Then and Now – Anamalai Avenue

Here are two photos of Anamalai Avenue. The top photo is from the PictureSG website hosted by the NLB. It is accompanied by the following explanation; “This 1993 photograph shows Bukit Timah Road, towards Anamalai Avenue (southwards).” Actually, I think this explanation is incorrect. The photo actually shows Anamalai Avenue towards Bukit Timah Road. You can refer to the second photo which was taken by me earlier this month.

On the left of this photo is the Royalville Condo. Beyond this is Bt Timah Rd and behind the trees is the Bukit Timah Canal.

As you can see, the old shops are all gone. In its place is a new building which houses a branch of the OCBC Bank. Previously, the bank was located at the other end of Sixth Avenue Centre, nearest to the traffic lights. Do you know what was the name of this bank previously?

It was known as Keppel - Tat Lee Bank. And before that, it was simply Tat Lee Bank.

Here one day, Gone the next - Glam trees @ Bt Timah Rd

Take a close look at these 2 photos. Taken from the overhead bridge at Bukit Timah Road, they show a stretch of the road just in front of the Cascadia Condo. Can you spot the difference?

Yes. It’s the row of trees. This type of tree is known as Glam Tree, and the name of Kampong Glam is actually derived from the name of this tree which used to grow freely in Kampong Glam. Check out my friend James Tann's photos of Kampong Glam here.

It was my friend, Dr Tan Wee Kiat (not the one from Nparks) who first drew my attention to these interesting trees in Bukit Timah. Thanks to him, I am able to share with you some photos of these trees that have since been cleared in the name of progress.

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.

Some photos of 1960’s Bukit Gombak and Bukit Panjang

Today, I would like to share with you some rarely-seen photos of Bukit Gombak and Bukit Panjang taken in the 1960’s. These images were sent to me by Gordon Carle quite some time ago. But I had been hesitant to post them on this blog for 2 reasons:

1) Bt Gombak is a highly sensitive military area.

2) I do not have any stories of these 2 places to share with readers. Apart from a meeting at the Air Logistics Unit in the 1980’s when I was working with the National Productivity Board, I have never set foot in Bukit Gombak.

Anyway, these photos are more that 4 decades old, so here they are. Hope readers can add some of their own stories.

The first 3 are of Bukit Gombak, no. 2 being from Whirlwind helicopter.

The next 3 are of Bukit Panjang viewed from Bukit Gombak.

These last 6 are simply views from Bukit Gombak (probably).

The canal at the end of Lily Avenue

Below are two photos of the canal that separates Lucky Park, where I live, and Eden Park. This canal runs from Bukit Timah Canal to Ulu Pandan Canal, joining it at a point near the junction of Ulu Pandan Road and Clementi Road. It was probably constructed in the 1970s as part of the Bukit Timah Flood Alleviation Scheme. In those days, the Bukit Timah area often experienced floods. In fact, just last year there was a huge flood in this area causing much damage to cars parked in the basement of the Tessarina Condominium.

Taken in 1982, Photo no. 1 is from the National Library Board’s picture archives (Copyright: Lee Kip Lin and National Library Board 2009). On the left is an open piece of land. It used to be a kampong known as Race Course Village. When I moved in to my home in Lily Avenue in 1986, there were still a couple of kampong houses next to this canal. On the right is a factory belonging to Ridsect, the insecticide company. It was still there in 1986. Next to it, facing the main road, was a motorcar showroom. I think I saw Fiat and Mesarati cars on display. Wish I had taken a photo.

 Photo no. 2 was taken recently; and you can see two of the older condos that line much of this stretch of Bukit Timah Road. The one on the left is Royalville and the one on the right is Villa Azura. The narrow strip of land next to the canal is a very nice and quiet place. When my kids were young, I used to bring them here in the evenings. There are many longkang fishes in this canal; and once my children caught some tilapias and brought them home and added them to our koi pond.

My children feeding fish in our koi pond.  c 2002.

