Singapore in the 1960s

This blog has been offline for about 5 years but there's been a lot of interest in the recent history of Singapore lately, with many Facebook groups springing up, and I thought it would be a good idea to restore it.

My family lived in Singapore and Malaya between 1965 and 1968. We lived at Johore Bahru across the causeway from Singapore and my father was a Chief Petty Officer working at KD Malaya within the Naval Base. This blog is mainly about our lives at that time as well as the lives of the thousands of other children who were also stationed there at the same time. I've written four books about my experiences including Sampans, Banyans and Rambutans, Memories of Singapore and Malaya, More Memories of Singapore and Malaya and Monsoon Memories. All are available from Amazon and other bookstores.

I hope to continue this blog with new stories and photos but, meanwhile, I've posted many pictures on the Facebook group, On A Little Street in Singapore. Please check it out.

Below is my original blog post, first posted in 2009:

Many people reading this blog will have read my books, 'Sampans, Banyans and Rambutans' and 'Memories of Singapore and Malaya' which feature tales from my childhood in Singapore and Malaya in the 1960s. I hope to continue writing similar stories here and hopefully, this will include other people's memories and photos from the same time also. I have been working on a new book called, 'More Memories of Singapore and Malaya' which will hopefully be available before December 2009.

Living in Singapore and Malaya was an idyllic experience especially for a child. The whole area has changed so much now. I haven't been back since 1990 but noticed a lot of change even back then. I hope to return one day and visit all our old haunts including Penang, where we stayed at the Sandycroft Leave Centre. I hope people who lived in Singapore and Malaya at the same time as me will find this blog interesting and I hope to add to it as much as possible. If you have any stories or photos from that time, please feel free to email them to me.

Jalan Wijaya and Google Earth

Firstly, sorry for not blogging for a long time but I've been busy writing books, many of which can be found at : http://www.amazon.co.uk/Derek-Tait/e/B0034NQ5E0
I love Google Earth but when I've tried to look at our old house at 103 Jalan Wijaya, Century Gardens (Taman Abad), Johore Bahru, all I've been able to see is an aerial shot and it's been hard to make anything out.
However, it seems that Google Earth has recently introduced street view and it's been amazing to not only see our old house (it looks so small now) but also to travel along the streets and see how the area has changed over the years. It's certainly a lot more built up with houses and tall rise buildings in the distance. The jungle of the 1960s has long since gone but it's still easy to recognise many of the places I visited as a boy. Across the road is Mr

Lee's house (he'll be long gone now) and travelling along the road takes me to the shops where we got our groceries and where there was an insurance man with a pet monkey. Jalan Dato Sulaiman (where the shops were) was once a quiet road but is now very busy and built up. At the bottom, was 'Flip Flop Hill' where the bus would brake down and everyone would jump out (or off the sides) and give it a push. It was called Flip Flop Hill by the

British residents because it ran by the old rubber factory. The factory and Flip Flop Hill are now also long gone and it's hard to tell where it was nowadays.

I don't suppose I'll ever travel all the way to Singapore and Malaya again so, I suppose, Google Earth is the next best thing!

Christmas at Robinsons

Here's a lovely photo that was kindly sent to me by Helga Ford showing her younger daughter at Robinsons in Singapore in the early 1960s. I'm sure we all remember visiting Santa when we were kids. I particularly remember the ones at the Naval Base and the parties and the presents we got. My present was a wonky camera that fell apart when I got home. Seems such a long time ago now.

(Sorry, photo temporarily mislaid but here's another showing Robinsons at Christmas).