With the completion of the Integrated Resorts (IRs) and its casinos in 2010, some said that Singapore had truly become a sin city. While they might be right, the fact is gambling has never been a stranger on this island.
This article, however, has no intention in justifying gambling and betting.
The Colonial Days
In the 19th century, the early Chinese immigrants in Malaya and Singapore, many working as coolies, were plagued by the addiction of gambling and opium. Much of their hard-earned money was spent on these vices, resulting in a number of them unable to return to China and die penniless in Nanyang. Under his charge, Sir Stamford Raffles (1781-1826) outlawed cock-fighting, popular among the Malays, and the Chinese gambling dens.
When Raffles left Singapore for Bencoolen in 1820, he left the colony under the care of Scottish William Farquhar (1774-1839). Farquhar viewed gambling as a source of income for the colonial government, and subsequently issued licenses to the big Chinese operators of gambling dens.
Throughout the 19th century, the policy of legalising gambling was changed repeatedly. Despite the laws, gambling dens continued to exist and flourish until the mid of the 20th century. The China Street in the present-day Central Business District (CBD) was once known as giao keng kau 赌间口, due to the numerous gambling dens operating there in the old days. The notorious street was also dominated by powerful secret societies and moneylenders.
Singapore Turf Club and Horse Racing
Scottish businessman Henry Macleod Read (1819–1907) founded the Singapore Sporting Club in 1842 and had Singapore’s first ever horse racing held at Farrer Park a year later, with the top prize money offered at $150.
In 1924, the club changed its name to Singapore Turf Club and its premise was shifted to a larger ground at Bukit Timah in 1933 (and to Kranji racecourse in 1999). Ever since 1960 when horse racing was officially opened to the public, the sport-betting was so overwhelming that the two grandstands with capacity of 50,000 were easily filled up during the weekends.
Second World War
During the Japanese Occupation, all sorts of gambling were unofficially allowed. The Japanese even introduced a lottery called Konan Saiken, Singapore’s first ever state lottery, in 1942 to raise revenue for their administration. With the top prize of $50,000, each ticket cost $1 and all civil employees were required to buy.
Post-War Period
After the war, the British returned as Singapore struggled to recover. There were more interactions between the white rulers and the people, although the social divide was still very much in place.
Roulette and other card games had always been the favourite pastimes of the upper class in the colonial Singapore. The picture shows a mixture of British and local patrons playing at a roulette table in the Dale Carnegie Club (a club formed by a group of Singaporeans who graduated from the speech-training course of the same namesake) in 1956.
Independence and The Singapore Pools
The society of Singapore, after independence, was overrun by the underworld trials, which had a hand in almost all illegal activities such as gambling, drugs and prostitution. In order to tackle the issue of illegal gambling, the Singapore Pools Private Limited was set up on 23rd May 1968 as the sole legal operator of lottery. Its temporary office was opened at Mountbatten Road.
Toto
Two weeks later, Singapore Pools launched the lottery of Toto as its first game, with the help of Bulgarian Toto expert Papadopov Nikolai. The public response was so overwhelming that the limited Toto coupons were snapped up within the first few hours of sale at the Singapore Post Office.
The Singapore Sweep
One year later in 1969, the Singapore Pools continued its successful start with the introduction of The Singapore Sweep. The first prize was set at $400,000, an astronomical figure during that era, and tickets costing $1 each were sold at small booths in many parts of the island. The prize would be raised to $1 million by 1983.
4D
On 26th May 1986, Singapore Pools launched the computerised 4-digit number game simply known as 4D (摇珠万字票), arguably the most popular betting game in Singapore. It is reported that more than 50% of Singaporeans has participated in the purchase of 4D in one way or another. The 4D draw days were initially held only on the weekends, but were extended to Wednesday after 2000.
Said to be originated from Kedah in 1951, 4D has been extremely popular in both Singapore and Malaysia. It is commonly known as beh bio (马票, literally means “horse ticket”), although it is actually a machine that randomly draw out four balls, each representing a single digit. However, in the sixties, 4D was drawn in the Singapore Turf Club. The game was influenced by Hong Kong horse racing, where each set of numbers was randomly picked and then assigned to a horse. The first, second and third prizes were determined by the winning horses in the race. Starter prizes and consolation prizes are commonly known as ji wei (入围, qualification) and beh sai (马屎, literally means horse shit) respectively.