This stretch of this canal is next to Maple Lane looking towards Bukit Timah Road.

The canal disappears under some bungalows at Garlick Avenue.

It emerges near the Fong Yun Thai Columbarium at Holland Link. The canal on the right leads to Laurel Wood Avenue and Jalan Haji Alias.

This final photo shows the canal flowing towards the Sungei Ulu Pandan and the former KTM Railway Track.

Like most parts of Singapore, so much of this place has changed. And with the construction of the Downtown Line in full swing; much changes are taking place before our eyes.

Singapore, 1962-64 : 7 Sian Tuan Avenue (by Tim Light)

At the beginning of 1962 we moved into 7 Sian Tuan Avenue.  This was a spacious house in the Hong Kong Park estate, off Dunearn Road.  As a house, there was nothing remarkable about it, but for a small English boy there were a few novelties.  For example, air conditioning in the bedroom was a new experience.  We were renting the house from a Chinese landlord, and some rooms had large mirrors etched with Chinese writing.  I have no idea what the writing said. 

The land surrounding Hong Kong Park was an interesting playground for my friends and me.  Immediately opposite was a large area of unused ground, in the centre of which was an abandoned house.  This was a substantial bungalow, which still had a name on the door – an Indian name – but after 50 years I don’t remember it.  Just beyond this house was a stream that led to a kampong, surrounded by fields and grazing cows.  It was a surprising rural scene.  The stream itself was of interest because it was alive with fish.  It was probably alive with a lot of other things too, but we were attracted by the fish – many of them were guppies (my favourite tropical fish).  We had a happy time fishing them out, but always threw them back because we couldn’t take them home.  One day we encountered a big ugly snake that slid into the water and disappeared, so that was the end of fishing.

At the top of the estate, just past the bend of Hua Guan Avenue, was another kampong.  This one had a handful of shops where we would spend our pocket money on dried fish snacks, fireworks and little hand-rolled cigarettes.  The shopkeepers didn’t seem to mind what they sold to us.  We made a complete nuisance of ourselves lighting fireworks and generally annoying the other residents.  We were always careful to operate away from our own homes so that our parents didn’t spot us.  The roads around this kampong were dirt roads, so it was a different world for us. 

At the bottom of Sian Tuan Avenue, next to Dunearn Road, were other “Shack Shops” as we called them, where we could buy sweets and cigarettes for a few cents. I hope my mother is not reading this!

One place that was completely out of bounds was the rifle range.  But did that stop us?  I’d better stop before I incriminate myself.

Looking down Sian Tuan Ave, c 1962

My brother in the front garden, c 1962

One feature of Singapore that was totally alien to us English boys was the monsoon drains.  There was a particular time of year when the drains outside our house filled up with bullfrogs, making the most incredible noise the whole night through.  You could hear it above the air conditioning.

The other use for the drains, sad to say, was a dumping ground for unwanted kittens.  More than once we fished out a paper bag with two or three kittens inside.  My mother took them to the RSPCA where I guess they were put down anyway.  We did once get to keep a kitten, but we couldn’t save all of them.

Finally, at Sian Tuan Avenue, we found out what it means to live in a war zone.  Well not really, but there were a lot of Chinese families around us, and Chinese New Year was celebrated with the letting off of firecrackers.  We were used to fireworks back in England on Guy Fawkes night, but there was nothing like the Chinese firecrackers.  They were tied in strings, and went off one after the other like machine guns.  Some strings of firecrackers were several yards long, and went off for several minutes.  Brilliant!

In Singapore, everything changes before your eyes.  The bulldozers arrived and flattened the ground opposite.  Before long brand new houses appeared and changed the landscape forever.

Earth movers opposite our house in 1963

Our house at 7 Sian Tuan is still there, largely unchanged.  In 2001, almost 40 years later I visited the area, and the main difference was a new canopy over the front entrance.  Looking on Google street view now, it is much the same except that trees are growing taller and obscuring the view.  The most remarkable thing is that the original post box is still there, battered and unused. 

