Chronicles Research & Education

30/08/2024

James Kwok remembers growing up in an SIT flat at Towner Road. Politics came naturally to the neighbourhood, as his mother Wong Siew Aye was an activist with the PAP and then Barisan Sosialis in the '50s and '60s.

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/loh-ks/episodes/Chronicles-of-Old-Singapore--James-Kwok-Ep1--A-Boys-View-of-Singapores-Political-History-e2mbo7p

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Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. James Kwok had a ringside view of Singapore politics in the ‘50s and ‘60s, as his mother was with the People’s Action Party and later, the Barisan Sosialis. He relates the many memorable and often funny stories that seemed bewildering to a kid. YouTube |...

29/08/2024

James Kwok has been helping me translate the oral history of a goldsmith from Cantonese to English. He thanked me because the work helps keep dementia at bay and also because he learned a lot from the interview.

Of course, I am the one who should really thank him for the exceptional work (which was totally voluntary).

James is a remarkable guy, giving his time to help other seniors. Besides his generosity and bilingual skills, he is a very talented actor :)

Will catch up with you soon for makan again, James.

Photo: hard at work at the National Archives.

28/08/2024

Irene Hoe Ai Lee remembers her classes at CHIJ@Victoria Street and her classmates of all races. In 2006, she organised a 3-day reunion for Convent old girls. She talks about how the school's heritage has not been properly celebrated.

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

Do give us a like and subscribe to the channel for future episodes.

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Irene Hoe recalls having non-Chinese friends during her childhood in Dhoby Ghaut, as well as Indian, Eurasian, Chines...

25/08/2024

I spoke to Wilson Tang and Elsie Fong, the cute couple behind 仁仁 Ren Ren Desserts. They tell the story of his training at the Hotel & Catering Training Centre and their venture at the Chinatown Food Street with Elsie in 2001, before moving to Katong and then Siglap.

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

Their younger relatives started the dessert cafes Yat Ka Yan 一家人 and Hup Ka Foon 合家欢.

Do give us a like and subscribe to the channel for future episodes.

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Wilson Tang & Elsie Fong tell the story of Ren Ren Desserts, from his parents’ zi char business to studying at the Ho...

23/08/2024

Listen to Koh Boon Long's memories of Old Jurong Road and Jalan Lama School where he first taught on Spotify.

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

Do give us a like and subscribe to the channel for future episodes.

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. ‘The Salt of the Earth’, as Koh Boon Long calls his former students at Jalan Lama Secondary School in rural Jurong. He remembers Jurong Road as a young trainee teacher in 1968-1971, before the region was transformed by the industrialisation programme. Koh ...

21/08/2024

Trishawman always had a good view.
Mun Kong Sang, Conservation in Singapore: A Case Study of Chinatown, Thames Polytechnic, 1979.

19/08/2024

Irene Hoe Ai Lee remembers her school days in the old CHIJ@Victoria Street from 1957 to 1966.

Two bonuses for me from the podcast: Irene helped put together a book on the school's history in 1983 and her family ran a Western restaurant called Stamford Cafe at 82 Bras Basah Road.

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

Do give us a like and subscribe to the channel for future episodes.

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Old girl Irene Hoe takes us back to the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus at Victoria Street, where she studied from 1...

14/08/2024

Making way.
National Archives of Singapore. Chinatown: An Album of a Singapore Community, 1983.

13/08/2024

何乃强医生讲述，日本轰炸新加坡时，第一枚炸弹落在牛车水。他讨论肃清行动以及家人如何逃难到波东巴西。他最后谈到战争给新加坡的三个教训。

Dr Ho Nai Kiong relates that when the Japanese bombed Singapore, the first bomb fell in Chinatown. He discusses the Sook Ching operation and how his family fled to Potong Pasir. Lastly, he talks about the three lessons of the war for Singapore.

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

Do give us a like and subscribe to the channel for future episodes.

欢迎来到旧新加坡记事录。何乃强医生讲述，日本轰炸新加坡时，第一枚炸弹落在牛车水。他讨论肃清行动以及家人如何逃难到波东巴西。他最后谈到战争给新加坡的三个教训。Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Dr Ho Nai Kiong relates th...

09/08/2024

Anne Siew Kim Lim recalls social services for the troubled children of Bukit Ho Swee in the 1980s.

Do follow Chronicles of Old Singapore on Spotify!

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

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Anne Lim Siew Kim was the assistant project coordinator at Nazareth Centre in Bukit Ho Swee in the early 1980s, a generation after the great fire in 1961. She tried to help the at-risk children there, even as some of them tried to climb through the window and....

07/08/2024

The Tans – Margaret and her sons Dennis and Jimmy – lived in a large kampong house on stilts along Bedok Road from 1954 to 1974.

