Chinese Garden Singapore

Formerly called the Jurong Garden which comprises of the Japanese and Chinese Garden built by the  Jurong Town Corporation in 1975 by a Taiwan architect its concept is based on the Northern Chinese Imperial style architecture and landscaping and features a White Rainbow Bridge, Main Arch Building, Stone Boat and Tea House, Pagoda, Pavilion, Bonsai Garden, Live Turtle and Tortoises Museum, and Garden of Abduance. At present,  both the gardens are closed for renovation with the addition of the newly created Jurong Lake Garden in conjunction with the Jurong Lake District which included a High-Speed Rail project to link with our neighbour Malaysia. At present we are served by our very own Mass Rapid Transit, the future looks promising for both locals and tourist alike to visit. 

Singapore National Museum

Yesterday evening went back to the Singapore National Museum to photograph the cartoon character Doraemon which was displayed in the front lawn of the museum. The museum had a long history starting in 1849 it is the oldest museum in Singapore and focuses on the history of Singapore, in all, there is 3 other museum such as the Asian Civilisation Museum, Singapore Art Museum and the Perananak Museum,  the museum embarked on a three and a half years for the restoration project and was reopened in December 2006 by the President the late Mr S R Nathan

Pilgrimage

Kusu Island meaning Turtle Island in Chinese and Pulau Tembukul in Malay is the site of the annual pilgrimage drawing Chinese and Malay devotees to the island there is a Chinese Temple and three Malay Keramat. During the Chinese Lunar calendar of the 9th Month is considered as scared as well as the deity of Tua Pek Kong birthday it is also seen as a Prosperity & Merchant God and protector of the seafarers.

Singapore Botanic Garden

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO for short) had designated 41 World Heritage Sites within South East Asia nations. Our Singapore Botanic Garden was awarded as one of them in the year 2015 it had its beginning as a British tropical colonial botanic garden that had become a world-class scientific institution used for conservation and education. The cultural landscape includes a rich variety of building and planting of historic features with the creation of the garden since 1859. With the cultivation of rubber plantation in South East Asia in 1875 and also an important centre for science, research and plant conservation, the garden itself is situated at the heart of the city of Singapore and it is under the care of Nparks.

Back to Nature Reserve

Labrador Nature Reserve is located at the southern part of mainland Singapore and it is a place where many historical relics and natural artefacts during the colonial and second world war and also had a long history tracing back to the early century. There was an old British Base (a fort) Fort Pasir Panjang which mean Long Beach in Malay located on top of a hill and above the cliff in front of the sea. The Labrador Park is reclaimed from the sea, there is a machine gun bunker and the Dragon Teeth Gate or Long Ya Men was a large rock stood at the mouth of Keppel Harbour or Batu Belaryar which blown up by the British in 1848, in 2005 a 6-metre replica was erected to commemorate the role it plays toward the Singapore's Maritime history.

Sending Off Nine Emperor

Yesterday was the last day of the celebration for the Nine Emperor Gods and its time for the sending off in the evening at the East Coast Park. Leong Nam Temple had been established since 1964 at the old Jalan Pasar Baru at Geylang Serai at that time as a young boy used to skip school just to join in the procession to then Marine Parade, yesterday bring back a lot of childhood memories well that is life and we have to admit that the time before us had past and we will be looking into the future and see what it brings then. 

9th Emperor God Festival 2020

During the 9th day of the 9th Lunar calendar month, devotees around the region celebrate the Nine Emperor Gods Festival in popular folk culture or simply know as the Jiu Huang  Xing Jun or Jun Huang Da Di they are actually the nine high ranking stars lords which preside the movement of the planets accordingly to Taoist teaching. At the eve of the nine lunar month temple of the deities hold a ceremony to welcome the Nine Emperors, it is the belief that the gods' arrival through the waterways procession is held from the temple to the seashore to symbolise this belief, devotees are dressed in white and must be on a vegetarian diet and carry incense and candles and await the arrival of the excellencies. Today marks the end of the nine-day and this time again the carnival-like procession to return the 9th Emperor Gods back to the waterway to send them back home. 

