Memories of Changi Air Base - by Peter Chan

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

Photo #1: MINDEF provided this comfy ride.

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

Photo #2: Temple Hill Officers Mess. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

From Bullworker to Jack Lalane (by Peter Chan)

I chuckled going through my family album of photographs.  It was a photograph of someone who was into “pumping irons”.  It was not where or when that photograph was taken but rather, the extent the guys could go to sculpture their anatomies.   

After posting one of the family photos into Facebook, I was further encouraged by comments to go more in-depth on this subject.  After all, this subject spans three different generations and we all were targeting the same objective. 

Photo 1: Three generations of body sculpturing.  [Left to Right] 1940 weight-training method; A 1960s new Bullworker product; Modern day protein supplements.

In Singapore today, there is more than just California Fitness Gym; there’s True Fitness and Fitness First.  Workout must go hand-in-hand with special diet, protein supplements and if you can afford it a personal trainer.  Not surprisingly in the Sunday Times, there is a column by Ashleigh Sim who writes for HOT BODS describing the regime. 

Photo 2: [Left to Right] Hot Bods column (Source: Sunday Times); Example of a healthy dinner meal.

Whilst we might have some knowledge about pumping irons, the Bullworker Exercise is something not many of us do.  My cousin introduced me to the BULLWORKER Exerciser in 1969.  It is not difficult to explain why I tried it.  First, it offered a very quick method to put on pounds and inches from a skinny torso.  Second, we could exercise anywhere, anytime away from public eyes.  Third, I didn’t need to pay: He responded to a mail-order advertisement in the Straits Times.  If I am not wrong the cost for the BULLWORKER was S$99.90 or was it $59.90 over 6 easy monthly payments?

How does the Bullworker Exercise work?

 

After you open up the mail-parcel, inside you find this pump with two encased steel cables and hand-grips at both ends of the pump.  The instruction manual comes as a glossy sheet detailing the various types of exercises that must be done in the next 365 days and the number of “reps” – short for repetition for each type of exercise.

Photo 3: Details of the training regime

Photo 4: [Left to Right] Charmed by Bullworker’s advertisement; Doing it the Bullworker’s way Anywhere & Anytime; Rusty Bullworker 2 exerciser belonging to my cousin.

During the school holidays, I stayed over at his place in Paya Lebar.  I put great intensity into my work-outs because school holidays were the only opportunity for me to develop my muscles.  After a few months, both of us gave up on BULLWORKER.  It didn’t seem to work; we didn’t have the look of the people featured in the advertisements. 

National TV introduced us to the world of Jack Lalane on every Saturday evening.  Jack had a simple answer on getting rid of those unwanted love-handles, didn’t involve a hefty investment but a single glass of fresh carrot juice to go with the exercises.  We never doubted Jack because here was a matured guy in his sixties with a great waistline and his approach looked so simplistic.  Come every Saturday at 7.15 pm, we stood in front of the television box and studiously followed everything that Jack taught.  Though it made us physically fit and put the zing in our body wellness, we could not feel those pounds and inches.

Photo 5: Jack Lalane simple floor exercises (c 1969)

Well the dreams of developing a great physique came to a halt when we were enlisted into National Service (NS).  NS did a better job than BULLWORKER and Jack Lalane put together.  When you don’t need to exercise one’s brain much, eat as much as you can take and exercise for 2.5 years, I came up with a 98 kg body-frame to boast after NS. 

Today I dare say if you consider married life, a major surgery, career and fine dining, I still can look good (Photo 6), i.e. by deep breathing and holding my breath for a few split seconds for the camera. 

Photo 6: [Left to Right] Now & Then.

  

  

Let’s Go Baby, Let’s Go To Jardine Steps (By Peter Chan)

Ask yourself this question; “Beside the F1 Singapore GP, what else has the Government tried to do marketing Singapore to the world?”

I could not think of a good answer until I took some clues from a stack of old photographs about Jardine Steps, a name much better known to many British military servicemen and international tourists from  ocean-liners that berthed here.  Twenty years ago, the stretch from Keppel Road to Teluk Blangah Road was very unsightly; being a container port, there were many giant cranes and container trucks.  Going further back in time, the sight was boring because the waterfront was dotted with warehouses, docks and ship-repairing activities.

 Photo 1: Jardine Steps (c 1980)

Teluk Blangah Road only assumed a more commercial outlook after the World Trade Center (WTC) was built by the Port of Singapore Authority (PSA). The WTC was modeled after its American namesake in New York.  WTC had a special members club at one corner of the building on the top floor.  It was a privilege to be an invited guest. 

