Make a date with your memories this Sunday 8 August, 10 pm on OKTO!

This Sunday, 8th August 2010, a new documentary film will be screened at 10pm on Okto.


Do you know, do you remember where this dragon is?

Okto's Special National Day Documentary Feature OLD PLACES – with support from NHB’s Heritage Industry Incentive Programme (Hi2P) - is produced by Chuan Pictures, directed by Royston Tan, Victric Thng and Eva Tang, and features the voices of Singaporeans as they recall their memories of disappearing places in Singapore.

Take a walk down memory lane and revisit Old Places in Singapore once again.

Reminisce yesterday's past today. Don’t forget to tune in. Tell your friends!

APEC visit - voices from the ground...

After reading the mainline media report in the earlier post, here is the view from the ground - from a young Singaporean participant, as extracted from the APEC Voices of the Future Blog:

APEC VOF Day 4: Tiong Bahru Heartlands Tour

By: P4 (Joy Tan Yan Jun, Singapore)

Built in the 1930s, Tiong Bahru Estate is one of the oldest housing estates in Singapore. It was the first project undertaken by the Singapore Improvement Trust, a government body administered by the British colonial authority, to provide for mass public housing in Singapore. The estate consists of about 30 apartment blocks with a total of over 900 units. The apartment blocks are made up of two to five-storey flats and the units are assorted three to five-room apartments.

Although I am a Singaporean, I have to admit that yesterday trip was my first time to the Tiong Bahru heartlands. Before the trip I thought there was not different between the Tiong Bahru and any other heartland in Singapore. Yet, the trip there proved otherwise. It was an eye opening experience to see a part of Singapore that can rarely be seen around the fully developed city state.

Unlike the other newer towns in Singapore, Tiong Bahru heartland, although smack right in the middle of the city, emits a rustic and layback charm. A combination of pre-war art deco house, post-war low-rise HDB flats and modern 20th century high-rise flats can all be found within the area. What makes this more unique is the integration of these distinctive architectures all within a mere distances of five streets apart.

As our foreign delegate friends commented on how they can’t find these historic architectures in their cities anymore, I felt really proud that our government actually chooses to keep a part of our history but conserving these older flats. The fact that they did not allow the pressure of space crunch in Singapore to remove part of Singapore rich and vibrant history taught me the fact that even as we grow and progress in the future, we must still remember and celebrate our past. Just like the Chinese saying, 饮水思原, which means to not forget where the source of our success comes from, I believe that in we must remember our roots and the people who helped and nurtured us to be the person we now are.

As I spoke to a long time resident of the area, I can sense the pride in his eyes as he spoke fondly about his estate and how proud and grateful he was to the government for acknowledging the history in the area and for conserving them so that the future generation and understand and appreciate the lives of their forefathers. It was then I realized that history can bring and connect people together through shared experiences. I believe youth today lack an appreciation of their history and the struggles that the past generations have gone through to secure the peace and prosperity that we now enjoy and take for granted.

Before we, the youth of today, get about making some history of our own, I think that we should take a step back and reflect on the things around us, understand the spirits behind them and twine these spirit into our activities and work. In this way, we can connect with our older generation and at the same time pass on these spirits to our next generation and encourage them to do the same. In this way, I believe that we will be able to achieve another form of sustainable development.
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Hear! Hear! Nice to know that the visit made at least a few youths see some value in history....

Bins Bins Bins - Part 2

And we have here, feedback from a concerned resident for all to consider - who wants better recycling facilities? Thanks to Jason, for taking time to share!



Dear Fellow Residents & Town Council,

With the recent repainting & sprucing of our neighbourhood Tiong Bahru is taking Shape as an interesting Conservation Town. To those who has contributed in this effort, I Thank You personally for organising the rubbish for a start!!. But I have noticed the bins available are really too small & insufficient to cater to the mass amount of rubbish thrown out by the TB residents. Take Block 55 & 56 Eng Hoon St as an example , I have just thrown my daily bag of rubbish this morning at the back alley of 55 & 56 but have also seen piles of gypsum ceiling boards lying around but the 2 rubbish cart was no where to be seen.(assume to be towed to the dump sites for dumping)

We will first have to tackle contractors rubbish which should not be dump at these sites as they will easily fill up the rubbish carts. The problem is also the carts are located at a public areas which makes monitoring undue rubbish dumping difficult. There must be assigned locations with strategic public view to prevent illegal dumping for such purpose and signs that warn about illegal dumping to prevent illegal dumping like those in HDBs areas.

