Singapore’s Most Recognisable Logos, Then and Now (Part 1)

Posted on July 31, 2025 by Remember Singapore

A logo is more than a graphic design. It is a visual representation of a brand, business or product. For organisations and companies, it is a corporate symbol that reflects their image, efficiency and reliability. A well-designed logo can be iconic and remain recognisable for years or even decades.

Below are some of the most recognisable logos in Singapore.

Housing and Development Board (HDB)

The Housing and Development Board (HDB) was established on 1 February 1960 as Singapore’s public housing authority, taking over the role from the Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT).

The first HDB logo comprised a house symbol in a blue square frame with red brick-wall background. The colours of red, blue and white were HDB’s corporate colours, and the bold, angular lines matched the design styles of the sixties and seventies. The HDB logo represented the statutory board’s mission to provide basic homes for Singaporeans.

In March 1980, HDB changed its logo to a new one, where the design emphasised on the simplicity of form. The new HDB logo looks similar to the old one, retaining the identity through the home symbol and the square frame that represents the housing environment. HDB also continued the use of the dominant red colour for its new logo.

Public Utilities Board (PUB)

The Public Utilities Board (PUB) was established in 1963 as a statutory board to coordinate and manage the supply of electricity, water and piped gas for Singapore. Its first logo was made up of a circle containing a cluster of buildings and chimneys emanating smoke. In 1977, PUB housed all its departments from City Hall into its new PUB building at Somerset Road and, in the same year, introduced a new logo.

Designed by local graphic designer Eulindra Lim, the new PUB logo had symbolising elements of the three utilities in electricity (centre jagged line in red), water (bottom arc in dark blue) and gas (top arc in light blue), while retaining the circle shape that signified the 24-hour service. The new logo, modern and reflective of a progressive organisation, went on to be arguably one of the most recognisable logos in Singapore.

In 1988, PUB introduced an animated version of their logo, called Flash. With a mission to teach students the safe way of using electricity, Flash came in educational kits given free to all schools. The kits were  made up of animated videos, colour booklets and leaflets with information on the types of approved accessories and tips on choosing electrical appliances.

PUB was reconstituted in 2001 to become Singapore’s national water authority; the regulation of electricity and gas industries were transferred to a new statutory board called the Energy Market Authority (EMA). The PUB logo was refreshed again in 2016 with three swirls in different blue shades, as a mimic to a water cycle. The three swirls represent PUB’s functions in water services, sewerage and drainage, whereas the three blue shades symbolise the water sources in seawater, reclaimed water and catchment water. PUB is also rebranded as “PUB, Singapore’s National Water Agency”.

Post Office Savings Bank (POSB)

The Post Office Savings Bank (POSB) was founded by the British colonial government in 1877. Almost a century later, in 1972, the bank became a statutory board under the Singapore government to provide more efficient services to its customers.

The POSB logo was first unveiled in April 1972 at the opening of the bank’s Toa Payoh branch. Designed by William Lee of Centre Design, the key-like logo, cleverly made up of the bank’s P.O.S.B initials, symbolises security and prosperity. The logo also resembles a tree which represent life and growth. These attributes were incorporated by POSB while at the same time identifying with the green city of Singapore.

POSB changed its name to POSBank in 1990. Eight years later, in July 1998, it was acquired by the Development Bank of Singapore (DBS) for $1.6 billion, ending its role as a statutory board. The POSB logo was given a refresh in 2007, after 35 years. The new design is a simplified form of the old logo, with the name POSB added to it.

Singapore Bus Services (SBS)

The Singapore Bus Services (SBS) was formed in 1973 through the merger of Amalgamated Bus Company (ABC) Ltd, Associated Bus Services Pte (ABS) Ltd and United Bus Company (UBC) Ltd. The three bus companies, operating in different parts of Singapore, were easily identifiable through their fleets of blue, red and yellow buses.

After the merger, SBS designed a circular tricolour logo in the shades of blue, red and yellow, symbolising the amalgamation of the three bus companies. Most of the early SBS buses, however, did not carry the logo.

In 1978, SBS introduced its second logo, also designed by William Lee. As buses were moving objects, any logo designs used should be easily recognisable and remained pleasant in the mind, explained William Lee.

Hence, in his logo design, the arrows were in flowing movement and the circle in the middle of the arrows suggested SBS’ efficient management of the transport system and centralised planning. The red and pink lines of the same contours extending left and right allowed the new SBS logo to be painted on both sides of the buses.

SBS welcomed its third logo in 1983. In the new logo, the arrows in opposite directions signified the operation of its comprehensive network of services. The bold red colour depicted the growing strength and dynamism of the bus company, whereas the white spaces represented its harmonious relationship with the passengers. This SBS logo, arguably its most iconic version, lasted until 2001 when SBS became SBS Transit Limited in a rebranding exercise.

Jurong Town Corporation (JTC)

Established in June 1968, the first Jurong Town Corporation’s (JTC) logo was made up of JTC’s initials and resembled a factory with a chimney that emits a puff of smoke. There were three horizontal lines at the bottom, representing Kallang River, Jurong River and Kranji River, the three rivers in Singapore where JTC industrial estates were built.

Entering the eighties, however, factories with chimneys were often associated with sunset industries like steel-making. This made JTC’s logo look outdated. In 1988, JTC invited design, public relations and advertising agencies to create a new logo and corporate identity to better and more accurately reflect the statutory board’s role as an industrial authority.

In 1993, JTC introduced its new logo, which had a tilted solid square that symbolised its firm focus in the development and management of industrial facilities and infrastructure. The horizontal lines beside the tilted square represented JTC’s aim to venture into new realms both locally and internationally.

JTC unveiled its third logo in 2000 when it was corporatised and renamed from Jurong Town Corporation to JTC Corporation. The new JTC logo features a fluid shape that symbolises the organisation’s adaptability in a new economy.

United Overseas Bank (UOB)

The United Overseas Bank (UOB) was first known as United Chinese Bank (UCB), founded in 1935 by a group of local businessmen to serve the merchant community in Singapore.

It was renamed UOB in 1965 to avoid confusion with another bank in Hong Kong that had the same United Chinese Bank name. To commemorate the change in name, UOB introduced a new logo bearing the new name, in both English and Chinese, and a Chinese lion at the centre.

UOB’s simple yet iconic logo was created in 1971 and remains in use today. The five-bar gate symbol of the logo was derived from the traditional Chinese way of counting in fives, representing security and unity. The simplicity of the logo also reflects the bank’s focus and clarity.

Popular Bookstore

Having its early roots under the trade name of Cheng Hing Company in the 1920s, Popular Book Company was officially established as a Chinese books seller in 1934. It was, however, more than half a century later before Popular launched its recognisable logo.

In 1989, Lai Chee Kien, a lecturer from the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) Department of Architecture, won the logo design competition for Popular Bookstore.

The logo comprises the simplified Chinese character of “crowd”, made up of three “person” and resembles three opened books stacked atop one another. This also symbolises that it is a place where people and books come together.

Refer to Singapore Graphic Archives for more Singapore’s graphic design collections.

Published: 31 July 2025

Posted in Nostalgic | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Stirling Road and Singapore’s Oldest HDB Flats

Posted on June 30, 2025 by Remember Singapore

For the longtime residents at Stirling Road, more than six decades have passed in a blink of eye.

Prior to the fifties, this area was made up of swampland, plantations and burial ground. Then came development when the Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT) embarked on the construction of Queenstown estate, filling up the swamps and clearing the plantations. The former Cheang Hong Lim cemetery, bounded by Stirling Road, Anggora Close and Queensway, was acquired by the government in 1965 and cleared for more public housing.

The early SIT flats built in the fifties at Stirling Road, Margaret Drive and Redhill were of low quality. Cracks soon appeared on the walls and the main and bedroom doors were so flimsy that they could easily be forced open by burglars. This led to many complaints by the residents. A bigger issue, however, occurred in 1959 when Block 7 of Stirling Road tilted and slowly sank into the ground. At least two families were trapped by the jammed doors.