When Singapore hosted big Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) events, there were none available like what we have today at Marina Sands, SUNTEC City or at the Singapore Expo.  The only place with “column-free” space was at Jardine Step where original warehouses (then called exhibition halls) were refurbished and additional ones built.  For some of us we might remember the popular international orchid shows were held at Gay World Stadium, trade fairs at Kallang Park and the Great World Amusement Park.

Photo 2: Publicity materials for Miss Universe Pageant (c 1987)

In 1987, Singapore hosted the world-renowned Miss Universe Pageant.  The event was held at one of the “exhibition halls”.  More memories kept flowing once you can recall the Miss Universe Pageant.  It was an international beauty show televised “live” on national television and beamed to the rest of the world.  Whilst Singapore saw it “live” during daylight hours, the rest of the world saw Singapore in the night.   James Tann vividly recalled it was held at Exhibition Hall 3 because he was one of the ushers.  Wanting to have a close-up look at the beauties, I took leave from the office but for those who had to work, many had to turn to the company’s audio-video room or the canteens. 

Photo 3: The main stage of the Miss Universe Pageant (1987)

I felt somewhat awkward when I sensed a “script” to hard-sell Singapore.  Just listen to the slogan “Surprising Singapore” or watch the multi-racial cultural dance show-pieces.  Then there was the giant sphinx-like lion at center stage to remind us of our mythical origins.  How about the time when the Miss Singapore, Marion Teo, was asked by the American MC what she would tell the world about Singapore?  

The event proper began with sixty-eight beauties dressed in national costumes descending the two staircases singing the theme song from the pop group Wang Chung, "Let's go, baby, let's go, baby...come on!!...a party all over the world!!"  Each time you tuned into the English radio station, that song was surely the one you often hear.  When you drive, you tap your feet or your hands on the steering wheel. 

The Parade of Nations follows with quite a few memorable costumes but already bookies were placing bets that one of the Latinos from Miss Venezuela, Miss Colombia, Miss Chile, Miss Paraguay or Miss Puerto Rico  could be crowned as the winner.  Asia’s best bet was Ms. Philippines.  

How did the bookies and the guys come to the conclusion? 

Are you aware that the demographics of the Miss Universe Pageant winners follow certain practices?  Some years the winner emerges from Asia, most times from the Americas.  Also some years the trend is for fair-complexion and other times for chocos.

We got to see the pre-recorded swim suite parades but felt the Asian beauties “lost” because of the lack of stage presence – physical height and assets.  No one doubted Miss U.S.A. had a pair of solid gold which in itself was hard to beat.  When Miss Singapore got to the semi-finals, we were not certain Singapore stood a chance.  Reviewing the interview video clip, you can make your own conclusions.

Photo 4: Vivocity today

After a couple of more years of intensive use as a MICE site for computers and heavy machinery, the exhibition halls were eventually torn down and rebuilt.  So now you have it, the story of one great event at Jardine Step before it became Vivocity.

ANCHOR BEER – the smooth beer for men (by Peter Chan)

I thought about this topic not because you might have been impressed that I am a hardcore beer drinker: truth is I am not even one.  Rather this beer reminds me of my frequent commuting by car as a young lad.  Frequent commuting sharpened my sense for road directions as well as a good memory for places.  Since my father was the driver, I sat next to him looking at the way he managed the steering wheel, gears and pedals but I would say most times this got to a point of being very boring.  So my eyes would turn to things outside the car window.

Every week, we visit my grandparents who lived in the pre-war Tiong Bahru S.I.T. Estate.  Tiong Bahru is quite a long distance from where we lived in Upper Bukit Timah Road.  From my memory, I recall taking three different routes from my grandfather’s abode to our home.  Two of the routes went through the Alexandra – Queenstown, Alexandra - Ayer Rajah Road areas and the third was through a “rich man’s area” - Botanical Garden and Holland Road.

Plate 01: Sketch-map of travel journeys from Tiong Bharu Estate to Upper Bukit Timah Road.

 When Jalan Bukit Merah was opened in the mid-1960s, a fourth route was added.  My father was never known to be a flexible person; there would never be a fifth, a sixth or any other alternative routes when there was one.  It always had to be the same for yesterday, today and tomorrow (even when I got my driving licence and became the “driver”).