QR Code

The QR Code had been part of our life since the COVID 19 pandemic in Singapore is part of the worldwide of the coronavirus which our state detected the first case in late January by then the transmission began to developed, then the cluster began to emerge in the dormitories for our foreign workers by then the ministerial task force was set into motion where we experience our circuit breakers lockdown than by 19th June we are into Phase 2  until such time when the pandemic ease there is a chance of having Phase 3 by year-end and we are ready for the new normal.  We have been reminded to have a safe entry check-in and check out by visiting any establishment even our MRT, Bus Interchanges, shopping malls and all government agencies and also putting on a mask is compulsory when going out next the government is rolling out the trace together dongle to support the singpass and trace together apps.

Shophouses of yesteryear

With the new advancement of technology, the design of modern shopping malls had taken over the old shophouses that we had known, from colonial design to intricate one with Peranakan flavour to some but mostly in public housing. Different sector referring to the different community such as Geylang Serai which accustomed to the Malay communities, Little India to the Indian community, Chinatown to the Chinese community so on and so forth. Over the last 50 years, a lot of old shophouses had to make way for redevelopment into the modern high rise malls so it is important for us to look into our heritage buildings. I found some interesting one in around Chinatown. to be continued

Millionaires Club

Club Street got its name because of many Chinese Club and Clans Association are there and also around  Ang Siang Hill. One of the most famous ones is the Millionaires Club or the Chinese Weekly Entertainment Club at 76, Club Street featuring the most prominent businessmen in the history of Singapore from colonial times through the Japanese Occupation and to today modern Singapore. They are mostly from the Hokkien community and also wealthy Strait Borns Chinese Businessman. Next door at 72 Club Street is the Goh Loo Club in their early day's many members took part in the revolution to overthrow the Qing dynasty by generously donating monies to Sun Yat-Sen Chinese Revolutionary League. After the Japanese Occupation, it is home to the Basketball Association of Singapore from 1946 t0 1970.

National Stadium

In 1973, then our Prime Minister, the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew declared open the new National Stadium situated at Kallang where once the Wonderland Amusement Park was in conjunction with the 1973 South East Asia Peninsular Games (SEAP Games) where we play host to our South East Asia neighbours after that the Kallang Roar was created with the participation of Malaysia Cup. Those glory days were soon over because the stadium was to demolished in order to make way for a new top-class stadium eventually called the Singapore Sports Hub, sadly but surely the project materialised and today we have a dome shape stadium but lack of top-class events where we are no more participate in the Malaysia Cup but only have our very own Singapore Premier League (SPL) 

Our National Stadium

The first stadium we had was the Jalan Besar Stadium which was built in 1929 that is where the football fever started with the Malaya Cup and renamed to Malaysia Cup from 1967 to 1973. During the Japanese Occupation, it was used as a Sook Ching screening site, in 1964 a mass rally was held for the mourning of the death of Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. The stadium was closed in 1999 to begin the rebuilding of the new FIFA Goal plan project. The Jalan Besar Stadium played host to several events during it heydays where the Singapore Youth Festival in 1955, Singapore Armed Forces Day in 1969, and the 1984 National Day Parade, our very own S League Games, 2010 Summer Youth Olympic and also playing host to International Football Club.

Puppet on a string

This is the last performance show that one can catch it is really a dying trade and will vanish in the near future. Chinese Puppetry has come a long way during the migration of immigrant with the various Chinese dialects group setting foot in this region, they bring along their arts into Singapore they are traditionally performed for the temple to offer entertainment to the deity in return for their blessing and protection.