One day, the Great Reclamation arrived and the sea began to recede from the shore.

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

Do give us a like and subscribe to the channel for future episodes.

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. The Tans – Margaret and her sons Dennis and Jimmy – go back in time to their kampong house at 614-3 (later 10-J) Bedo...

05/08/2024

Very happy that my team and I have gotten a book on factory workers on the list.
Alex Tan Tiong Hee Teng Phee Tan Juria Toramae Keng We Koh

The Shortlist:
Wesley Leon Aroozoo, The Punkhawala and the Pr******te (Singapore: Epigram Books, 2021).
Timothy P. Barnard, ed., Singaporean Creatures: Histories of Humans and Other Animals in the Garden City (Singapore: NUS Press, 2024).
Kevin Blackburn, The Comfort Women of Singapore in History and Memory (Singapore: NUS Press, 2022).
Khir Johari, The Food of Singapore Malays: Gastronomic Travels through the Archipelago (Singapore: Marshall Cavendish, 2021).
Loh Kah Seng, Alex Tan Tiong Hee, Koh Keng We, Tan Teng Phee, and Juria Toramae, Theatres of Memory: Industrial Heritage of 20th Century Singapore (Singapore: Pagesetters Services, 2021).
Lynn Wong Yuqing & Lee Kok Leong, Reviving Qixi: Singapore's Forgotten Seven Sisters Festival (Singapore: Renforest Publishing, 2022).

2024 0805-NUS Singapore History Prize photoThe NUS Singapore History Prize is awarded every three years, and the author of the winning publication

04/08/2024

Hoe Fang Fong talks about setting up Breakthrough magazine in 1979 with other members of the Pioneers Club. He remembers stories from several issues: the homeless man photo, the underpaid factory women and the Anson by-election.

He also shares his thoughts on what young activists can do today.

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

Do give us a like and subscribe to the channel for future episodes.

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Fong Hoe Fang runs through Breakthrough’s stories on the aged, world hunger and the 1981 Anson by-election. Though he...

02/08/2024

Syamala Senan recalls coming to Singapore as an involuntary migrant to marry her husband in 1979, and how she integrated with the locals.

Do follow Chronicles of Old Singapore on Spotify!

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

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Syamala Senan was an ‘involuntary migrant’ from Kerala, joining her husband in Singapore in an arranged marriage in 1979. She talks about her struggles to adapt to a foreign land, find a job, connect with the Malayalee community, and raise her children. To...

31/07/2024

The Naval Base area began to change when the British forces left Singapore in the late 1960s.

Navalites like Mary Abishagam, Vijayan Nambiar and Alfred Dass discuss how to preserve the heritage of the base and more importantly, the memories of the people who used to live there.

Do support them:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/275356295817629
Blog: https://thenavalbase.blogspot.com/

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

https://youtu.be/pzbbxkZJrxk

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Mary Abishagam, Vijayan Nambiar and Alfred Dass recall how the British military withdrawal changed the lives of many ...

29/07/2024

Still with street life in 1978 - Pagoda Street.

Yong Peng Cheong, The Prospect of Chinatown in Singapore - A Case Study of Kreta Ayer II, Graduation Essay, Department of Geography, Nanyang University, 1979.

28/07/2024

James Kwok taught at Kwong Avenue School as a PE teacher in the late 1960s. He talks about managing the school's sports teams and taking the unheralded basketball boys to the national championships.

He also remembers the old National Library at Stamford Road, where he introduced his students to the world of books.

I am Dr Loh Kah Seng, a 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 to the channel for future episodes.

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. James Kwok went to the Teachers’ Training College after graduating from Victoria School and became a PE teacher at Kw...

26/07/2024

Do follow Chronicles of Old Singapore on Spotify!

Peter Chua recalls how he helped convince Rollei to come to Singapore instead of Taiwan.

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

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. As former Director of the EDB Centre in Frankfurt, Peter Chua talks about Singapore’s efforts to woo the famed West German camera-maker Rollei in 1970, beating off competition from Taiwan. He is fluent in German and admits, ‘I am half-German’.

24/07/2024

Alex Tan Tiong Hee takes us further down Old Orchard Road to 2 forgotten places: the Koek Road hawker centre and Magnolia Snack Bar.

I am Dr Loh Kah Seng, a 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 to the channel for future episodes.

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Alex Tan Tiong Hee takes a walk further down Old Orchard Road towards present-day Centrepoint and Dhoby Ghaut. We pas...

21/07/2024

Very happy to speak to my good friend and retired publisher Hoe Fang Fong. He relates how there was still space for student activism in the late 1960s to early 1980s, when he and his friends ran the Pioneers Club.

Originally a self-study group for GP, the club became interested in local and global issues. It broadened his horizons and one of their discussions - on the purpose of education - even helped him get into NJC with 17 points!

