From Pierrot to Columbine

When I was in secondary school, I started to enjoy listening to English pop songs on the radio. That would be in the 1960s. One day, a relative gave us a guitar and I learned to strum a few chords; and even bought song books with lyrics and guitar chords to practise.

One of my favourites songs at that time had this line in it:


“But the joys of love are fleeting, for Pierrot and Columbine.”


For years, I had been curious to know what this line meant; but never took the trouble to do the research. I guessed the singer was talking about her lovers in different places called Pierrot and Columbine. (I thought she had sung, “from Pierrot to Columbine”) It was not until recently that I decided to Google for it and discovered the real meaning of this phrase.


Thus it was in those early days, that we often could not hear clearly, and did not understand the meaning of some lyrics of the songs we liked. Another example was a song by a group called Gerry and the Pacemakers titled, Ferry Cross the Mersey. I did not understand at that time what or where this ‘mercy’ was. Thanks to the popularity of English football clubs like Liverpool, I later knew what this ‘mercy’ meant.


With instant knowledge literally at their fingertips, today’s teenagers do not face such a problem. Which brings me to the real aim of my essay; to marvel at how much the world has changed; and how the information age has changed our lives, making obsolete some icons of our teenage years. Two recent pieces of news brought that point home powerfully. One, the demise of Kodak; and two, the news that Encyclopaedia Britannica (I used to be quite proud that I could spell this word without having to consult the dictionary) would cease to be printed.


By now you must be quite curious - some of the younger readers at least - what is the song I was referring. No need to Google for it. You have YouTube to thank for that.

GMY Book Contest #2

Regret to say that I received very few answers to Contest number 1; and no correct answers. Maybe the question was too tough. Anyway here’s the answer.

Kampong House #1 is along Tampines Rd, near Upper Serangoon Rd and facing Houggang Ave 1. There used to be several such houses there and this one does not look as if it is being used as a residential home.

Kampong House #2 is at Jalan Haji Alias just beside the Al Huda Mosque.


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Never mind. This time, it is an easy one. This is a 1970 photo of me and my eldest brother, Chun Chew. Where is this place? Email answer to: cslam@hoshin.com.sg

I am not 100% sure, but I think this is the exact spot (photo taken on 19Mar2012) where the above photo was taken. By all means, post your comments now as the answer should be obvious.

All contests have rules. And so here are some.


1) Try to give a precise answer; i.e. the exact location.
2) Only 2 winners will be selected in each round. The winner should be prepared to reveal his address so I can send my book to him or her.
3) Judge’s (my) decision is not final. This is because, sometimes, the judge himself doesn’t know the answer, and so he will award the prize to the one he thinks is correct. And if another person comes up with a better answer later, he will win a prize as well.
4) All done in the name of fun and knowledge; so please don’t take it too seriously.
5) If you have already won the prize before, let others have a go first.
6) Open to Singapore residents only – for obvious reason.

The Wayang Stage @ Lorong Kinchir

In 2007, I blogged about Wayang Stages in Singapore (here), and mentioned about the wayang stage in my kampong at Lorong Kinchir. At that time, I did not have any photos of this wayang stage to share with my readers. But subsequently, I met a former neighbour, Mr Lau Eng Leong and he shared the following 2 photos with me.

The first photo; in black and white, is the original wayang stage. It shows a side view. The lady in the photo was a visitor to Eng Leong’s house. This was probably in the early 1970s.

The second photo – the colour one - was taken in the late 1970s, a few years after my family had moved out. It shows a front view. If you look closely, you will see that there are actually 2 wayang stages; one in front and one behind. The one in front is actually a temporary makeshift stage, whilst the one behind was the original wayang stage. What happened was that the original, permanent structure was damaged. The kampong folks probably did not want to spend money to repair it as our kampong land had already been acquired by the government, and they would have to move out soon. So they constructed a temporary one.

But actually the land lay vacant for many years before the government finally constructed the Central Expressway over it. During those years, whenever I drove past Lorong Chuan and saw our former kampong land lying idle, I could not help feeling some resentment against our government. Still things worked out well, and the rest, as they say, is history.


For more stories about the wayang activities in my kampong, please read my book, Good Morning Yesterday; Growing up in Singapore in the 1950s and 1960s (chapter 4). Available in major bookstores at only $18.65.

GMY Book Contest #1 - Kampong houses

I just posted an article at the Singapore Memory Website about my kampong house at Lorong Kinchir. I also posed a quiz for the readers. Want to take up the challenge? You may win a copy of my book Good Morning Yesterday.