Many locals like to get inspirations of numbers from newspapers, deities, or even car accidents and Luohan fish. Sometimes, they also roll up red slips of papers, each with a digit (zero to nine) written underneath, in a small milk can and shake out four digits to form a set of lucky number. Most folks lose in the long run, but that does not stop their dreams of striking the big prizes. In 2005, a middle-aged man struck $14 million, the biggest win in the history of Singapore 4D.
Once in a while, one can also read from newspapers that a certain ang zi (红字) comes up as first prize and causes some illegal underground bookies to bust. On the contrary, unlucky numbers are called orh zi (黑字). Someone has researched that as many as 20 numbers have never “opened” in the history of 4D.
Football Betting and Others
Other than significant contributions to the building of the National Stadium and The Esplanade, Singapore Pools also showed its support to the development of local football when S-League started in 1996.
It launched SCORE in 1999, and later STRIKE! in 2002, as a channel of legalised betting in local and international footballs. The move also aimed to stamp out illegal football betting, which was starting to become very popular among Singaporeans since the late nineties.
By the 2000s, Singapore Pools had expanded in many sectors, including a scratch-and-win game called Scratchit!, system roll and iBet in 4D, telephone betting through PoolzConnect and betting in Formula One racing. Today, there are more than 280 Singapore Pools outlets in almost every corners of Singapore.
Illegal Mobile Gambling Stalls
For decades, illegal gambling dens and stalls in Singapore have never been totally eradicated. The small stalls have high mobility, been able to be set up and packed up in double quick time. It is not surprising that they can still be found in the back alleys of Geylang today.
Jackpot Rooms
Before the opening of IRs, jackpots and fruit machines have already found their way into Singapore. Social clubs such as NTUC (National Trades Union Congress) Club, Automobile Association of Singapore (AAS) and SAFRA (Singapore Armed Forces Reservist Association) have brought the game machines in since the nineties.
Although they are restricted to members above the age of 18, the public raises their concerns when some of the clubs located in the residential neighbourhoods are found operating these machines. In 2007, jackpot machines around Singapore raked in as much as $700 million worth of revenue.
Trips to Genting Highlands and Casino Ships
Tens of thousands of Singaporeans travel some 400km to Genting Highlands, Malaysia every year. In the eighties, before the North-South Highway was fully completed, many determined Singaporeans would drive 10 hours in poorly lit single-lane roads flanked by vast plantations in Malaysia to get to their destinations.
Casino ships were once popular with the local gamblers too. Rebates of betting chips and free buffets have lured many to visit Leisure World at the international waters off Batam. In the past, there were whispers that many local housewives visited the casino ships daily; they would board the ships in the mornings and return by the evenings, to avoid suspicions from their husbands. A lot of them lost their savings by tens of thousands of dollars.
Types of Popular Games in Singapore
Chap Ji Kee
Gambling in public was banned in Singapore until the sixties. One local lottery chap ji kee (十二支), though, was extremely popular then, especially among the housewives. They would use some of their monthly allowances or savings to bet, hoping to strike the first prize.
The game was simple, as one just needed to choose two numbers from one to twelve, and place them in either horizontal or vertical arrangement. In the vertical arrangement, the sequel of the two numbers must be correct in order to win the payout, often to more than 10 times the size of each bet. Codes were used on the betting slips, usually by circles and lines to indicate the stake amounts.
Runners would then collect the slips usually at the kopitiams, and bring them to a centralised location where the numbers would be drawn and announced.
Si Sek Pai
Si sek pai (四色牌), literally “four colour cards”, is a favourite Teochew card game popular among housewives. As the name suggests, the 112 cards are divided into four colours (yellow, red, white, green), 28 cards each. In each colour, the cards are listed as General (将), Guard (仕), Advisor (相), Chariot (車), Horse (马), Cannon (炮), and Pawn (卒), much like the Chinese chess.
La Bi
La bi is a corrupted pronunciation of rummy, a card game similar to si sek pai. It uses normal playing cards which involve drawing of cards, making melds and discarding the unwanted cards on hand. While si sek pai is mostly played by housewives, la bi seems to be a favourite game of local middle-aged men in the eighties and nineties.
Singapore Mahjong
Mahjong is one of the favourite pastimes here. A few rounds of mahjong at home are not considered illegal in the eyes of Singapore law, unless there are syndicates involved with the intention of profiting.
