Mr Lee promised us a garden city

Tree planting ceremonies were a big deal when I was growing up in the 70s. This initiative was part of our then prime minister Mr Lee Kuan Yew's vision of turning Singapore into a garden city because he felt it was "important that the whole island be clean, green and with everyone owning property".

I remember images of Mr Lee planting trees in some part of Singapore or another. I didn't think much of it then.

But now, I feel so much pride just looking at the big tall trees with their thick foliage and the thriving bird nest ferns sitting snugly on the branches. They are everywhere we turn. They are an everyday sight that many, I would imagine, have taken for granted. But these trees have brought so much joy to our family.

A tree is not just "a tree". It has seen my boys grow up as they walk to school. Its dead branches served as toy swords for my sons to play with. Its roots improved the boys' balance as they walked on the roots, with their arms spread out. Today, the three of us tried to see if we could hold one another's hand around a big tree near our house. We could. I couldn't see the boys' faces although I could hear them giggling away.

Mr Lee has left behind a beautiful legacy. One that I hope can be appreciated for generations to come.

Read the National Park's tribute to Mr Lee here.
The photograph was taken with the Fujifilm Instax Wide 300 camera.

MWAC: Little India and an encounter with the curious Indian man

I had noticed two Indian hearses parked in a public car park during my Saturday morning runs around Farrer Park, and I've always made a mental note to take some pictures "the next time". But the next time almost never happened because of some reason or another until I made what the husband deemed as an impulse purchase--the Fujifilm Instax Wide 300 camera.

But after I showed him my photos, he seemed somewhat mollified and also amused by my encounter with a curious Indian man who allowed me to take a photo of him. He had followed me after I snapped a photo of him, a curious bystander who was watching construction workers load trash onto a truck. I was initially afraid, and I should be as he was rather big size and can you imagine the apprehension of having a man tail you as you walked down the streets!

But I stopped and looked at him, and he stopped, shook his head in a friendly manner, and waved both his hands. Perhaps it was a greeting, a hello, a question. I didn't know what possessed me to point at my camera and make an ok sign to him, indicating that I'd like to snap a photo of him. To my amazement, he stood and posed for me.

We then stood in the street as I showed him how his image slowly appeared on film. When it finally came out, he smiled, I smiled. He shook his head and waved his hands, and we both went our separate ways.

He wasn't local. I don't think he is. Then I saw the SG50 banners further down the road, adorning Little India, and that's when I knew what SG50 means to me.

Indian hearse

Hearse 3508

Golden horse

There are many electronic stores like this touting great mobile phone deals

There he is, my curious friend (left)

My curious friend

A Chinese association in Little India

Mahatma Gandhi Memorial

The foundation stone for the building was laid by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in 1950 during his first official visit to Singapore as Prime Minister of India. The idea to build this memorial was proposed by 20 women during a memorial organised by the Women's Section of the Regional Indian Congress after Gandhi's assassination in 1948.

Hello?

SG50

Antique Row: Relic hunting in Singapore

Entrance to Uncle Cham's shop
(Polaroid Sun 600 LMS with b/w film)

It was love at first sight. Well, at least for me. I was jogging down Turf Club Road on a horribly hot, balmy Saturday morning when I ran down a slope, turned the corner, and stopped in my tracks. I call it the "Antique Row".

I name thee "Antique Row"
(Photo taken with iPhone 5s)

To many, I suppose the items strewn in an haphazardly organized manner look like junk. The things there are old. Really old. Yet these are things that would excite people who love watching "The Pickers" I never admitted it; it's not something you outwardly declare. Say "I love to poke through junk" out loud and people will think you're not right in the head and has hobo tendencies or something.

But yes, I love to look through junk or rather, really old things. I love it when people turn old things to make them look beautiful again.

Uncle Cham feeding his beloved chicken
(Photo taken with iPhone 5s)

Why did the chicken cross the road?

On my first visit, the place looked creepy. Like haunted creepy. I made Terence promise to go back with me. On my second visit, all I brought with me instead was my Polaroid and the Diana F+, and that was when I met Uncle Cham. Actually, what greeted me first when I turned the corner were three chickens running across the road. Only then did I see Uncle Cham.

He was sweeping the driveway and didn't look creepy at all. Feeling like a reporter again, I decided to talk to him and see what else I can find out about the place. A friend of mine only managed to find two online reports of this place, which I can't even locate on Google Maps! Surely a place as unique as this would have a history that is worth sharing?

Owned by the Singapore government

Uncle Cham says the building has been around for as long as he can remember. "It's been here since I was young, and I am already 68 years old," he said with a laugh. He set up his antique business here after rent in the King George's avenue area went up, and he's been here only seven months. I reeled when he told me he rents the first and last units in this row. The landlord is the Singapore government.

"First and last? You mean this entire place is broken up into units?" I asked. It never occurred to me that there could be multiple owners or businesses; it looked so seamless from the outside as the items just flowed from beginning to end. That's when he said that there are 13 units in total, and there are four tenants here--him included. Another tenant also operates an antique business while the other uses it as a store to keep 'junk'.

Under the radar recording studio
(Photo taken with iPhone 5s)

But not everyone here runs an antique business. He pointed to a nondescript door to the left of his shop and said, "That is a recording studio." He later revealed that "those guys" also operates a photography studio. The way he said it gave it a very "under the radar" kind of vibe. Hmm.

An equine past: Storage for horse feed

Uncle Cham is very proud of how he tries to keep things neat and tidy. He's been arranging items around his driveway since he moved here and he promised that I will always see him sweeping his driveway every morning. When I asked him what the building was used for in the past, he said, "It was a place to store horse feed." BUT OF COURSE! It made complete sense.