Stirling Road’s three blocks of 45, 48 and 49 were built by the SIT in the late fifties. They were unfinished when SIT was dissolved and replaced by the Housing and Development Board (HDB) on 1 February 1960.

As the successor to SIT, HDB took over and completed the three blocks in October 1960. The three blocks of flats became known as Singapore’s first HDB flats, although the title should instead belong to the Merpati Road flats, which were the first flats fully planned and built by the HDB.

Block 45, 48 and 49 consist of one-room, two-room and three-room units. They were meant to serve as accommodation to the rehoused squatters and residents affected by the notorious Bukit Ho Swee fire. Over the years, the blocks became popularly known as qek lau, or “seven storeys” in Hokkien, among the local Chinese and taxi drivers.

Besides Singapore’s oldest HDB blocks, Stiring Road is also home to many public landed houses, a rare type of residential properties as there are only 285 such houses in Singapore, most of them located at Queenstown. Others could be found at Whampoa and Jalan Bahagia.

These double-storey houses of two- and three-room units were built by the SIT in the late fifties to complement the higher blocks of flats in the vicinity. Today, they are known as the HDB terrace houses.

In 1970, the Stirling Road neighbourhood welcomed the addition of a new Queenstown Sports Complex that was well equipped with a stadium, running track and five swimming pools. It was Singapore’s first neighbourhood sports complex, built at a cost of $1.6 million.

Other than sports events, the sports complex also hosted many Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) parades and the decentralised National Day Parades (NDP) in the seventies and eighties.

Located beside the sports complex was the former Baharuddin Vocational Institute (BVI). It was opened in 1965 and relocated to Stirling Road in 1969. Named after Baharuddin bin Mohammed Ariff (1933-1961), People’s Action Party (PAP) Assemblyman for Anson, the institute nurtured numerous batches of local designers and craftsmen in advertising, fashion and printing industries.

Baharuddin Vocational Institute was closed in 1990 after its applied arts department and classes underwent restructuring to become the School of Design at Temasek Polytechnic. The old premises was vacated until 2004, when it was taken over by the Management Development Institute of Singapore (MDIS) till this day.

Masjid Mujahidin was officially opened at Stirling Road on 9 October 1977 as the second mosque completed by HDB under the Mosque Building Fund Scheme.

Built at a cost of $1.1 million, the mosque was opened by Dr Ahmad Mattar (born 1940), then-acting Minister for Social Affairs. A rear wing was added to the mosque in 1994, and the building underwent upgrading in 2013.

HDB carried out a lift revamp project in 1979 for some 280 blocks of flats with single lifts, including those at Stirling Road. Cost about $155,000 per lift, the objective of the project was to improve lift services in older estates and allow better accessibility for the residents in the event of a lift breakdown at their blocks.

Another HDB project was the $10-million rubbish chute replacement in 1985 for old flats at Stirling Road, Kallang, Balestier and Henderson. The old-generation rubbish chutes, built before 1963, were mostly made of asbestos, bricks and hollow blocks, and tended to leak easily. HDB reported about 120 cases of damaged chutes for every 1,000 flats. The new chutes, made of reinforced concrete, would bring the figures down to only 1 to 2 cases per 1,000 flats.

In 1984, Block 1, 2, 3, 5, 64 and 65 of Stirling Road, together with Commonwealth Avenue’s Block 6, 7 ,8 and 26, had to give way for the construction of the Queenstown MRT Station and widening of Commonwealth Avenue.

The low-rise rental flats, built by SIT in the fifties, housed almost 800 residents at the time of their demolition. The remaining flats along this stretch, between Stirling Road and Commonwealth Avenue, were torn down by the early nineties.

The increased development around Stirling Road led to more frequent and severe flooding. This prompted the government to spend $17 million between 1986 and 1990 to reconstruct the drainage system in the vicinity.

In 1994, Stirling Road’s Block 165 to 171, built in 1970, were selected for the Main Upgrading Programme. Their residents were invited to vote for the upgrading of the flats and public amenities that included a new jogging track, children’s playground, covered linkways and faster lifts. A rousing 83% voted yes.

In 1996, Block 6A and 6B of Margaret Drive and Block 39 Forfar House were selected under the Selective En-Bloc Redevelopment Scheme (SERS), where their residents were given the option to relocate to Stirling Road’s new flats at Block 181, 182, 183 and 184. Under SERS, old flats unsuitable for upgrading but with high redevelopment potential would be acquired by HDB and demolished to make way for new buildings.

In 2001, it was Stirling Road’s Block 172, 173, 174 and 175’s turn for SERS. The four blocks of flats were subsequently demolished by 2008. The popular kopitiam Zi Yean was previously located at Block 174 Stirling Road.

Today, Stirling Road remains a quiet neighbourhood, but with an interesting mix of old and new housing. While it has Singapore’s oldest HDB flats and the rare HDB terrace houses, there are also newer HDB flats, built after the millennium, and private condominiums such as Queens and Stirling Residences.

Published: 30 June 2025

Posted in Nostalgic | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Camps Along Sembawang Road (Part 2) – Dieppe Barracks

Posted on May 30, 2025 by Remember Singapore

Built in the mid-sixties, Dieppe Barracks’ early occupants included the 3rd Commando Brigade of the Royal Marines and 95th Commando Light Regiment of the Royal Artillery.

It was at Dieppe Barracks where the Royal Marines first flew their regimental colours in a parade held in August 1967. However, due to a weakened economy and devalued pound, Britain made the unexpected announcement in 1968 to withdraw all its military troops that were “east of Suez” by 1971.

ANZUK (Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom), the new five-nation defence arrangement with Singapore and Malaysia, was established in 1971 to replace the defunct Anglo-Malayan Defence Agreement. The new command would be supported by Sembawang Garrison that comprised Nee Soon Barracks, Dieppe Barracks and Kangaw Barracks (present-day Sembawang Air Base).

Kangaw Barracks became the home for the HQ 28th ANZUK Brigade and 6th Battalion Royal Australian Regiment, whereas Nee Soon Barracks accommodated the First Royal Highland Fusiliers. At Dieppe Barracks, the First Battalion Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment (RNZIR) took over the camp from the departing Royal Marines.

New Zealand soldiers were first sent to Singapore and Malaya in 1955, when the region was in a state of instability and high tensions; the Malayan Emergency was at its height, the Korean War had just ended, Thailand was facing an increasing communist threat, and in northern Vietnam, the French lost their colonial rule in the Battle of Dien Bien Phu to the Viet Minh.

New Zealand based some of its fighter aircraft and warships at Singapore, and sent a squadron of the New Zealand Special Air Service to help Malaya fight against the communists. In 1957, the first New Zealand regular infantry battalion was deployed to serve in Southeast Asia.

The New Zealand troops later played a role in helping Singapore during the Konfrontasi period (1963-1966), earning them the “Big Gurkhas” nickname and reputation.

Other New Zealand military presence in Singapore included the Royal New Zealand Air Force at Tengah Air Base and Royal New Zealand Navy’s HMNZS Otago and Waikato at Sembawang Naval Base.

In 1974, with the Australian government’s decision to withdraw its troops from ANZUK Command, New Zealand stepped in with the establishment of an independent 1,250-strong overseas military force in Singapore.

Established in January 1974, the New Zealand Force Southeast Asia (NZFORSEA) comprised the First Battalion Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment at Dieppe Barracks, Royal New Zealand Air Force 41 Squadron at Tengah Air Base and a Royal New Zealand Navy frigate.

The Australian troops left Singapore in December 1975. Shortly after that, Britain, due to their economic turmoil, also withdrew its ANZUK support, with the last British soldier departing in March 1976.

New Zealand, too, was considering their withdrawal from Singapore. They reiterated their intention for their soldiers to return home in 1975 and 1978. The New Zealand troops, however, continued their deployment in Singapore into the eighties, due to the resurgence of Cold War tensions.

In 1982, the First Battalion Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment commemorated their 25th year of service in Southeast Asia with a parade at Dieppe Barracks, where the soldiers put up war-paint and dressed themselves in traditional Māori costumes.