Singapore mahjong is unique in its own way, with its set of rules and regulation (eg. animals are involved as tai 台, game ends at last 15 tiles, stakes are increased geometrically, etc). Below is a brief comparison with the main characteristics of other variants of mahjong in the world:
- Hong Kong (Cantonese) Mahjong: No animals; game ends until last tile
- Japanese (Richi) Mahjong: The player must declare when he is “listening” for the winning tile, known as tenpai (听牌)
- Taiwan Mahjong: 16-tiled play; more variety in tai without limit in stakes
- American Mahjong: Interchangable of tiles among players at the start of each game
- KL (Kuala Lumpur) Mahjong: Usually 3 players, with jokers involved
- Sichuan Mahjong: Chi (吃) is disallowed; flowers, animals, wind (东南西北风) and dragon (发财红中白板) tiles are all excluded
- Korean Mahjong: 3 players with only wan zi (萬子) and tong zi (筒子) played. There are no suo zi (索子)
- Vietnam Mahjong: Includes 16 jokers (Kings, Queens, others) which act as replacement of tiles or increment of tai
Overall, the style of Singapore mahjong most resembles that of Hong Kong mahjong. Even the taboos of the superstitious gamblers are similar, such as tapping of shoulders are prohibited, school bags and combs are considered unlucky items (they sound like losing in Mandarin), discarding of west wind at the start of a game is also considered unlucky as west is xi (西) in Chinese, hence referring to xi tian (西天).
However unlike Hong Kong, mahjong is also seldom played in weddings and funerals. The Singapore government also does not allow the operation of mahjong parlours.
Others
Other card games such as Blackjack, Cho Dai-D, Pusoy (Chinese Poker) and Texas Poker are also commonly played in Singapore. Mahjong and blackjack are especially popular among friends and relatives during Chinese New Years.
Published: 30 November 2011
Updated: 28 September 2015
The Bookworm Club was established in 1984 to encourage reading among the children. Many primary school students became its members, charmed by their short story series and the Young Generation magazines.
When you saw this screen, it’s either there was a lost transmission in the TV programs or it was time for you to sleep.
Junie Sng Poh Leng 孙宝玲 became instant Singapore hero when she won two gold and a silver medal in the 8th Asian Games (1978), at an age of only 14. In clinching the 400m and 800m race, Julie Sng not only beat the favourite Japanese swimmers, but also became 
activities such as glue-sniffing, shoplifting and gang fights.
All children loved Ah Meng. She was the icon of Singapore Zoo and arguably the most famous animal in Singapore. Although she was recused from illegal smuggling, Ah Meng, a Sumatran orangutan, was relatively approachable by humans. A popular “Breakfast with Ah Meng” event was organised by the zoo in the eighties.
Established in 1830, this 170-year-old department store and supermarket, located at Raffles City, was forced to close in 2000 due to the bankruptcy of its parent company in Japan. SOGO has operated in Singapore since 1986.
Shell-sponsored road safety and traffic games had been organised since 1958. The park was initially located at Kallang, and had moved to East Coast in 1981. Students were encouraged to try out the games in order to raise their awareness on road safety.
Parklane, Hougang, Ang Mo Kio… Arcade saloons opened one after another in the heartlands of the neighbourhoods, and they began with an affordable price of 20c per game.
There was a time when it deemed to be cool and stylish to carry a big old cassette tape player, powered by a series of large batteries, on your shoulders, walking around or lingering in the void decks blasting loud Western music. Not me, I never did that.
In the eighties, there were certainly more saving and investment options in the number of banks for Singaporeans. OUB (Overseas Union Bank Limited), Tat Lee Bank, Keppel Bank, Chung Khiaw Bank were some of those that did not exist anymore today as they were being merged or took over by OUB (United Overseas Bank Limited) and OCBC (Oversea-Chinese Bank Corporation Limited).
A game that is said to be originated from either the Romans or the Chinese, hopscotch is played around the world, including Singapore. Popular to be played in the parks or playgrounds, the outlines are usually drawn with a chalk and a stone or a bean bag is used as a marker during the game. Each player must skip through the course, with one leg, without touching the lines or the marker.
Five Stones (五粒米) is an ancient game from Greece or Egypt, but extremely popular in Southeast Asia, especially among the girls, from the fifties to eighties. In local context, five little triangular bags, filled with sand or rice, are used. Each player has to throw a bag into the air, and then quickly grab another bag on the ground before catching the first one on its way down. The game continues as the player repeats the action by grabbing two bags on the ground, and so on.