This reinforced my memory of prominent landmarks, one of which was the Archipelago Beer Company, whose famous brand was ANCHOR beer.  In the light of the recent corporate take-over of TIGER BEER, we must not forget ANCHOR.  According to my father, ANCHOR had its factory in Alexandra Road before WWII.  What attracted me to the landmark was the good-wagons belonging to the Malayan Railway (now KTM Bhd) at the bonded customs warehouses.  Today the warehouse is now occupied by IKEA Furniture.  The factory was on the opposite side of Alexandra Road, now the Anchor Point and The Anchorage condominium.  Beer was produced at the factory and moved across Alexandra Road to the bonded customs warehouse using the concrete overhead bridge.

Photo 01: Canned ANCHOR Beer.  Nice when chilled.

Photo 02: ANCHOR Beer’s factory at Alexandra Road (c 1952).  Factory on the right, warehouses on the left and the overhead concrete bridge across Alexandra Road.

I would see workers loading crates of beer into the good-wagons and a locomotive would bring the fully loaded good-wagons to Tanjong Pagar Railway Station.  The railway siding crossed Jalan Bukit Merah and vehicular traffic stopped because the safety wooden level crossing was in place.  Today if you visit the empty plot of land between IKEA Furniture, you can find remnants of this railway siding. 

Now here’s a bit of mystery for me.  Maybe someone can crack this mystery and we all can know the answer. 

Recently when I visited the National Archives in England, I found something “unusual” about an aerial photo of the Alexandra Road area (Photo 03).  It not only showed the ANCHOR Beer factory with its unique guardhouse (now a restaurant in Anchor Point) but Nissen huts and  the railway siding as well.

Photo 03: Aerial Photo showing the future Rumah TInggi area [bottom] and the ANCHOR Beer factory and the guardhouse [left-middle] c 1947

Though I am showing one portion of the Alexandra Road area nearer to Queensway, I can tell you this railway siding is longer than the one that terminated at the ANCHOR Beer warehouse.  It ran into Leng Kee Road (which never existed during WWII), across Tanglin Road into Belvedere Close, and finally ending at Prince Charles Crescent and Prince Philip Avenue (which never existed by name but only for the grid layout of roads). 

When the British Army pulled out of the Alexandra Road area in 1949, they turned over military properties to the Singapore Improvement Trust (S.I.T.).  The rest is history as S.I.T. built post-war estates at Prince Charles Crescent, Strathmore Avenue and Dawson Road in the mid-1950s.

Can I hear some answers soon?

The Day When We Have Silver Hair, Little Hair and Dyed Hair – By Peter Chan

This Sec 2 class reunion came about because BT Khoo had difficulty using Picasa3 software which has Face Tag recognition facility.  Remarked BT, “It allows one to name the faces it picks in your photos.  I cannot remember some of the names of our classmates and wonder if you can”.  Being the person who is supposedly to have good memory (when given sufficient time) for names I made a go for it and was amazed at the results. 

Photo 1: Then & Now – [Top] Class photo taken facing the Cenotaph.  Not the top academic class but we still produced a State swimmer and a President Scholar (c 1968). [Bottom] At St. James Power Station.  Can you recognise anyone? (c 2012)

Now we all know what it is like to have a school or class reunion function – interactions between individuals are short because size becomes a problem.  You want to meet as many people as possible but the occasion ends up looking like a political party convention.  That means, it’s just hand-shakes or a question that begins with  “So, what are you doing now”.  Worse to come is when you are confronted with the question, “Are you who I think you are”.  So, there’s some good benefits to having the right size.

Finally we got together 14 classmates out of a class size of 38.  One flew in from Sydney and the other driving down from Perak, Malaysia (more on him shortly).  Some sent their regrets - because they were travelling, permanently overseas  residents - or simply could not be reached.

Boss of St. James Power Station, Denise Foo, one of our classmates got us a long table and arranged for free-flowing bottles of the best 1968 white wine and Carlsberg at Food Junction.  The rest of us individually chipped in to buy local hawker food.

Photo 2: Raja Noor from Perak (center) speaks to “Mr. Dental”.  His Excellency is from the royal family   (c 2012).

Our memory recollections at times are not for everybody as this risk offending those with a more sensitive nature.  But we were certain we took it with a sense of humour often punctuated by bouts of laugher and frequent coughing.  That 1968 was a great year made it a very entertaining evening.        

There was the National Defense Fund (NDF) Carnival to raise money for National Service.  Being at that tender age, we were easily seduced by adults to be loyal and nationalistic during the post-independence period from Malaysia.   On a weekly basis, we collected from each classmate a minimum of 5 cents which went towards the cost of the stall construction.  Mind you we were not funded at all by the school.  There was also the collection for donated canned food stuff which went towards as prizes.  For those who came from less fortunate background, there was exemption in exchange for hard labour to build the stall at the carnival (Refer to this story). 