The First Battalion Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment, in 1983, also marked their first anniversary of alliance with the Singapore Armed Force’s (SAF) 1st Commando Battalion in a Colours parade at Dieppe Barracks. Both units had established ties since the seventies, collaborating closely with each other in information exchanges, training and regimental traditions.

Dieppe Barracks played a recreational role in hosting many sports competitions, such as football and cricket, in the seventies and eighties. For the New Zealanders, rugby was more than their favourite sports; it was a national identity and culture. The New Zealand troops strengthened ties with their Southeast Asian counterparts by actively playing competitive rugby matches against the local and Malaysian teams. New Zealand played their last rugby game in Singapore in 1988.

Besides the rugby diplomacy, the regiment band of the New Zealand infantry boosted relationships in its own way by putting up performances and participating in local art festivals in various parts of Singapore.

In 1986, the New Zealand government confirmed its plan to withdraw its military presence in Singapore in order to switch its main strategic interests to the South Pacific.

In June 1989, the New Zealand troops participated in its last major military exercise in Malaysia. Codenamed Taiaha-Tombak XI, in Malaysia, the exercise also involved British, Australian and Gurkha soldiers.

A final ceremonial parade with helicopter flypast was held at Dieppe Barracks for the New Zealand force in July 1989. The event’s poignant moment came when the lone bugler blew the sombre notes of the Last Post.

Dieppe Barracks’ marae, a traditional meeting house and centre of Māori cultural life, was deconsecrated in 1989. The ceremony was attended by the New Zealand troops, their families and invited dignitaries as they prayed and sang hymns. The wooden building, with an icon of Māori god of war Tumatauenga at the top of its roof, was subsequently dismantled and sent back to New Zealand.

Just before their departure, the New Zealand troops put up an auction at Dieppe Barracks for their trucks, land rovers, buses and spare parts to be sold to the local and overseas buyers. Some of the vehicles were more than 25 years old, but remained functionable and suited for rough terrains at Indonesia, Philippines and Papua New Guinea’s plantations and remote areas.

The New Zealand troops eventually bid goodbye to Singapore and Dieppe Barracks in August 1989, ending their 34 years of military legacy in Southeast Asia. The three decades saw the New Zealanders involved in three campaigns – the Malayan Emergency, Konfrontasi and South Vietnam. 34 of their officers and men were killed in action, and a further 33 died of illness or accidents.

The vacated Dieppe Barracks was handed over to the SAF for a $1 token, after which the camp became the new home for the 1st Battalion, Singapore Guards. Today, it houses the HQ Singapore Guards and HQ 13th Singapore Infantry Brigade.

Published: 30 May 2025

Posted in Historic | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Beginning and End of Lim Chu Kang “Runway”

Posted on April 28, 2025 by Remember Singapore

Lim Chu Kang Road used to be a long curvy road. In the mid-eighties, a new straightened stretch of Lim Chu Kang Road was built, and, over the years, became known as the Lim Chu Kang “Runway”. The former curved segment of the road was renamed Old Lim Chu Kang Road.

The new six-lane Lim Chu Kang Road, after its completion, was not immediately opened to public and traffic. On 16 April 1986, it was used as an emergency runway for the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) aircraft. This was the first emergency runway exercise for RSAF, involving two A4 Skyhawks and two F5E Tigers.

Two weeks prior to the exercise, Phua Bah Lee (1932-2021), Senior Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Defence, met the Lim Chu Kang community leaders and explained to them the importance of such exercises, and how the RSAF could enhance its operational readiness and test its capabilities to launch and recover their aircraft from roads and expressways.

The Lim Chu Kang runway was narrower (24m wide) and slightly shorter (2.5km long) as compared to an actual runway, which is about 2.75km long. The conversion of the road into an emergency runway could take between six and 48 hours, depending on the tension level of the situation. The preparation works included the dismantling of lampposts, bus stops, drain railings and traffic lights. Sweeping and removal of road debris and objects was also carried out to minimise potential damages to the aircraft.

The use of Lim Chu Kang Road as an emergency runway was one of the Singapore Armed Forces’ (SAF) ways to maximise the use of training areas, other than its then-traditional sites at Pulau Tekong, Palau Brani, army camps, air bases and naval bases.

In the late eighties and early nineties, several SAF trainings and exercises were trialled at non-traditional sites. Other than Lim Chu Kang Road, there was also urban warfare training held at disused Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats at Boon Lay and Mei Ling Street. Pulau Sudong in 1990 became a new training site for SAF ground troops.

The Lim Chu Kang runway exercise was carried out again in March 1990. This time, the RSAF improved their communication efforts by disseminating pamphlets and giving publicised briefs to the community leaders, residents, farmers and students in the area.

The mainstream media also broadcast news on Lim Chu Kang Road’s closing and reopening dates. During the road closure, bus services were diverted and residents were advised to take alternate routes. For example, residents had to use Neo Tiew Road to return to their Ama Keng and Thong Hoe villages.

As many as 10 RSAF aircraft took part in the 1990 emergency runway exercise, with F16 Fighting Falcon making its first public appearance. Subsequent emergency runway exercises were conducted in November 1992, December 1997, November 2002 and November 2008. The last – Exercise Torrent – was held in November 2016.

In 2017, the Singapore Government announced that Tengah Air Base would be expanded as part of Paya Lebar Air Base’s relocation plans from 2030 onwards. A new runway will be developed for the expanded Tengah Air Base to meet RSAF’s operational needs. The nearby farms, roads and cemeteries, with as many as 80,500 graves, are expected to make way for Tengah Air Base’s expansion.

Another new Lim Chu Kang Road will be built in the second half of 2025 to replace Lim Chu Kang “Runway” and Old Lim Chu Kang Road; both roads are likely to be expunged or become part of the expanded Tengah Air Base.

After hosting seven emergency runway exercises in the span of 39 years, Lim Chu Kang “Runway” has its mission accomplished and will soon be a part of the area’s history.

Published: 28 April 2025

Posted in Exotic | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Landmarks of Yesteryears – Whampoa Ice House

Posted on March 29, 2025 by Remember Singapore

The old godown with Victorian wrought-iron balustrades was a landmark along the Singapore River for more than a century. It was the Whampoa Ice House, Singapore’s first ice house that opened in 1854. Hoo Ah Kay (1816-1880), better known as Whampoa, built the ice house on the parcel of land near the Coleman Bridge.

This site, at the junction of River Valley Road and Boat Quay, was given by the colonial government to Hoo Ah Kay in exchange for his 60 acres of nutmeg plantation at Tanglin, now a part of the Botanic Gardens.

Global Ice Trade

It was almost unimaginable today that Singapore once imported ice from the United States. In 1806, American businessman Frederick Tudor (1783-1864) acquired his first ice ship and loaded it with 130 tons of ice harvested from frozen lakes and rivers. The ice ship headed to Martinique in the eastern Caribbean Sea, but Tudor’s first venture ended in failure due to the locals’ low demand of ice. He was also ridiculed, as the people back then did not believe the ice could last throughout the many months of voyages at sea.

Frederick Tudor eventually succeeded by covering the blocks of ice with thick white pine sawdust that greatly reduced the rate of melting. Between the 1810s and 1830s, his ice was supplied and shipped to Cuba, India and Singapore. Tudor became known as the Ice King as he established a monopoly in the global ice trade.

The world demand for ice grew from 130 tons in 1806 to 146,000 tons in 1856. The demand only slowed down after the invention of the ice-making machine.

Whampoa Ice House

As a boy, Hoo Ah Kay arrived at Singapore from China with his father in the early 19th century. His father started a provision shop at Boat Quay selling beef, bread and vegetables. Hoo Ah Kay took over the business after his father’s death, and expanded it by winning contracts to supply provisions to the East India Company’s ships.