Introduced in early nineties, the early plain designs used colours to differentiate the values of the cards, such as a $20 phone card was in silver whereas the $50 one was gold.
Book spinning and pen spinning seemed to be popular pastimes for bored students of yesteryears. Some even went to the extent of competing each other to see who can spin for the longest time. It is said that pen spinning was invented by a Japanese student in the 1940s. The trick became popular in the United States and other parts of Asia, including Singapore, in the eighties and nineties.
In the eighties, students did not have many choices in all-white canvas school shoes. The most common ones were the Bata, US Masters, BM2000 and not forgetting the good old Panda brand.
Orange combs with long pointed ends were must-have for old school boys. They stuck out in the back pocket, creating cool “ah beng” impressions. The boys loved to use them to carefully arrange their hairstyles for more than 10 minutes in the toilets. Not to be used as a weapon though.
The first Casio G-Shock DW-5000C was launched in 1983, gaining immerse popularity among the youngsters. It had a water resistant depth of 200m and its battery life could last seven years.
Mandarin Pop or Mandopop in the early eighties was represented by Taiwanese singers in Teresa Tang (邓丽君), Liu Wen Zheng (刘文正), Fei Yu-Ching (费玉清) and Feng Fei-Fei (凤飞飞). It was a period heavily influenced by the craze over Chiung Yao’s (琼瑶) love novels and melodramatic movies. Towards the end of the eighties, fans’ taste changed as they turned their sights on rising talented stars such as Dave Wong (王杰), Sky Wu (伍思凯), Pan Mei Chen (潘美辰), Song Bai Twins (小松小柏) and The Little Tigers (小虎队).
However, the Mandarin music market would soon be filled with young idols that emphasised on their appearances rather than their vocals. Music companies would go to the extent to spend a great deal on packaging and marketing.
Each media represents an era: mp3 represents the 2000s, CDs (Compact Discs) represent the nineties, cassette tapes represent the eighties, and vinyl records represent the days prior to the 1970s.
The Yamaha recorder was a simple introduction to music for primary school students of the eighties. I do not really have the talent for music, so this recorder, along with the small harmonica, are the only musical instruments I have in my whole life.
Japanese dramas were rare in the eighties, but Oshin 阿信 (1983) managed to stand out as it moved many local housewives to tears. The marriage of on-screen lovers Yamaguchi Momoe (山口百惠) and Miura Tomokazu (三浦友和), arguably the biggest names in the Japanese showbiz of the eighties, was a fairytale came true for their fans.
An American children series, first shown on TV in the United States way back in 1969, Sesame Street has found its way to many countries in the world, including Singapore. Many of its muppets, created by Jim Henson, were children’s favourite TV characters. The popular muppets include Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Elmo, Cookie Monster, Oscar the Grouch, Ernie and Bert, Big Bird, and so many more…
The first VCR (videocassette recorder) was launched to the mass market in 1971. By the late eighties, they became reasonably affordable for a consumer to rent, play, record or watch a film in the comfort of his home. He could even schedule his video player to do a record of TV program at a later timing. By late nineties, video tapes became endangered species as VCDs (video compact discs) and DVDs (digital versatile discs) made their way into the video sector.
Yaohan (八佰伴) opened its first store in Singapore in 1974. Encouraged by popularity among the locals, it subsequently opened other branches at Thomson Plaza (1979), Bukit Timah (1982), Jurong (1983-1989) and Parkway Parade (1983). After the Asian Currency Crisis in 1997/98, Yaohan bankrupted and closed most of its stores worldwide.
Another Japanese retail superstore, Daimaru (大丸) came to Singapore in 1983. By 2003, it had shut down its most of its overseas operations. Singapore was its last investment overseas.
Owned by the Lim family from East Malaysia, Emporium (英保良) was 
A popular local department store at People’s Park, OG was first established in 1973. With more shopping malls joining in the competition, OG’s development in Singapore has been limited. Nevertheless, it still manages to expand to three outlets, the other two being located at Orchard Point and Albert Complex.
Another common facilities found at old flats, the round white stone table completed with six stone stools provided a relaxation corner for the old folks. The surface of the table was also carved with the layout of a Chinese chess or International chess. Many of these stone tables and benches became obsolete and were replaced by metal-framed ones.
Yellow-top black taxis first appeared in Singapore in 1947. The authority stopped issuing individual taxi license in 1974, and regulations stated that taxi drivers could not continue their business once they hit the age of 73.
