#  >  > Travellers Tales in Thailand and Asia >  >  > Singapore Forum >  >  Singapore at 50: From swamp to skyscrapers

## CaptainNemo

> 28 February 2015 Last updated at 01:33 	     	       	*Singapore at 50: From swamp to skyscrapers*
> 
>                               					            	    		 			 														By Sharanjit Leyl 				BBC, Singapore 			 		             
> Continue reading the main story *In today's Magazine*
> 
>  Kidnapped by North Korea - and forced to make films Weekend edition: The best of the week's reads Israeli and Iranian musicians in harmony Watch What would Wittgenstein say about that dress? 
> 
>                       Fifty  years ago Singapore became an independent state, after leaving the  short-lived Malaysian Federation. With no natural resources, just how  did this tiny country go from swamp to one of the region's leading  economies? On the strength of its human resources - immigrants like my  grandfather. 
>          At the age of 17, with only the shirt on his back, Fauja  Singh left his parents in a small Punjabi village and made the long and  dusty journey on foot and by train to Kolkata (Calcutta), where he  caught a ship to his new home. It was the early 1930s. 
> ...


BBC News - Singapore at 50: From swamp to skyscrapers

----------


## terry57

^

Amazing how Singapore has evolved.

World class Zoo, incredible really what they have achieved down there. 

Silly prices for accommodation unfortunately.

----------


## Latindancer

They're running out of space for apartment blocks now. I believe some war graves at Kranji were relocated.

----------


## thaimeme

Remarkable history, as does the broader region.

----------


## cnx37

> ^
> 
> Amazing how Singapore has evolved.
> 
> World class Zoo, incredible really what they have achieved down there. 
> 
> Silly prices for accommodation unfortunately.


Nothing better than a world class zoo?

What do they put in the zoo?

In SGP?

In LOS?

----------


## fishlocker

With 56% of 2000 surveyed wanting to relocate something is amiss. Painted as an idealistic society reality is for many of the average  the grass isn't any greener. Or so it seems.

----------


## Seekingasylum

> Remarkable history, as does the broader region.


Yes, it would be a remarkable story, ' from swamp to skyscrapers in 50 years ', if it were true but it is not.

I lived in Singapore 50 years ago and it was a paradise of contentment, for me at any rate. Downtown Orchard Road had international hotels, sophisticated department stores, air conditioned modern cinemas, bowling alleys, restaurants - if it existed in the West, it was there in Singapore in 1965/66.

The only swamps of any note were up in the Mandai area where one could still see the trenches dug by the Japanese in anticipation of the Allies invasion.

What was wonderful about Singapore at that time was the splendid contrast and diversity in an environment no bigger than the Isle of Wight. The city with its development, kampongs in the hinterland with swaying palms, coastal villages, beaches, suburban development with modern estates, HDB development everywhere and a wonderful heritage in architecture within the city confines by the river.

That was Singapore in 1965.

This hype is quite understandable but utterly bogus.

If you do want a place worthy of a rags story 50 years ago then Bangkok is a better example. It was a shit stain then, and, of course, still is now to a considerable degree but the skyscraper thinggy is well represented.

Singapore 50 years ago was a fine place and certainly no swamp.

----------


## peterpan

I have many memories of Singapore, when I first went there, I had to get a hair cut before entry. I wasn't that long, but too long to darken  Singapore image. Then a long period before regular trips, but around at that time we were doing so much in Asia I decided to rent a place which we did in Gold hill. 
It seemed a bit boring to me, expensive booze and limited nightlife, it just revolved around certain expat cliques, at one time that scum bag Nick Leeson was one, when he was in his prime, holding court in his various hangouts at boat quay splashing money and champagne, for any one that was prepared to listen to his boy made good BS.
 After a couple of years of that, I moved to  Malaysia and subsequently to BKK.

----------


## Boon Mee

It all started to go downhill when the first McDonald's opened on Orchard Road across from Shaw Center.

Then Cold Storage was no more & the rest is history.