That year Singapore emphasised on “Building a Rugged Singapore Society” and we were all put through a revised P.E. syllabus of twice a week periods of P.E. and having to pass a Physical Fitness Test.  Oh how we loved to escape P.E. by hiding in the toilet and ran for alternative cover when Lee Fong Seng (former RJC principal, then the Senior Assistant and Chemistry teacher) headed for the same place. 

Photo 3: 1968 NDF Carnival at the Bras Basah school grounds.  It was opened by the MP for Stamford Constituency, Mr. Ho See Beng.

At the reunion, someone remembered the Christmas party organized by the form teacher where we met the opposite sex for the first time (Refer to this story).  In those days, RI students were considered “squares” and shy by the Convent/MGS girls, unlike those from the Christian Brothers School and Anglo-Chinese School.  We were considered “top heavy” and nothing else.  Yes we were late developers but how little these school girls knew that we carried “pistols with bullets” and were “Great Bedroom Olympians” after we left school.  Though we were “top heavy”, we were certainly no angels when it came to speech.  “Muchi Kotek and Parang Kotek” have a bad racial connotation by today’s standard but coming just after the Arab-Israeli War of 1967 where we had Jews, Muslims, Ceylonese and (North and South) Indians in the same class, nothing of that sort happened.

We trembled when Paul Hing took us for Elementary Mathematics.  His teaching method was to ask the class solve problems on the blackboard.  We often held our heads down, sat next to someone who was good at numbers or pretended to look intelligent but silently praying that the teacher would never pick us. 

Then there were the usual pranks we did during Science Practical in the laboratory because Benny turned on/off the gas supply when there was no necessity to do so.  When confronted by David Paul, he explained that he was learning the significant differences between flatulence, stink bomb and gas.  Big crab!  The class laughed but teacher was far from amused.    

Photo 4: Looking at the old class-photo.  The backdrop is the open-air carpark filled with hawkers, something which reminded Dennis of the former Orchard Road of the 1970s  (c 2012).

There were two unique features about our classroom on the second level.  First we were next to the staircase and the Hullett Library.  It meant we would be the first at the Main Tuckshop during the afternoon session recess-break or read the latest comics in the library before teacher came into the classroom.  Secondly we shared the same entrance/exit door with another class but separated by a wooden wall panel.  When the other class was getting noisy, those seated at the back row in our class would use their fists to bang the panel. 

After 1968, we were separated because of streaming into Science and Arts but reunited again in our senior school years or at the university.

Someone remembered the year when we didn’t quite get the high quality pretty girls we were expecting at JC1.  I explained to one of the wives (who turned up to check on hubby) that we were then “living in a monastery” for 4 years.  Surely there was justification to be disappointed, right?  That JC1 year was 1971.  Nevertheless one of us later married the winner of the “Miss Singapore” beauty pageant. 

Photo 5: Inside St. James, a Filipina trio belting out a hot number which was good for the younger crowd but not for our ears (c 2012).

Beside stories, there were also quizzes.  Who was the senior girl who was kissed by one of our classmates in 1971 under the banyan tree instead of under the mistletoe?  Which girl had the biggest pair of “knockers” in school?  The answers were unanimous; very much the same answers as 40+ years ago.  You see, memories never fade away.

To complete the evening activities, Denise brought us on a tour of St. James Power Station.  The high note was when a Filipina trio did a special item for us.  By the time we left for home, it was way past midnight.  We were too tired to watch the UEFA Euro 2012 beamed “live” during this season.  Anyway many of us lost our voices, perhaps drowned by the loud music inside St. James Power Station.

One of the good things about our friendship over the years was firstly, we didn’t need to hide dark secrets and secondly avoid classmates who had fallen on bad times or from grace.  I think this is the most important test for a real meaning of the word “Friends” because everybody else we meet in our life journey are simply acquaintances. 

Now dear younger readers, why not ask your father what he did during his school days.  Did he do the many things like I described?  You might be surprise that your father might have been quite hip in his younger days.

From water to Green site to Skyscraper City in the New Downtown (cont’d) – By Peter Chan

Part 2 - From Green site to Skyscraper City in the New Downtown

I picked the Marina Sands Integrated Resort (IR) because it is the most talked about landmark in the Marina Bay area today.  Back in the 1960s, beside the General Post Office and Asia Insurance Building, the other popular place with visitors was Clifford Pier.  Clifford Pier was the disembarkation/embarkation point for passengers whose maritime vessels were anchored outside the Outer Roads.  At the same time, the small watercraft boats which cruised to the Southern Islands originated from Clifford Pier. 