Soviet Union brand Lada (model Samara) was introduced into Singapore as a budget car at the turn of the eighties/nineties. Relatively cheap, the hatchback was, however, unreliable due to our hot climate. The brand lasted in Singapore well short of a decade. Lada Samara had the unwanted reputation of being the worst car ever to run on Singapore roads. 😀
Chopper bicycles, manufactured by US bicycle-maker Raleigh and sold at least 1.5 million worldwide from 1969 to 1979, became an iconic craze in Singapore in the eighties. With its high seat, shifting gear on its main frame, and a small-front-wheel-large-rear-wheel combination, the bicycle might not look appealing to bike-lovers today, but it was every boy’s dream 30 years ago…
Motorola developed their first pager in 1959, and pagers began to find popularity since 1980. In 1990, Motorola’s Bravo numeric pager stormed the market, and would later became the world’s best selling pager. Almost a symbol of status, many guys loved to clip one at the side of their pants, and it was not uncommon to hear someone shouted “siang kar pager?” at a public payphone.
Ok, the call zone phone marketed by SingTel was not a product of the eighties. It was introduced in 1992 and lasted only five years, till 1997. To make a call, you had to find a designated call zone area, pull up the antenna and try to find the signal. And the payphone was just nearby. 
Our home-grown tech company Creative Technology was set up by Sim Wong Hoo and Ng Kai Wai in 1981, initially as a small store in a shopping mall, selling computers and providing training services. Their big break came in 1984 when they launched dual-processor Cubic 99, which had enabled voice synthesis and sound playback function.
The Creative Music System was released in 1987. Its successor The Sound Blaster was launched two years later. This would lead to the audio revolution in the PC (Personal Computer) world, especially for gamers, for more than a decade.
A role-playing PC game developed for Apple II, its graphics was a big jump in the standard and quality of animation towards the end of the eighties.
The handheld game Western Bar from Casio was a big hit in the eighties. The sound effects were excellent, with realistic gunshot sounds and cowboy-styled music.
Enid Blyton storybooks were so popular in the eighties that few children of that era would not have heard of the name. She was a British novelist (1897 – 1968) who specialised in writing stories of adventures, fantasy and magic for children. Over 600 million copies of her work sold worldwide, especially the Commonwealth countries.
Thrilling adventures, mysteries-solving, detective-inspired… No wonder so many young boys were hooked to The Hardy Boys. The stories could get a little violent sometimes.
The Adventure of Tin Tin was a classic Belgian comic book published from 1929 to 1976. In the comics, Tin Tin was an adventurous Belgian reporter who always encountered difficulties in his explorations, accompanied by his faithful terrier dog Snowy.
A creation by the United States’ Hasbro and Japan’s Takara Tomy, Transformers was perhaps the most successful entertainment franchise that had its hand in toys, cartoons, movies, video games and comic books.
The cartoon M.A.S.K (Mobile Armoured Strike Kommand) was the product of a co-operation of Japan, French and American studios. The story was about a special task force with special helmets and transformable vehicles, battling against the criminal organisation V.E.N.O.M. (Vicious Evil Network Of Mayhem).
The Smurfs are weird little blue creatures created by Belgian cartoonist in 1958. American media network NBC (National Broadcasting Company) first aired the cartoon series in 1981, and it turned out to be quite popular. Singapore imported the cartoon after the mid-eighties.
Portrayed as the most powerful man in the universe, this creation by Mattel started early in 1976 and became popular in the early eighties. He-Man was a barbaric warrior known as Prince Adam, who was able to transform into the powerful He-Man by simply raising his sword and shouted: “By the power of Gray Skull, I have the power!”. During the transformation, his timid cat Cringer also turned into a courageous battle tiger. The villain in the cartoon was a skull-faced warrior called Skeletor.
Teddy bears are cute, but Care Bears were even more charming, at least to the kids. Each bear had a colour, character and ability of his/her own, and when combined, the powers from their bellies was strong enough to thwart any evil plans from No Heart, the main villain. The first TV cartoon series was released in 1983, followed by its first film, The Care Bears Movie, in 1985. Both were big hits. Within several years, 40 million Care Bears dolls were sold worldwide.
This pony toy, with long comb-able mane, was perhaps the girls’ favourite after the Barbie dolls. The cartoon was produced in 1984 but its series lasted only three years.
