Remembering Lee Kuan Yew

Tomorrow I plan to do something I rarely do - I am going to join thousands of Singaporeans in bidding farewell to our first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew at the Parliament House.

The one quality that I admire most about Lee Kuan Yew is “perspicacity”.  This is the ability to judge and understand people and situations. To me, it includes the ability to see into the future.

I think it was Confucius who said; “If a man takes no thought for what is distant, he will find sorrow close at hand”. I believe that, had it not been for Lee Kuan Yew’s perspicacity and his constant preoccupation with Singapore’s future, we Singaporeans could be facing a very different kind of sorrow today, as we mourn the passing of this great man.

Lee Kuan Yew was a great orator. As a young man, I listened to all his speeches. The speech that I remember best was the one he made in 1971 in Helsinki at the General Assembly of the International Press Institute. (Actually it was not so much his speech as his handling of the reporters’ questions after the speech that impressed me). I recall that at that time, we were facing much criticism by the Western press because of our government’s perceived suppression of press freedom. Many advised him not to accept the invitation to speak at this event as he was bound to be thrashed by the hostile gathering of his ‘enemies’.  

But as this Chinese idiom goes; “明知山有虎，偏向虎山行” (to venture into the mountain knowing that there are tigers lurking there), he went anyway. And instead of being mauled by the fearsome tigers, he had them eating out of his hand like docile pussycats. Such was the persuasiveness of the man and the strength of his arguments. Watching his masterly performance made me feel proud to be a Singaporean.

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.

Edward Williams remembers Sembawang Hills Estate Part 5 - The Story of Mr Lim and Joseph

Here is a story of two men, although not residents of Sembawang Hills Estate, nevertheless had some connections to the estate.

I used to fish at a number of ponds around Sembawang Hills Estate and Yio Chu Kang Road. One of the ponds was “Cathay Fishing Pond” (hope I got the name right). I walked there from Sembawang Hills Estate, past the junction of Lorong Kinchir and Upper Thomson Road, for short distance more, then turn left into a road that leads to this fishing pond. I never knew the name of this kampong. I can vaguely recall the barber shop at the junction that Freddy mentioned. There were 2 ponds at Cathay.

* The fishing pond that Edward is referring to must have looked like this one which was called Ng Tong Choon's Fishing Pond in Sembawang (Photo from National Archives Collection)

Mr Lim CE and his neighbour were both co-owners of this pond. He was then about 30, had a big family (at least 6 children) and his mother lived with him too. He was a very nice gentleman, always considerate and forever cheerful. What struck me most was his constant hearty laughter. He only spoke Hokkien.

Besides this fishing pond he also owned an “open air” cinema. I cannot remember where this cinema was, but I have been there on several occasions. For the benefit of the younger generation, an “open-air” cinema is just what it implies – it is open (no roof top) and you get lots of fresh air! Hence the name “open air”. There were no cushioned seats, just long wooden benches, so you sat anywhere you like. When it rained, most of the patrons would move to the side walls for shelter. I don’t think there was a money-back guarantee for inclement weather.

* For the younger readers who have never seen an open-air theatre before, this is a photo of one such theatre in Somapah (from the National Archives Collection)

I believe the cinema and the fishing pond wasn’t doing well enough. Mr Lim then decided to venture into real estate. He first bought a house in Jalan Lanjut (Sembawang Hills Estate) and rented it to a British family. Sometime later he bought another house in Sembawang Hills Drive (still in the same estate). Years later he bought a third house in Adelphi Park, an estate along Upper Thomson Road, a few miles from Sembawang Hills Estate. These houses were originally bought for investment purposes. He continued to live in his kampong house with his extended family. In the boom years ahead each of these houses would be worth almost a million each. When Mr Lim first bought the houses in Sembawang Hills Estate he’d have paid about $20K to $25K for each of the houses. This is only my rough estimate. Mr Lim will be in his 70s today

The second person in this story is Joseph. He lived in a kampong somewhere off Upper Thomson Road, further away from Mr Lim’s area. Joseph operated a pirate taxi service (pa hong chia), fetching kids to school in the morning and back home after school, in his Mercedes Benz 280D. His customers included some kids from Sembawang Hills Estate, a couple of whom were my friends. Joseph also supplied Marymount Convent School with fresh vegetables, meat and fish every morning. This was actually meant for the boarding house of the school. One morning his car broke down and my friend and his brother had to carry a basin of fish up the hill to the boarding house. Joseph also ran a food stall outside his home. Here fresh meat and fish were sold on makeshift tables in the morning.

