In Singapore, Herbert Athill Stallwood is probably better known for his effort in documenting the Old Christian Cemetery on Fort Canning Hill. What perhaps is not as well known is the legacy that he has left Singapore in his capacity as the Government Architect. It the set of plans that he drew up during this time that a large proportion of Singapore’s so-called “Black and White Houses” were built to.

The first of the Stallwood designed houses are seen at Malcolm Park, built in 1925.

Stallwood, who arrived in Singapore in October 1906 and was appointed as a draughtsman in the Public Works Department (PWD) in November 1906, would take on the position of Architectural Assistant following his qualification as an architect in 1912. In 1920, Stallwood was appointed as Government Architect. Among Stallwood’s assistants was Frank Dorrington Ward, whose is perhaps the better known PWD architect whose later works included the old Supreme Court and Kallang Airport. It was during Stallwood’s time as Government Architect that the plans for what would become the PWD’s Government Class III Quarters were derived from.

These houses, which tended to be built into sloping terrain, featured concrete piers supporting timber upper structures in which the living spaces were arranged. They were provided with spacious verandahs, high ceilings and lots of ventilation openings to maximise airflow and light.  The residences are seen replicated in some form across many estates built to house senior government, military and municipal officers from the second half of the 1920s onwards.

More photographs

Singapore in 1941 seems a year that was well documented by the international media. We have seen an extensive set of photographs taken by Carl Mydans’ for LIFE magazine, which show both scenes in Singapore and Malaya, as it was being readied for war. Another extensive collection is that of Mydans’ compatriot, Harrison Forman, whose extensive collection of photographs also include rare photographs taken on colour film. Forman, a photo-journalist with a degree in Oriental Philosophy, wrote for the New York Times and National Geographic. His extensive collection of 50,000 photographs are in the His collection of diaries and fifty thousand photographs are found in the American Geographical Society Library of the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee.

A selection from the Harrison Forman Collection of Singapore in 1941  

Corner of North Bridge Road and Middle Road.

St Joseph’s Institution (now SAM) with brick blast walls put up.

A view up Cross Street with a trolley bus in view.

A view up Collyer Quay. Buildings from left to right are the Union Building (later Maritime Building), Hongkong and Shanghai Bank Chambers and the GPO (now Fullerton Hotel).

North Bridge Road.

North Bridge Road.

Middle Road – there were quite a number of shoe factories and shoe stores.

The then former Supreme Court (now Old Parliament House / The Arts House).

John Littles at Raffles Place with a pillbox seen in front of it.

Raffles Place towards the Mercantile Bank (Malacca Street end).

North Bridge Road – where the Raffles Hotel extension is today. Note the number of Japanese owned businesses. The pre-war Japanese community, which was centred on Middle Road and several of the streets around numbered several thousand at its peak.

Middle Road, where the Mercure Bugis now stands.

Bencoolen Street.

Bencoolen Street, where Sunshine Plaza now stands.

Capitol.

A drinks vendor on Collyer Quay.

A bullock cart on Collyer Quay.

The Battery Road corner of Raffles Place looking towards Chartered Bank Chambers (Six Battery Road).

Raffles Place / Battery Road.

Connaught Drive.

Connaught Drive.

Cathay / Dhoby Ghaut.

A chandu (opium) shop.

A chandu (opium) shop.

A chandu (opium) shop.

China Street.

The meeting of Pickering, Church and Synagogue Streets.

Electra House – Cable and Wireless (and previously the Eastern Extension Telegraph Co’s HQ – now SO Sofitel).

Rex Hotel on Bras Basah Road (were Carlton is today).

Orchard Road Market (Orchard Point today).

Cross Street and Robinson Road.

North Bridge Road.

South Bridge Road.

Whiteaways at Fullerton Square (later Malayan Banking Chambers – where Maybank Tower now stands).

Gian Singh at Bank of China Building.

Battery Road.

Raffles Place.

Corner of Cecil and D’Almeida Street.

Meyer Chambers at Raffles Place.

Japan Street (now Boon Tat Street).

Robinson Road.

Singapore River.

Trade on the river.

Coleman Street and the Adelphi Hotel.

Dhoby Ghaut (Cathay towards Prinsep Street).

The Medical Hall at Battery Road.

Packing Opium.

Rare pre-war colour photo of Amber Mansions on Orchard Road (where Dhoby Ghaut MRT Station is today).

Rare colour photo of the corner of South Bridge and Circular Roads.

Rare colour photo of Battery Road – notice the row of rickshaws, which were withdrawn after the war.

Haw Par Villa – in full colour.

Reclamation off the Esplanade (what would provide land for Queen Elizabeth Walk).

Dhoby Ghaut with Cathay.

Construction of an air raid shelter on the Raffles Reclamation at Beach Road.

A final look at the set of four Housing and Development Board (HDB) built blocks of flats that have long been a curious sight at the junction of Upper East Coast Road and Siglap Road. Each five-storeys tall, the blocks were completed in early 1964 to rehouse families  displaced by a fire that had destroyed wooden dwellings on the same site during Chinese New Year in February 1962. More than 450 people from 82 families were rendered homeless by the fire. The four blocks, which contained some 119 units and 10 shop units when built, will be demolished under the Selective En-bloc Redevelopment Scheme (SERS) and were vacated some time in 2015.

How the blocks looked originally

Singapore’s first pedestrian overhead bridge, a simple structure of steel tubing and timber plank decking, was installed over Collyer Quay in 1964. A dozen more with improved first generation structures were to be added between 1965 and 1967, including one at 3 ms Serangoon Road – by its junction with St Michael’s Road that was long, like the nearby National Aerated Water bottling plant, a familiar sight.

The newly installed bridge at Serangoon 3 ms in 1967.

These first generation bridges were quite a familiar sight in my childhood and one of the things I have associated them, were beggars – another familiar childhood sight. Over the years, these simple structures were improved and strengthened where possible. Many were replaced as wider roads meant increased bridge spans for which the use of reinforced concrete structures made better sense. One of the last of these bridges – over Bukit Timah Road was damaged by a vehicle mounted crane in 2010 and dismantled, leaving the bridge along Serangoon Road as the last of a kind, until that is, its removal in June 2019.