----------


## TizMe

I've just left Singapore after more than 7 years living there.

I had a great time while there, but I can count the times I visited Orchard Road on one hand.

I hooked up with a Peranakan lass for the last 2 years and experienced to live like a local. ( although she is a bit more westernized than most Singaporeans )

----------


## Seekingasylum

I left Singapore when Paya Lebar was still the national airport, 8 SGP bucks bought 1 £, Bugis Street was full of trannies, the local gangs in Geylang sold good ganja for 4 bucks a twist and speed at 10 bucks for 8'tabs, Jackie's Bowl in Tanjong Katong offered an afternoon session on the lanes with ice cold vodka and limes for the equivalent of 15 bucks,  buses were 10 cents, cigarettes from anywhere in the world were practically free, the RAF musicians moonlighted at youth clubs playing Hendrix's Purple Haze, Sgt. Peppers was played everywhere, a jukebox sat next to the local swimming pool playing See Emily Play constantly, Changi Beach was a real beach, a bumboat for private hire from Ponggol Point to Pulau Ubin was 8 bucks return, man walked on the moon, Charlie was really getting his shit together in Nam,  I could run a 100 yards in 12 secs, palm trees were everywhere, the Raffles Hotel was a rundown shithole and no matter were you bought it, a pint of draught Tiger or Anchor was always served ice cold for about 2 bucks, and my life was blessed with the excitement of fingering newly post pubescent girls hoping for more.

I was sixteen then.

----------


## nidhogg

^ all down hill from then, thegent.  Sad really.

----------


## Boon Mee

Raffles Hotel.

Can claim I had a Singapore Sling at the Long Bar before they remodeled the place.

Looked for the stain on the tiles where Sir Rudyard Kipling shot the tiger but alas, someone had scrubbed it out.

----------


## Seekingasylum

Boon, for the life of me, I cannot remember the cinema on Orchard Road near to Tang's. Can you?

----------


## Boon Mee

> Boon, for the life of me, I cannot remember the cinema on Orchard Road near to Tang's. Can you?


Was it across the street from the old Holiday Inn on Scotts Road?

----------


## Davis Knowlton

^^Pavilion?

----------


## Seekingasylum

Ahah! It was the Cathay Cinema but I see now it was in Handy Road which in my adolescence was just an extension to Orchard Road and not worth knowing. Not really near to Tangs at all.......

Saw the Good, the Bad and the Ugly there.

----------


## nidhogg

> Boon, for the life of me, I cannot remember the cinema on Orchard Road near to Tang's. Can you?


Opposite from Tangs was the Shaw house and the Lido if memory serves me correctly - behind that was the Jockey Pub.  All gone now of course.

----------


## Boon Mee

> Originally Posted by Seekingasylum
> 
> 
> Boon, for the life of me, I cannot remember the cinema on Orchard Road near to Tang's. Can you?
> 
> 
> Opposite from Tangs was the Shaw house and the Lido if memory serves me correctly - behind that was the Jockey Pub.  All gone now of course.


The Jockey Pub.

Belly up to the bar, check out the chalk board off to the right with job offerings and get hired on the spot if the one of the toolpushers/company men were hanging out at the same time!  :Very Happy:

----------


## Latindancer

*Singapore still the world's most expensive city*

The Southeast Asian city-state of Singapore retained its title as the  world's most expensive city for the second consecutive year, the  Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) said in a new survey.


https://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/si...021510572.html

----------


## Airportwo

> Ahah! It was the Cathay Cinema but I see now it was in Handy Road which in my adolescence was just an extension to Orchard Road and not worth knowing. Not really near to Tangs at all.......
> 
> Saw the Good, the Bad and the Ugly there.


I remeber (I remember when I could spell remember!) seeing the Blues Brothers when it was first released there!

Jockey pub used to do a great Rib Eye for breakfast, ideal when you had gone over the road and had a late night at the Tropicana after a few beers in Genevieve (spelling?) when it was in the International building.

