Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Asok Kumar had a culture shock when his father decided to retire in India. The family packed up and left in 1973. When he returned to Singapore in 2010, the old staff quarters at Breeze Road were gone. But he managed to find his former classmates at Silat Primary School.

00:00 Leaving Singapore in 1973

03:19 Buses in India

09:09 Breeze Road Quarters Demolished

10:37 Taking a Ship to India

17:19 Finding My Old Classmates

21:20 Heritage & Remembering the Past

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 any of these stories:

• Old places or kampongs.

• Communities – their way of life & culture.

• Childhood & schools.

• Work or business.

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

Chronicles of Old Singapore | Venugopal Kurup – Queen’s Crescent, Silat School & Shell Part 1

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Venugopal Kurup takes us back to the 1950s and 1960s and the interesting people he still remembers. He studied at Silat Integrated School in Kampong Bahru and lived in a flat at Queen’s Crescent, the fifth neighbourhood of Queenstown New Town. This ended in 1966 when his mother returned to India, taking with her Venugopal and the rest of her children.

00:00 Introduction

02:00 Silat Integrated School

06:49 Singapore’s Separation

17:56 Queen’s Crescent

23:57 Alexandra Village

34:51 Visits to Tanjong Pagar & Breeze Road

36:13 Leaving for India

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 any of these stories:

• Old places or kampongs.

• Communities – their way of life & culture.

• Childhood & schools.

• Work or business.

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. I am joined by Angela Sim, a YouTuber who documents artisans and Chinese heritage, and three veterans from the Chin Woo Athletic Association: Jack Tan, Eric Ko and Edwin Ng. They tell me about the origins of the association, how they became interested in its activities at a young age and the masters who taught liondancing.

00:00 Introductions

12:28 History of Chin Woo

19:13 Sports, Health & Culture Together

25:03 Liondance in Chin Woo

34:42 Liondance Masters

41:05 Edwin the Drummer

47:24 How Lionheads Have Changed

Singapore Chin Woo (Athletic) Association

https://sgchinwoo.com/

Angela Sim aka Hakka Moi:

https://www.youtube.com/@HakkaMoi

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 any of these stories:

• Old places or kampongs.

• Communities – their way of life & culture.

• Childhood & schools.

• Work or business.

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. James Kwok spent 30 years in the rough and tumble of the MNC jungle in Singapore from the 1970s to 2000s. He remembers the expatriates who mentored him and interesting doctors (some of them difficult) he worked with. He talks about how he survived and thrived and the lessons he learned as a salesman of medical equipment.

00:00 Introduction

04:17 Hire & Fire in the MNC World

07:35 Inchcape: Bosses are Your Customers

16:42 Background Research: Technicians & Nurses

24:26 Inside the Operating Theatre

36:40 Better Offer at George Kent

42:14 MNC Pay

46:09 Time to Find a New Job

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 any of these stories:

• Old places or kampongs.

• Communities – their way of life & culture.

• Childhood & schools.

• Work or business.

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. Hidayah Amin relates her anguish on two occasions – when Gedung Kuning was acquired for public development in 1999 and again when the mango tree in the compound, planted to celebrate her birth, was cut down. She fought to keep the name Gedung Kuning but notes that market forces have gentrified Kampong Glam. Instead of bars and massage parlours, the kampong could have retained its rich heritage if more traditional Malay businesses received assistance to operate there.

00:00 Acquisition of Gedung Kuning

09:28 How I Fought to Keep the Name

18:31 Cutting Down the Mango Tree

24:50 Tree of Memories

30:25 Conservation of Kampong Glam

37:17 Street Names in Kampong Glam

41:19 Bars & Massage Parlours

45:53 Heritage Businesses

Hidayah’s books are available at Helang Books:

https://helangbooks.wixsite.com/hello/books

Haji Yusoff Memorial Museum

https://www.instagram.com/haji_yusoff_memorial_museum/

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 any of these stories:

• Old places or kampongs.

• Communities – their way of life & culture.

• Childhood & schools.

• Work or business.

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. Ronnie Choo remembers the good times playing lead guitar in Naval Base bands like the Blue Flames and the Playmates to supplement his low apprentice pay. He talks about leaving the Naval Base when the British closed their military bases in Singapore, and how it is a pity that the old Asian staff quarters have not been conserved.

00:00 The British Pullout & Leaving the Naval Base

02:30 Travelling to Raffles Institution

08:48 By the Sea in Sembawang

09:59 Playing in Bands

17:39 I was a Lead Guitarist

23:06 Staff Quarters & Black & Whites

26:46 Gatherings of Old Apprentices

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 any of these stories:

Old places or kampongs.

Communities – their way of life & culture.

Childhood & schools.

Work or business.

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. Asok Kumar talks about his deep feelings for Singapore. He was born in Kerala in 1956 and came to Singapore as a toddler, living in the staff quarters at Breeze Road in the Singapore Harbour Board and attending school at Silat Primary School. He remembers one particular politician who made a stirring speech at Breeze Road.

00:00 Introduction

02:12 From Kerala to Singapore

10:43 High Street Shopping

15:44 Childhood in the Breeze Road Quarters

24:45 Lee Kuan Yew at Breeze Road

34:07 My Friends & Strict Mother

41:34 Silat Primary School

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 any of these stories:

• Old places or kampongs.

• Communities – their way of life & culture.

• Childhood & schools.

• Work or business.

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. Ng Yan Ching recounts why her family remained in Margaret Drive till 1999 and why she started guiding heritage groups in Queenstown and elsewhere. We talk about Queenstown’s community museum and documenting the rich memories of the elderly residents, especially those affected by Sers, the Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme.

Part 1 | https://youtu.be/paKqabMnI9w

Part 2 | https://youtu.be/7n5PNinxpXg

00:00 Why We Remained in Margaret Drive

05:07 Nostalgia for My Old Neighbourhood

12:50 Heritage Walks for My Queenstown

20:56 The Two-Child Policy

25:38 Queenstown’s Overhaul

29:03 Doing More for Queenstown’s Heritage

31:58 Sers & the Elderly Residents

My Community’s heritage events:

https://www.eventbrite.sg/o/my-community-8432912044

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 any of these stories:

• Old places or kampongs.

• Communities – their way of life & culture.

• Childhood & schools.

• Work or business.

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