The bridge in more recent times

Removal of the bridge in June 2019

Joseph Thunderface was the son of Native American Chief MJ Thunderface. The elder Thunderface, a native American actor and circus performer, had come over to the East to perform in a rodeo show. The show performed in Singapore in 1924, with Joe, then 10 years of age, also part of the act.

Joe took up boxing and had been previously unbeaten. Joe Thunderface fought two bouts in Singapore against local boxer Frank Weber at the Great World Arena in 1934. He won the first, a ten-round fight on 31 August, outscoring Weber on points.

The return bout, to have been fought over twelve rounds just weeks later on 21 September, had an entirely different outcome. Joe, was knocked down in the ninth round, taking a three-count before continuing. In the twelfth and final round, Joe was knocked down twice – getting up on both occasions. He would however collapse after getting up the second time, hitting his head and fracturing his skull in the process. He was rushed to the General Hospital, where he died early the next morning, aged 21. He was buried at Bidadari Christian Cemetery.

Among the earliest permanent residences that the Admiralty’s contractor Sir John Jackson and Co put up in Sembawang as part of the construction of the naval base, are a lovely and quite unique collection of houses that are found in the vicinity of the dockyard.  Built from 1928 and completed in early 1929, three categories of these were built, the largest being those intended to house “superior” officers at Kings Avenue. There were also a number built to house subordinate officers at Canada Road, and a row at Wellington Road for chargemen.

The red-brick chargemen’s residences in the former naval base.

The same residences seen around the time of their completion in April 1929 (online at https://www.nas.gov.sg/archivesonline/).

The set of houses are quite unique in character and unlike the commonly seen PWD type designs seen in the residences erected in the naval based in the 1930s and also across many housing estates built for both the government and the military from the late 1920s into the 1930s, have a design that is quite strongly influenced by the Arts-and-Crafts architectural movement. Among their distinct features are steeply pitched hip roofs and fair-faced brick finishes.

Another view of the naval base chargemen’s residences.

It is not presently known what the future holds for these houses, which are now in their 92nd year of existence. Based on the URA Master Plan, the houses lie in an area earmarked for future residential use that is subject to detailed planning.

Residences for subordinate officers, set in the lush green surroundings that are also a feature of the naval base and many other housing estates built for European government and military officers in Singapore.

Subordinate officers’ residences at their completion in April 1929 (online at https://www.nas.gov.sg/archivesonline/).

Superior officers’ residences at their completion in April 1929 (online at https://www.nas.gov.sg/archivesonline/).

A Superior Officers’ residence seen today.

Some other views 

Timber is used extensively in frames and floorboards …

… and also banisters.

Servants’ quarters and kitchens are arranged external to the houses.

Changi Airport today has the reputation of being one of the world’s foremost airports. It wasn’t however the first airport in Singapore to win that accolade. Singapore’s very first civil airport, Kallang Airport, was in fact thought of by no less a personality as Amelia Earhart as the “peer of any in the world” when she flew into it on 20 June 1937 — just eight days after it had opened.

The streamline-moderne terminal building of the former Kallang Airport.

Kallang Aerodrome plan showing with its circular landing area, with an aerial view of the site today. The circular outline of the former airfield can still be seen.

Just like Changi, the land for Kallang Airport grew out of an area of water — a huge “pestilential fever ridden swamp” and a “plague spot of squelching mud covered only at high water” in Kallang’s case. The site, where the Geylang, Kallang and Rochor rivers spilled out into the sea, was selected as it was close to the urban centre and, well placed to receive flying boats (aircraft with boat hulls to enable landing and take-off on water) — then the mainstay of luxury travel and the airmail service.

Work proper to reclaim the swamp commences in 1932 and was on completed in 1936. The reclamation involved some eight million tons of soil obtained from Paya Lebar and created some 137 ha of land much of which was a circular landing area to permit landing from all directions — a feature found in the modern aerodromes of the era. This circular outline is still in existence today. A flying boat ramp and slipway (which was more recently used as part of the since vacated Police Coast Guard repair facilities) was constructed to service the flying boat service. This is still in existence today. The jewel in the new aerodrome’s crown was perhaps its gorgeous streamline-moderne terminal building. Designed by PWD architect Frank Dorrington Ward, who also designed the old Supreme Court, the terminal resembles a bi-plane. Used by the People’s Association as its headquarters from 1960 until 2009, the building is now one of several structures belonging to the former airport that has been conserved.

A conserved hangar.

The first regular air services into Singapore

While Kallang may have been Singapore’s first civil airport, the first regular commercial flights actually operated out of RAF Seletar – when that was completed in 1930. That was operated by KNILM — Koninklijke Nederlandsch-Indische Luchtvaart Maatschappij or Royal Dutch East Indies Airway, which inaugurated a weekly Batavia-Palembang-Singapore service on 4 March of that year. Singapore would have to wait until 1933 before it saw the first London-bound flights. This was operated by KLM (Royal Dutch Airlines) flying from Batavia with a Fokker F-XVIII. The outbound journey took seven days and inbound eight days. Imperial Airways — one of the parent companies of the present day British Airways also commenced regular services to and from London later in the same year. The one-way journey took about ten days.

Up on the roof of the former terminal during a #SLASecretSpaces guided visit (photo : Stanley Chee).

Kallang Airport’s runway

Originally equipped with an unpaved landing area — aircraft tended to be small and light in the early days of aviation, Kallang Airport was equipped with a paved landing strip during the Japanese Occupation (it was used as a fighter airfield by the Allies in the lead up to the Fall of Singapore). This went some way in preparing the airport to receive the postwar airliners and the first ever jetliner to land in Singapore — first on a strengthened version of the Japanese-laid runway and then in 1951 on an extended version of it (into what is today Old Airport Road).

The arrival of the jet-age

While Kallang may have heralded the arrival of the jet-age to Singapore with the landing of the BOAC De Havilland Comet on a test flight, its runway was however deemed inadequate and regular jetliner services, which we started in October 1952, used RAF Changi to land and take-off from — with arriving and departing passengers bussed to and from the terminal at Kallang Airport.  The use of jetliners reduced travel time to less that one-day, when it would have taken at about two days on the modern propeller powered aircraft of those days.

The control tower.