This American cartoon consists of three series, ThunderCats (released in 1985), Silverhawks (1986) and TigerSharks (1987). ThunderCats was about a team of cat-humanoid aliens, while SilverHawks were some heroic figures with bionic bodies. Members of the TigerSharks had special devices which could transform them into marine forms.
A long-lasting American cartoon series, created in 1969, that featured a large talking Dane called Scooby-Doo (which always went “scooby-scooby-doo” at the end of the cartoon) and four characters (Fred Jones, Daphne Blake, Velma Dinkley, and Norville “Shaggy” Rogers). The storyline largely revolved around supernatural encounters and mystery-solving.
Incredibly innovative, this was a cartoon series about four mutated turtles who were named after Renaissance artists (Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, Michelangelo) and had a sewage rat as their teacher. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were first created in a comic in 1984, and it was three years later when they were introduced in animation on TV. The series got so popular that toys, video games and movies soon followed.
The creations by Walt Disney (1928 and 1934 respectively), these two lovable cartoon characters have been famous and popular among children even till this day. The duo are joined by other Disney characters in Minnie Mouse, Groofy, Pluto, Scrooge McDuck and little ducklings Huey, Dewey and Louie.
Cute cartoon which was shown in Singapore in the late eighties, although it debuted in the United States in 1985. It was about a group of underground-living bears who made friends with a human boy and a princess. The fun part of the cartoon was that the bears could hop at great heights after consuming their specialised Gummiberry juice. The theme song was nice too.
The 
United Overseas Bank Limited (UOB) was started as United Chinese Bank (UCB) by Sarawak-born Datuk Wee Kheng Chiang in 1935. The bank, in the effort to open its first branch in Hong Kong in 1965, renamed itself as UOB due to a similar name of another bank in Hong Kong. It, however, retained its Chinese name as “Tye Hwa”.
The Development Bank of Singapore Limited (DBS) was established in 1968 as Singapore’s development bank, in order to help the nation develop its economy during the difficult times after independence. It also played an important financial role in Singapore’s direction towards industrialisation.
Oversea-Chinese Bank Corporation Limited (OCBC) was the product of the merging of three Hokkien banks in 1932, namely Chinese Commercial Bank Limited (which was set up by local businessman Lee Choon Guan in 1912), Ho Hong Bank Limited and Oversea-Chinese Bank Limited.
In 1948, OCBC introduced an innovative night safe system to allow customers to make deposits at night.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) acts as the central bank of Singapore. It came into effect on the first day of 1971, in order to regulate the banking and financial sectors.
The British colonial government set up Post Office Savings Bank (POSB) on 1st January 1877 at the General Post Office Building. Hugely popular prior the fifties, it was however experiencing a decline after 1955.
Overseas Union Bank Limited (OUB) 
At its beginning, the bank had a paid-up capital of S$2 million and 27 staff. Despite the difficulties at the start, the bank grew rapidly and by the mid-fifties, OUB was already expanding overseas in Hong Kong, Tokyo and London. In 1973, OUB became the first Singapore bank to establish its branch in New York.
It was not until 16th December 1903 that the first local bank was founded by Cantonese Wong Ah Fook (well-known businessman in Singapore and Malaysia, with Johor street Jalan Wong Ah Fook named after him) with a paid-up capital of S$850,000. It was known as Kwong Yik Bank (literally means “Cantonese profiting bank”), but it did not last long as it collapsed a decade later due to financial difficulties, resulting in a bank run.
Blessed with good reputation due to its reliability during financial crisis, the Teochew-styled bank expanded into Thailand and Hong Kong in its early days. Respectable Teochew community leader Lee Wee Nam (1881–1964) (right) was once its chairman in 1932. Another Teochew leader Tan Siak Kew (1903–1977) (left), also Singapore’s first ambassador to Thailand, was Sze Hai Tong’s chairman in 1962.
The famous Aw family (owner of Tiger Balm and Haw Par Villa) was the first to set up a bank after the war. Its Chung Khiaw Bank (CKB), opened in 1947, targeted ordinary folks and the middle-class families, and its innovative introduction of “piggy coin banks” was hugely popular during that era. It also transformed the culture of local Chinese banks, where they usually catered for a certain dialect group, to a more broad-based multiracial clientele.
In 1973, Goh Tjoei Kok realised his dream with an investment of $36 million to set up Tat Lee Bank. It was officially opened in February 1975 to be in line with the government’s promotion of Singapore as a regional and international financial hub.
Remember Singapore 