Loading...

PODCAST

Chronicles of Old Singapore

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. I’m Dr Loh KS, a people’s historian. I’m interested in the history of Singapore and the lives of its people. In Chronicles of Old Singapore, I speak to people about their memories of Singapore before it became a global city today. We discuss three topics: 1. People and places. 2. Change and continuity. 3. The importance of heritage. Caveat: this is a podcast based on personal memory. As has been well-documented in oral history, memory is not always reliable

history

All Episodes

00:28:33

Loh Kah Seng – Albert Winsemius, Adviser...

Chronicles of Old Singapore ·

2026/03/15

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. In Part 2, I assess the most intriguing part of Albert Winsemius’ work in Singapore, which never made it to his United Nations report. Privately to Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, he urged that political action must precede economic reforms if industrialisation were to succeed. First, the statue of Raffles must not be removed. Second, the government must eliminate the communists. Part 1 | https://youtu.be/hE4GDHUNWMM Part 2 | https://youtu.be/s65-wpq0dfo00:00

en

00:39:15

Marc Sebastian Rerceretnam – Early Roman Catholics &...

Chronicles of Old Singapore ·

2026/03/10

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Marc Sebastian Rerceretnam continues on the history of the Roman Catholic community in colonial Singapore. The Chinese converts rejected cultural norms such as wearing the pigtail while a mix of religious, cultural and economic factors led to the 1851 riots against the Catholics. But what continues to be relevant for Singapore today is how the Roman Catholics married people of different ethnicities, creating an early form of multiracialism during the colonial

en

00:49:05

Jamari Ahmari – The Boyanese, DSTS & Sembawang...

Chronicles of Old Singapore ·

2026/03/08

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Jamari Ahmari talks about two halves of his roots. His parents were Boyanese. His father lived in a pondok (a community shelter for Boyanese migrants) at Upper Dickson Road before marrying his mother, who came to Singapore from Muar. He worked as a chauffeur for Soon Peng Yam and lived in the servants’ quarters at 19 Gilstead Road.Jamari attended Monks Hill Primary School and Dunearn Secondary Technical School, where he was taught by Singapore’s champion

en

00:50:02

Soh Weelian – A Boy from Kampong Potong Pasir Part 2...

Chronicles of Old Singapore ·

2026/03/05

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Soh Weelian recalls the ponds, shops and hawker food of Kampong Potong Pasir, including having a delicious plate of char kway teow by a pond, the kindergarten he attended and a frightening flood in 1978. Interestingly, Weelian seems to be more nostalgic about the brief kampong life he experienced than his parents – a sign that documenting and conserving the past also matter to younger Singaporeans like us.Part 1 | https://youtu.be/Ds6fcU4k_BI Part 2 |

en

00:40:33

Kan Seng Chut – Engineering Apprentice & Sailing the...

Chronicles of Old Singapore ·

2026/03/03

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Veteran marine engineer Kan Seng Chut reflects on how ex-apprentices like him from the Old Engineering Apprentices Association can inspire tomorrow’s young engineers to sail. He relates two stories where his personal experience helped him solve complicated engineering problems.Part 1 | https://youtu.be/0uBWysUostU Part 2 | https://youtu.be/dDXJqIZEsnU Part 3 | https://youtu.be/F877qyiKwWA00:00 Persuading Engineering Students to Sail09:02 The OEAA12:37 The

en

00:37:26

Loh Kah Seng – Albert Winsemius, Adviser...

Chronicles of Old Singapore ·

2026/03/01

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Albert Winsemius was Singapore’s most successful foreign expert, advising the government on economic policy for twenty years. I look at his first contribution to Singapore in 1960-61, explaining why he succeeded when so many experts failed. His main then was to convince the government that Singapore could pivot from entrepot trade to secondary industry against a backdrop of political, economic and social troubles.Part 1 | https://youtu.be/hE4GDHUNWMM Part 2 |

en

00:56:18

Pamela Sandanasamy – My Father & the Naval Base Part...

Chronicles of Old Singapore ·

2026/02/26

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Pamela Sandanasamy comes onto the podcast as our youngest guest yet and with a strong love for conserving the past. She takes us through numerous old photos of the Naval Base where her father Sandanasamy – an avid photographer – studied, lived and worked. Part 1 | https://youtu.be/IV5Z1_YmBK4 Part 2 | https://youtu.be/tInleB6qsl000:00 Introduction05:33 Conserve Our Heritage11:45 Grandparents in Singapore19:20 Sandanasamy & Family in Photos24:39 Work &

en

00:22:51

郭绍愷–学生与社会 | Quek Siow Kai – Students & Society |...