The BOAC Constellation crash

By the time of the arrival of the first regular Comets, a decision had been taken to build a new civil airport in Paya Lebar with work on it starting early in 1952 — a decision was taken none too soon as Kallang’s deficiencies were clearly exposed when on 13 March 1954, a BOAC Super Constellation hit a seawall on landing. The inquest into the crash, which killed 33, blamed the crash on pilot error. The inadequate ground support and response in both equipment and trained personnel was however, also cited as a reason for the high death toll.

A view of the terminal from the West Block.

Last flights

Kallang Airport would see its last regular flight on 21 August 1955 when Paya Lebar Airport opened. Its last plane – which had been undergoing repairs – would however, only be able to depart on 14 October. The closure of Kallang, allowed the construction of Nicoll Highway — a much needed arterial road into the city, which was completed the following year in 1956 (see: The treble-carriageway by the Promenade).

The terminal building as People’s Association HQ, 1960 to 2009.

The Main Hall

Although modestly proportioned by the standards of today, the terminal building’s Main Hall would have been its the main feature.

The Main Hall.

Occupying a double-volume space, it was designed to resemble the main hall of a railway station. In the space, offices for operating companies and a post office could be found with “accommodation for outgoing and incoming traffic”. There were also offices for immigration and customs, and medical services with a refreshment room and bar, and waiting rooms arranged. The main hall was naturally lit by a clerestory above the second level.

The main hall, seen from the second storey today.

Amelia Earhart on Singapore and Kallang Airport

Amelia Earhart, the first female pilot to fly solo across the Atlantic, landed at Kallang Aerodrome on the evening of 20 June 1937 – just eight days after it opened. The flight was part of an attempt by Ms Earhart to become the first aviatrix to circumnavigate the Earth. Ms Earhart was clearly impressed with Singapore and its new airport. In her diary entry, which she had sent back, she had this to say:

“Then Singapore. The vast city lies on an island, the broad expanses of its famous harbour filled, as I saw them from aloft that afternoon, with little water bugs, ships of all kinds from every port.

Below us, an aviation miracle of the East, lay the magnificent new airport, the peer of any in the world. As a reminder that this was indeed the East when I shut off the engines, music from a nearby Chinese theatre floated up to greet us. West is West, and East is certainly East. The barren margins of our isolated Western airports could scarcely assimilate such urban frivolities.

From the standpoint of military strategy, Singapore holds a predominant position in the Far East. Today, less than 100 years old, it is the tenth seaport city in the world. Yesterday it was a jungle, its mangrove swamps shared by savage Malay fishermen, tigers and pythons; today it is the crossroad of trade with Europe, Africa, India, Australia, China, and Japan. Tin and rubber are the mainstays of its export”.

Sadly, the Lockheed Electra with Ms Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan, disappeared over the South Pacific on 2 July 1937 less than two weeks after her departure from Singapore early on 21 June 1937 for Bandung.

Flying Boats at Kallang

Flying Boats with their more voluminous airframes and ability to land anywhere where there was a sufficiently large and clear body of water, carried air mail and provided for luxurious air travel. A one-way journey from London to Singapore back then would have taken as long as ten days with multiple stops and cost in the region of SGD 22,000 in today’s money.

A Short Empire Flying Boat taxiing on the water “runway” off Kallang for take off, c. 1941.

Besides services to Europe, there were also trans-Pacific flights. Pan Am introduced a fortnightly service from San Francisco to Singapore in 1941, with stops at Honolulu, Midway, Wake, Guam and Manila. A one-way ticket cost US$825 – the equivalent of just over SGD 20,000 in 2020 terms.

A Pan Am Clipper flying boat off Kallang.

Commercial flying boat services to Kallang Airport ceased in 1949.

Great news!

Phaedra, a Greek tragedy, refreshingly reinterpreted through a combination of traiditional Chinese southern and northern performing art forms (Nanyin and Peking Opera) combined with modern dance, will being screened online by Lianhe Zaobao at 2 pm on Sunday 19 July 2020 (on their Facebook, Website and Youtube channels).

Photos taken during a rehearsal at the Stamford Arts Centre on 5 April 2019.

The performance is a collaboration between the locally based Nanyin troupe Siong Leng Musical Association, and Taiwan Guoguang Opera Company, made its Singapore debut during the reopening of Stamford Arts Centre in April 2019.

A synopsis is given on the Siong Leng Musical Association’s website:

For three hundred and sixty-five nights, the Queen wrestles with entangled emotions that are impossible to unravel. In her dreams, it is he who repeatedly shoves her to the ground. She can neither get up nor maintain her balance. Before she could take a good look at his face, or barely begin to fantasise about him “biting her lips”, her dreams would end abruptly.

The object of her desire is none other than the Prince, her cold and arrogant stepson.

Painfully aware of her status and responsibilities, she keeps her emotions in check. But when news broke that the King (her husband and his father) has died on the battlefield, she could no longer restrain herself. In his presence, she bares her soul and professes her love for him, only to have her neck slashed on top of being condemned a ‘shameless slut’ in return.

With her heart shattered and dignity crushed, the Queen has a final mission to fulfil. The King is alive after all ….

(http://www.siongleng.com/productions/2019-phaedra.html)

More photos from the 2019 rehearsal:

Thought of as “ulu” or remote, Sembawang is still a place where much of the past seems still to be around. It is for this reason that it is still one of the prettiest area of Singapore even if some of its beauty spots — such as the once beautifully wooded hill on which old Admiralty House is perched, have since yielded to the march of urbanisation.

I always enjoy a walk around the lesser developed parts of the area and a stroll along its still natural shoreline. Mornings are especially pleasant by the sea, when it can serve as a very nice backdrop for an especially dramatic sunrise. The area’s lush greenery, found not only in Sembawang Park, but also in the areas where the residences of the former naval base still stand, should also be celebrated — especially with the threat of redevelopment now looming over it.

Where Admiralty Road East and West meets – an area around which some of the oldest residences built for the former naval base can be found.