Joseph bought his first bus in the 60s and operated it for the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus (CHIJ). The bus was painted blue with the name of the school on its sides. My friend told me that he was in this bus when Joseph drove it to the convent on its maiden trip. A couple of nuns came abroad, prayed and blessed the bus. Joseph was obviously a staunch Catholic. He did not stop at one bus. In the years ahead he continued to expand his fleet. He had over 20 buses by the late 60s. These buses would be parked along Old Upper Thomson Road, near the entrance to Pierce Reservoir, in the evenings.

Like Mr Lim, Joseph also had a cheerful disposition. My friend said he was quite a funny man. Why am I telling you the story of these men? Both Mr Lim CE and Joseph hailed from our local kampongs, had no formal education, yet were very successful. Their successes were inspirational for me and many others. What were the ingredients of their achievements? First and foremost let me state the obvious – hard work. Nothing succeeds like hard work. They worked hard, had foresight, business acumen and seized opportunities they saw in their own ways. Mr Lim went into real estate while Joseph chose the transport business. They had ideas and an action plan, and most important of all, they acted on their ideas. They lived exemplary lives and were good role models for those who knew them.

For privacy reasons I have not given Mr Lim’s full name. If any of their children or grandchildren are reading this blog, let me say to them: “I am fortunate to have met Mr Lim and Joseph when I was a kid in Sembawang Hills Estate”.

Shek Kin – Thank you for the memories

I dare say, practically every (Chinese) male of my generation knows who is Shek Kin (石坚). Together with Kwan Tak Hing, he starred in more than 80 Wong Fei Hong movies. So strong was their impact on my memories that one of the very first articles that I wrote in this blog back in September 2005 was about going to the South Country Theatre in Kampong San Teng to watch these movies.

Last week the legendary Shek Kin passed away at the ripe old age of 96. Together with Kwan Tak Hing, Cho Tat Wah, Sai Kwa Pow (the buck tooth guy who acted as Ngar Chart So) and many others, they gave us kids many wonderful hours of leisure at a time when there were no televisions or PC’s. Memories of watching Wong Fei Hong movies in open air cinemas will always be an indelible part of our childhood memories.

Links:

1) News report of Shek Kin’s passing

2) Chinese news report of Shek Kin’s passing. You can see short video clip of Shek Kin in action against Kwan Tak Hing here. Kwan’s favourite weapon is the long wooden staff.
3) To the movies

Michael Jackson’s role in “We Are The World”

It’s such a coincidence. Last night, I was watching some video clips of We Are The World on YouTube, and this morning the first thing I saw on tv was news of the death of Michael Jackson.

I noticed that all the news casters spoke about his achievements like Thriller, Moonwalk and that bizarre incident where he held his baby son outside a hotel window; but none of them mentioned his pivotal role in co-writing and singing the song, We Are The World in 1985. I am sure, his fame must have played a part in bringing together a group of the most famous pop artistes of America, who were told to ‘check their ego at the door’, and spend several grueling hours to produce the song for USA for Africa (United Support of Artists for Africa).

"The considerable profits from the enterprise went to the USA for Africa Foundation, which used them for the relief of famine and disease in Africa and specifically to the 1984-85 famine in Ethiopia .....

USA for Africa also held a benefit event, Hands across America, which approximately seven million people held hands in a human chain for fifteen minutes along a path across the continental United States. Participants paid ten dollars to stand in line and the money raised was used to fight hunger and homelessness in Africa.