In the 1840s, Hoo Ah Kay entered a joint venture with Gilbert Angus (Angus Street was named after him), where they opened their firm Whampoa and Company at Telok Ayer Street. In 1854, Whampoa and Company established the Whampoa Ice House, stocking it with ice imported from The United States and selling them to the community.

The ice trade, however, did not work well for Hoo Ah Kay and Gilbert Angus, as they had overestimated the local ice consumption. Their investments were based on the forecast of an estimated 1,000 lbs (or about 454 kg) consumption of ice per day, but in the first two years of business, the company only managed to clock daily sales of 400 to 500 lbs (or about 181 to 227 kg) of ice.

After three years of losses, Hoo Ah Kay ended the joint venture in 1857. Whampoa Ice House was taken over by Tudor Ice, Frederick Tudor’s company, in 1861. Tudor Ice did not fare better either; it also incurred steep losses due to the low local demand and consumption of ice.

Local Ice Factories

The Singapore Ice Works opened at River Valley Road in 1861. While Tudor Ice failed, Singapore Ice Works succeeded by procuring an ice-making machine to locally make the ice for sale. This reduced the cost of ice to almost 40% cheaper as compared to imported ice. This attracted sufficient demands for the company to consistently make profits.

When Tudor Ice closed in 1865, Whampoa Ice House was sold to the Singapore Ice Works, where it remained as Singapore’s main ice factory until the 1880s.

The Straits Ice Company and Singapore Distilled Water Ice Company (later renamed New Singapore Ice Works) opened in 1881 and 1890 respectively, adding competition to the ice making and supply industry. The consumers benefited from the resulting price wars.

Like Whampoa Ice House, the New Singapore Ice Works’ factory at Sungei Road had, over the decades, become a landmark so iconic that the local Chinese called the area “gek sng kio” or frosted bridge in Hokkien.

Ice became a necessity by the late 19th century, and with the establishment of Cold Storage Company in 1903, frozen meat, fruits and milk imported from other countries became readily available. In the late 1910s, Cold Storage also went into ice-making and emerged as one of the main ice manufacturers in Singapore.

These major ice factories led to the rise of small-time ice sellers, who would buy large blocks of ice and cut them into smaller pieces to sell to consumers and other small businesses. The fifties and sixties were the golden eras for these ice sellers, before their number dwindled by the eighties, when fridges and freezers for homes and shops became common and affordable.

Demolition and Replica

As for the former Whampoa Ice House, it was used as a storage place for Tai Thong Rubber Works Ltd in the early 20th century. Eventually the building was torn down in March 1981 for the widening of River Valley Road.

Whampoa Ice House’s demolition ironically coincided with the Conservation Forum in the early eighties, a forum that was sponsored by the Singapore Institute of Planners and supported by an enthusiastic group of architects and town planners who focused on future developments and the possible plans in saving areas of old Singapore. the forum’s attendees were representatives from the Urban Redevelopment Board (URA), Singapore Tourist Promotion Board (STPB) and Preservation of Monuments Board.

But by then, the century-old Whampoa Ice House, despite its significant architectural and heritage merit, had walked into history. Its former location now stands a replica of the Whampoa Ice House.

Published: 29 March 2025

Posted in General, Historic, Nostalgic | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Forgotten Legacy of Chui Eng Free School

Posted on February 26, 2025 by Remember Singapore

Located at Amoy Street, Chui Eng Free School (萃英书院) was established by the Hokkien Huay Kuan in 1854 with endowment from Tan Kim Seng (陈金声, 1805-1864), a wealthy Peranakan businessman and philanthropist who had donated generously to the education causes and public water works in Singapore in the mid-19th century.

Chui Eng Free School, also known as the Chinese Free School, provided free education to the boys of the local Hokkien community. Its name means “gathering of talents”; the school hoped to nurture young children into brilliant and skilled individuals. Three stones on its walls bore the inscriptions of the school’s objectives: “to enable the children of both the rich and the poor to receive education so that they can become useful citizens“.

After Raffles’ founding of Singapore in 1819, Chinese immigrants began arriving in large batches. Chinese schools, however, were non-existent. A couple of private Chinese tutoring was reported to have emerged at Chinatown in 1829. One was taught in Cantonese, while the other two were in Hokkien. All three private Chinese tutoring had a total of 50 students.

By the 1840s, Tan Kim Seng led the local Chinese community leaders in establishing the first proper Chinese private school in Singapore. Chong Wen Ge (崇文阁) was set up beside Thian Hock Keng Temple in 1849, providing free education to the underprivileged girls of the Hokkien community. Chong Wen Ge went on to become Chong Hock Girls’ School (崇福女学校) in 1915, before evolving into Chongfu School today.

In the 1850s, Tan Kim Seng again rallied the community in contributing to the setup of another Chinese private school, this time for the boys of the poorer families. He donated $1,710 in purchasing a parcel of site along Amoy Street for the new school. A total of $10,000 was successfully collected, making Chui Eng Free School the second private Chinese school in Singapore. Both Chong Wen Ge and Chui Eng Free School were Singapore’s earliest free educational institutions.

Amoy Street was built in the 1830s. After the school was built, the road became colloquially known as gi oh kau (“义学口” in Hokkien) to the local Chinese. The name literally means the front of the charity school, referring to Chui Eng Free School and its noble cause.

The two private Chinese schools were taught in Hokkien in their early days. Their teaching method largely followed the Qing Dynasty’s education system, where students were taught Chinese Classics such as the Analects of Confucius, Four Books, Book of Filial Piety and U-Ching.

Chui Eng Free School was designed in typical Hokkien architectural style originated from Quanzhou, Fujian. Skilled craftsmen and the construction materials were imported from China to build the school. It had a courtyard, inner hall and swallowtail-ridged roof with terracotta tiles.

It was at the courtyard where the students, sitting at two parallel tables, recited their lessons and homework. A peach tree once stood at the main entrance, symbolising the Chinese idea of successfully educating generations of students (桃李满天下).

Tan Kim Seng’s descendants continued to support the education causes in Singapore. In the 1880s, his grandson rallied the local Chinese community to donate $20,000 to renovate the aging Chui Eng Free School.

Chui Eng Free School continued to provide free education until the Second World War. After the war, due to the inflationary pressures, the school had no alternatives but to start charging its students a monthly fee of $3 to support the daily operational costs. The school had three teachers and 80 students during the fifties.

Despite its persistence, Chui Eng Free School struggled with many issues, such as aging amenities, outdated teaching materials and dwindling number of students. It was eventually closed in 1954, after 100 years of existence.

The school was vacated and soon its building and premises fell into a state of disrepair. The courtyard was illegally used by trespassers for gambling activities and storage of goods. In the early sixties, Hokkien Huay Kuan took over the ownership of the premises. There were suggestions to convert the place into an old folks’ home or funeral parlour, but the plans did not materialise.

The school’s plaque, inscribed with the Chinese name “Chui Eng School”, was removed from the entrance door in the nineties and acquired by a local antique collector. He later donated it to the Overseas Chinese Museum in Xiamen, China. Over the years, the local Chinese community and history enthusiasts have been trying to liaise with the museum for the return of the plaque.

The former Chui Eng Free School welcomed a new lease of life in the nineties when a new mix-use development called Far East Square was put in place to refurbish and rejuvenate the vicinity. In this $190-million development and conservation project, the former school building and 61 old shophouses would be extensively renovated and restored.

Fuk Tak Chi (福德祠), a Chinese temple that was established at Amoy Street in 1824 by the early Hakka and Cantonese immigrants, was also refurbished into a museum today. It is one of the few buildings in Singapore with a history of more than 200 years.

During the restoration in the nineties, only the entrance walls, door and windows of the former Chui Eng Free School were retained. The refurbished premises was designated to be used as a restaurant, although this was initially met with objections by some members of the public.

Far East Square was completed in 1998 and officially opened a year later by then-Singapore President Ong Teng Cheong. After more than two decades, the former Chui Eng Free School remains the façade of a restaurant, but not many still remember its history and legacy.