An area that has been spared from redevelopment is the stretch of Admiralty Road East and Admiralty Road West that runs between Canberra Road and Sembawang Road.  Much of the area has been today marked out either for future residential redevelopment or as a reserve site (see Master Plan 2019). The use of the area to serve existing military arrangements, as a port and the continued use of the former naval base dockyard by Sembawang Shipyard has seen that its flavour has been kept, although some of its old structures fronting the road were lost to a road widening exercise that took place at the end of the 1980s. The end of the lease that the shipyard holds on the what it calls Admiralty Yard is however, on the horizon. That will expire in 2028, although the yard does intend to move its operations to Tuas by 2024. Detailed planning for the area will likely take place to coincide with this move and until then, it would not be known what the future for a still green area will hold.

Among the earliest residences to be built for the naval base were these 1929 built dockyard chargemen’s residences along Wellington Road. Many of the area’s roads are named after cities in the Commonwealth.

More photographs:

A 2013 photograph showing the beautiful settings in which the old residences of the former naval base in Sembawang have been given.

A bridge built by Japanese Surrendered Personnel on the grounds of the former residence of the dockyard’s Commodore Superintendent.

The former vicarage of the Dockyard Church of St Peter. The old church, which fronted this along Admiralty Road East, was consecrated in the 1950s and was demolished in the late 1980s to allow the road to be widened.

Timber walled residences – built in the 1940s.

Canada Road.

Many of the residences built in the 1930s are of designs adapted from PWD plans.

Another view of a 1930s built residence.

Admiralty Road West – there used to be visible entrances to underground bunkers in the area opposite the dockyard entrance.

There is little doubt that The White Rabbit, an exclusive dining destination in the former Tanglin Barracks, occupies a building that was built as a small church. The only question is when. Little does seem to have been documented about the building, or its history other than the fact that it was used in the post-British military pull-out era as a chapel — the Ebenezer Chapel — for two different Protestant denominations, before its conversion. There is also that suggestion that the church building dates back to the 1930s, although it does seem to predate that. One less known but well established fact, is that it served the barracks’ Roman Catholic congregation in its post-second-world-war era until the pull-out as the Church of Christ the King (no relation to the Roman Catholic church in Ang Mo Kio of the same name, a period of time when it play host to quite a few weddings.

The White Rabbit at 39C Harding Road.

It is its location, relative to the former Tanglin Barracks’ garrison church of St George — across what used to be the barracks’ parade ground, that holds a clue to its origins. Now a parish church of the Anglican church’s diocese of Singapore and a National Monument, St George’s was built in the second decade of the twentieth century to replace an older and smaller garrison church that based on the church’s publications was erected in 1884 and was located west of St George’s. The position of The White Rabbit, on the western edge of the parade grounds — a venue for the church parade services that the British military had a tradition of — and on a site that is shown in pre-St George’s era maps (including one produced in 1892) to be occupied by a similarly proportioned structure, provides a strong hint that The White Rabbit was that older 1884 church. Along with this, the existence of a photograph taken in 1903 in Tanglin Barracks provides further evidence that the structure, in what is more or less its current form and possessing identical architectural features, was very likely to be that of the 1884 garrison church. The structure is identified as a “Chapel School” in maps of the barracks during the interwar period — a possible carry over from its use prior to St George’s being built. The use is consistent with that of buildings built to serve the religious needs of servicemen and their children in various other late 19th and early 20th century military barracks across the Commonwealth.

A view of the east end of the building with what is possibly the remodelled north side where the 1903 photograph could have been taken.

While St George’s continued in its use as a church following the late 1971 pull-out of British forces, the older church fell into disuse before becoming the Hebron Bible-Presbyterian Church’s chapel in 1979 until 1983 and then the New Life Baptist Church’s chapel from the late 1985 to 1993. It wasn’t until 2007 that the delightful old church saw life breathed into it again, when The White Rabbit took up tenancy. The restaurant opened the following year in 2008 and it hasn’t looked back since.

A view through the grilles of one of the lancet windows. The grille-work dates back to the building’s days as the Roman Catholic garrison church.

A westward view across the former parade grounds to The White Rabbit.

An eastward view across the former parade grounds to St George’s Church.

Another view of The White Rabbit.

A comparison of the building seen in a Tanglin Barracks photograph dated 1903 with The White Rabbit today. Several of the building’s external features such the position of the pair of lancet windows with respect to a gothic arched doorway at what would have been the altar of the church, the gothic arched windows next to it and the label moulds and label stops above the openings match quite perfectly. (Do note that the top image is flipped along the horizontal axis – one explanation for this is that the photograph is taken on the other side of the building which has since been remodelled. This would also explain the slight differences in the structural column).

An 1892 map showing a building on the site of the present day The White Rabbit (just west of the Parade Ground) that is thought to have been the same building.

Built by Alexander Cashin in 1906 to provide for the transportation of rubber from the Cashin estate to Kranji, The Pier in Lim Chu Kang became a retreat for the Cashin family in the 1920s when it was converted into a sea pavilion. As one of two sea pavilions to have survived intact to this day, it is a rare example of an age of seaside retreats as well as a reminder of a time when there were boundaries between Singapore and its northern neighbour meant little — the Sultan of Johor made visits to it on his boat.

The pavilion, which saw action during the invasion of Singapore — it was one of the landing points during the first wave of attacks the Japanese launched on Singapore on the night of 8 Feb 1942 — became a home to Howard Cashin and family in the 1960s. Among the work that Howard Cashin had to carry out to transform The Pier into a home was the removal of a Shinto shrine that the Japanese had erected.

The house has been left vacant since 2009 following Mr Cashin’s passing. In 2013 it was announced that the house was to be a gateway to and expanded Sungei Buloh Nature Park and we hear from NParks today that it will now be part of what has been rebranded as Lim Chu Kang Nature Park.

More on The Pier: A Lost World in Lim Chu Kang

From NParks Press Release
(Full Press release here)

Lim Chu Kang Nature Park – a new nature area towards the west of Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve

The 18-hectare green corridor that forms a continuous coastal extension west of the Reserve towards the Lim Chu Kang nature area, will be conserved as Lim Chu Kang Nature Park. It comprises a variety of habitats such as mangroves, woodlands, scrublands and grasslands. The diversity of habitats provides homes to coastal birds such as the Grey-headed Fish Eagle and grassland dwellers like the Baya Weaver. The new Nature Park, formerly referred to as Western Extension, will feature outdoor nature-play spaces inspired by the various habitats and its inhabitants, encouraging children and youths to spend more time outdoors and reconnect with nature.