Watertours and East Wind operated the “Cruise to no Nowhere” in the 1980s.  It was mainly popular with tourists.  Then it was the turn of Mansfield Travel-Tradewinds which launched an up-market cruise.  What Mansfield/Tradewinds did was not the first in the industry because Goodwood Park Hotel operated the Singapore Lady, a Mississippi river-boat cruise in the 1970s.  Now all coastal cruises operate out of the Marina South Pier.

Photo 1: [Left] Boarding/Disembarkation point was at Clifford Pier.  A sampan steers towards an ocean-going vessel anchored in the Outer Road (c1960). [Right] My family on-board the Singapore Princess cruise.  The boat is moored at Clifford Pier (c1989).

I have been following the developments of IR from the day when it was announced in 2006 that the site was to be an integrated resort. 

Photo 2: The vacant green site that would be up for bidding for the first casino and hotel integrated resort.  On what is now Garden on the Bay, there was a famous El Moroccan styled entertainment complex called The Chameleon housed in that white building.  There was even a fountain and at one time a park where kites were flown (c2002).

Then the excitement intensified with the flurry of construction activities for one of two integrated resorts in Singapore began.  By 2009, motorists coming down the Sheares Bridge saw three “ancestral tablets” rising from the former Green site.  Many (including local geomancers) had different perspectives on what the hotel towers resembled such as a deck of playing cards.  To some this was not an iconic landmark and for the superstitious the conclusion was even worse.  “Not to worry” said the wife of my golfing buddy, Dennis L.  She was the geomancer appointed by the Las Vegas Sands, the owners of the integrated resort.  She assured me everything from the timing of the building construction schedule to the smallest detail like the staff uniform was conforming to Feng Shui.

Photo 3: [Top] Hotel complex reaches the 55^th floor.  [Bottom]  The 6 segments of the North cantilever which would form the SkyPark Observatory platform.  The platform would extend 64 meters out of the building line. 

So here I was in the late afternoons coming down to watch the contractors at work.  I was either at the ECP side of the construction along the narrow pedestrian walk on the Sheares Bridge (for a close-up look of the construction ground activities at ground level) or on the Singapore Flyer for a vantage view.  You could learn so much about the construction industry by talking to site supervisors, Bangla workers, civil engineers, observe how they put the glass panels in place and how pre-cast concrete was made on site.  Before long one developed some basic top-line expertise on construction timelines. 

Photo 4:  Each segment of the North cantilever was meticulously lifted up against strong cross winds and the monsoon surge.  The first segment was lifted on December 1, 2009 and the final jigsaw completed on Dec 27, 2009 (c2009).

When the SkyPark was built, some friends came down to watch, day or night to observe the hoisting of the steel beams.  The temptation was so great that it finally became “Just Do It”.  One of my friend’s friend entered the building premises which were at that time off-limits to the public for safety reason.  He took the caged workmen elevator up for some breath-taking photo-shoots on the 55^th floor.  Not many of you are aware that it generated much uproar when his tightly kept secret was finally discovered by the owners a few days later.  Luckily an amicable settlement was reached among all parties.  For this reason, I am unable to share with you the rooftop views and work-in-progress.    

Photo 5:  [Top] On the SkyPark observatory platform a magicians entertains.  Ku De Ta Restaurant is behind those umbrellas. 

Level 33, The Pinnacle, Equinox, The Sail and One Altitude cannot be compared to SkyPark heart-beat.  Now how many of you have been up to the Marina SkyPark?  Do go and experience that top-of-the world feeling. 

I cant’ say goodbye to you (Peter Chan)

You say it would be better
if we stopped seeing each other
if you had only met me first
when you were free
'cause now you've got commitment
I should not expect things from you
that you can't give to me
oh, but baby, can't you see………………………

The above is an example of yesterday’s lyrics which is so meaningful, smooth and so touching, quite contrary to what I listen to these days.  Am I biased towards 21^st Century music?  Maybe, especially when I perceive it to be based on “killer” physical looks, dance movements and taped music. 

Photo 1: Park Hotel at the corner of Cameron Road and Chatham Road, Hong Kong (c 1969). Complete refurbishment only took place in the late 1990s.