Published: 26 February 2025

Posted in Nostalgic | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Tanglin Shopping Centre’s 52-Year Legacy at Orchard Road

Posted on January 29, 2025 by Remember Singapore

Opened in 1972, Tanglin Shopping Centre was one of Orchard Road’s earliest retail landmarks. Until its closure and demolition in 2024, it had witnessed, for more than half a century, the development and progress of Singapore’s most famous shopping belt.

Designed by local architect William Lim, the construction of Tanglin Shopping Centre began in 1969 along the Tanglin Road-Orchard Road stretch, where there were previously a row of shophouses, including one that housed the family of the founder of S.K. Chee Pte Ltd, also the developer of Tanglin Shopping Centre.

The $7.5-million mall was designed to cater for both the tourists and locals. It had seven storeys, made up of 150 shop and office units, and a two-level basement carpark. A display consultant was hired to advise on shop interiors and displays in a bid to improve the new mall’s attractiveness to shoppers.

Tanglin Shopping Centre was part of the rise of many shopping complexes in the early seventies. Other malls that were built at about the same time were Peninsula Shopping Centre, Specialist Shopping Centre, Golden Mile Complex and People’s Park Complex.

Tanglin Shopping Centre had the first “day hospital” in Singapore. The Singapore Medical Centre, with 18 medical practitioners and up-to-date facilities, was established at the fourth and fifth floor of the new mall in late 1971.

Lufthansa German Airlines also relocated its office from Raffles Place to Tanglin Shopping Centre. It paid $1.2 million for its huge 5,000 square feet of office space.

Midteen Boutique was one of the first shops opened at Tanglin Shopping Centre. Selling teen clothes, it was opened just before the Christmas Day of 1971.

With almost all the shops and offices sold or leased out, Tanglin Shopping Centre was fully opened in January 1972. Throngs of tourists and local shoppers were lured to the new mall as it had a large variety of shops that ranged from apparel, jewellery, beauty salons to cafes and restaurants.

Some of Tanglin Shopping Centre’s early tenants were Connoisseur (antiques), Sun Craft (handicrafts), The Nutmeg Tree (antiques), The Gallery (art gallery), Di-Enchantress (ladies’ fashion), CYC Shanghai Shirt (men’s shirts), Bata Boutique (shoes), Shui Hwa Jewellery (jewellery), SPH de Silva (jewellery), Genexco (home products), Sharmila (Indian cuisine), Tenderloin Grill and Coffee House (western cuisine) and The Cookie Box (pastries).

Like other early prominent shopping centres in Singapore, Tanglin Shopping Centre had its fair share of issues in its early days.

In 1974, there were several cases of tourists buying luxurious items, such as expensive watches and jewellery, from Tanglin Shopping Centre’s shops with counterfeit cheques. On 29 April 1974, two armed robbers barged into jewellery shop SPH de Silva and got away with $5,000 cash and $200,000 worth of gems. It was the largest robbery case, in terms of the loots’ value, in the year of 1974.

The high-profile jewellery robbery of Tanglin Shopping Centre was just one of the many cases occurred in 1974. In the first six months of 1974, there were more than 900 cases of robberies and thefts reported. Homes, offices, workshops, jewellery shops and money changers in different parts of Singapore were robbed or broken into. The victims suffered a combined loss of $1.4 million.

By the eighties, the older shopping centres of Orchard Road, including Tanglin Shopping Centre, faced increasing competition from the newly-built malls, such as Orchard Plaza (opened in 1980), Far East Plaza (1982), Scotts Shopping Centre (1983), Centrepoint (1983), Orchard Point (1983), Meridien Shopping Centre (1983), Delfi Orchard (1984), Promenade (1984) and The Paragon (1986).

Tangs and Yaohan Orchard also underwent revamps in 1984 and 1985 respectively to polish their appeals to the shoppers.

In 1980, Tanglin Shopping Centre’s developer S.K. Chee Pte Ltd added a $12-million office tower extension to the mall’s circular concourse. In 1981, S.K. Chee Pte Ltd was acquired by King’s Hotel and renamed King’s Tanglin Shopping Pte Ltd. King’s Hotel itself was the hotel subsidiary of City Developments.

Following its revamp, Tanglin Shopping Centre had its lower levels leased out to several prominent artwork shops and antique shops specialised in old maps, prints and artefacts. Slowly gaining a reputation as a “treasure chest of antiques”, the shopping centre became a place where the rich and famous visited to pick up exquisite artworks and antiques for their own collections.

In 1994, Tanglin Shopping Centre carried out a $9-million renovation project in a bid to bring it on par with its nearby malls, hotels and buildings. Its aging aircon systems were replaced, and new interior finishes were applied to the floorings, ceilings and toilets. A new, wider canopy was also built to provide more shelter at the driveway.

Tanglin Shopping Centre had several well-known longtime tenants.

Steeple’s Deli, opened at Tanglin Shopping Centre in 1981, was Singapore’s first delicatessen (a shop that sells cooked meat, cheeses and other foreign prepared food). Its faithful patrons would remember its retro interior fittings, served milkshakes and sandwiches. One of Tanglin Shopping Centre’s longest serving tenants, Steeple’s Deli was closed in April 2023.

Another one was Anywhere Club, home to Singapore’s rock legends Tania, made up of lead guitarist Zulkifli Sutan, singer Alban De Souza and keyboardist Ismet “Boy” Lubis. Anywhere Club was established at Tanglin Shopping Centre in 1986 and lasted almost 20 years before its closure in 2005.

Other names that come to mind are Club 21, Laugh Comedy Club, Antiques of the Orient, Excalibur Bar and D&O Film and Videos.

By the mid-2000s, there were criticisms that the older shopping centres of Orchard Road were increasingly looking outdated, empty and even “haunted”. In 2007, Tanglin Shopping Centre was in the news due to a “rumoured” en-bloc sale. It was then put up for a collective sale three times between 2010 and 2017. However, its reserve price of $1 billion to $1.5 billion failed to secure any buyers.

In 2022, in its fourth sale attempt, Tanglin Shopping Centre was finally acquired by Pacific Eagle Real Estate in a $868 million deal. The mall was eventually vacated and demolished in 2024, after a long 52 years of history at Orchard Road.

Tanglin Shopping Centre in 2023, a year before its demolition:

Published: 29 January 2025

Posted in General | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Tong Nam Tobacco and the Rise and Fall of Local Cigarette Producers

Posted on December 19, 2024 by Remember Singapore

Along MacPherson Road, at its junction with Harvey Road, is a white double-storey shophouse that was once one of Singapore’s major cigarette manufacturers. This was the former factory of Tong Nam Tobacco Company (东南烟草公司).

Tong Nam Tobacco

Tobacco companies existed in Singapore since the 19th century, where operating licenses for opium, liquors, and tobacco farms were regulated and issued by the Straits Settlements government. Overseas Tobacco Company, established at Hill Street in the 1900s, was one of the most popular cigar and cheroot manufacturers in Malaya and Singapore before the Second World War.

Tong Nam Tobacco, on the other hand, originated from Kwong Hang Ho (广恒号), which was one of the seven large trading firms (七家头) established at Singapore’s downtown area between the early and mid-19th century. These seven trading firms dominated the local markets of rice, cooking oil, sugar, salt, soya sauce, tea, cigarettes and other provisions for almost a century.

In the 1930s, Kwong Hang Ho had some of its shares acquired by investors, and began operating at North Canal Road under the name Tong Nam Tobacco.

Tong Nam Tobacco was embroiled in a legal battle in 1937 when its “Kwong Hang Ho” trademark was counterfeited by another company Chop Wing San. Tong Nam Tobacco eventually won the case and the managing partner of Chop Wing San was fined $200 by the District Court.

During the occupation, the Japanese authority grouped all the major tobacco companies in Singapore to form the Syonan Tokubetu-si Tobacco Manufacturing Association, in order to raise funds and ensure consistent supply of cigarettes and cigars.

In June 1956, Tong Nam Tobacco moved to its new premises at Harvey Road. It was a new modern building with a curved façade and flat roof, architectural design elements that were ahead of their times in the fifties. The top of the façade still bears the name of Kwong Hang today.