Lim Chu Kang Nature Park will also encompass Cashin House, a building that will be enhanced sensitively for both natural and built heritage and will be used for educational programmes. Cashin House will include new facilities such as an exhibition space, seminar rooms for workshops and a seaview terrace. The surrounding area will be kept rustic and existing vegetation retained and sensitively enhanced. Visitors will be able to enjoy exploring Cashin House and its surroundings while learning about the historical significance of the area.

NParks will shortly be calling a tender for works on Cashin House and its surrounding areas. Works are expected to commence in 4Q 2020, and slated to be completed in early 2022, subject to the evolving COVID-19 situation.

The first regular flights from/to Singapore to/from Europe operated out of RAF Seletar. The RAF air station, which was completed in 1930, played host to the first regular air services connecting Singapore with the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) from 1930. Connections with Europe would take a few more years and in May 1933, the Royal Dutch airlines, KLM – the world’s oldest airline in May 1933 introduced regular services from Singapore to Europe. Using a Fokker F.XVIII, the outbound journey took seven days and inbound eight days – with multiple stops.

Flying then was not for everyone of course. It would have cost an arm and a leg and maybe a little more with a single ticket from Singapore to London priced in excess of £164. That would be the equivalent of £11,815 or more than SGD 21,000 in 2020!

Air Travel between Southeast Asia and Europe in the 1930s.

Aukang (or Owkang), as Hougang was called before the adoption of hanyin-pinyin names forced a reset, is one of several previously rural parts of Singapore that is associated with the Teochew community. It is also an area where there is a very noticeable Roman Catholic presence.  It is where rural Singapore’s oldest Catholic building – a gorgeously built one at that in the form of the tropical gothic Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary or “Nativity Church” in short – can be found. It is also where a Catholic seminary was set, along with several Catholic institutions and schools.  The area is also where Kangkar – a fishing port associated with auctions of fish that took place in the wee hours of the morning – was. It also served as a gateway to Punggol – a part of Singapore known for its seafood restaurants (at Punggol Point) and its numerous farms – particularly pig and chicken farms.

Nativity Church.

Hougang today does seem very different. The enforced change of name also coincided with its metamorphosis from a rural district which fed Singapore, into yet another part of the new Singapore. In that maze of Housing and Development Board (HDB) neighbourhoods however, there is still bits of the old Aukang and its much storied past that can be discovered.

There is perhaps no better person to take us on a journey of discovery than a son of the soil – so to speak – such as Shawn Seah. Shawn, who traces his ancestry to the illustrious Teochew pioneer, Seah Eu Chin, explores his Aukang roots in “My Father’s Kampung: A History of Aukang and Punggol” – due to be released later this month.

The book, which Shawn says, “is basically my journey of how I came to appreciate my father’s kampung better”, takes the reader through its early development to 1975 — before it became Hougang, Sengkang, Buangkok and (HDB) Punggol. Along the way, stops are made to look at the influence of the Catholic missions and its schools such as Holy Innocent and Monfort, its multi-ethnic and multi-religious makeup (it wasn’t exclusive Teochew / Catholic), the memories of its rural centres and kampungs, as well as the impact of war and the Japanese occupation.

The book will be launched at a “kopi talk” Zoom event on 19 Sep 2020 at 3pm (details in the infographic above, which is jointly organised by World Scientific and Montfort Alumni. The event will also feature Mr Ng Kok Song and Brother Dominic Yeo Koh, both old boys of Montfort and as Shawn puts it, “essentially the quintessential Aukang nang”.

Written by Shawn Seah and supported by the National Heritage Board, “My Father’s Kampung: A History of Aukang and Punggol, tells the story of historical Aukang and Punggol from the 1850s, before the area’s transformation into Hougang, Sengkang, Buangkok, and Punggol.

A guest post by Edmund Arozoo.

Once of Jalan Hock Chye, Edmund takes us on a walk back in time from Adelaide in South Australia, to his days as a radiographer in the small and little known Changi Chalet Hospital. The hospital, which was set up in 1974 in the former RAF Changi Chalet Club, became part of Changi Hospital in 1976.

Changi Chalet Hospital

It is surprising what you may accidentally uncover (discover) when you are searching for certain specific items, and how you then get distracted from the task at hand. Usually these surprise discoveries are memory joggers, leading you onto different tangents altogether as they remind you of certain memorable (or unpleasant) times of yesteryear.

I was going through some old photographic slides in the hope of finding slides I wanted to use for a particular project, when I came across two slides that I had forgotten about. And that was it –– my focus was disrupted as I started to reflect on these two images that have withstood the passing of time. Both slides have retained their quality in colour and detail thanks to the arid climate of Adelaide.

One of these slides brought me back to the early 1970s when I was working as a Radiographer I/C at Changi Chalet Hospital. I was also the unofficial resident photographer then and captured memories of staff etc.  The slide shows the Nursing staff getting ready for our Christmas Celebration Lunch. The Kodachrome slide processed in Australia was marked as Jan 1975. So I am sure this would be the celebrations of Christmas 1974.

Christmas Staff Party 1974.

On seeing the slide I was then diverted in trying to locate other images of Changi Chalet Hospital. Unfortunately most show the faces of staff members, as such without their permission I am reluctant to share these on the internet.  Nor am I known for posting and sharing images of me on the various social media sites with this guest post being an exception.

>In 2015, I did take a trip down memory lane to try and see what changes had taken place since I last worked at the hospital. My, what changes indeed there has been. A good friend drove me there and I was surprised that I could not get my bearings of the area that I was so familiar with, a long time ago. Trying to fit the missing links in my memory banks, I seem to have lost all my bearings.

As we drove slowly along the leafy roads, memories of the squads of SAF commandoes going through their daily exercise drills along the roads, came back to me. Most of all the tranquillity surrounding the old buildings and tall trees and the greenery was striking then and this was still there.

Fond memories of the Chalet Hospital still remain despite being more than 44 years old. It was a “mini” self-contained hospital with a pharmacy, laboratory and radiology services. Workload was not that heavy and I must confess that on a number of occasions when the tide was right I took a dip in the sea during my lunch break.

