Gypsy Dance 1960s

Gypsy Dance at Bethesda Kindergarten

I was searching for some old photos and came across the above picture. My daughter was in K2 Bethesda Kindergarten at Frankel Estate. It was her class graduation day and parents were invited. Before the presentation of Graduation Certificate, her class performed a gypsy dance as in the above picture. This photo was taken in the mid 1960. My daughter is 3rd from the left. I hope to bring fond memories to the girls who are now very close to 50 years old or older. I believe they are mothers and one or two might even be grandmothers.

Jalan Besar Heritage Trail

On Saturday 4th August 2012 Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts launched the Jalan Besar Heritage Trail at City Square Mall. I met fellow blogger Lam Chun See as he was coming out of the stage enclosure. He was there as an invited guest. Anyway both of us had fond memories of the area. The quotation below is from him.

Chun See wanted to turn back the clock  and was trying to locate the former New World Amusement Park side gate so as to have another free entry. I remember the side gate entrance and tried to get my bearing. There was an open canal running along the side of the amusement park. A wooden bridge across the canal led to the side gate. The other end of the bridge led to the carpark. We looked around and found the open canal had been covered up with concrete. Part of it is now a walkway starting from Jalan Besar. The other half is a driveway and is named Kitchener Link. I could roughly guess the position of the side gate entrance and pointed it out to Chun See.

                                                 View from Jalan Besar
                                    open canal concreted over to form a walkway

                          The side gate entrance was at the end of Kitchener Link

I walked along French Road and then to Jalan Besar to see the buildings that have replaced the three abattoirs before proceeding to City Square Mall for the opening ceremony of the Jalan Besar Heritage Trail. Then my memories flashed back to the abattoir days and the job I was doing.

                                         Picture Story of Pig Abattoir

                                                    Photo from PICAS
                       Pigs brought by butchers were kept in the abattoir pig pens

                                                    Photo from PICAS
                                      Meat Inspector examing pig carcasses

                                                     Photo from PICAS
                           carcasses found fit for human consumption were branded

                                          Picture Story of Cattle Abattoir

                                                    Photo from PICAS 
                                       cattle brought to the abattoir for slaughter

                                                             Photo from PICAS
                                      skinning the cattle carcass before inspection

                                                       Photo from PICAS
                        I was inspecting the cattle carcass with the help of a labourer

                                                      Photo from PICAS
                               I was removing the localised infected part of the meat

                                                        Photo from PICAS
                                        cutting open the cattle liver for inspection

The three photos from the National Archives of Singapore surprised me. I did not expect to see pictures of myself doing meat inspection. I was not aware when the photos were taken in 1964.

Blood Donation

The Straits Times 18 July 2012 published an article "Bloodbank gets boost on SPH Red Apple Day" The above article reminded me of an appeal by The Free Press dated 5 July 1955 with the opening sentence "Your blood may save a life".

I was then working in the City Council and the appeal for blood donation went to all the departments. The response was good for many of the staff signed up. One week later a mobile blood collection unit arrived at City Council. It was formed in 1949 to enable donors to give blood near their homes or at their workplaces. A year later the Singapore Blood Transfusion Service (SBTS) began giving out certificates, badges and  medals to recognise its regular donors.

The SBTS took 100cc of blood from each donor as stated in the Free Press. But in my case, because I had blood group "B" which was very rare and most useful to save life,  more than twice the amount  (220 cc) of blood was taken from me. I donated blood to save lives and also to find out my blood group. As a blood donor I was given a certificate which showed my name, blood group and the amount of blood donated.

Later when there was an appeal, I went directly to SBTS  to donate blood and was given a can of beer or stout to drink at each visit. I understand SBTS had stopped giving free beer/stout to donors sometime ago.

Kung Fu Koyoke

                            
                                       

Two koyoke men who worked in pairs.

                                         
Heat up to soften the koyoke

Apply the koyoke on the affected part of the body                           






                                                                        
In the 1950s I like to watch kung fu men selling Chinese medicine and black plaster. They were always in pair. One man would advertise and boast about his medicine while other beat the gong at intervals. Koyoke was a black plaster made from herbs. It relieved all sorts of muscle pains including sprained ankle. A fresh koyoke could be used straight away. If kept a few days, it needed to be heated up to soften and then applied to the affected part of the body.

I liked to watch the kung fu men promoting their merchandise. It was usually held at busy places such street corners, vacant lands and wayang sites. They set up stall by beating the gong repeatedly to attract people. When a crowd was form the medicine one of them performed some kung fu steps and introduced his merchandise. He added humour in the talk to make the crowd laugh. I had to watch the show behind the crowd. As a kid my view to the front was blocked and I had to keep on moving to have a glimpse of the the front. On a few occasions I was early and managed to squad in the front row.