When I did this 1981 Helen Reddy number with a 3-man band in Hong Kong one evening winding down after a busy business day, an off-duty Hong Kong based air stewardess came up to me and asked: “You play that song again?” her voice cracking and eyes tearing at the same time.  She must have thought I was the resident musician at the Park Hotel’s Marigold Bar but it wasn’t the case.  I can’t say I remembered her name because that was so long ago.  Don’t ask me how I knew about her broken relationship:  When you work long enough in the professional music circuit, you know the saga of girl-friend and a married man. 

Now would you like to know what I was doing at the Park Hotel? 

In the 1980s, Cathay Pacific (CX) offered its passengers on trans-Pacific flights free accommodation/free airport transfer.  To cite an example take the Sing/HK/SFO return ticket.  It was a great travel arrangement whereby CX allowed one to break a long haul journey twice and to spend some time in Hong Kong.  To go back to my original story, I bumped into a good friend, Josie at the Park Hotel.  Josie Varghra, a talented Filipina singer and I worked together at the Club Elite in Singapore in the mid-70s when I was her back-up musician.

Photo 2: Captain of this CX flight guides his Tristar for a smooth landing at Kai Tak International Airport (c 1989).  Even CX has a great commercial called “Love’sTheme” with a distinctive Sounds of Philadelphia (SOP) touch. 

As a one-time lounge pianist of the 1970s, I whole-heartedly agree that music and love is one and the same thing.  Though we can share our feelings through writing, painting or sculpture, love expressed through music is so different.  It is not just the feelings of the singer/instrumentalist but of the lyrics and the tune harmoniously coming together conveying a powerful message. 

Photo 3: Though music scores were pricy, they were appreciated by music enthusiasts who needed them to learn new love songs.  I didn’t have much use for them as I “depended” on my ears to recall the songs (c 1988)

There were songs for being in love or when there was a breakup.  You could feel the passion and tempo of romance or loneliness up in the air.  I have found lovely couples of all ages starring at each other eyes, you find the guy pulling the girl closer to him and holding hands.  Sometimes a light kiss on the lips was even planted.  Over at the long bar, lonely drinkers would just stare hard at their half empty glass of Jim Bean.  This is all so awesome. 

Photo 4: The Marigold Bar with Lana and Kris, two Filipina singers back-up to Josie during their afternoon rehearsals (c 1985)

Here is what I think are some of the great love songs of my generation - you probably can make your own selection too; 

Para Decir Adio – Jose Feliciano

The Greatest Love of All - Whitney Houston

Feelings – Albert Hammond

I don’t Know How To Love Him –Helen Reddy

I Just Want To Stay Here - Edyie Gorme and Steve Lawrence

Torn Between Two Lovers – Maureen McGovern

Love Me For A Reason – The Osmonds

I Won’t Last A Day Without You – The Carpenters

Feel Like Makin Love – Roberto Flack

The Way We Were – Barbara Streisand

I’ll Never Love This Way Again – Dionne Warwick

I’m Stone In Love With You – The Stylistics

If I am asked to pick, I believe The Stylistics had the most number of popular romantic songs like, Loving You, Let’s Put It Altogether Again, I Can’t Give You Anything But Love (good for Salsa dancing), You Are Everything, You Make Me Feel Brand New, Star On A TV Show, Miracle, You Are Beautiful, Sideshow.  What was their unique selling proposition?  Singing in harmony – one is a falsetto voice - with strings and brass backing.  My personal favourite has to be “I’ll Never Love This Way Again” by Dionne Warwick when I listened for the first time in a hotel room in Union Square, San Francisco.  This song set me reminiscing of one person I really (2) liked.  Thanks to Facebook, we bumped into each other again. 

Why not try Youtube to listen to all those memorable love songs again, including those from Billy Ocean, James Ingram and George Benson.

Whilst the 1970s thru the 1980s offered diversity in love songs, this progressively disappeared by the mid-1990s, probably when people went crazy over Michael Jackson hands-on-his-crotch dancing.  There was no more “live music”.  It became piped-in and DJ music.  You couldn’t find a good crowd size except at noisier places like pubs, clubs and skyscraper bars. 

Photo 5: Love at the sky bar.

Where there used to be music in the hotel lounges, they have changed to become more business-like; you only go there for business discussions.  There are worse situations I have seen such as when a lounge is turned into a holding area for tour groups.  I guess in Singapore people are getting more into the eating fad instead of listening to music.  By doing so, they could be driving up the calories instead of the testosterone level.  Perhaps I might after all stumble on the problem with our national procreation strategy.