Singapore in the 70's

Tales of travel in the 70's - Singapore

The following travel story comes from Rose (now howell) and Alan Davis's diary written by Alan (and edited by Rose for this web site 2009) on Singapore Island - October 4th 1976

The first part of our trip, covered our journey from Adelaide to Darwin across to Bali, through Java, then Sumatra onto Penang and Malaysia and finally Singapore. In 9 weeks we had many memorable experiences and as we journeyed on there were many more to be had and many interesting people to meet.

On entering this country, Alan and I stayed in the ‘Kian Nam’ Chinese Hotel in Klang Lane off Serangoon Road. I'm not sure if the Hotel is still there but it was a very popular place for travellers to stay. Very cheap, the reason for that could be because it was very noisy and a bit sus. This area of town was like a little India, with lots of curry and chips and the Indians who lived and worked there were very polite and respectful.

Our first morning there we arose early with the idea of getting our entire shopping done if that was possible. Our usual breakfast, was a cup of milk coffee for Alan, Milo for me with a couple of jam rolls and pieces of cake. The price was about $1.20S for the lot.

We ventured into the main area of the city ‘Raffles’ where the shops are very exclusive, with only the best in watches and jewellery and price tags in the thousands.

"Raffles was named after the founder of modern Singapore, Sir Stamford Raffles whose intention was for it to become a great commercial emporium. The area is named Raffles Place and is located on the South Bank of the River. It is now the main area for finance (banks)."

As the banks were not due to open for an hour, we strolled through the backstreets to China town. It may seem strange having an area named as such in a predominately Chinese city.

It is all here just the same, narrow streets with swarms of people, rickshaw and bicycle traffic, old three storey shops with lattice windows, mildewed walls and the vertical signs in red Chinese writing. Washing strung out on poles and wobbly food stalls selling tasty delicacies, smelly fish, greens and medicines.

A tourist attraction in Chinatown is Sago Street.

"There is an old custom which foretells misfortune for a household where a person has died, the considerate oldies go to live in Sago Street, waiting out the last days of their lives." Often people refer to Sago Street as the street of the dead. There are also a lot of funeral homes there.

"Sago Street was once a home to brothels,it now houses food outlets, bars and retail shops.It got its name because during the 1840's there were many Sago factories.

In the 19th Century it became known for its prostitute dens. By 1901 there were 14 brothels in the Street.During the 1990's the brothels had vacated and the shop houses were restored."

We were too early for the usual hordes of people. There was only a lot of thin and bent old women with sallow and gaunt faces. They would have made good photos but it was impolite to take photos.

On our way back to ‘Raffles’ we bought an umbrella for $2.60S. We had to bargain and walked off after failing to reach a price with the shopkeeper. Ten minutes later we realized we had left a parcel behind. Returning, we found it still there, untouched, so figured to repay the guys honesty, we would buy the umbrella at his price.

At the ‘First National City Bank’ we changed $US50 - $123.50S, then into American Express to exchange some large denomination traveler’s cheques for some tens. Some bright spark in Darwin had recommended $50’s, he didn’t think we'd need small denominations for end of visit conversions and we were silly enough to believe him.

We then went to ‘Orchard Road’ the shopping bonanza. We knew what we had to get and the prices to pay. For me a it was a ladies watch, a ‘Seiko’ for $80S after a little haggling. We may have paid too much but we were getting tired of the haggling. I still have the watch and can't part with it.

The same with the slide film. Probably expensive at $12S a box (about $4Aus), but it was a bad time to be buying film, most places had little stock, so the demand was forcing prices up. Still it was a lot cheaper than in Australia. We bought 12 boxes of kodachrome and 2 ektachrome, which would last for awhile.

"Orchard Road got its name because in the 1840's it was lined with fruit orchards on both sides of the Road. Its commercial development only took off in the 1970's. It contains shopping malls, restaurants, coffee chains, cafes, nightclubs and hotels. It is also a one way street."

We went back into the central city, to the Post Office for a letter from friends back home, then met up with new travel friends for the umpteenth time, since Jakarta and had a chat, then into the Embassy (where they had a restaurant) for a meal. I had a westernized fish and chips for $1.40S. Alan had a mixture of prawns, fish patties, potatoes cucumber and lettuce served with a tangy sauce and a cup of coffee for only $1.20S.