Time has changed and the traditional way of selling Chinese koyoke becomes a thing of the past. Setting up a stall needs to be licensed and the noise from beating a gong is considered a source of annoyance or nuisance.

Toys that we played

In the past children in Singapore made their own toys to play. It can be played individually or with friends. Not long ago I came across a plastic toy held by a little girl in a shopping area. She reminded me of similar toy made of tins. As one pushed the wheels forward, the toy in the shape of a bird or butterly flapped its wings up and down. Picture above shows the girl pushing a plastic bird toy.

Another toy is walking on empty tin containers like stilt walking. It can be empty milk tins or cigarette tins. Method: Used a nail to knock a hole in the center of the tin. Put a string through the hole and tied a knot bigger than the hole to prevent it from slipping through the hole. Hold the other end with your hand. Do the same with the other empty tin. Then stand of the empty tins, one with each foot. Pull both string tight so that the tins  hold onto your feet as you walk forward as shown in the picture. Usually the kids challenged one another to see who could walk the farthest with the empty tins.

I am sure many of you can relate to the above.

                        The man is teaching the boy on how to walk on the empty cans

Kampong Eunos

The Straits Times on 25.05.2012 published an article about inter-faith bonding and kampong spirit. It reminded me of the kampong spirit at Kampong Eunos and later at Marine Terrace. Kampong spirit is natural and spontaneous. Children played  together in the open grounds or HDB void decks, housewives met to chat at wet market stalls and the men played majhong at week ends.

The above photo was taken outside my house. It shows children playingt together. The boy in singlet is my brother. At the background on the left of the photo is a group of kampong folks chatting. They met at the front of a provision shop which is hidden by the fence.

There were mobile hawkers coming to the kampong selling market produce and pork in the morning. The two ladies were neighbours, staying one door away from each other.

Unfortunately part of the kampong had been acquired by the government for the MRT line and Sim's Ave extension. Other parts of the kampong gave way to new developments such as private housing. It is difficult to have the same kampong spirit when resited to a new environment.

Magic show held at void deck

When I moved to Marine Parade in the mid 1970s, I could stilll feel the kampong spirit there but differnt from Kampong Eunos. Since we were the first occupiers of the block of flats, it was easy to know one another after a period of time. The adults met often in the lifts on their way to work. The housewives met at the wet markets. I saw children playing at the void decks and the car park. Occasionally the residents organised pot-luck. On one occasion there was a magic show held at void deck.

What happens now? Over the years I noticed the kampong spirit declining. Original residents had moved out and new ones moved in. There was no more pock-luck and organised activities had ceased. The children in the photos have grown up, got married and moved out. The void deck is now very quiet. There is no more kampong spirit among the neighbours. But the original residents which are a handful now still maintained a very good relationship.

My Son Chris

On 27 Mar 2012 The Straits Times published an article regarding primary one school registration. Its caption "Registration changes will mean more slots for Singaporeans". Having priority over permanent resident kids is clearance of first obstacle. Singaporean kids have still to compete among themselves in other phases of primary one school registration excercise. Sibblings already in the school are automatically given a place. Next phase is children living within the school zone, that is within 1 km of the school. Final phase are for children who had no affiliation with the school and will be balloted for the remaining vacancies.

The school primary one registration exercise flashed my mind back to 1969 when my eldest son Chris had to register for a place in primary one at St Stephen's School. He came under the last phase excercise and there was no balloting then. It was a 'first come first serve' exercise and the long overnight queue was like buying a condo during the building boom. At that time there were very few primary schools in the east. We opted for St Stephen's School and had to queue up overnight to get a place for him. My son was lucky to get a place. I am not sure about those who were lining up behind us as there was very few vacancy left. Three years later I went to the same school to register for my second on the appointed date. He was automatically given a place for having a brother in the same school. I think the primary one registration exercise should be reviewed and changed to a system that is fair to all.

                                                    St Stephen's School Sports Day

St Stephen's School sports day was featured in The New Nation newspapers on Thursday May 13 1971. The boy in the center is my son Chris. He took part in the 8 x 25m relay. Each boy had a bag on his head while running. It's a matter of balancing. That was 41 years ago and his children are now older than he was in the above picture.

On Monday April 14 1980 The Straits Times published an article about student police corps in St. Patrick's School.  Again he was mentioned in the article together with a group photo.

In that year the student corps actually helped the police to detain a suspect who allegedly robbed a student of his watch in the school compound. They investigated the case by interviewing the victim and managed to established the identity of the suspect including a photograph of him. The student corps went to Joo Chiat Police Station and provided the police with what they had found. Later the suspect was arrest.