I was fortunate to be an owner of a second hand green Ford Anglia and used to drive to work from home which was near the start of Tampines Rd and the journey took me to the end of the road then veering left at the junction of the old Changi Air Force Airport into Upper Changi Road. Then after passing the old Changi Village turn left again on to Netheravon Road then into Turnhouse Road.

It was a long drive but almost halfway I used to pick up the Junior Photographic Assistant (my Darkroom Technician) who lived along Tampines Road on the way to work in the mornings and drop him off after work, so I had company for most of the journey to and fro. It was also a long walk from the bus terminus at the Changi Village to the Hospital, so me and other staff who had cars used  to pick up other hospital staff who were seen walking to work from the bus stop. It did foster a “family” atmosphere and environment.

As I started this blog thanks to the Onemap Singapore website https://hm.onemap.sg/ I was able to take a walk or rather a “drive” down memory lane. The old maps help put pieces together.

My daily commute from home to work and back (Map from the 1975 Map collection of old maps from the OneMap Singapore website).

There were still sand quarries along Tampines Road then and often you would share the narrow road with lorries carting sand. The spillage from the load of these lorries often presented a road hazard especially after a light shower. The mixture of sand and water was a recipe for skidding. Imprinted in my mind is the sight of the lorry I was trailing do a 360 degree spin. Thankfully I had kept my distance from it and was able to ease off without my car going into a spin too.

Another memory along the route was the turnoff to Kampong Loyang. In my early school days the whole family clan used to spend a week of the August School holidays in a holiday kampong shack in Kampong Loyang. Passing this turnoff always reminded me of those carefree days.

1975 Map showing Kampong Loyang turn off from the OneMap Singapore website.

Part of my duties was to provide x-ray services for the newly established Changi Prison Hospital. So with my JPA I used to drive to the prison on allocated days when x-rays of inmates were requested. The workload was not heavy but the challenges were very different to that of a hospital based X-ray Department. One of the benefits however was the ability to access some of the services of the Prison Industries that were organised to assist in the rehabilitation of inmates by teaching them skills they could utilise on their release and be employable. I remember getting my computer notes and books hardbound for a small sum. And these lasted me for the duration of the Computer studies I was undertaking then and beyond. The hard cover binding was of a professional level.

But the proximity of Changi Village shops was a bonus for us Hospital staff with cars. It was place we frequented for lunch and the occasional shopping.  I was just starting into serious photography then and the friendly Photographic shop owner became a great friend. I cannot remember the name of the shop but if my memory serves me well I think his name was Mr Lim. He was a great salesperson and very knowledgeable.  I still having gear bought from those days more than 40 years ago. Those were “film” camera days but most of these are still useable though some lenses do need adapters to be used with today’s digital cameras.

Changi Village – map from the OneMap Singapore website.

Recollection of the old Changi Village Shops.

Another memory that resurfaced was the change of plans of upgrading The International Airport at Paya Lebar to the establishment of the current Changi Airport.  Driving along Tampines Road we did skirt around the perimeter of the existing Paya Lebar Airport and I do remember seeing the row of terrace houses that were acquired to make way for the initial plan to extend the Airport. These were left vacant after the plans were changed. Likewise there was another beachside newly built hotel along Nicoll Drive, Tanah Merah that was never opened because of the switch to Changi. Most of the hospital staff were looking forward to having a meal at the new premises. This never eventuated. More recently after trying to research the name of the hotel and without coming up with any answers I was beginning to doubt my memory, and wondered if it was a figment of my imagination. However during a recent viewing of this Youtube video https://youtu.be/r26M_Lryu6Y, there was a brief mention of the razing of the hotel. It was great to receive this confirmation indeed.

Changi Chalet Hospital

Main Entrance to Hospital.

? Same Tree – 45 years later.

Panorama of the old “Padang” Sports Field.

Chalet Building erased – sigh………

Fond Memories.

Belonging to the various nostalgia-themed facebook groups has been great for me. There members share photos and experiences of places now mostly all gone. One group I am glad to be part of is the “Memories of Changi Village” group. A “wave” is sent to Ms Geraldine Soh, the administrator. Like the present Changi Airport this fb group platform is the crossroads where members from all corners of the world come together to share their precious memories and photos keeping our own flickering memories of Changi alive.

Have you ever wondered what lies behind Singapore’s most famous clock face, or what keeps the clock ticking?

The chance to discover all that comes with Trafalgar’s Near Not Far “Singapore’s Heritage Highlight” 2D1N staycation, which I am glad to say that I am involved in. For this I will introduce guests to two of the historic civic district’s iconic monuments — The Arts House, and Victoria Theatre and Victoria Concert Hall — and uncover some fascinating stories of the buildings and their spaces.

The highlight of the tour will be a never-done-before visit to VTVCH’s clock tower — exclusive to Trafalgar’s guests. There I will enlighten guests about the clock, its history, and its connection to London’s Big Ben. One of the things that will also be apparent in the over 100 step climb up the tower is the sheer simplicity of the clock.

More information on the Trafalgar staycation package can be found below. Details can be obtained through the Trafalgar website at https://www.trafalgar.com/staycations.

See also:

Holidaying without your passport: Trafalgar’s new tour of Singapore makes local heritage more alive and kicking than it has any right to be (Business Times 30 Oct 2020).

Reconnect to the Joy of Travel with Trafalgar in Singapore 

Travel restarts with unique staycation tours offering deeper, richer experiences through the lenses of art, culture and heritage 

Tour differently with a guided tour of The Arts House and Victoria Theatre & Victoria Concert Hall with a historic-first – clock tower access 

Responding to the impact of Covid-19, guided holiday company Trafalgar has launched a unique “Near Not Far” staycation tour itinerary to allow Singaporeans and local residents to reconnect to the joy of travel.  One such highlight experience of its 2D1N “Singapore Heritage Highlights” itinerary is an exclusive tour of The Arts House (TAH) and Victoria Theatre & Victoria Concert Hall (VTVCH), an experience enhanced with a climb up the VTVCH clock tower. Both venues are managed by Arts House Limited (AHL). 