I am Dr Loh Kah Seng, a 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 to the channel for future episodes.

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Retired publisher Fong Hoe Fang relives the idealism and sense of social justice that led him to form Pioneers Club w...

20/07/2024

With Syed Abdul Kader of Best Classic Corner, the only Indian store selling traditional Chinese clothing in Chinatown Complex.

His grandfather started the business in 1969, selling just 3 items in a streetside stall along Trengganu Street: wallets, belts and smoking pipes.

In 1983, like the remaining streetside stalls in Chinatown, the business moved into the new Kreta Ayer Complex, later renamed Chinatown Complex.

In 2001, Kader took over the business and revamped it, pivoting towards traditional Chinese clothing and souvenirs as Chinatown had been remade as a tourist area.

I managed to spot his old wallets, belts and pipes (there are a couple of o***m pipes in the collection).

19/07/2024

Chronicles of Old Singapore is now on Spotify!

Charles Ngui takes us down Old Clementi Road - elephants, dogs, hills, farms, and British establishments.
https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/loh-ks/episodes/Chronicles-of-Old-Singapore--Charles-Ngui--Old-Clementi-Ep2-Sussex-Estate--Mowbray-Dog-Unit-e2lv2b7/a-abe8m33

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

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Charles Ngui peels away the veil of rural Old Clementi Road to reveal its forgotten farms, dogs (wild and trained), wells, and hills, as well as the presence of British civilians and soldiers at Sussex Estate and several military facilities. Charles Ngui was o...

17/07/2024

Mary Abishagam, Vijayan Nambiar and Alfred Dass remember growing up in what they felt was a child's paradise near the Naval Base Hospital quarters in Sembawang.

I am Dr Loh Kah Seng, a 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 to the channel for future episodes.

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Mary Abishagam, Vijayan Nambiar and Alfred Dass all lived near the Naval Base Hospital with their families. They take...

14/07/2024

鄧亚银1933 年出生于四角亭的一个贫困家庭。她记得九岁时就开始工作，经历了日本占领，战后做分类橡胶板的工，然后结婚并生了两个儿子。虽然生活很困难，但她总是乐于工作，对人友善。

Tan Ah Ngan was born to a poor family in Si Kah Teng in 1933. She remembers working when she was nine, living through the Japanese Occupation and sorting rubber sheets after the war, before she married and had two sons. Life was difficult but she was always happy to work and friendly to people.

I am Dr Loh Kah Seng, a 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 to the channel for future episodes.

欢迎来到旧新加坡记事录。凳亚银1933 年出生于四角亭的一个贫困家庭。她记得九岁时就开始工作，经历了日本占领，战后做分类橡胶板的工，然后结婚并生了两个儿子。虽然生活很困难，但她总是乐于工作，对人友善。她每周....

12/07/2024

Remember the new hotel along new-look Orchard Road in 1971, with Peking duck and a Boiler Room?

Singapore Trade & Industry, Feb 1972.

12/07/2024

Chronicles of Old Singapore is now on Spotify!

C. Kunalan, one of the all-time greats in Singapore athletics, talks about being spotted for the sprints by legendary coach Tan Eng Yoon. He recalls his first pair of spikes and his first major race at the 1966 Asian Games in Bangkok.

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

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. C. Kunalan, one of the all-time greats in Singapore athletics, talks about running the mile in his schooldays. This changed when coach Tan Eng Yoon spotted him playing as a winger in a football team. Kunalan tells us why he decided to train for the sprints und...

10/07/2024

Most of the 'Asian' Naval Base is physically gone. ChanPeew Wan and I discuss ways to document and celebrate its heritage, history and memory.

Do support ex-Navalites like Peew and share your memories of the north of Singapore.

I am Dr Loh Kah Seng, a 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 to the channel for future episodes.

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Wan Chan Peew tells of the numerous buildings and places worthy of heritage conservation in the Naval Base. We ponder...

07/07/2024

James Kwok started the podcast by singing the Victoria School Singapore school song. A student at the historic Tyrwhitt Road campus in the '60s, he recalls its imposing buildings, his teachers and the strict discipline. He is also a member of the Old Victorians' Association.

I am Dr Loh Kah Seng, a 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 to the channel for future episodes.

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. James Kwok has fond memories of studying in the historic Victoria School@Tyrwhitt Road in the 1960s. There was the cu...

04/07/2024

Shops of South Bridge Road in the mid-'80s - goldsmiths, textile shops, medical halls etc. How many are still around?

Report and Recommendation of Singapore Chinatown Conservation for the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board by Architectural Consultants, 1986.

14/03/2024

Builders of Singapore.
Installing precast, prestressed concrete slabs.
Singapore Trade and Industry Oct 1974.