Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Islanders Adam Giman and Fawzi Nasir recount their sadness at leaving St. John’s and Lazarus Islands in the 1970s and why they continue to return afterwards. Adam even got a job at PSA in order to be close to the sea. We also discuss conservation and the cultural heritage of the islands. Finally, I ask them about how they viewed Singapore from the vantage point of the islands.

00:00 Freedom & Pace of Life on the Islands

03:06 Football

06:31 The Sea as a Way of Life

09:20 Resettlement

17:29 Land Sickness

21:09 Conservation

25:12 Friends of Marine Park

31:37 View of Singapore from the Islands

I am Dr Loh Kah Seng, the people’s historian. In Chronicles of Old Singapore, I speak to people about their memories of Singapore before it became a global city.

Do like the video and subscribe for future episodes. This will help the channel a lot.

Write to lkshis@gmail.com if you have stories to share.

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Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Dilip Doshi recalls how his father Panachand came to Singapore and later established a trading firm at Market Street, the heart of the Gujarati community on the island. He talks about the Gujaratis’ cultural and religious life and their reputation as middlemen in the transregional trade across the Indian Ocean.

00:00 Introduction

02:04 My Father Panachand Doshi

11:14 Market Street & the Chettiars

15:53 Gujarati Values & Code of Conduct

21:26 Cultural & Religious Life

25:32 The Gujaratis as Middlemen

35:09 Perthar, Learning Trade from My Father

40:19 The Intraco Story

I am Dr Loh Kah Seng, the people’s historian. In Chronicles of Old Singapore, I speak to people about their memories of Singapore before it became a global city.

Do like the video and subscribe for future episodes. This will help the channel a lot.

Write to lkshis@gmail.com if you have stories to share.

YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@ChroniclesOldSG

Spotify | https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/loh-ks

Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/61551786759344/

Patreon | https://www.patreon.com/ChroniclesofOldSingapore

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. After Texas Instruments, Quek Siow Kai joined the famed German company, Motoren- und Turbinen-Union. Going back to his machinery roots, he found his place there. He also talks about the rise of China into an economic giant and the loss of engineering expertise in Singapore. Finally, as one from the Chinese-educated group, he relates how many others went into business and did well, but also the need for a better balance between English and Chinese among the local Chinese.

00:00 Joining Motoren- und Turbinen-Union

08:35 Difficulties for SMEs

18:00 Rise of China

27:29 Engineering in Singapore Today

33:04 The Chinese-educated in Business

39:35 Need for Balance Between English & Chinese

I am Dr Loh Kah Seng, the people’s historian. In Chronicles of Old Singapore, I speak to people about their memories of Singapore before it became a global city.

Do like the video and subscribe for future episodes. This will help the channel a lot.

Write to lkshis@gmail.com if you have stories to share.

YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@ChroniclesOldSG

Spotify | https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/loh-ks

Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/61551786759344/

Patreon | https://www.patreon.com/ChroniclesofOldSingapore

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Islanders Adam Giman and Fawzi Nasir talk about the two islands of their childhood in the ‘50s to ‘70s – Pulau Sekijang Bendera (St. John’s Island) and Pulau Sekijang Pelepah (Lazarus Island). They recall the staff quarters on St. John’s and kampong life on Lazarus. These were two different worlds, but shared a common relationship with the sea and the Riau archipelago nearby.

00:00 Introduction

02:09 St. John’s Quarantine Station

07:58 Staff Quarters on St. John’s

17:03 Relationship with Riau

26:59 St. John’s Island English School

28:46 Kampong on Lazarus

38:30 Staff Quarters

45:58 The Villagers

I am Dr Loh Kah Seng, the people’s historian. In Chronicles of Old Singapore, I speak to people about their memories of Singapore before it became a global city.

Do like the video and subscribe for future episodes. This will help the channel a lot.

Write to lkshis@gmail.com if you have stories to share.

YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@ChroniclesOldSG

Spotify | https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/loh-ks

Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/61551786759344/

Patreon | https://www.patreon.com/ChroniclesofOldSingapore

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Jeffrey Eng remembers growing up in a shophouse, which was not only a house but a business premises. For a long time, they used the bucket system. The Singapore River close by was putrid before it was cleaned up and lightermen and coolies worked along the riverfront.

I asked Jeffrey if he can envisage Eng Tiang Huat being at Smith Street, which is being revitalised by the Chinatown Business Association. He said perhaps, but it would have to be a serious cultural venture and not as a souvenir shop for tourists to come and take photographs.