The combined revenues raised from the sales of "We Are the World" and Hands Across America was almost $100 million.” (From Wikipedia)

Ulu Pandan Heritage Trail (4) – The Short and Winding Road (by Lam Chun See)

If you had to vote for the most ‘winding’ road in Singapore, which would it be? South Buona Vista Road perhaps? My choice would be Old Holland Road. Do you know where that is?

Photo shows where Ulu Pandan Road (left) joins Holland Road (right)

Old Holland Road is actually a side road that joins Ulu Pandan Road and Holland Road. However if you check the street directory, it is listed as Holland Road. But I am very sure it was formerly called Old Holland Road and it led all the way to Bukit Timah Road near the Komoco/Hyundai showroom and opposite the Swiss Club Road. There are a lot of big private bungalows as well as old trees and sharp bends along this short and winding road.

However, this short road has been shortened even further a few years ago. It is now truncated by a huge piece of empty land which I blogged about here. Thus the short and winding road suddenly ends where it crosses a canal.

This is the part where the Old Holland Road was truncated. That short stretch behind the barrier used to lead all the way to the Bukit Timah Road via a winding route that passed through thick vegetation. I used to jog here quite often.

The road in the foreground used to be called Holland Lane and it led to Chinese cemetery and an old temple. Very quiet and eerie. Below is a photo of that temple taken from the National Archives collection.

Today the road is renamed Holland Plain and the temple is called Fong Yun Thai Association (see photo below). Just in front of the entrance to this temple complex, the road makes a 90 degree turn and becomes Holland Link which rises steeply till you come to Old Holland Road again. With this development, I guess they have no choice but to rename the front portion of Old Holland Road back to Holland Road as in the sixties.

Very interesting (and confusing) indeed. I often do my brisk walking exercise here and on more than one occasions encountered drivers who had lost their way; including a couple of taxi drivers!

I used to wonder why this road was called Old Holland Road when it looks more like a side road joining the main road; and it seems as if Holland Road and Ulu Pandan Road are actually one continuous road. I believe some of you may not even know where Ulu Pandan Road ends and where Holland Road begins. But looking at a 1964 street directory, it becomes clearer. In those days, Holland Road and Old Holland Road were one continuous road called Holland Road and Ulu Pandan Road was a side road. According to Peter Chan, it was a non-metalled track which started at Reformatory Road, the old name for Clementi Road. This track was to serve Mowbray Camp which existed prior to WW2.

All the above is only my hypothesis. I hope some reader familiar with this part of Singapore can confirm.

At the junction where the old Old Holland Road joined Ulu Pandan Road and Holland Road (see photo no. 1 above), there used to be two army camps. One was 2SIR which was on the small hill. My elder brother David used to serve his NS (National Service) in the early 70’s here. The other was 1SIR.

Of these two camps, 2 SIR was the more interesting one. A number of interesting ghost stories originated from here. Want to know more. Look out for our next installment coming up soon.

SINGAPORE KRANJI RAILWAY by Guest Blogger Peter

I have been always fascinated by the subject on trains. I could never forget the sights of level crossing, stations, rail-bridges and wooden black-painted staff quarters. But it was only in recent times that something else got me excited as I wrote my childhood memories; an outing with my father in the early 1960s. He showed me the route of a railway line that ran between Keong Siak Street and Bukit Pasoh Road in the early 1920s.

SKR passing under road-bridge at Neil Road

Being a passionate topography buff myself, I knew where and how I should dig for information but unfortunately much of the information didn’t even exist in our National Archives. Through good contacts, I reviewed various Singapore maps of different eras, interviewed people who worked for the British Military – there was a time when there was a military railway system in Singapore between 1948 and 1960, and of course my old friendly neighbor “Uncle Teo” (aged 88 years) who happened to take the train from the Bukit Timah Station to Saint Joseph Institution in Bras Basah Road (circa 1931). Putting the pieces together, I finally was able to assemble together the jig-saw on what was the first railway service in Singapore called the “Singapore-Kranji Railway”. The “Singapore-Kranji Railway” or SKR in short was later absorbed by the Federated Malay States Railway (FMSR) to become Malayan Railway and now called Keretapi Tanah Malaysia (KTM).

