Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Dilip Doshi talks more about Gujarati traders and their food and festivals. He acknowledges his debt to his Indonesian Chinese benefactor, Ong Wai Tjoei, as well as the dispersal of the Gujarati community when the government acquired Market Road for redevelopment in 1979. He discusses the Sindhis and Parsis who have also been successful in business, and the new citizens from Gujarat who have rejuvenated his community.

00:00 Changing the Country of Origin

06:54 Culture, Food & Festivals

12:57 Indians & Chinese on Market Street

13:42 The Indonesian Chinese Merchant, Ong Wai Tjoei

20:16 The End of Market Street in 1979

24:59 Other Indian Traders: the Sindhis & Parsis

30:59 New Citizens from Gujarat

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 any of these stories:

• Old places or kampongs.

• Communities – their way of life & culture.

• Childhood & schools.

• Work or business.

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Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. LTC (Retd) Mejar Singh Gill talks to me about growing up in the Singapore Naval Base in the ‘50s and ‘60s where the Sikhs were prominent in the naval police and armed forces. He explains why he wrote the book, Singapore’s ‘Northern Sikhs'’ and their Gurdwaras, and the important role Sikh temples play in the spiritual and social life of the community.

00:00 Introduction

01:50 Sikhs in the Naval Base

05:54 Singapore’s ‘Northern Sikhs'’ and their Gurdwaras

15:27 Why Sikh Temples are Important

26:11 The Temples’ Social Functions

33:22 Challenges in Relocating the Temples

40:08 Sikh Temple at Silat Road

45:47 Sikhs in the City

Singapore’s ‘Northern Sikhs'’ and their Gurdwaras by Mejar Singh

https://gsy.org.sg/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/GSY-Northern-Sikhs-book.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

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Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Islanders Adam Giman and Fawzi Nasir recount their sadness at leaving St. John’s and Lazarus Islands in the 1970s and why they continue to return afterwards. Adam even got a job at PSA in order to be close to the sea. We also discuss conservation and the cultural heritage of the islands. Finally, I ask them about how they viewed Singapore from the vantage point of the islands.

00:00 Freedom & Pace of Life on the Islands

03:06 Football

06:31 The Sea as a Way of Life

09:20 Resettlement

17:29 Land Sickness

21:09 Conservation

25:12 Friends of Marine Park

31:37 View of Singapore from the Islands

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. Dilip Doshi recalls how his father Panachand came to Singapore and later established a trading firm at Market Street, the heart of the Gujarati community on the island. He talks about the Gujaratis’ cultural and religious life and their reputation as middlemen in the transregional trade across the Indian Ocean.

00:00 Introduction

02:04 My Father Panachand Doshi

11:14 Market Street & the Chettiars

15:53 Gujarati Values & Code of Conduct

21:26 Cultural & Religious Life

25:32 The Gujaratis as Middlemen

35:09 Perthar, Learning Trade from My Father

40:19 The Intraco Story

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. After Texas Instruments, Quek Siow Kai joined the famed German company, Motoren- und Turbinen-Union. Going back to his machinery roots, he found his place there. He also talks about the rise of China into an economic giant and the loss of engineering expertise in Singapore. Finally, as one from the Chinese-educated group, he relates how many others went into business and did well, but also the need for a better balance between English and Chinese among the local Chinese.

00:00 Joining Motoren- und Turbinen-Union

08:35 Difficulties for SMEs

18:00 Rise of China

27:29 Engineering in Singapore Today

33:04 The Chinese-educated in Business

39:35 Need for Balance Between English & Chinese

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. Islanders Adam Giman and Fawzi Nasir talk about the two islands of their childhood in the ‘50s to ‘70s – Pulau Sekijang Bendera (St. John’s Island) and Pulau Sekijang Pelepah (Lazarus Island). They recall the staff quarters on St. John’s and kampong life on Lazarus. These were two different worlds, but shared a common relationship with the sea and the Riau archipelago nearby.

00:00 Introduction

02:09 St. John’s Quarantine Station

07:58 Staff Quarters on St. John’s

17:03 Relationship with Riau

26:59 St. John’s Island English School

28:46 Kampong on Lazarus

38:30 Staff Quarters

45:58 The Villagers

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 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