In the late fifties and sixties, Tong Nam Tobacco employed about 100 workers and was able to churn out a daily production of more than 550,000 sticks of cigarettes.

The success of Tong Nam Tobacco caught the attention of the government, which had plans to set up a people’s cigarette factory at a cost of $10 million. Keen to tap on the experiences of the established tobacco companies in Singapore, Jumabhoy Mohamed Jumabhoy, then-Minister for Commence and Industry, toured Tong Nam Tobacco in 1958 to better understand the production of cigarettes. He also visited Malayan Cigarette Manufacturers Limited.

Popular Local Brands

The sixties and seventies were arguably Tong Nam Tobacco’s golden eras. It enjoyed good sales with its popular household brands of “My Dear“, “Pigeon“, “Carrier“, “Stage“, “Stag“, “51” and “Gold Circle“.

Other major cigarette producers of the same period were Seng Lee Tobacco Company (with brands such as “Clock Tower“, “Rhinoceros“, “Saxophone“, “Shell“, “Flower“, “Three Generals“), Singapore Tobacco Company (“Neptune“) and Malayan Cigarette Manufacturers Limited (“Seven Diamonds“, “Hallo“, “Tiger Head“, “Sail“, “Winning Rush“, “Golden Flame“, “Wiseman“).

A 1959 survey conducted by the Straits Times estimated that Singaporeans were smoking 20 million cigarettes every month. Majority of the smokers favoured local brands, as compared to imported ones, due to their relatively cheaper prices.

Below is the price list of the different brands of cigarettes in Singapore before a price revision was implemented in 1959. The revised prices were largely due to tax increases imposed by the government.

Tobacco Farms

Tobacco growing in Singapore greatly increased after the war, when the colonial government provided tobacco farmers with incentives of $300 to $400 a picul (about 60kg) in 1948.

Tobacco (nicotiana tabacum) became one of the main cash crops for many farms in Singapore during the fifties and sixties. Tobacco farms could be found from Pulau Tekong to Lim Chu Kang, Kranji, Bukit Panjang and Mandai areas.

Harvested by the farmers twice a year, the tobacco leaves were then dried and sold to the local tobacco companies and factories. In 1978, as much as 600 tonnes of tobacco leaves were harvested. Although it was Singapore’s smallest cash crop, tobacco brought in the fourth highest revenue in the country’s agricultural sector, after vegetables, orchids and fruits.

Decline & Demise

In the late seventies, the United Nations launched global campaigns to urge tobacco growers to switch to other crops. Singapore reciprocated with its own national health drive to educate the population on smoking’s hazardous effects to health and encourage smokers to give up smoking.

By the eighties, many of the local tobacco farms were acquired by the government to make way for urban and residential redevelopment. According to the Primary Production Department, Singapore’s total production of tobacco leaves in 1986 fell to only 10 tonnes, as compared to 133 tonnes in the year 1980.

The sales of Tong Nam Tobacco, as well as other local cigarette manufacturers, began to decline by the eighties. The competitive prices of imported cigarettes from major global brands, aggressive anti-smoking campaigns by the government and the loss of tobacco farms to redevelopment all led to the slowing down of the local tobacco industry.

Tong Nam Tobacco ceased its production and business by the end of the eighties. The company was reregistered under sole proprietorship, and it continues to retain the ownership of the Harvey Road building till today.

Published: 19 December 2024

Posted in Historic | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Reminiscing the Rustic Charm of Ulu Sembawang

Posted on November 30, 2024 by Remember Singapore

Ulu Sembawang in the eighties remained a rustic, countryside-like place, seemingly isolated from the rest of Singapore that had seen rapid urbanisation over the years. Jalan Ulu Sembawang, the main route in the area, wound through a large part of northern Singapore where it has developed into the new towns of Woodlands, Sembawang and Yishun today.

New Rural Roads

Jalan Ulu Sembawang was one of the nine new roads built in 1948, shortly after the war. It was part of the colonial government’s plans to convert agricultural tracks into better roads in order to better serve the increasing number of residents living at the rural areas of Singapore.

The new roads were Jalan Ulu Seletar, Jalan Kuala Sempang and Jalan Ulu Sembawang in the Sembawang district, and Pepys Road, Yew Siang Road, Jalan Mat Sambol, Jubilee Road, Chua Kay Hai Road and Zehnder Road in the Pasir Panjang area. The naming of these roads, submitted by Sembawang and Pasir Panjang’s village committees, was approved by the Singapore Rural Board.

The Kampong Days

Jalan Ulu Sembawang stretched several kilometres between Mandai Road 12th milestone and Sembawang Road 12th milestone. This vast Ulu Sembawang area had numerous clusters of communities such as Mandai Tekong Village, Mandai Catholic Village, Chong Pang Village, Sungei Simpang Village and other smaller kampongs.

Mandai Tekong Village was named after a company called Mandai Tekong, which owned rubber plantations and other estates at Mandai and Pulau Tekong. The name of Mandai Catholic Village, on the other hand, was associated with the settlement of Catholic Teochew refugees from China.

Rural schools were established to support the basic education needs of the villages’ children. The likes of Cheng Chi School, Chung Yee School, Methodist Tamil School, Sin Hwa School and Hua Mien School flourished during the fifties and sixties. The schools’ compounds were often used as makeshift theatres, where free movies were put up by the Ministry of Culture as a form of entertainment for the residents of nearby villages.

Most of the schools were closed by the eighties, after facing diminishing students’ enrollment due to the resettlement of the Ulu Sembawang residents. For example, Hua Mien School’s Primary One student registration, in 1980, had fallen to only 15.

Farmhouses, squatter huts, wells, village schools, fish ponds, pigsties and vegetable farms were still aplenty at Ulu Sembawang, even in the eighties. There were also businesses established in the area, such as car workshops, orchid farms and scrap rubber factories.

Ulu Sembawang had several community centres too, two of which were the Jalan Ulu Sembawang (2km) Community Centre and Jalan Ulu Sembawang (3km) Community Centre. The “2km” and “3km” probably refer to the distances of the community centres from Mandai Road.

Opened in 1963 by then-National Development Minister Tan Kia Gan, Jalan Ulu Sembawang (2km) Community Centre served the communities for more than 15 years before its closure in 1979. Jalan Ulu Sembawang (3km) Community Centre, on the other hand, lasted until 1985.

Other community centres in the vicinity, including Chong Pang (1960s-1985), Huang Long (1960s-1985) and Canberra (1971-1985), were also closed in the same period. Mandai Tekong Community Centre, located at the junction of Lorong Gambas and Lorong Lada Merah, also ceased to exist in 1985.

Catholic Village

While most Chinese villages in Singapore had traditional religious beliefs in Buddhism, Taoism or other Chinese folk religions, Mandai Catholic Village stood out as a rare one with Catholic roots. It was founded in 1927 by Catholic Teochew refugees fleeing from a chaotic China plagued by political unrest. With no money or ties here in Singapore, they sought help from Father Stephen Lee (1896-1956), the assigned chaplain to the refugees.

Father Stephen Lee made a total of 49 applications to the colonial government, before it was approved that the refugees could settle down at the Ulu Sembawang and Mandai areas. The Catholic village, also known as hong kah sua in Teochew, soon thrived and the government named the village road Stephen Lee Road, in recognition of the chaplain’s effort. The road’s entrance was located near 13 milestone of Mandai Road.

Father Stephen Lee also founded Cheng Chi School for the villagers’ children so they could receive some formal education. The school lasted from 1932 to the eighties.

A wooden chapel was constructed in 1933 as a place of worship for the villagers. St Anthony’s Church, a larger concrete building, replaced the chapel in 1960. When the villagers were resettled in the eighties, the church was relocated to Woodlands Avenue 1 in 1994, where it stands till this day.

