Singapore 1972

“I visited Singapore for the first time during the summer of 1972, as part of a longer trip that also took me to Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia. At that time Singapore was a fairly new country, as it had gained independence from Malaysia on August 9, 1965. It was very different from what it is today, as one can see from the following pictures: not as opulent, not as clean, … I have always liked and I still like Singapore, but I nevertheless regret some its previous charm.

The river was full of barges that, unlike today, were not for tourists:

The port was not as big as today:

There were few tall buildings, but old buildings were already being scrapped down to make space for taller ones:

Streets had a very different, but perhaps more charming atmosphere with little traffic:

Popular theaters were erected in the middle of the streets:

Night markets smelled like true markets:

But today I can enter Singapore with long hairs. In 1972, I had to get an haircut …“

By Jean-Claude Latombe

RemSG: It is a delight to see these valuable photos of how Singapore looked like back in 1972. The Singapore River and the streets filled with little businesses were certainly a lot different from the modern Singapore we see today.

With permission from Mr Jean-Claude Latombe to reproduce from his website: http://ai.stanford.edu/~latombe/mountain/photo/singapore/singapore-1972.htm.

Published: 18 January 2015