----------


## Eric Loh

> Originally Posted by Seekingasylum
> 
> 
> Boon, for the life of me, I cannot remember the cinema on Orchard Road near to Tang's. Can you?
> 
> 
> Opposite from Tangs was the Shaw house and the Lido if memory serves me correctly - behind that was the Jockey Pub.  All gone now of course.


Quite certain it was the Lido cinema. Right behind Lido was a cabaret called Tropicana and also housed a pub frequented by farangs and hookers. Then Tang was called CK Tang and famous for curios products and much different from the current Tang.

----------


## pete

The rapid transformation of Singapore is quite remarkable. Unfortunately it's going the other way in the UK at the moment.

----------


## Seekingasylum

The observation is as ludicrous as it is puerile.

One is an authoritarian city state, the other a country with the fifth largest economy in the world with over a thousand years of democratic evolution culminating in an election where anyone of sound mind and without a criminal conviction can form a political party and seek power.

Stupid comments like the above are invariably expressed by those who consider fascism is a viable and welcome form of government.

----------


## Norton

> air conditioned


Thanks to Willis Carrier.

Without it the Singapore miracle would not have happened. These days Singaporeans spend most of the time scurrying from one air conditioned space to the next.

No wonder former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew called air-conditioning humankind's greatest invention.

----------


## Seekingasylum

Sure, a great boon but in the sixties most bungalows had ceiling fans in every room which provided most of the relief one needed. We lived in a hacienda type bungalow with louvred shutters and a patio open to the main living room which we locked at night by simply closing ornamental wrought iron gates leaving the air to flow through. I think we had folding glass doors too but these were rarely closed.
The only aircon room was my parents' bedroom.
With an ambient temperature of 30c most days and cooler nights I never recall as being as hot as I do here in Thailand.

After three years in Singapore I can remember my folks buying a portable heater for the living room when we all complained of the cold during a particularly cool winter monsoon!

Anyway, old Harry would say that since he was never comfortable in the heat and preferred the cold of England.

----------


## mingmong

Air con! we never had it in the '60's I remember the Brick Club Swimming Pool, spent many a afternoon there, My Sister was born in Serangoon 1960, then after 3 years we headed back to Blighty, in Winter! Blackpool by the Sea!

 the Island has always been special to me, don't mind the heat, or the Humidity, but the cold, stick it!

----------


## panama hat

When my parents were working in Bangkok in the sixties we would often drive down to Singapore . . . though the only memory I still have is the Tiger Balm Gardens. 

I returned for roughly six years, in 2001 or so, as an expat for a very large US IT company . . . life was brilliant.  My wife also had an expat job there and there really wasn't anything that we were lacking . . . nothing we couldn't get or experience. 

We go back every few months and still enjoy it, though our local friends do claim it is getting more difficult to 'make it' or save.   On paper they are all wealthy, but if they sell their condo or even HDB they have to move to Aus or elsewhere to gain the full benefits of the massive windfall.

----------


## terry57

> My life was blessed with the excitement of fingering newly post pubescent girls hoping for more.
> 
> I was sixteen then.



That was really interesting read Thegent.  Must of been incredible at that age in the Orient. 

What did your old man do if you don't mind me asking.

----------


## mingmong

Catholic Priest!  :Smile:

----------


## Seekingasylum

If I told you that Terry I'd have to kill you after. No names no pack drill. Carry on as you are and don't ever forget, keep mum and remember walls have ears.

I have to say, my life was idyllic in comparison to millions of other lads my age and I do look back with a certain fondness even if I could never get my evil way with the lovely Ann, a minx straight out of the mould of Of Human Bondage.

Singapore was a paradise then and despite the distorting prism of nostalgia I really do think it was as good as it ever could get. Nothing since has really compared.

----------


## terry57

^

Jesus,

I hope you have been smart enough to save pictures from those days, I'm sure your old man must of passed some on to you when he departed.

What an incredible look back that would be huh. 

The Asian Girls would of blown ones mind at that age gorgeous exotic creatures they are.   