Chronicles of Old Singapore ·

2026/02/24

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的成立过程，以及其成员在 60 年代和 70 年代对社会问题的浓厚兴趣。Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Quek Siow Kai recounts how the Singapore Polytechnic Chinese Language Society was set up and how its members were keenly interested in social issues in the 1960s and 1970s. 第一集 Part 1 | https://youtu.be/R3bFzaTkeX0 第二集 Part 2 | https://youtu.be/eUA9zPBVqH800:00 互相帮助英语 Helping One Another with English04:44 社团注册 Registering the Society09:17 杜进才 Toh Chin Chye11:31 学生与新加坡的工业化 Students &

en

00:46:47

Leng Ng Tai – Engineering Apprentice from Naval Base...

Chronicles of Old Singapore ·

2026/02/22

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Upon graduation, Leng Ng Tai relates his working experience for two major employers in Singapore: at the Motor Vehicle Workshop with its fleet of 800 in the Naval Base, and after the British withdrawal in the late 1960s, the oil multinational Shell, Singapore’s first pioneer status company on Pulau Bukom. Among his 51 successful years with Shell, he was a safety advisor, persuading both management and contractors to bring the yearly number of deaths from

en

00:37:33

Tong Siew Yin – Cinemas, Hawkers & Shops of Old...

Chronicles of Old Singapore ·

2026/02/19

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Tong Siew Yin takes us back to old shops, businesses and hawkers of Orchard Road in the 1950s and 1960s before the shopping malls arrived.Ep1 | https://youtu.be/YD_B87867Gc Ep2 | https://youtu.be/fihcnpDpgkk00:00 Emerald Hill05:28 Somerset Staff Quarters10:27 Hawkers at Emerald Hill15:30 Fosters & Magnolia Snack Bar17:13 Cold Storage22:22 Tailors & Furriers23:55 Fitzpatrick’s27:41 Cuppage & Koek Roads30:00 The Istana33:39 198 Orchard Road

en

00:36:25

Gloria Kwok – My Granny & Sago Lane, Sei Yan Kai Part...

Chronicles of Old Singapore ·

2026/02/17

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Gloria Kwok spent several years during her primary school holidays living with her grandmother Sum Yin Yong at Sago Lane in Chinatown in the 1960s. This was the infamous street of the dead, which the Cantonese called ‘sei yan kai’. As Gloria recalls, her grandmother worked as a caretaker in the death house called Fook Sau and both of them lived on the second floor of the shophouse. Part 1 | https://youtu.be/PSDWCwFQ5-g Part 2 |

en

00:28:38

何乃强–战阵时期的牛车水第二集 | 旧新加坡记事录Ho Nai Kiong – War in...

Chronicles of Old Singapore ·

2026/02/15

欢迎来到旧新加坡记事录。何乃强医生回忆起日治时期家人逃往波东巴西，并藏匿贵重物品，以及他的学业如何受到影响。他谈到战争给新加坡带来的三个教训。Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Dr Ho Nai Kiong recalls fleeing to Potong Pasir with his family during the Japanese Occupation, hiding their valuables and how his studies were affected. He talks about the three lessons of the war for Singapore.第一集 Ep1 | https://youtu.be/wS_Z7PdOfCA 第二集 Ep2 | https://youtu.be/UgfuDoarcmY00:00 肃清 Sook Ching01:04 逃难到波东巴西 Fleeing to Potong Pasir07:11 粮食管制 Food Rationing09:50 我的学业 My

en

00:33:42

何乃强–战阵时期的牛车水第一集 | 旧新加坡记事录 Ho Nai Kiong – War in...

Chronicles of Old Singapore ·

2026/02/15

欢迎来到旧新加坡记事录。何乃强医生讲述，日本轰炸新加坡时，第一枚炸弹落在牛车水。他讨论了肃清行动以及牛车水新加坡的一些个人叙述。 Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Dr Ho Nai Kiong relates that when the Japanese bombed Singapore, the first bomb fell in Chinatown. He discusses the Sook Ching operation and several personal accounts of the Japanese Occupation of Singapore.第一集 Ep1 | https://youtu.be/wS_Z7PdOfCA 第二集 Ep2 | https://youtu.be/UgfuDoarcmY00:00 介绍 Introduction01:02 今天的冲突 Conflicts Today05:13 第一枚炸弹 First Bomb on Chinatown 15:36 静方女校 Jing Fang Girls’

en

00:30:32

Stephen Dobbs – The Singapore River & the Lightermen...