Network of Roads

Besides the main Jalan Ulu Sembawang, there were numerous minor roads and tracks reaching different parts of Ulu Sembawang. For example, Huang Long Road allowed the residents and drivers to reach Chong Pang Village and Sultan Theatre. Lorong Maha was paved and opened for traffic in 1968. Lorong Gambas lent its name to the modern Gambas Avenue today.

By the nineties, most of these roads were expunged or absorbed into the Singapore Armed Forces’ (SAF) military training grounds. Other than the abovementioned roads, others such as Chong Sin Road, Lorong Pikat, Lorong Chikar, Lorong Chuntum, Lorong Lada Merah and Lorong Lada Padi had all vanished into history. Lorong Lada Hitam is one of the few remaining ones still existing in the area.

Jalan Pasar Sembawang, located on the opposite side of Sembawang Road at 12¾ milestone, had a name similar to Jalan Ulu Sembawang. The difference between the two is that ulu means “remote” or “secluded” in Malay, whereas pasar refers to “market”. Jalan Pasar Sembawang was expunged in the early nineties.

Before 1986, Mandai Road was a narrow two-lane undivided carriageway. That year, the Public Works Department (PWD) began a road widening project to convert it into a three-lane carriageway with a central divider. It took four years for the completion of the road project that included the improvement works to the street lights, bus bays, footpaths and drains along Mandai Road.

Gotong Royong

Before the seventies, Jalan Ulu Sembawang was nothing more than a dirt track. Some sections of the road were in such bad conditions that Teong Eng Siong, Member of Parliament (MP) for Sembawang, brought it up in the parliament in the early seventies, asking if the road could be repaired immediately.

Hence in 1971, about 130 national servicemen from Seletar West Camp and 50 residents volunteered, in the good spirit of gotong royong (“communal work”), to repair a 1.7km damaged stretch of Jalan Ulu Sembawang. The machines, tools, materials and technical knowledge on road construction were supplied by the PWD.

It took just four days for the volunteers to complete the road repair project. Costing $65,000, the newly repaired stretch was officially opened by Teong Eng Siong on 6 March 1972, and was expected to benefit 8,500 residents living at the Bukit Panjang, Nee Soon and Sembawang areas.

In 1974, another gotong royong road repair project saw 300 residents and 1,200 Singapore Polytechnics students taking part in the metalling of a 2.75km-long section of Jalan Ulu Sembawang.

Another gotong royong work in 1978 had 900 volunteers, including Mandai Camp I and Nee Soon Camp’s national servicemen as well as students from Chung Yee School and Hua Mien School. Together, they laid a 1.1km-long track at Jalan Ulu Sembawang that served as a shortcut between Mandai Road and Sembawang Road. The completion of the track improved the accessibility to the area where there were about 100 houses, two schools and a community centre.

Illegal Activities

Despite the tranquility of Ulu Sembawang, it, however, possessed a darker side. Due to its secluded nature, the area was also notorious for being a popular hideout place for secret society members, robbers and kidnappers.

In 1954, under “Operation Eagle”, the Singapore Police’s Special Branch and Reserve Unit raided several Jalan Ulu Sembawang farmhouses, arresting five Malayan Communist Party members and unearthing arms caches of pistols, live rounds and grenades.

Throughout the sixties and seventies, there were cases where illegal samsu and opium manufacturers were caught at Ulu Sembawang. For example, in 1973, the Customs and Excise Department successfully busted two illicit samsu distillers hidden in an old rubber estate along Jalan Ulu Sembawang.

In 1974, the police stormed a gangster hideout at Jalan Ulu Sembawang and arrested six Gi Leng Hor 18 secret society members. A cache of gangland weapons such as parangs, daggers, bearing scrapers and iron pipes were seized by the police. Gi Leng Hor 18 was also suspected to be involved in the murder of a 24-year-old labourer at Jalan Ulu Sembawang in 1973. Another secret society that actively operated at Ulu Sembawang was Ang Soon Tong.

Jalan Ulu Sembawang, together with Jalan Kemuning, hit the headlines again in 1974 when it was revealed that both places had brothels and gambling dens disguised as exclusive clubs for foreign sailors. Some local taxi drivers earned their commissions by fetching the foreigners to these “popular clubs”.

In 1992, the Singapore Police busted an illegal cockfighting arena at Jalan Ulu Sembawang, where some disused kampong huts were converted for the betting game that was banned in Singapore since the sixties. Attracting more than 100 Singaporeans and Malaysians to visit every weekend, the betting stakes for the cockfighting were between $30 and $500 per fight, but some bets reportedly could rise to as high as $5,000.

Mysterious Case

A mysterious case occurred at Ulu Sembawang in 1991. A 38-year-old woman Cheah Moi Moi went missing with her truck found abandoned along a deserted stretch of Jalan Ulu Sembawang.

Cheah Moi Moi was the owner of a mobile grocery business that supplied vegetables, fish, eggs and rice to the foreign workers at the construction sites. On 4 March 1991, she was reported missing by her 26-year-old business partner Lim Keow Soon when he found her truck along Jalan Ulu Sembawang. The police combed the area but found no traces of the missing woman and any signs of struggle.

Cheah Moi Moi was last seen by her sister-in-law at the Chong Pang Market on 3 March. She was never found and her case remains unsolved till this day.

Amenities and Landmarks

A $1.5-million telephone exchange was built by the Telecommunications Authority of Singapore (TAS) in 1975 at the junction of Jalan Ulu Sembawang and Sembawang Road. Another $2.1-million telephone exchange was built at Telok Blangah Way.

Both exchanges allowed TAS to add 12,000 telephone lines to its system, with a potential to increase another 40,000 lines, to serve the increasing number of residential and commercial telephone users in Singapore.

The Jalan Ulu Sembawang telephone exchange site was acquired in 2002 for $17 million by Centrepoint Properties Ltd, formerly known as Frasers Centrepoint Singapore, to be used for private residential redevelopment.

Another landmark near the junction of Jalan Ulu Sembawang and Sembawang Road was Fraser & Neave’s (F&N) $1.5-million bottling plant called Semangat Ayer Limited. Opened in 1967, it bottled Seletaris, a popular mineral water brand made from the Sembawang Hot Spring. Its site was acquired in 1985 by the Ministry of Defence to become part of Sembawang Air Base, but the hot spring was released back to the public in the nineties for recreational use.

Bus Services

Public bus services arrived at Ulu Sembawang in July 1978. Despite its great length, Jalan Ulu Sembawang was not served by any public buses prior to this year. The only form of public transport was a few taxis willing to ply the route, and their relatively expensive fares meant that many Ulu Sembawang residents would rather walk almost an hour or cycle long distances to reach their homes from the main Mandai or Sembawang Roads.

In the late seventies, the Registry of Vehicles (ROV) introduced Scheme B bus services to the rural areas of Singapore to provide better accessibility and convenience to the residents. The buses, charging 20c for a 3km ride, 30c between 3km and 6km, and 40c for distances more than 6km, were able to pick up and drop off passengers anywhere along Jalan Ulu Sembawang. Students were charged a flat rate of 10c.

Land Acquistions and Resettlement

By 1983, there were only 30 small chicken farms and 20 duck farms left at Lorong Gambas, off Jalan Ulu Sembawang. The larger poultry farms had been relocated to Lim Chu Kang, whereas the remaining ones were given eviction notices by the government.

In the sixties, Bukit Sembawang Estates, one of Singapore’s largest landowners and property developers, had acquired large parts of the Ulu Sembawang area. Some of the lands were cultivated into rubber plantations, managed by the company’s subsidiary Singapore United Rubber Plantations. Other parts were designated for agricultural and rural purposes.

Over the years, the company had sold much of its rubber plantations and lands at Jalan Kayu, Sembawang, Nee Soon, Pasir Ris and Punggol to the Singapore Government for residential redevelopment. For Ulu Sembawang, the government acquired almost 550,000 square metres of the lands from Bukit Sembawang Estates in 1985.

Old-time fishing enthusiasts might remember the large pond at Lorong Chuntum, off Jalan Ulu Sembawang, in the mid-eighties, where it was filled with grass carp, snakehead fish and Thai catfish. It had a restaurant called Ng Tiong Choon Seafood Restaurant, where the anglers could engage the chefs, for a price of $10, to cook the fish they caught from the pond.

