Singapore a Barren place!!!, Utter Rubbish.... Certainly much better then what it is today..
Prepare yourselves for a Journey Down Memory Lane with me.
Let me "transport" you to the Singapore of the period long gone.
Turn left from Paya lebar Road into Kim Chuan Road and go uphill to wards the Upper Air Observatory where they used to release a white balloon every evening.
Remember the open field (owned by then STB or Singapore Telephone Board).
There were many young men flying and "fighting" kites.
Go uphill a little and you may remember the huge circular water tank near the old Bethany Congregation Church.
Pass Kim Chuan Avenue on the left and proceed downhill where there was the old ROSE Cinema (open air).
The best yong-tau-foo hawker (a lame Chinese man) was here along with many stalls.
The famous documentary movie of that era was "SECRETS OF CHILDBIRTH" or "RAHSIA KEJADIAN ANAK".
Everyone, including kids could go in after coughing out 20 cents for a ticket.
On the left of these cinema were open ponds and beautiful kampongs and vegetable plots that led to Lorong Tai Seng - home of Lim Ban Lim.
Fowls, ducks, cows, goats and pigs roamed the vast open land freely. It was a Land of Plenty.
Remember, little boys and girls getting free water from stand-pipes and bringing it home on bamboo-poles. The "gelek-gelek" motion of the lasses. Hahaha...
Cars like Morris Minors, Austin of England, Studebakers, Borgward, Volkswagens, Simca and Ford Consuls (just a few to name) that could be parked anywhere absolutely free-of-charge and without people issuing summonses.
Looking up in the clear (haze-free skies), one could see old BOAC constellation planes heading for the airport, not forgetting the awesome RAF helicopters with the crew seated at the sides and waving to the villagers below. Sometimes landing in our open school fields.
Those Indian milkmen (with a small piggy-tail) with containers of milk at the back of their bicycles and bottles of milk in a bag slung on the left and right of the handle-bars, struggling to climb uphill and rushing down dale.
Scenes of old men huddled togather in quaint pondoks engrossed in a game of cards and chap-ji-kee with cigarettes in their mouth.
Boys seated at the side of roads playing "ang-kong-chua" and goondu (kuti-kuti).
An occassional police Land Rover driven up with a policeman standing at the rear.
Young Indian boys (cow-herders) bringing the cattle back for the night.
The sound of chanting in temples and the voice of the azan (call for prayers) from the nearby mosque.
The familiar Ministry of Health bus giving free medicines to the kampong folks.
The vets (we called them chicken vaccinators) providing free vaccinations to our fowls at the end of Kim Chuan Road close to the former Vector Control Unit.
Open air markets where live fowls could be purchased along with other exotic meat like frogs, etc...
Fresh yew-char kway and chiew kway sellers.
Little Malay boys and girls carrying baskets and crying aloud, "Nasi lemak" and "Curry-Parp"
The sight of hawkers pushing their three-wheeled carts with large tarpaulins over it to a place where they set up the stall and served delicious food cooked over a fierce kerosene stove.
The tick-tock tick tock boys on bicycles going around taking orders.
Lorries laden with logs from Malaya slowly chugging uphill to the many sawmills.
Rubber smoke-houses with so many workers.
Not forgetting the many expectant mothers with little children in tow.
To see Singapore of that era go and view movies of P Ramlee. The younger ones will then know and appreciate better.
If our ladies were barren or for that matter the flora and fauna was barren, we would not have had so many babies born (later came to be "STOP AT TWO") and the assorted tropical fruits to pick.
Our seas had abundance of fish, prawns and crabs.
There are many many more. I cannot write much as I do not want to bore you.
So, what BARRENESS is LKY refering to????.
Back then the people were industrious, illustrious, contented and a peaceful lot.
Little Singapore with 2 million people was a thriving economy. All had money.
There were towkays like the bosses of Yew Lian and Aik Hoe Rubber smoke-houses, Sin Sin Sauce Factory, Keat Keat Soap factories located along Kim Chuan Road.
These people were driven about in shiny black Pontiacs, Impalas and Holdens, some in Mercedes 180 of that era...
The word "BARREN" did not exists at that time.
On the contrary, compared to today, Singapore was a wonderful place and exotic place to stay. Even the RAF and British soldiers loved being station in this Far East.
It was not crowded, schools were cheap and free for some. We had free-text books and at times free milk in schools.
Kim Chuan Road produced so many intellectuals who served (some may still be in service) in the Civil service and maybe SAF.
If a small Kim Chuan could be that thriving, what about the other parts.
If only some pictures of that era (including items used) could be made available, certainly it will bring back more memories.
Think about it and conclude yourselves.
PS: A Big Thank You to Kopiuncle for making available thiose picture. I used to smoke Consulate in those days as a young man under 18 years of age.