Trafalgar’s Near Not Far Series is designed to provide travel-lovers around the world the opportunity to enjoy deeper, richer experiences in their home country. Additionally, Trafalgar, alongside its parent company, The Travel Corporation (TTC), has focused on curating experiences that integrate sustainability and address the impact of travel on local communities. Trafalgar’s new itineraries ensure that these communities’ benefit from the operator’s presence, as part of a new 5-year sustainability strategy for a regenerative return to travel.  A key priority for the curated experiences of its itineraries is to support local arts communities, and Trafalgar has sought out AHL as its not-for-profit partner for its Near Not Far staycation tours. 

Through immersive Trafalgar exclusives like the ‘Be My Guest’ dining experiences, guests on the ‘Near Not Far’ staycation tours will form real connections with their fellow neighbours and travellers. They’ll uncover the tapestries of multi-cultural Singapore and gain new perspectives of familiar places through stories shared by their passionate and knowledgeable Travel Director, Local Specialists and ‘Be My Guest’ hosts. Each Travel Director has been carefully selected for their knowledge and enthusiasm for Singapore and its rich cultures, the Travel Director is a licensed tourist guide who will accompany guests throughout the tour, and is simultaneously a friend and companion who is on hand to provide a real insider’s point of view. 

“We want to showcase that you can tour differently with Trafalgar. Too often, we choose to explore the world instead of the hidden gems right in our own backyard. As we wait for borders to reopen safely, we can restart travel here in Singapore and curate unique tour experiences that Trafalgar is well-known for worldwide. Our guests have a unique opportunity to rediscover Singapore through the lenses of art, culture and heritage. Trafalgar’s Near Not Far Staycation tours will allow Singaporeans and residents to gain insider access – such as the opportunity to climb up the clock tower of Victoria Theatre & Victoria Concert Hall, or meet with Violet Oon who will be our ‘Be My Guest’ host.  As a global travel company, our core value is making a difference to the places we visit.  “We are excited that through this partnership with Arts House Limited, we can support the arts community, help people to step back into travel responsibly and give back to local businesses and Singapore’s tourism ecosystem, all while ensuring peace of mind with our local expertise, right size groups and enhanced hygiene measures,“ said Mae Cheah, President for Trafalgar, Asia.  

Singapore’s Heritage Highlights (2D1N) introduces guests to two iconic landmarks of the Civic District – The Arts House, Singapore’s oldest government building and Victoria Theatre and Victoria Concert Hall (VTVCH), the grand dame of theatres in Singapore.  Guests will meet Trafalgar’s Local Specialist – renowned heritage blogger, Jerome Lim of The Long & Winding Road on the tour of The Arts House* and VTVCH where he will share historical trivia about the two buildings. As the nation’s literary arts centre, The Arts House is known for LumiNation festival. This year’s edition took place digitally and uncovered Singapore’s hidden histories through a series of performances and talks. In a historic first, VTVCH’s clock tower will be open exclusively to Trafalgar’s guests to visit, and Jerome will enlighten guests about the clock’s history and its connection to London’s Big Ben.  

Additional highlights include a ‘Be My Guest’ experience with Violet Oon at the National Kitchen at National Gallery and a guided tour of Kampong Glam to ‘Dive into Culture’ in the lively neighbourhood that was once home to Singapore’s early migrants including the Arabs, Javanese, Bugis, Chinese, and Malay-Muslims. 

Prices for this 2D1N itinerary are from S$528 per person for an Orchid Club Deluxe Room (35 sq m) at PARKROYAL on Beach Road (Fri /Sat) and S$628 per person for a Stamford Suite Room (58 sq m) at The Capitol Kempinski Hotel (weekday only). Prices include guided tours, a ‘Be My Guest’ experience with Violet Oon, one-night hotel accommodation with breakfast and coach transportation.  Prices are based on twin-share and solo travellers can pay a single supplement from S$200.  

With guests’ well-being as top priority, Trafalgar has collaborated with the World Tourism & Travel Council (WTTC) to align and create global protocols and procedures which have been awarded the WTTC Safe stamp. This coupled with existing national and regional government authority regulations and the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, have guided enhanced hygiene and safety protocols from physical distancing to stringent sanitary practices.  

In Singapore, from 1 November 2020, the maximum group size for a guided tour is 20 pax (excluding guide), with maximum 5 pax allowed in one sub-group. Additionally, each sub-group is required to maintain at least 1m safe distance from each other, and there cannot be any intermingling between the groups.  As a start, Trafalgar will run tours with a minimum of 5 guests on each tour, and a maximum of up to 10 guests only.  

Trafalgar’s enhanced hygiene and physical distancing measures, include: 

• Ongoing training of Travel Directors in enhanced hygiene and physical distancing procedures and guidance on social etiquette monitoring, to ensure proper standards are consistently met.  Travel Directors are supported and updated regularly by operations teams, to address latest changes and to keep guests informed throughout their trip.   
• Group sizes will be adapted based on government distancing requirements, ensuring that guests will travel with the comfort of their own personal space. 
• In accordance with guidance from the World Health Organization (WHO) and Singapore Tourism Board (STB), enhanced measures have been introduced to elevate hygiene practices on all coaches.  Drivers have been trained in latest protocols and will disinfect all surfaces including handrails, as well as change air-conditioning filters.  In addition, all coaches will carry hand sanitizer for guest use and supplies of gloves, disinfectant spray, antiviral wipes and face masks will be available. 

For more information and to book, visit www.trafalgar.com/staycations

*The Arts House will be closed from 1 December 2020 to 31 March 2021. 

About Trafalgar 

With over 70 years’ experience, spanning all seven continents, Trafalgar is the world’s leading and most awarded travel brand. From the iconic to the unexpected, Trafalgar connects guests to the real depth of the places they go, from breaking bread with locals at exclusive Be My Guest experiences to expert Travel Directors and Local Specialists that unlock the magic of destinations. Trafalgar takes care of everything, so guests travel with true ease, getting the real thing without worrying about a thing. Trafalgar is a member of The Travel Corporation (TTC) family of companies. Through its JoinTrafalgar program, guests traveling with the brand become part of the sustainability solution, bettering the lives of locals and their communities now and into the future. For more information visit www.trafalgar.com.  