PS - Pls do not post your answers as comments here or over at the other website. Thank you.

OK. The here are the 2 photos used in my quiz. You are supposed to identify the location of these 2 kampong houses. These photos were taken in 2012.

Singapore, 1962 to 1964 – Royal Naval School (by Tim Light)

At the end of 1961, my brother and I left St. Andrews School, never to return. In January 1962 we started as pupils at the Royal Naval School, in the Naval Base at Sembawang. In 1962, the British armed forces still had a massive presence in Singapore, with a large proportion of the territory being occupied by the various Naval, Army or Air bases. The Naval Base was probably the biggest of these bases.

My parents were not in the forces, but the services schools must have been the best option for giving us an education aligned to the British curriculum. I imagine that our places had to be paid for, but I don’t know how much or who paid it. I have an idea that the Metal Box company made a contribution towards our schooling. One minor bonus for my parents was that the uniform was exactly the same as St. Andrews, i.e. Navy shorts and white shirt. Minus the St. Andrews badge, of course.


Also at the start of 1962, we moved into our new home at 7 Sian Tuan Avenue, Hong Kong Park, off Dunearn Road. We went to school in the RN School Bus, a smart Bedford bus, in Navy Blue livery with white trim. There must have been naval personnel scattered around the island, because the school ran a large number of routes out from the school. There was even a mini-bus station at the school.

The bus proceeded through Bukit Timah, Bukit Panjang, and Woodlands, entering the Naval Base through the gates near to the causeway. There were still a few miles to go to reach the school, which was at the Sembawang end of the base. We had to pass the dockyard, and it was always interesting to see the various warships in the dock. I was never an expert, so I couldn’t distinguish between battleships, cruisers or most of the other vessels. There was always a buzz of excitement when one of the great aircraft carriers was expected. I remember Ark Royal and Bulwark. They were enormous.


The school was a pleasant collection of buildings in a nice location. The classrooms were a set of three long, single storied buildings, with 3 or 4 classrooms per block. The sides were completely open, allowing a refreshing breeze to pass through. The main assembly hall was a classic old colonial-style wooden building on stilts, with a balcony. This hall was used for assembly, music and drama lessons. My most vivid memory was hearing the announcement that President Kennedy had been assassinated.


There was another similar building that was used for martial arts and crafts. I was a member of the fencing club, and enjoyed some success with the foil. School finished in the early afternoon, but there were activities every afternoon including sports, crafts, choir, etc..


The other buildings that I remember were a staff and administration block that also had a library, and the toilet block. Finally there was a Padang where we played football and rounders.


My first teacher was Mrs Ransome, who was a somewhat mature lady, kindly but stern, in the tradition of Victorian matrons. I’m probably doing her a disservice with this description. She was probably not as old as my young eyes perceived her to be. One memory of Mrs Ransome was her insistence on the accurate use of English. One poor lad said to her, “Please Miss. I’ve got all ink on my hands.” Mrs Ransome said, very severely, “You do not have all ink on your hands, William. You have some ink on your hands. If all ink was in this classroom, we would all have drowned in it.”


After that, in year 3, we had Mr. Nutter. He was a decent bloke, who made lessons interesting, and was constantly distracted by the wildlife. He set up an aquarium, and had various live insects and rodents on the nature table. In cages of course. I managed to incur his wrath by failing to deliver my homework on a number of occasions, with increasingly laughable excuses. He finally lost patience and caned me. I deserved it.


In year 4 we had Mr Steele. He was a little more severe and not as much fun, but still a good teacher so long as you didn’t mess with him. Which I didn’t.


It was in year 4 that I started to fall in love with some of my fellow pupils. Anne Turner and Margaret Pillage spring to mind. I wonder where they are now. My best pal was Keith Stannard, and I spent a few weekends stopping over at his house in the naval base, just up the road from the school. These were lovely old black and white houses on stilts. We would go fishing on a jetty, catching lots of fish as we watched the big grey warships coming and going. Wonderful times.


To my eternal shame, I left the Royal Naval School without exchanging addresses with any of my friends. This was not intentional, but my parents had arranged for me to be placed in a prep school in Yorkshire at very short notice. But I could have made an effort to contact my friends. Now they are just a distant memory.

The school buildings still exist, as a school for prison staff, I think.


I have many more happy memories of this school. Too many for this blog.