Temple of the 1000 lights

Sakya Muni Buddha Gaya Temple is located in Race Course Road and was founded by a Thai Monk Venerable Vutthisara in the year 1927 which serve as a Buddhist Monastery in Singapore. It is the most prominent and widely visited Buddhist Temple and features a 15-metre sitting Budhha depicting the life of Shakyamuni Buddha. During Vesak Day the annual holiday celebrating the birth and enlightenment of Buddha and devotees donate money to the temple in exchange for placing gold leaf onto a small statue of Buddha and at the end of the day, the Buddha is almost entirely covered with fresh layers of gold leaves.

Thian Hock Keng

Palace of the Heavenly Happiness or Tianfu Gong house the diety Sea Goddess Mazu (Ma Cho Po) is the oldest and most important to the Hokkien people in the country. Built-in early 1821 it is located along Telok Ayer Street originally facing the sea and had been run by the Hokkien Huay Kuan which is directly opposite the temple and it had been gazetted in 1973 as a national monument. Next to it, you can find the Yu Huang Gong (Temple of the Heavenly Jade Emperor) derive from the former Keng Teck Whay and also among the oldest building which was constructed between 1847 and 1875 using traditional Chinese craft and material incorporating the Min-Nan architectural style from Fujian China and South-East Asian  Peranakan elements and was gazetted as a national monument in 2009 and was renamed as Yu Huang Gong which took over by the Taoist Mission of Singapore which operate it as a  Taoist temple which follows the Taoism and Chinese beliefs.

Asian Civilisations Museum

Located by the Singapore River the Asian Civilisation Museum was set up in 1993 and later open its door in 1997  at the former Tao Nan School which was later been turn into a Peranakan Museum. In 2003 the ACM opened its second venue at the Empress Building which was completed in 1867, the neoclassical style building along the Singapore River was used for over 100 years to house then colonial and later Singapore Government Office of the Singapore Immigration Department that is where I first obtain my blue Malaysian Passport there. The mission of the ACM is devoted to preserving the  cultural heritage of Asia especially the ancestral cultures of Singaporeans which include China, India, South East Asia, and the Islamic World 

SCC Vs SRC

These are the two oldest club in Singapore they are the Singapore Cricket Club (SCC) and Singapore Recreation Club (SRC) both can be found at the Padang facing each other on the opposite end of the field. SCC sports and social club was established in 1852 where they hold social functions and tournaments during the colonial time till now. Over at the Singapore Recreation Club (SRC), it was established later than SCC in the year 1883 for the Eurasian men who are keen in playing crickets and the club today offer a wide range of sporting, social and recreational activities through interest groups.

Kampong Lorong Buangkok

Located in the North-East Region lies a last surviving kampong located on Singapore in the 21st Century where a canal ran alongside that lead to Sungei Punggol which was built-in 1956 the kampong was known to the Malay community as Selat Kain because whenever there is a flood they will wade through the floor water by hitching their sarong. Most of the resident works in the nearby Woodbridge Hospital or factories I am wondering when will their fate of the kampong life end because at the present moment the public housing are inching nearer and nearer and I hope that the government will consider some new ideas to conserve the place.

Kampong Gelam

Its history can be traced back to the 1820s, the name comes from the Malay word Kampong which mean village and Gelam a name of the cajeput tree there was a village by the sea where the orang laut from the glam tribes reside include the Arabs, Bugis and the Javanese. In 1920 the area was descended into notoriety so much so it was famed for its red-light district than for its distinctive community the elegant Moorish influence Sultan Mosque was rebuilt in 1924 and continues as a beacon for the Muslim. In 1989  the historic district of Kampong Glam was gazetted as a conservation area and in 1993 the government announced a plan for the development of Istana Kampong Glam, today it had turn into a Malay Heritage Centre. The streets around Jalan Sultan was once full of ironsmith and the local call it Sio Po Pak Ti Koi and Sultan Gate is called Raja Kottei in Tamil which means Raja Palace.