Being bought up in a privileged family in Singapore back then would of brought a world of privilege.

Brilliant stuff Thegent,    I'm fookin impressed. 

To bad you never post pictures, world beating thread right there EH.

----------


## taxexile

> The Asian Girls would of blown ones mind at that age gorgeous exotic creatures they are.





> fingering newly post pubescent girls hoping for more


The damp chilly windswept streets of the large northern city I spent my teenage years in may have lacked the glamour and the exotic eastern mystery of Singapore, but with the skills of Sweaty Betty Braithwaites mouth and the glorious heft of Mucky Maureen Middletons breasts always available in the shed behind Bettys old mans allotment for the price of a couple of Embassy or Woodbines,  more was a certainty rather than a dreamed of option.

----------


## terry57

^

Yes,

But you were in Shitty Engerland and Thegent was in sultry Singapore with Asian girls. 

He wins hands down no discussion at all.  :Smile: 

You are the same Person right .  :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):

----------


## taxexile

I had a great upbringing Terry, and Singapore was a just a mythical place that was occasionally mentioned by my history teacher along with India, Burma, Malaya and Ceylon in the few hours he devoted to "that part of the world" and Britains role in developing it and eventually relinquishing it.

I never thought I would ever see any of it, although for some reason the word Mandalay and a black and white photo in a textbook of Siamese dancers with those pointy headgear things and the long fingernails became etched in my mind and Mandalay was an early SEAsian destination for me in 1984.

Apart from a few hours in the asirport there I havent been to Singapore yet, and from what Ive heard about it, it doesnt draw me at all in the way that Penang and Hong Kong do, even after multiple visits. I shared an an apartment in London in the dim and distant past with a British Airways long haul hostess and she was forever raving about its delights, but in those days the USA was my favourite port of call until I discovered India and then Thailand and China in the eighties.

----------


## Seekingasylum

We have hundreds of photographs - my father played with photography as a hobby using a twin lens reflex Yashica camera bought in 1966 from a tumbledown duty free shop in Djibouti where I can recall there were no buildings standing complete, and every corner bar featured jaded French Foreign legionnaires staring into space drinking cognac and Coke, sweating the dust from their eyes and looking mean and dangerous in their ennui - but these are all safely secured in an attic in Blighty.

Privileged life? Yes, it was but not unusual at the time and one took things for granted. The colonial era there was in its final stage but there was no antipathy from the locals who recognised the British presence as a boon to their livelihoods which was secured by an employer who offered over 120,000 jobs supporting the various military bases.

The local Chinese women all seemed a bit crook then in my opinion and not particularly appealing. i was far too preoccupied with British girls I must say and although several bars near the bases had hostesses they were not what I wanted. That was to come later in Hong Kong.

Singapore was halcyon school days living a life almost independent from my parents and where innocence had yet to be fully extinguished by those prison bars of circumstance.

----------


## Latindancer

> That was to come later in Hong Kong.


I can sense a couple of good stories here. Without revealing too much personal detail, would you care to elaborate ?
I think we were all pleasantly entertained when Necron wrote about his past.

----------


## terry57

> We have hundreds of photographs but these are all safely secured in an attic in Blighty.



Jesus Thegent,

You could be spending some time documenting your young life in Singapore. Those stories and memories are Priceless.

Next time you are back in that shithole Dodgerland you should grab a bag full of the Hard copy bring them back to Thailand and scan the fokin things up onto your Putor. 

The putor allows you to cut the photos and then enhance them so they come up surprisingly OK.

I'm scanning some pics up that are 40 years old and I'm very happy at how they are coming out considering my Camera was shit back then.

Next trip back take your scanned pics home and grab some more.

Get to it, stop fookin around huh.  :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic): 

You too Tax, fook me, you must have some great stuff as well.

----------


## taxexile

Boxes and boxes of photos and slides of travels in the seventies snd eighties.

----------


## terry57

^

So why don't you sort them out and post some up. 

Jesus,   give you something to do Huh.

----------