About Arts House Limited (AHL) 

Arts House Limited (AHL) is a not-for-profit organisation committed to enriching lives through the arts. AHL manages two key landmarks located in the heart of Singapore’s Civic District– The Arts House, a multidisciplinary arts centre with a focus on literary programming and the Victoria Theatre & Victoria Concert Hall, a heritage building that is home to the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. It also runs the Goodman Arts Centre and Aliwal Arts Centre, two creative enclaves for artists, arts groups and creative businesses, and performing arts space Drama Centre. AHL presents the Singapore International Festival of Arts, the annual pinnacle celebration of performance and interdisciplinary arts in Singapore commissioned by the National Arts Council. For more information, visit www.theartshouse.sg 

Robinsons, long a feature on Singapore’s retail scene, is a store that I have always associated with Christmas shopping. I loved the fabulous toy department as a child – when the store was at its iconic Raffles Chambers location in Raffles Place. Terrified as I may have been of Father Christmas (or Santa Claus is he is more commonly known these days), the toy department held many more pleasant memories for me. I was especially fond of their pre-Christmas lucky dips. I once obtained a wonderful childhood toy once from it in the form of an orange battery operated submersible. Sadly I could only find use of that in the bathtub of a government holiday bungalow in the Tanah Merah area of Singapore.

Founded in 1858, the store moved into Raffles Chambers just before the Second World War came to Singapore. That burned down just before Christmas in 1972 — after which, the store became associated with the fast developing Orchard Road shopping scene, opening at Specialists Centre, before moving into Centrepoint – which it co-developed with Cold Storage. The evolving retail scene has however put pressure on the brand and the . COVID-19 pandemic proved to be the tipping point.

So sadly, after 162 years in business, the legendary name is making an exit in a rather inglorious fashion — with a closing down sale at its two remaining stores at The Heeren and Raffles City Shopping Centre.

Subject to confirmation, the liquidators are hoping the stores will remain open for the coming weeks to facilitate final sales for customers before they are shuttered.  A spokesperson for Robinsons said, “There are some fantastic deals to be found in-store, we encourage customers to visit stores as everything is now reduced and we expect ranges to sell out fast.”

Join me on a virtual tour of Colonial Changi (including Old Changi Hospital) during Temasek Polytechnic’s Global Community Day, from 9 to 15 November 2020 (public virtual tours available on 15 November at this link).

Changi, a promontory at the eastern tip of the main island of Singapore is marked in maps that date back to the early seventeenth century. It is however, its development during the colonial era that is perhaps most significant. That saw its transformation from a remote, forested and swampy corner of the island into one of Britain’s most important air bases after the second world war.

While a large portion of the area is today used by the air force as an air base, for leisure and recreation, there is much that exists that tells us the story of colonial Changi development. A wealth of information does in fact exist in structures still around such as former barrack blocks, former holiday homes, and purpose-built military residences as well as objects, sites and geographical features.

The virtual tour will trace Changi’s development from a village and recreational retreat through the 1800s into the early 1900s into a military cantonment — that featured in the early part of the Japanese Occupation during the Second World War as an Prisoner-of-War camp — and beyond that into a principal air base and the aviation hub that is well-known today.

More information can be obtained at this link.

It is hard to imagine it today, but Singapore’s famous main shopping street, Orchard Road, was once lined with car showrooms and motor workshops. Car brands such as Volkswagen, Mercedes Benz, Austin, Morris, Ford, Vauxhall, Fiat … and even Rolls Royce, had a presence there. It was certainly the go-to place to do a test drive and place an order for the still affordable family car, or to send the car for servicing and repair.

Two showrooms that were rather prominent in the regular journeys that I made as a child along Orchard Road between C K Tang and Cold Storage, were Champion Motors and Orchard Motors. Champion, which was then a dealer for Volkswagen is today where Lucky Plaza stands, while Orchard Motors — which dealt with Vauxhalls and Chevrolets, was first converted into The Orchard — a small shopping mall that was better known as the location of the (in)famous Tivoli Coffee House, before being replaced by the Paragon’s original wing.

Today, only two buildings that bear testament to Orchard Road’s motoring past still stand. One is the wonderfully designed sunburst gabled no 14 to 20 Orchard Road — now used by MDIS, which has a history that goes back to Orchard Road’s early motoring days when it was purpose-built as showroom cum office building for Malayan Motors, a Morris dealer. That stands in a conserved row now opposite Dhoby Ghaut MRT Station — along a stretch of Orchard Road that attracted a host of showrooms and workshops in the early days of motoring and was where Ford motorcars were initially assembled in Singapore. Names such as Universal Cars, a Ford dealer and Borneo Motors, an Austin dealer turned Toyota agent, were also connected with the stretch.

While it does seem quite well established that the former Malayan Motors showroom is still around, much less has been said about Liat Towers, which was constructed as the headquarters and showroom of Mercedes Benz. Its construction came at a time when the street was on the cusp of its transformation into the world-renowned retail destination that it is today. It would not be long before shopping malls such as Plaza Singapura (1974) and Lucky Plaza (1978) launched the transformation of the street into a retail destination.

As Singapore seeks to “Singaporeanise” the once magical former rail corridor, another former railway space belonging to the former Jurong Line in the form of the (now extended and spruced up) railway tunnel under Clementi Road, is attracting quite a fair bit of attention — probably for being what the former rail corridor now isn’t. The space, even if it has been cleaned up and made safe in the only way Singapore knows how, has still that “wow” quality for being what is has been for about three decades — wild, relatively untouched and as unSingaporean as it can be.

Here are some photographs taken of it (and the area it leads to) just yesterday:

From the past

Described as a Victorian-style mansion, the mansion of shipowner Teo Hoo Lye once graced the site that is now occupied by The Cathay. Built in 1913 and demolished in the late 1930s, the mansion was — at some points in its short history — also used in parts by several tenants, one of which was the Royal English School, a private school.

The school moved into part of the premises in 1925 before being evicted in 1931 — after Teo had lent his name to the Teo Hoo Lye Institution. Established by a Methodist minister, Chanan Singh, the school took the name in 1929 through a mutual arrangement which saw Teo providing part of his mansion for the school’s use rent-free.

Teo passed on in 1933 and the grand house came down about four years later in 1937, when Mrs Loke Yew and Loke Wan Tho purchased the site for Cathay Cinema.