That night we headed for 'Bugis Street'. More shopping to do, stocking up with supplies needed for the rest of our overland trip which began in Australia and will finish in the UK. Lots of sinister looking characters, so we take no chances and clutch our bags tightly as we pushed through the mob. Mainly Chinese stalls, the owners rude and impolite. If we hadn’t had to buy things out of necessity, they would have been told where to go.

‘Bugis’is one of the famous night spots here. The night bazaar is of course popular, lots of food stalls selling wok cooked goodies with the typical Asian open air atmosphere. Seems to be especially attractive to the tourists, everybody doing their oriental thing, prices of course were inflated out of all proportion to their value.

It is around 1 am when all the action starts. The transvestites come out to prowl the streets for action and ‘Bugis’is their haunt. So swarms of fat bellied Westerners, off load from their tour buses and taxis in the wee hours to watch the parade. It seems that it is well known, I wouldn’t be surprised if the government wasn’t paying them to put on a show every night.

"Bugis Street got its name from the seafaring people (Bugis) from South Sulawesi Indonesia. Originally there was a canal which ran through the area where the Bugis could sail up, moor their boats and trade with the local merchants. They were also known as 'Blood thirsty pirates.'From the 50's - 80's it was a famous tourist mecca due to the transvestites parading in flamboyant outfits and what went on in the street.Bugis Street is now a cobblestoned wide avenue with shopping malls etc."

A couple hundred meters up from ‘Bugis’ off Queen Street, we noticed a narrow and softly lit little alley, with red lanterns glowing in the doorways. Lots of men walking up and down peering in the houses. Thinly clad young women standing outside in rather provocative clothes.

'Must be domino games going on inside.'

So like a couple of daredevils, we joined the mob and strolled up the alley. We were fascinated, so we did a loop of the block and went through a second time. Certainly a good collection of girls, mainly Chinese but some Malays.

Plenty of shapes and sizes. No trouble to peek in and get big winks and come on smiles from a line of girls. Just a hallway with half dozen rooms, a curtain for privacy across the doorway. Plenty of customers, 'business is good tonight'. Some places you get a view of the action going on in upstairs rooms. Cavorting about by naked bodies. Hmmph! How disgusting.

All kinds here. Alan was getting winks from beautiful looking homosexuals and I was getting them from lesbians. As much as it was disgusting, it was interesting, no need to wait to the early hours for entertainment.

So with that experience under our belt we headed back to our hotel. Walking in the back streets probably is not a good habit to get into. But it did seem pretty safe in Singapore. There were groups of baton carrying policemen patrolling on foot.

5th October

It is easy to go through money like water, mainly on food and drinks, and a few knick knacks here and there.We went into town with a parcel to send off to Australia; wrapped it up, had it weighed, paid for the postage $9.30S surface mail to Australia. Saw it safely franked so it would make it home along with one roll of Agfa slide film.

We spent the day walking around the shops and markets just browsing.

The canal that runs through the inner city area provides an interesting contrast – tall modern skyscrapers towering over century old designed Chinese junks and barges.They are used to transport goods from the ships to the markets. Singapore has a monstrous harbor, reputedly the 4th busiest in the world (it is still classed as one of the busiest in the World). I believe it too. Just dozens and dozens of boats lying moored in the bay.

Lunch was in a busy little side street, eating with hundreds of other shoppers and office workers. Really mastering the art of using chopsticks. I can pick up small bits of meat and chilli, or large mouthfuls of noodles. (I can't say I am any better now. Still trying.)

Although it is a modern city, with an advanced standard of living and the people rapidly pursuing western ideals and culture, you can sense it is all only skin deep, that the old ways die hard. Go into a bank; a stylish design, new up to date equipment, flashily dressed modern women, serving behind the counters. And then you will see some good looking teller picking her nose.

Women laborers still using hoes to scrape dirt into baskets on million dollar building sites.Men working in smoke filled grotty little rooms, melting little blobs of gold in a little pot of hot coals, with a long pipe to keep the fire glowing. Wouldn’t Bob Hawke and his mates be in their glory in this place?

The public toilets that dot the city, now that is certainly a modern innovation, nicely tiled with gleaming white basins, and attendants charging 5c admittance fee. Only thing is you still have to use the left hand to wipe your backside, quickly trying to splash the water up from the ground level bowl whilst it is flushing. Paper in most households is something for the space age.

The stalls that line many streets are a vast improvement on Indonesia. No dirt floors, or pigs and dogs or chooks running around your feet here. Everyone with a stand must have a hawker’s license, freely displayed with their picture for public view. Kettles of water and big urns of porridge, soup, noodles and curries bubble away madly with charcoal fires burning underneath. Little Chinamen and dark Indians working like madmen, chopping up meats and vegetables, scooping up ladle full’s of gravy, adding a dash of chili or a squirt of soy sauce.

The clank of dirty dishes and busy chopsticks, someone jabbering away in Chinese the orders or hollering out for customers. Sizzling wok cooked food, being tossed and turned, seasoned and spiced before being scraped onto a plate and hurried off to a hungry tummy.Fascinating to watch. It is nice to think this could all happen in Australia too, but we are much too advanced as our society has become so hygiene and sterile in its attitude to food, a lot of places are banning smorgasbord dinners as unhealthy. Can’t see that happening in Asia before the end of the world.

Walking past tailor shops and sad looking Indians put out their arms, ‘come inside John’ or ‘what can I do for you Joe’. Busy girl shop assistants hurry behind you, ignoring your pleas that you are only looking. Want to buy a shirt mister? A new dress maam? A pair of pyjamas? No thanks, we sleep in the nude. You can have a lot of fun in these places without pots of money. You can get a suit made while you wait and it won't break the bank.

Had a taste of Indian food for tea tonight. Some chipolatas with several side dishes of curry. Nothing special, quite bland really, but the place was full of people wolfing down the stuff like it was a hot chicken dinner.We had better get used to it though, as it is about all we will get to eat for a couple of months in India.

So we are leaving tomorrow after a few days here. Once we got to know the place we came to like it. Lots to do, tons of things to buy. But the busy city atmosphere gets to you after a while. Dodging cars and buses whilst crossing streets, swallowing mouthfuls of exhaust fumes. Stern looking faces, hurrying unsmilingly by; no friendly waves or hellos!Shopkeepers uninterested in offering you any good service. We have seen it all before; after all that is why we came to Asia to see what alternate life styles the world offers. Thankfully cities are just small spots that dot the map of the countryside.

A few of the tourist places we visited were the Zoo which was opened in 1973. Singapore Zoo followed the modern trend of displaying animals in naturalistic, 'open' exhibits, i.e. with hidden barriers, behind moats and shrubbery etc. It was the start of a new kind of zoo and we loved it.

We also visited the Tiger Balm Gardens.

The park, originally called "Tiger Balm Gardens", was constructed in 1937 by the brothers Aw Boon Haw and Aw Boon Par, the developers of Tiger Balm, as a venue for teaching traditional Chinese values. The Aw family eventually sold the Gardens to the Singapore Tourism Board in 1979 and renamed Haw Par Villa in 1985 and re-opened in 1990, when it was converted into an amusement park.

Note; I would like to aknowledge Alan Davis who religiously wrote the diary during our world trip. Without the diary, these stories would not have been shared with others.I have edited some areas of the diary for this article.

Today, the country attracts visitors from all over the world and many international business events are based here.

Singapore lies 137 km's North of the Equator at the South Eastern end of the Strait of Malacca, the seaway connecting the Pacific and Indian oceans.There are about 63 tropical Islands within Singapores territorial waters. The total land area including its offshore Islands is 697.1 square km's.Lush parks, nature themed attractions and tree-lined streets complement the modern city's landscape of shopping, entertainment, dining and nightlife options.

A cosmopolitan population of ethnically diverse Singaporean citizens, permanent residents and expatriates make up the 4.48 million people who live and work in the State.

Attractions for the tourist:

- Singaporean flyer -observation wheel

- Marina Bay Sands

- Las Vegas

- Resort World at Santosa houses Southeast Asias Universal Studios

- Orchard Road - shopping Malls

- Santosa 500 hectare island getaway

- Mandai - animal themed adventure at the Night Safari and S. Zoo

- Chinatown, little India and Kampong Glan