We're chickens and proud of it
(Polaroid Sun 600 LMS with gold frame edition colour film)

You can read more about the history of horse racing and the Bukit Timah Turf Club, which opened its gates to members of the public in 1960. It's anyone guess how old the building that houses the antiques is. It might have been built in the 1960s or even earlier in the 1940s, when the member- and owner-only turf club was reopened after the Japanese Occupation.

Uncle Cham is also very proud of his chickens. Two roosters and a hen which had just laid an egg in a basket placed on top of a green refrigerator outside his main door. He tells me how the brown rooster is always bullying the other (the white one). I gathered they were a gift but from whom, I didn't quite catch. They are obviously well loved; their feathers are shiny and their comb is proud and red. He says he feeds them every morning, which was why I saw them running across the road earlier. Uncle Cham even demonstrated how he called out to his chickens.

So. Why did the chicken cross the road?

To get to the other side in time for breakfast.

A place with no correct address

Many friends have asked me: Just how do you get to this place?

Inside Uncle Cham's: Clashing beliefs
(Polaroid Sun 600 LMS with gold frame edition colour film)

I was dying to ask Uncle Cham the address to his shop since the building can't be found on the map. He says to tell people that it's 2 Turf Club Road but even then, that's not correct. Number 2 belongs to a school further down the road. "It's actually number 21 but there are no signs!" he exclaimed. So here's what you do:

1. Head towards The Grandstand at 200 Turf Club Road.

2. Travel straight down pass Pasarbella and instead of turning right to the carpark (which will lead you to Giant supermarket as well), you continue straight down the road.

3. When you reach a fork in the road, take the road on the right. There's a sign there that says "One Way Only".

4. You'd find yourself traveling alongside a big field, an area that they call "The Cage", which houses first a paintball centre (Tag Paintball), then a tennis school (Tanglin Academy), followed by a driving range, and finally a cricket field.

5. After the cricket field, keep left and go down a short slope.

6. Turn right at the end of the slope and you'll see Antique Row.

The first driveway on your right will be Uncle Cham's shop.

I only had time to poke around one of Uncle Cham's shop, and I will visit his second unit and talk to the other shop owner further down Antique Row some other day. In the mean time, I hope you'd visit him and have a look around. You never know, you might find a preloved item that you'd fall in love with. Give junk a chance.

More about Antique Row by other writers:

- Junkie's Corner- go forth and explore!

- Off The Beaten Track #1: Turf City Junk Shop

(Thank you Minchua for finding the articles.)

Remnants of a horse drawn carriage
(Polaroid Sun 600 LMS with gold frame edition colour film)

I will single-handedly make you a believer
(Polaroid Sun 600 LMS with gold frame edition colour film)

Will you play with me?
(Polaroid Sun 600 LMS with gold frame edition colour film)

Turning 41 and doing the Tiong Bahru Heritage Trail

While researching on ideas to celebrate Terence's birthday, I stumbled upon an official National Heritage Board (NHB) trail guide on Tiong Bahru, the neighbourhood that he grew up in. I suppose some people would consider walking through our city state's concrete jungle in balmy weather not a very 'happening' thing to do on one's birthday. But he did drag me on a Pulau Ubin cycling trip on my last birthday so I gathered he wouldn't mind. :p

Streamline modern architecture style: Art deco in the tropics
(Photo taken with Polaroid Sun LMS 600 with Impossible b/w film)

It turned out to be a really enjoyable trip, and it's something I would recommend to history buffs and anybody who's interested in Singapore's past. There are more details on the Tiong Bahru Heritage Trail, which comprises 10 markers/spots for you to cover, on the NHB web page. There's even a brochure in PDF that gives you historical insight to the places covered. I won't go into details on the how and where (of the 10 markers) but some highlights that left a big impression on me.

Streamline moderne is a late development of the art deco movement
(Photo taken with Polaroid Sun LMS 600 with Impossible b/w film)

1. The grave of pioneer Tan Tock Seng
I know the grave exists on this hillock facing Outram Road ever since I was a little girl. But I never had a chance to explore the site, which also contains the grave of Tan Tock Seng's daughter-in-law and grandaughter-in-law. I bet this would come as surprise to many; Terence never knew either. One of Singapore's most important philanthropists is buried in the heart of town? Yes! Call me crazy but really, before heading downtown for retail therapy next time, just pop by for a look. It is very accessible and the site is very well maintained. It is not creepy, it is well lit, and the path is clear of vegetation. Just go and think about how life must have been like when men in Singapore had to wear the Manchurian pigtails.

2. Art deco in the tropics
Everyone's familiar and now enthralled about living in these pre-war flats. I've always thought they look vaguely art deco-ish in style and I learnt that indeed they are! The style is streamline modern, a "late development of the art deco movement". Architects of the streamline modern style "abandoned lavish and ostentatious decoration in favour of simple and functional lines that reflected the buildings' connection with the machine age". I don't know anything about architecture but it reminds me of flapper dressers, feathers, bob hair, and red lipstick. :)

This ride would just cost me S$0.20 in the past.
(Photo taken with Polaroid Sun LMS 600 with Impossible b/w film)

3. The old mixed with the new
Tiong Bahru is a mix bag of old things with the new. It appeals to the old soul in the younger generation who coexists with many of the older generation who has been living there for decades.

Cafes like PS Cafe and other chic business establishments are taking over...

...while some remains old school.

Terence recounted tales of himself growing up while I shared memories of growing up in Outram and what I can remember of Tiong Bahru as a little girl. It is a different way of bonding as a couple. :)

Please don't poopoo the idea but do consider doing the Tiong Bahru heritage trail one day. Even if you can't complete all 10 markers, just visit landmarks that you never knew existed. It is part of our history after all.