

Old buildings quiz (15)

Thanks to Geoffrey Pain who sent me this 1960's photo recently. Can you identify the building? Hint: It was demolished years ago; and replaced by a new one not far away.

For those who are getting tired of old buildings; maybe you'd like to try this New Building Quiz.

And here's a reminder to tune in to Okto tonight for another episode of Foodage.

Taman Jurong Heritage Trail - Old Buildings Quiz No. 14

Cannot give hints. You guys are too good.

Update

As you can see from the Google Street View image below, this building used to house a DBS Bank branch in Taman Jurong. But do you know what was the building originally? No, I don’t think it was OCBC, unless it was before DBS. Hint. It was not a local bank.

Wow. I never knew the images at Google Street View are this old. This DBS branch had closed down months ago. I think more than 1 year ago.

Old Buildings Quiz 13 - Answer

I believe this church was located within the Tengah Air Base in 1965. Today, it is occupied by the Calvary Tengah Bible-Presbyterian Church. Below is a photo taken on 14 March 2011.

I believe the original photo was taken from within the Tengah Air Base and hence Choa Chu Kang Road should be behind the church; in other words from the North towards the South direction. I wanted to take a ‘second shot’ from the same angle and distance. It would be very interesting to note the difference; especially the background. According to John Harper, that area used to be mainly vegetable farms; but today it’s the Kranji Expressway and more. Even the name of Choa Chu Kang Road has been changed to Old Choa Chu Kang Road. But unfortunately, I could not because this church is now outside the Tengah Air Base. That small road with the cars is now separated from the church building by a heavily fortified fence.

Here’s another view of the church from the car park. Notice the fence on the left. On the right would be the main road.

When I put up the quiz, I thought only somebody like my friend John Harper who used to live in Meteor Road within the Tengah Air Base would be able to identify it. It would be difficult for a Singaporean to do so unless he or she has actually visited this church. It is a very small church and being on an elevated ground is not easily visible from the main road. Hence, even my friend Icemoon who has blogged several times about Choa Chu Kang and Lim Chu Kang could not identify this church. As it turned out, Tyler, who traveled along CCK Rd frequently during his NS days in the 1990s was able to give the correct answer.

Old Buildings Quiz 13

Below are two 1960s photos of old church buildings from the Memories of Singapore Fan Page. Can you identify them?

Photo No. 1



Photo No. 2

Please note. These are 2 different churches located at different parts of Singapore.

I think Photo number 2 should be easy. Below is a photo which I took of the same place in 2009.

It is the Blessed Sacrament Church in Commonwealth Drive.

Old buildings quiz (13)

I believe even young readers will have no difficulty identifying the bridge in the above photos. But I’m interested in the buildings behind it.

I know the answer to the second photo, and I have posted a rather poorly taken ‘second shot’ of it – minus the two boys of course. As for the 1st building, I am not sure, but I think it is a different building.

Talking about those two boys, I must say I admire these two dare-devils. Since they are in swimming trunks, I presume they are diving into the Singapore River from a considerable height. But what takes greater courage is enduring the stench and filth for which the Singapore River of the sixties was well-known for. In fact, I think that was what my British friends* like Tom Brown, Brian Mitchell and John Harper remember most about this place.

But thanks to the foresight and determination of our former prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew, this river has been cleaned-up and transformed into a part of our water catchment system, bringing clean water into Singapore’s largest man-made reservoir, the Marina Bay. The story of how this was achieved is more appropriately posted in my other blog, My 5S Corner. But you can read the story and view some nice old photos here.

* To read their recollections of their time in Singapore, please click on the appropriate labels in the right margin.

Photo credit: The first 2 photos are from Mike Robbins taken around 1966 by his friend. Photo no. 3 was taken by me.