00:00 Growing Up in a Shophouse

05:34 My Father’s Favourite Clogs

14:03 The Bucket System

18:18 The Old Singapore River

26:27 Heritage Businesses & Vanishing Trades

33:21 Can Eng Tiang Huat be at Smith Street?

41:50 Eng Tiang Huat is Not a Souvenir Shop

Eng Tiang Huat on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChineseCulturalShop

I am Dr Loh Kah Seng, the people’s historian. In Chronicles of Old Singapore, I speak to people about their memories of Singapore before it became a global city.

Do like the video and subscribe for future episodes. This will help the channel a lot.

Write to lkshis@gmail.com if you have stories to share.

YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@ChroniclesOldSG

Spotify | https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/loh-ks

Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/61551786759344/

Patreon | https://www.patreon.com/ChroniclesofOldSingapore

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Quek Siow Kai felt he had hit a technician’s glass ceiling by the mid-1980s; to break it, he obtained an engineering degree from the University of Alabama at Huntsville – an eye-opening experience. He talks about the cyclical nature of the semiconductor industry, where one could be fired overnight in a downturn, and what he learned from his time with the US giant in Singapore, Texas Instruments.

00:00 Introduction

01:05 Glass Ceiling for a Technician

11:43 Studying Engineering at University of Alabama, Huntsville

21:53 Tool & Die in Semiconductor Industry

28:54 The 1985 Recession in Singapore

35:59 My Experience at Texas Instruments

41:58 Importance of Training

I am Dr Loh Kah Seng, the people’s historian. In Chronicles of Old Singapore, I speak to people about their memories of Singapore before it became a global city.

Do like the video and subscribe for future episodes. This will help the channel a lot.

Write to lkshis@gmail.com if you have stories to share.

YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@ChroniclesOldSG

Spotify | https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/loh-ks

Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/61551786759344/

Patreon | https://www.patreon.com/ChroniclesofOldSingapore

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Quek Siow Kai joined Gul Engineering and Singapore’s growing marine industry. He learned a lot there, but decided to leave for his own safety. Largely because management wanted to build and repair ships quickly, subcontractors and workers were often not aware of the dangers in a shipyard. This culminated in the 1978 Spyros explosion and fire – Singapore’s worst industrial accident. Nevertheless, there were experienced sifus in what was a Cantonese-speaking industry. They trained new workers and helped the industry succeed.

00:00 Unsafety in the Marine Industry

07:41 The Push for Productivity

09:31 The Role of Management

17:08 Dangers in a Shipyard

25:55 The Spyros Tragedy

32:16 Sifus & Old Hands

43:24 A Cantonese Industry

Inquiry Report on the Explosion and Fire on Board S.T. Spyros, 12th October 1978.

https://www.nlb.gov.sg/main/book-detail?cmsuuid=119cee73-85f5-4555-997c-e73aa4b4ba31

I am Dr Loh Kah Seng, the people’s historian. In Chronicles of Old Singapore, I speak to people about their memories of Singapore before it became a global city.

Do like the video and subscribe for future episodes. This will help the channel a lot.

Write to lkshis@gmail.com if you have stories to share.

YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@ChroniclesOldSG

Spotify | https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/loh-ks

Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/61551786759344/

Patreon | https://www.patreon.com/ChroniclesofOldSingapore

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Professor Bernard T.G. Tan recounts how the National Computer Board, est. in 1981, encouraged computerisation in the civil service and local businesses. Being able to build the computer yourself, he says, is important because it fosters creativity and entrepreneurship.

Bernard also talks about his research into the history of Rollei. He believes that Rollei failed because they lagged behind Japanese camera manufacturers technologically, not because the Singaporean engineers were not good enough.

00:00 The Early Computer Geeks in Singapore

03:18 Government Interest & the National Computer Board

10:38 Computerisation & the Workforce

12:14 Texas Instruments & the Semiconductor Companies

17:23 Why Rollei Failed

22:34 Sim Lim Square & Funan Centre: Computer Marts

25:26 Building Your Own Computer

27:54 Sim Wong Hoo & Entrepreneurship

30:02 AI & Smartphones

Bibliography

Bernard Tan on the history of microcomputing in Singapore, 2018:

http://sms.org.sg/download/Microcomputing_in_Singapore.pdf

I am Dr Loh Kah Seng, the people’s historian. In Chronicles of Old Singapore, I speak to people about their memories of Singapore before it became a global city.

Do like the video and subscribe for future episodes. This will help the channel a lot.

Write to lkshis@gmail.com if you have stories to share.

YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@ChroniclesOldSG

Spotify | https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/loh-ks

Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/61551786759344/

Patreon | https://www.patreon.com/ChroniclesofOldSingapore