Ulu Sembawang still had rubber plantations in the mid-eighties. One particular rubber plantation, at the junction of Jalan Ulu Sembawang and Lorong Gambas, was known as chiew ni kah, or “foot of rubber trees” in Hokkien, among the residents. In 1987, it was acquired by the government to be used as part of the SAF training ground and camping site for the National Cadet Corps (NCC) and Girl Guides.

Ulu Sembawang’s residents, from 1981 to 1990, were gradually resettled at the new towns of Woodlands, Marsiling, Sembawang and Yishun. By 1984, the SAF began to conduct exercises at the Ulu Sembawang area. For the remaining residents still living at the area, it became a norm for them to occasionally hear the sounds of thunderflashes and firing of blanks.

Some residents, unable to adjust to the flat-dwelling HDB lifestyle, still returned to Ulu Sembawang regularly despite the presence of SAF warning signages. The older residents would often reminisce their tough yet happy days living in the rural areas. Others recalled spending their carefree childhood days climbing trees, plucking fruits and jumping into the ponds and rivers.

By the nineties, the abandoned vegetable farms, empty fish ponds and deserted rubber plantations were reclaimed by nature.

Old Cemetery and Temple

The Mandai Hokkien Cemetery at Jalan Ulu Sembawang was also acquired in 1985 by the Housing and Development Board (HDB) for public housing redevelopment. The 1.6-hectare Chinese cemetery, owned by the Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan, had more than 20,000 graves, many of where were reinterred in the sixties from exhumed graves at Red Hill and Leng Kee Road’s cemeteries.

HDB carried out the exhumation of Mandai Hokkien Cemetery in March 1986, with the first phase involving some 5,200 graves. Mandai Hokkien Cemetery’s unclaimed remains, together with the unclaimed remains of other exhumed cemeteries in Singapore, were subsequently exhumed and disposed at the sea off Punggol Point in 1988.

A small Taoist temple called Fu Xing Tang stood along Lorong Gambas. It was built in the fifties by the residents pooling their resources for a place of worship where they could seek peace and protection from Chinese deity Tua Pek Kong.

Like the huts, farms and ponds of Ulu Sembawang, the temple eventually walked into history when the areas were acquired by the government and the residents resettled.

New Park Connector

In 2002, the government looked into the possibility of carving out an area within the SAF training grounds to build a park, allowing the public to access the areas’ rich flora and fauna. Pulau Tekong and Ulu Sembawang were two of the areas studied.

A 1.3km-long Ulu Sembawang Park Connector was constructed and opened in 2010. It was built on a former section of Jalan Ulu Sembawang near its junction with Mandai Road. The rest of the Ulu Sembawang area remains a restricted military ground under the charge of the Ministry of Defence.

Published: 30 November 2024

Updated: 2 December 2024

Posted in Exotic, Historic, Nostalgic | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Singapore’s 182 Years of Horse Racing Reaches the Finishing Line

Posted on October 29, 2024 by Remember Singapore

On 5 October 2024, a 10,000-strong crowd turned up to witness Singapore’s final horse races held at the Singapore Turf Club’s Kranji racecourse. As the horses raced past the finishing line, it marked the end of a long and glorious 182-year history in local horse-racing.

Horse-racing in Singapore began as early as 1842, when the Singapore Sporting Club was founded. A year later, Singapore’s first racecourse was built at the swampy Farrer Park. A grandstand and track were built, along the Race Course Road which was named after the new amenity.

Farrer Park racecourse debuted its first races on 23 and 25 February 1843 to a crowd of more than 300. It was Singapore’s first official horse races, with an attractive prize money of $150.

In 1924, the Singapore Sporting Club was renamed Singapore Turf Club to better reflect its role and activities. By then, the fast growing interest in horse-racing meant that Farrer Park racecourse was too small to accommodate all the spectators. After shortlisting several sites, a parcel of land at Bukit Timah Rubber Estate was eventually secured at a cost of $3 million for the construction of a new Bukit Timah racecourse. The new racecourse was opened in 1933 to a 5,000-strong crowd.

In 1988, in a review of land use in Singapore by the government, the Bukit Timah Turf Club site was a possibility for residential redevelopment by the mid-nineties. A large 120-hectare (1.2-square km) plot of site at Kranji, near the new Kranji MRT Station, was identified as the ideal location for the new horse-racing grounds. In the proposal, the turf club might be relocated to Kranji as early as 1997.

The design of the new horse-racing grounds was taken up by Indeco Consultants and established American racecourse designer Ewing Cole Cherry & Brott. Works commenced in December 1995. The new Kranji complex, costing almost $600 million, was fitted with a 30,000-capacity grandstand, Owners’ Box, Jockeys’ Box, Parade Ring, Diamond Vision screens, a stabling complex and additional betting counters.

Floodlights and lighting system suited for night racing were installed in 1998, making Singapore the first in the Malayan Racing Association – the other club members were Selangor, Perak and Penang – to have night racing capabilities.

On 25 July 1999, the Bukit Timah racecourse hosted the Emirates Singapore Derby, its last ever major race. After the relocation of the turf club to Kranji, the old premises was converted into Turf City, where it operated for more than two decades until its closure at the end of 2023.

The Singapore Turf Club at Kranji had a soft opening on 25 September 1999 and hosted Singapore’s first ever night horse race, although the special occasion was interrupted by a power failure. The racecourse’s official opening was officiated by then-President of Singapore S. R. Nathan (1924-2016) on 4 March 2000. On its opening day, spectators and punters were treated to an exciting 2,000m race of the Singapore Airlines International Cup with a prize money of $3 million.

In June 2000, the turf club also organised a night horse race dedicated to ladies, a first in its history. The special lady night was an instant hit as more than 8,000 women attended the event with free entry to the racecourse.

The Singapore Turf Club had a “turfmeter” to describe the state of its track for sand races. It has three ratings of “firm”, “good” and “yielding”, where “firm” is the best condition for a fast track, especially after a heavy rain that makes the sand more compact. Beside the sand track, the Kranji racecourse also had a new 1,500m-long polytrack, or all-weather track, added in 2008.

In November 2002, the Kranji racecourse held its first ever concert, where popular male singer Li Mao Shan sang at the Parade Ring in front of 1,500 fans. Other than concerts, the Singapore Turf Club also organised orchestra performances, “Fun for All Under the Stars” open houses and even a vintage car race at its Kranji premises.

The annual Singapore Airlines International Cup was cancelled in 2003 due to the SARS pandemic. As many as 120 horses, including 91 from overseas, were affected by the cancellation.

In 2006, the Singapore Turf Club welcomed distinguished guest Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022) at its Kranji racecourse. The British monarch had visited the Bukit Timah racecourse in 1972; it was a long 34 years later that her royal presence graced the Singapore horse-racing realm once again.

A gigantic Panasonic Astrovision LED screen, measured 46m long by 8m tall, was installed by the Singapore Turf Club in 2007. The huge outdoor screen was able to display clear and sharp images to almost all the spectators seated at the grandstand.

Over the years, popular winning horses such as Nightyfive Emperor, Storm Racer, Magnum Force, Rocket Man, Better Be The One and Al’s Knight wowed countless of spectators, punters and horse-racing lovers with their impressive speeds and brilliant victories.

Horse-racing, however, seems to lose its attraction to the younger generations of Singaporeans. The annual visitorship to the Singapore Turf Club gradually declined, especially in the new millennium. The average daily attendance had dropped from 11,000 in 2010 to 6,000 in 2019 and 2,600 in 2022.

In 2023, the government announced the permanent closure of Kranji racecourse in a year’s time. This not only spells the end of Singapore’s third racecourse, but also its 182 years of horse-racing history. The Kranji site will be returned to the government in 2027, and residential redevelopment is expected to commence by the end of the 2020s.

Published: 29 October 2024

Posted in General | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments