Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Jeffrey Eng remembers growing up in a shophouse, which was not only a house but a business premises. For a long time, they used the bucket system. The Singapore River close by was putrid before it was cleaned up and lightermen and coolies worked along the riverfront.

I asked Jeffrey if he can envisage Eng Tiang Huat being at Smith Street, which is being revitalised by the Chinatown Business Association. He said perhaps, but it would have to be a serious cultural venture and not as a souvenir shop for tourists to come and take photographs.

00:00 Growing Up in a Shophouse

05:34 My Father’s Favourite Clogs

14:03 The Bucket System

18:18 The Old Singapore River

26:27 Heritage Businesses & Vanishing Trades

33:21 Can Eng Tiang Huat be at Smith Street?

41:50 Eng Tiang Huat is Not a Souvenir Shop

Eng Tiang Huat on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChineseCulturalShop

I am Dr Loh Kah Seng, the 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 for future episodes. This will help the channel a lot.

Write to lkshis@gmail.com if you have stories to share.

YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@ChroniclesOldSG

Spotify | https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/loh-ks

Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/61551786759344/

Patreon | https://www.patreon.com/ChroniclesofOldSingapore

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Quek Siow Kai felt he had hit a technician’s glass ceiling by the mid-1980s; to break it, he obtained an engineering degree from the University of Alabama at Huntsville – an eye-opening experience. He talks about the cyclical nature of the semiconductor industry, where one could be fired overnight in a downturn, and what he learned from his time with the US giant in Singapore, Texas Instruments.

00:00 Introduction

01:05 Glass Ceiling for a Technician

11:43 Studying Engineering at University of Alabama, Huntsville

21:53 Tool & Die in Semiconductor Industry

28:54 The 1985 Recession in Singapore

35:59 My Experience at Texas Instruments

41:58 Importance of Training

I am Dr Loh Kah Seng, the 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 for future episodes. This will help the channel a lot.

Write to lkshis@gmail.com if you have stories to share.

YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@ChroniclesOldSG

Spotify | https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/loh-ks

Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/61551786759344/

Patreon | https://www.patreon.com/ChroniclesofOldSingapore

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Quek Siow Kai joined Gul Engineering and Singapore’s growing marine industry. He learned a lot there, but decided to leave for his own safety. Largely because management wanted to build and repair ships quickly, subcontractors and workers were often not aware of the dangers in a shipyard. This culminated in the 1978 Spyros explosion and fire – Singapore’s worst industrial accident. Nevertheless, there were experienced sifus in what was a Cantonese-speaking industry. They trained new workers and helped the industry succeed.

00:00 Unsafety in the Marine Industry

07:41 The Push for Productivity

09:31 The Role of Management

17:08 Dangers in a Shipyard

25:55 The Spyros Tragedy

32:16 Sifus & Old Hands

43:24 A Cantonese Industry

Inquiry Report on the Explosion and Fire on Board S.T. Spyros, 12th October 1978.

https://www.nlb.gov.sg/main/book-detail?cmsuuid=119cee73-85f5-4555-997c-e73aa4b4ba31

I am Dr Loh Kah Seng, the 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 for future episodes. This will help the channel a lot.

Write to lkshis@gmail.com if you have stories to share.

YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@ChroniclesOldSG

Spotify | https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/loh-ks

Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/61551786759344/

Patreon | https://www.patreon.com/ChroniclesofOldSingapore

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Professor Bernard T.G. Tan recounts how the National Computer Board, est. in 1981, encouraged computerisation in the civil service and local businesses. Being able to build the computer yourself, he says, is important because it fosters creativity and entrepreneurship.

Bernard also talks about his research into the history of Rollei. He believes that Rollei failed because they lagged behind Japanese camera manufacturers technologically, not because the Singaporean engineers were not good enough.

00:00 The Early Computer Geeks in Singapore

03:18 Government Interest & the National Computer Board

10:38 Computerisation & the Workforce

12:14 Texas Instruments & the Semiconductor Companies

17:23 Why Rollei Failed

22:34 Sim Lim Square & Funan Centre: Computer Marts

25:26 Building Your Own Computer

27:54 Sim Wong Hoo & Entrepreneurship

30:02 AI & Smartphones

Bibliography

Bernard Tan on the history of microcomputing in Singapore, 2018:

http://sms.org.sg/download/Microcomputing_in_Singapore.pdf

I am Dr Loh Kah Seng, the 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 for future episodes. This will help the channel a lot.

Write to lkshis@gmail.com if you have stories to share.

YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@ChroniclesOldSG

Spotify | https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/loh-ks

Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/61551786759344/

Patreon | https://www.patreon.com/ChroniclesofOldSingapore

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Jeffrey Eng is the 3rd generation owner of Eng Tiang Huat, a shop selling traditional Chinese cultural goods such as embroidery and musical instruments. He recalls the Teochew community along Merchant Road in the 1960s where the shop was originally located, and how his father did business with suppliers in China, when the business was still good.

00:00 Introduction

01:22 Merchant Road & the Teochews

12:25 The Story of Eng Tiang Huat

18:27 The Business in the ‘80s

24:51 Import & Export Trade with China

37:39 Opening Up of China

45:53 Conserved Shophouses

Eng Tiang Huat on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChineseCulturalShop

I am Dr Loh Kah Seng, the 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 for future episodes. This will help the channel a lot.

Write to lkshis@gmail.com if you have stories to share.

YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@ChroniclesOldSG

Spotify | https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/loh-ks

Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/61551786759344/

Patreon | https://www.patreon.com/ChroniclesofOldSingapore

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Quek Siow Kai relates his story as one of Singapore’s Technical Generation in the 1970s. He struggled in the Singapore Polytechnic as a Chinese-medium student, before graduating into the recession caused by the 1973-74 global oil crisis. He found a job in a textiles factory, managing an entire shift. The night shift was noisy and exhausting, and he had to wear masks for the blue dust produced when working on jeans.

00:00 Introduction

02:59 Struggles at Singapore Polytechnic

09:15 Understanding the Lecturers

16:34 Running a Whole Shift in a Textiles Factory

22:19 Shift Work was Tough

28:14 Productivity & Profit

31:00 Jeans & Blue Dust

25:58 Low Wages

Inquiry Report on the Explosion and Fire on Board S.T. Spyros, 12th October 1978.

https://www.nlb.gov.sg/main/book-detail?cmsuuid=119cee73-85f5-4555-997c-e73aa4b4ba31

I am Dr Loh Kah Seng, the 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 for future episodes. This will help the channel a lot.

Write to lkshis@gmail.com if you have stories to share.

YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@ChroniclesOldSG

Spotify | https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/loh-ks

Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/61551786759344/

Patreon | https://www.patreon.com/ChroniclesofOldSingapore

欢迎来到旧新加坡记事录。郭绍愷讲述了新加坡工艺学院中文协会关闭的原因以及 在1999 年协会如何举行第一次大型校友聚会，其中包括来自不同年代的会员。他谈到了协会出版的刊物及与当年新加坡其他大专学生团体的交流。如今，协会为贫困学生提供助学金，体现了其长期以来关心与回馈社会的宗旨。

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Quek Siow Kai recounts why the Singapore Polytechnic Chinese Language Society closed down and how its first major reunion came about in 1999, including members from various batches. He talks about the periodicals published by the society and its collaboration with other student groups in Singapore. Today, CLS offers a bursary for needy students, reflecting its longstanding efforts to help others.

00:00 校友聚会 Reunions

10:23 刊物 Publications

15:18 中文协会助学金 CLS Bursary

19:11 学生的社会角色 Social Role of Students

23:14 协会与其他学生团体 CLS & Other Student Groups

32:00 未来计划 Future Plans

36:18 学生情侣 Student Couples

I am Dr Loh Kah Seng, the 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 for future episodes. This will help the channel a lot.

Write to lkshis@gmail.com if you have stories to share.

YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@ChroniclesOldSG

Spotify | https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/loh-ks

Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/61551786759344/

Patreon | https://www.patreon.com/ChroniclesofOldSingapore

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Professor Bernard T.G. Tan shares his love of electronics and computers as a kid and how when he saw the sleek Apple II, he knew he had to have it. He talks about spending too much time browsing computer magazines and the early computer shops, including Lee Miles’ Computer Centre at Golden Mile Complex.

00:00 Introduction

04:29 A Brief History of Computing

09:52 The Wonder of Computers

14:51 The Apple II

21:46 Computer Magazines

24:17 Lee Miles’ Computer Centre at Golden Mile Complex

30:36 Other Early Computer Shops

Bibliography

Bernard Tan on the history of microcomputing in Singapore, 2018:

http://sms.org.sg/download/Microcomputing_in_Singapore.pdf

I am Dr Loh Kah Seng, the 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 for future episodes. This will help the channel a lot.

Write to lkshis@gmail.com if you have stories to share.

YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@ChroniclesOldSG

Spotify | https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/loh-ks

Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/61551786759344/

Patreon | https://www.patreon.com/ChroniclesofOldSingapore