7 Sian Tuan Ave in 2001

Bukit Timah Fourth Avenue

The answer to my earlier quiz is: Bukit Timah Fourth Avenue. It is located just a few hundred metres from where I live but once you get into this road, it feels as if you are into a different country because it is so quiet and peaceful here. But it will not be so for long as the government has recently announced plans to build an MRT station here as part of the Downtown Line.

Fearing that this place will be transformed beyond recognition soon, I decided to take some photos recently. I share some of them with you here.

1) This is photo is taken from the direction of the main road. Do you see a fence building complex on the right? Do you know what building complex this is? Hint. I used to see traffic police cars and motor-bikes here quite often. Now it is vacant.

2) Here are a few more photos of this place.


3) This photo is taken in the direction of Bt Timah Road (opposite to picture 1). Notice the huge empty fenced compound on the right side of the road? Do you know what it was used for?

4) Here is the answer; It’s the Police Logistics Department (Automotive Engineering and Management Division) Hope you can make out the words from this dismantled sign board.


5) This is a shot of the location where the Sixth Avenue MRT Station will be built. Below that is a sketch of the planned station which Peter emailed to me.

6) I noticed a couple of other interesting old buildings here. But I don’t know what they are. I think Peter should be able to throw some light.

Freehold terrace houses in Bukit Timah District 10 going for only $28,000!!!

No, there is no typo error. Neither am I lying.

However, if you want to grab one of these you really have to rush. In fact you need to hop into a really fast car like this DeLorean from the movie Back to the Future.

Recently I met a retired neighbour during my regular evening brisk walking exercises. We walked past the stretch of open ground near Methodist Girls' School which I blogged about and I asked him if he remembered what this place was like before. Then I told him about Good Morning Yesterday and he told me that he still had a copy of the original advertisement and product brochure of Lucky Park; the estate where we are staying in.

Straits Times advertisement dated 21 May 1968

Looking through the ad and the brochure, I learned a couple of interesting facts. Lucky Park, was originally meant to be part of Anamalai Avenue which, as you can see from the map below was meant to run parallel to Sixth Avenue. Comparing that with a present day map, you can see that there has been a change of plans.

Today, the name Lucky Park is seldom used and several roads have been built in this estate. Interestingly, all these roads bear names of plants beginning with the letter L; for example, Lily Avenue, Lemon Ave, Lotus Ave, Lantana Ave and so on.

Scan of Lucky Park product brochure. Sorry it's torn.


Akan Datang: My neighbour’s 1954 PSLE certificate. I bet the folks at NHB and NLB would like to lay their hands of this one :)

Old Buildings Quiz No. 8

The building in the photos below are of the Econ Nursing Home. It is located between Bukit Timah Plaza and Jalan Jurong Kechil.

Map of the vicinity from 2007 street directory

This is Bukit Timah Avenue leading to the Econ Nursing Home

I have two questions for you.

1) What was the name of this place before it was converted to the Econ Nursing Home?

2) There used to be a white building between Bukit Timah Avenue and Jalan Jurong Kechil, facing the Bukit Timah Food Centre cum Market (see blue question mark in map). What was it?

Answers (Posted on 6 June 2008)

1) Yes, it's the Bukit Timah Community Centre. I went there to play badminton in their indoor court once during the early 70's. At that time, my younger brother James and his team mates from one of the infantry battalions (I think it was 7 SIR) used to train there. Below is a photo from the National Archives of Singapore collection showing the official opening in 1959.

2) The answer to the second queston, as most of you know, is the Bukit Timah Post Office. It was there until not long ago. I remember it had a very small car park. The design was one of the very standard ones built in that era. You can still a few post offices in Singapore which are of this type of design; such as the ones at Serangoon Gardens and MacPherson Road. There's another one at Alexandra Road near Prince Philip Avenue. I passed by it just a couple of weeks ago and it looked like they are going to demolish it soon. So if you want to take one last look, better not wait.