The mere “insufficient and undersize bins” will already contribute to reasons residents rubbish get left behind on convenient locations not meant for rubbish dumping .I am for the idea of recycling and the 3 tiny bins located at the hawkers centre ground floor entrance certainly is not a reflection of the town council strong support in this area. I have made several attempts to deposit plastic bottles and found the bins full or too small to put in Detergent bottles.They ended up on the floor nearby or crowding the bins areas.

We should make conscious effort in making recycling an easy task for resident wanting to participate to this worthy cause by incorporating such bins at convenient Public locations with Large bins and equally large depositing holes to cater to this effort with convenience.

Lets work together to make Tiong Bahru a better place to call “HOME”

Thank You & Regards,

Jason Choo

Blk 56 #02-58

Hotel, Brothel, Smothel...

Another response to the letter on the hotel in today's Straits Times. Is it wrong to have a mindset that everything should have its place - which is a recipe for harmonious living? Is raising an issue of local concern in the public, in an objective way, not the sign of matured behaviour? To put it on record, the residents' concerns are not focussed on the monetary value of their neigbourhood, but about the way it should or should not evolve.

Read the comments on ST Forum online. Sigh.


Get with it, Tiong Bahru residents - it's a hotel, not a brothel

SADLY, Singapore still has a long way to go before it matures as a society, even if it has done well economically.

Hotel 81 - which is a hotel, not a brothel, by the way - in Tiong Bahru bears this out. Like the issue of housing dormitories for foreign workers in Serangoon Gardens, some residents are saying 'somewhere else, but not here'.

Presumably, it is okay in Geylang. It is also okay in Chinatown, and many other locations not considered inordinately prone to 'vice' (for the complainants have not, as far as I know, protested against the very existence of Hotel 81).

'But hey. I came to live in this pleasant neighbourhood. Put it somewhere else.'

Unfortunately, there is no social or government contract when you buy a property or choose to live in a particular location, for you to 'expect' things to be exactly how you want them.

Like the recent online letter by Mrs Bendjenni Udiana Jamalludin about how some men dressed well but lacked social graces ('They were well-dressed but behaved like louts', last Saturday), Singapore can develop economically but fall well behind in social development. Perhaps more can be done in school to ensure the next generation 'grows up'.

Kevin Kwek

Is the Hotel 81 issue about changing mindsets?

One response to the residents' letter on the concerns over Hotel 81 in Eng Hoon Street. In today's Straits Times.


Hotel 81 in Tiong Bahru is a test about changing mindsets

ANOTHER furore seems to be brewing over a location for a budget hotel in Singapore. If this had been a major hotel development, I wonder if it would have invited such a reaction. If one goes to Tiong Bahru, one will notice many prominent hotels within a 2km radius. So why do we pick on a budget hotel to drive home a point of protest?

Hotel 81 is a local set-up, and its business caters to Singaporeans as much as to foreigners. It provides many employment opportunities for Singaporeans, especially during this economic downturn. Hence, to deprive it of a decent place to do business is to prevent a prospective employer from expanding its business.

From hospices to funeral parlours to pubs, Singaporeans are fast coming across as possessing a 'my-turf-is-my-turf' mentality. This siege mindset is harmful to the economy and will deter potential investors from doing business in Singapore. After all, if businesses are not located within the city, where else do we locate them?

Singapore is an island nation and space is a major constraint. We cannot build another island as we did for Jurong Island.

Given this constraint, we have no alternative but to change our mindset - be more open with the space we must share with others. The sooner we do this, the better we will be prepared for the future.

Because, in time to come, as the population expands and public buildings compete for more space, we can count our blessings if we find a hotel in our neighbourhood rather than something else.

Douglas Chua

What will you fight (die) for?

Hello!

sorry for the long silence... just got back from this year's ICT where I was privileged enough to have seen the beautiful landscapes of western Singapore - rolling hills, valleys, stands of trees and fields of long grass.. a sense of space... things that one does not associate with the Singapore that we know of 'everyday'...

Too bad that military restrictions do not let us take pictures to show you all the sights, but while beautiful, I wonder, would I fight for that beautiful landscape - if it is merely beautiful, but that I have yet to grow to love?

Would I rather, fight for (and implied, die for) this street, this estate, with both its beauty and its imperfections - because this is my little corner of Singapore that is HOME?, and which I have invested in emotionally?



Imperfections, in a parallel illustration, here:



What about you?

That's it for now, till I get back into the swing of things.. oh wait... there is THAT letter from the Town Council on awnings and planters... let me find out more...