Historic building found in Orchard Road

This building found in Cuscaden Road belongs to the Che Sen Khor Uplifting Moral Society also know ar the Dejiao Hui was founded in 1952 along  River Valley Road which later moved to Carpenter Street in 1954 before settling down at the present location in 1959.  They had been diligently to set up more temples and pavilion in Singapore and Malaysia when they completed the 18th temple in 1956 the Nanyang Moral Uplifting Society within Che Sen Khor their main deity is Tai Shang Lao Jun and other deities.  

The Iconic blue signboard

The blue signboard had been operating for the last 54 years old provision shop situated at Block 12 Dakota Crescent this was an old school type of shop which your parents and grandparents used to patronize in the heydays together with mama shops found around the street corner on the five footway. When the old estate was embarked for redevelopment the owner decided to call it a day and soon the shop together with the name Tian Kee & Co was bought over and converted into a cafe and had been there for quite a while and finally, the dateline came and everybody had to leave and now waiting for the wrecking ball to come in.

The Istana

The Istana meaning "palace" in Malay and is the official residence and office of the President of the Republic of Singapore and also the place to receive and entertain state guests and also the working office of the Prime Minister. It was built during the colonial period between 1867 and 1869 and know as the Government House of Singapore official home of the British Governor and this continues until 1959 when Singapore attained self-government and was replaced by the Yang di-Pertuan Negara who was in turn replaced by the President. There are occasionally open to the public to visit on special occasions during Chinese Lunar New Year, Hari Raya, Deepavali, Christmas and also the country National Day. 

Wisma Geylang Serai

Talking about Geylang Serai it is a Malay settlement back in pre-modern Singapore it was built on the former site of the Malay Village which was demolished to make way for the Wisma Geylang Serai which also the need to expand the Geylang Serai Community Centre just a stone throw at Haig Road which is under the care of former Member of Parliament Prof. Fatimah Lateff. The Wisma Geylang Serai was built to incorporates the architectural elements of the Malay Village influenced by the traditional Malay houses and complements the adjacent of the Geylang Serai Market and Hawker Centre.   

The Rail Mall and Singapore Quarry

Singapore Bukit Timah Hill is rich with granite and is home to a number of quarries such ar the Dairy Farm Quarry, Hindhede Quarry and Singapore Quarry. As far as more than twenty years ago I use to travel from my working office to Hillview Avenue Lam Soon Factory and Hume Industries,  at that time the place was the steel structure open warehouse of Hong Leong Company I have to pass by the Rail Mall along the way but now things had changed with a new flyover at the intersection of Hillview Avenue and Bukit Timah Road. Rail Mall got its name from the overland trains service form Penisular Malaya now Malaysia also a railway bridge was built across Bukit Timah Road and onward toward Tanjong Pagar Station. For those granite quarries ceased to be operational since 1970 and 1980 only the Dairy Farm Quarry are filled up and today is a popular spot for rock climbing.

Walk among the tombstones

After revisited Tanglin Halt I quickly pop over to Shuang Long San Wu Shu Ancestral Hall simply refer to the Shuang Long San Cemetery or Ying Fu Kuan Singapore last Hakka cemetery situated along Holland Close and its surrounding Public housing and Commonwealth Avenue West with the East-West MRT Line. The cemetery is well into the half of their 99 years lease and when the time comes this place will become a thing of the past.

Final look at Tanglin Halt

Going back to the early 70s when I was working with a freight forwarding company where we had a garage at Tanglin Halt Road just at the junction with Commonwealth Avenue West and behind a Shell petrol kiosk, it brings back a lot of memories where once the Malayan Railway KTM used to chugged along  Van Houten chocolate factory, Daiwa Industries and many more light industries can be found there Tanglin Halt Estate was one of the oldest which had undergone many changes over the years. It is the Selective En Bloc  Redevelopment Scheme (SERS) that put a nail that seals the fate of the estate. The famous Market and Hawker Centre, old school shops with a total of over 3500 units of flats had to make way so that is when I decided to revisited that place to document some of the buildings for memory sake.