Chronicles of Old Singapore ·

2026/02/09

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Stephen Dobbs and I trace the redevelopment of the river for tourism and entertainment in the early 1990s. We reflect on the efforts to conserve the rich heritage of the river. Although the façade of the old shophouses was retained, the lightermen, and the pre-existing socio-economic life generally, were removed from the river, creating a very different commercial area.Part 1 | https://youtu.be/UBEsiwawVl4 Part 2 | https://youtu.be/FYFXGWMU1AE Part 3 |

en

00:53:16

Marc Rerceretnam – Early Roman Catholics & Peranakans...

Chronicles of Old Singapore ·

2026/02/08

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Historian Marc Rerceretnam relates how he uncovered an unknown history of intermarriages in colonial Singapore in the 19th and early 20th centuries. These took place among the Roman Catholics, who were made up of diverse subgroups of Peranakans, Teochews and Eurasians who had converted to the religion. Many of them had revolted against the powerful kongsi (clan/brotherhood) system in the 19th century. Part 1 | https://youtu.be/ssEaCj88qnk Part 2 |

en

00:33:03

Jamidah Subardy – Kampongs of Old Pasir Panjang Part...

Chronicles of Old Singapore ·

2026/02/03

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Jamidah Surbardy grew up at 26 Jalan Pasir Ria in the heart of the kampongs of Pasir Panjang. She recounts the carefree lives of the residents and children and the schools she attended (Labrador Primary and Pasir Panjang Secondary). Pasir Panjang is better known as a major battleground during the Japanese invasion but less remembered for its numerous villages after the war.Part 1 | https://youtu.be/NP0XnXGpKkg Part 2 | https://youtu.be/Ji58cC_bu1M00:00

en

00:53:45

Soh Weelian – A Boy from Kampong Potong Pasir Part 1...

Chronicles of Old Singapore ·

2026/02/01

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Soh Weelian spent five short years in Kampong Potong Pasir as a young boy in the 1970s but this was enough to etch rural life in his mind. He talks about his parents and their wooden house with an attap roof by a drain near the Kallang River and the Woodleigh Waterworks, before they were resettled in a HDB flat in Ang Mo Kio New Town.Part 1 | https://youtu.be/Ds6fcU4k_BI Part 2 | https://youtu.be/mAfSUvwSj2c00:00 Introduction02:03 My Family in Potong

en

01:00:50

Kan Seng Chut – Engineering Apprentice & Sailing the...

Chronicles of Old Singapore ·

2026/01/29

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. After making Chief Engineer, Kan Seng Chut decided to come ashore to work in ‘land jobs’. He reflects on the revolution brought about by container shipping, which benefited Singapore’s global trade. At the same time, it was a mistake, he feels, for his one-time employer, the pioneer shipping line Neptune Orient Lines, to sell off its container ships. Kan himself part-owned three container vessels when he went into the marine business, though this was affected

en

00:49:23

Abdul Rahman – Back to Kampong Chantek Bahru Part 2 |...

Chronicles of Old Singapore ·

2026/01/27

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Abdul Rahman is in a happy place today but still has deep feelings for a kampong that no longer exists. He introduces us to both the pioneers and youngsters of Kampong Chantek Bahru and his initial culture shock when his family moved into a HDB flat in Marsiling. Part 1 | https://youtu.be/i8eGnJVH91w Part 2 | https://youtu.be/VFtCT3ZiUg800:00 Pioneers of the Kampong09:15 The Youngsters13:51 The British Pullout18:00 My Parents27:06 Football28:38 Moving out to

en

00:43:03

Stephen Dobbs – The Singapore River & the Lightermen...

Chronicles of Old Singapore ·

2026/01/25

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Historian Stephen Dobbs observed that it was the little boats called lighters (twakows in Hokkien) which made the Singapore River’s trade possible. The remarkable men who worked onboard the lighters were able to move heavy cargo while expertly balanced on the boats. Stephen relates the labour and political issues which led to a major strike in 1961, changing the bonds between the owners and workers in the lighterage industry.*The strike was in 1961 and not

en

276 results

Similar Podcasts

Today In History with The Retrospectors

The Retrospectors

pplpod

pplpod

The Old Front Line

Paul Reed

This Day in Disney History

ATIS Products

Blues Moments in Time...

The Blues Hotel Collective