SKR on future Dunearn Road; passing Whitley Road. At the top is Stevens Road

Though most people or historians would have spoken about the route between Tanjung Pagar to Tank Road and Orchard Road to Newton, there was certainly a lack of information between Newton and Woodlands. In the past one year, my friend Bobby Teoh and I spent our spare time working the ground with cadastral maps, different surveying techniques and cameras to gather more evidences of what we believed was the original route. Bobby Teoh himself spent several weeks in Kuala Lumpur reviewing through old KTM files and photos abandoned at a railway yard in Klang. Our survey, analysis and conclusions show that the original routing included the following landmarks:

1. Newton Station was somewhere between Gilstead Road and Newton Road. The site is in front of the former Singapore Family Planning Board. This building still exists but for different use


2. Cluny Station was at the Adam Road Food Center


3. Holland Station was at the former public carpark where the Singapore Turf Club once stood. This public carpark is at the corner of Swiss Club Road and Dunearn Road


4. Bukit Timah Station stood on the SHELL Station next to Pei Hwa Avenue


5. Bukit Panjang Station is at the foot of Bukit Gombak and the Level Crossing at Choa Chu Kang Road. There is a KTM hut just behind the Bukit Panjang public carpark and the small canal next to Galistan Avenue


6. Kranji Station next to Jalan Surau or the Kranji Water Reclamation Plant


7. Woodlands Station at Admiralty Road West jetty (or the old Malaysian Naval Base area)

SKR Time-table for train service (circa 1905)

Newton Station dated 1920 - facing Bukit Timah Canal - right side will be future Newton Circus

Dunearn Road was actually the site of the old railway track. In some places, SKR ran on Dunearn Road whilst in other places it ran on what was formerly the narrow strip of land between Dunearn Road and the Bukit Timah Canal; e.g. between Chancery Lane and the Adams Road were nurseries and restaurants. In the early 1950s, the Public Works Department of the Colonial Government of Singapore decided to convert the former SKR land for a new dual road-carriageway – that was Dunearn Road from Rifle Range Road to Newton Circus. Whilst there were might be debate about “proposed railway line” and “actual line” between Bukit Timah Station and Bukit Panjang Station, we are certain that we have found the right places. Cheong Chin Nam Road and Upper Bukit Timah Road nearest to the Old Ford Motor factory was the original routing. I recommend readers to look-up this Internet site for additional information.

What the wise professor said

I read two graduation speeches that blogger Tuckshop Boy has posted at his website. The speakers were Steve Jobs and Carly Fiorina. They reminded me of some pearls of wisdom that my own university professors handed out to us more than 3 decades ago.

I was studying at the newly set up Industrial and Systems Engineering Department of the then University of Singapore. Our head of department was a Professor Donald E. Morgan from the United States. One day, he made us write an essay, which was quite a novel thing then, maybe because it was generally accepted that engineers ‘cannot write’.

He wanted to know what we thought would be the impact of computers on society. Mind you, this was around 1974 or 75, way before the pc was even invented; when our own computer programs were written in Fortran IV on punch cards fed into our faculty’s IBM1130.

Shy to say, my answer reflected my ignorance and lack of foresight. I said something to this effect. “This computer thing is nothing special. It’s just another of man’s many inventions; no different from the bow and arrows that our ancestors used.”

I will always remember Professor Morgan’s comment when my essay came back. “But this is something that is going to have a huge impact on our society. A time will come when the computer will impact practically every aspect of our lives.”

I think at that time, the wise professor himself did not realize just how accurate his prediction was.

Next time, I will share with you what Professon Goh Thong Ngee wrote in our graduation magazine .. if I can find it that is.

Footnote: Through the power of the computer that Professor Morgan spoke about, I learned that he has just passed away about 2 weeks ago at the age of 90. Read his obituary here.

Interesting Links:

1) IBM 1130
2) Punch Cards