Vogue-U Potion - Classic Singapore in the 60s

May Peace Be With You.....

Remember Mak Pah wrote about "Then and Now" http://vogue-u.blogspot.com/2010/04/vogue-u-potion-then-and-now.html a few weeks back. Suddenly my friend forwarded some classic photos of S'pore during the 60s which she got from her other friends. Mak Pah took the opportunity to post the pictures here for us to cherish the nostalgic moments. I guessed if we want to see more, probably need to arrange a visit to either the S'pore Archive or S'pore Meseum..... So come let's enjoy the pictures for the moment of history.....

This is where the National Day celebration used to be held besides the National Stadium

My parents loved to bring us here for picnic or stroll.... then we would end up having our dinner at either one of the food stalls near Victoria Theater or behind Capitol Theater

Look at the area then.... so clear and no traffic jam!!!

Look at the old buses then..... no air-con and only 1 door in the center to board and alight

Small lanes were make-shift into a wet market during the wee-hours of the day, and sometimes into a food centers or "pasar malam" by nite

Mak Pah used to hate going here coz of the smell..... but now our S'pore River is one of the cleanest...... Thank God.

My late father used to have a Vespa bike, while my uncle a Lambretta bike.... Mak Pah ever hitched a ride in that kind of lorry (red lorry) when we moved house

After that they called this place SAFTI or something..... now it seemed we have such clubhouse for our NSmen all over S'pore.... latest in Jurong West (near Boon Lay MRT/interchange)

Look at the bus then, like I mentioned earlier, no air-con and the door was in the centre fo the bus for alighting and boarding. BTW Mak Pah ever got drenched during heavy downpour while waiting for the bus to come!!!!

The theater has long been demolished and the land (opposite Clarke Quay area) is vacant now. There's a small park between National Theater and Van Kleef Aquarium and Mak Pah used to go there with classmates for our revision or project assignments.

This place was just beside the National Theater. This was the place where Mak Pah got to see for the first time live piranhas (carnivorous fishes from the Amazon)

Mak Pah and classmates normally would hang out here to do our projects, homeworks and revisions. When they opened the first branch in Marine Parade, we were among the first to patronise them coz it was near our home!!!

Mak Pah's relative used to stay at the corner flat on the highest floor in Taman Jurong. Whenever we went over during school holidays, all of us would cramp the bedroom balcony to watch the movie which was just adjacent to my relative's bedroom balcony. The drive-in had long gone and now I think you can only see Jurong Bowl and the famous Sheng Siong Supermarket there.

At one glance, it made you stand still and admired the nostalgic moment

The first time Mak Pah went to Haw Par Villa was during my primary school excursion. All of us were very young and so scared at the life-size figurines. Mak Pah could still recalled the stretch of young coconut drink stalls in front of Haw Par Villa.... The hawkers would call out to tourists in particular, to quench their thirst with young coconut drink. I could still recalled my mom would force me to put on a big hat over my head each time Mak Pah went for excursion, saying it's hot out there!!! Now you can still go there and the best part it's FOC

Mak Pah used to have difficulty pronouncing the name of this supermarket. When Cold Storage and Yaohan started to flourish, Fitzpatrick's seemed forgotten

When I was young, I used to follow my late father to Chinatown (Eu Tong Seng St) to get the latest Montagut and Three Riffle shirts. I would sit quietly in one corner while my late father would be choosing his shirts. He would also get his tailored pants sewn there.

My siblings and me loved to play catching around the Big Clock at Raffles Place (it has long be gone ever since the terrible Fire in the 70s)

Whoah... so less traffic!!!!



But this side was the parking lot.....


Look at the bum boats....

My parents used to bring us here to view the seafront panorama... that time it was the most spectacular site

Parking lot full of cars, but road quite free flow hah....

I think this could be the first Cold Storage.... look at the Santa Claus poster... big!!!

See the green roof entrance... this was where normally they displayed the Xmas decorations each year. My siblings and me would be sitting at Wisma Indonesia (then) or Wisma Atria (now) and admired the deco!!!

My classmates and me would be rushing to queue for the latest movie in town. That time there was no popcorn or hotdogs... but just a mamak stall selling kacang putih n tit-bits. My favourite was the groundnuts...so imagine peeling the skin and crunching over the nuts (noisy right)... but don't forget those eating "kuaci"!!!! But don't worry no handphone rings then!!!

This same spot looked totally different now right....!!!!

I used to follow my late father to buy the best "roti john" at one of the stall just opposite the entrance of Botanic Gardens (if not mistaken the area was called Taman Serasi)..... the queue was like a snake each time during lunch and dinner. If not mistaken the place has been demolished and majority of stall owners had moved to other parts of S'pore.

The above were just some snapshots taken way back in the 60s, and memories of them had made Mak Pah realised how precious some of the moments were. How much we missed some of the places we used to go and see. However life has to go on and we have to make ways of new development and technology. And as time goes by, we have to accept, adapt and adopt to the change in order to fit into the modern lifestyles.

So let us enjoy life to the fullest....

Lots of luv.... Mak Pah.