Old Singapore

[HappyJack]

Re: Old Singapore

Bloody hell John, looks like somebody scalped Diana Dors growler mate !

That was supposed to be a poor mans meal Bob, except for fish heads and rice.
But when I asked for Mee hoon wherever we went, be it Malaya, Singapore or even Hong Kong, the waiters
used to stand back in disbelief, because it was in the main, a poor mans meal, and we were Westerners that could afford
much better meals. I loved it, and at one time when I was about 10, I eat 4 plates of it at one sitting.
I even remember the place, it was Pankor island, or what some would know as the ding dings.
A place I promised myself, I will visit again one day.

[bob9739]

Re: Old Singapore

I want to go now, and leave this miserable crap wet , dank, weather. Looks great John !

[peter dearden]

Re: Old Singapore

singapore sure has changed yes a shopping area in bugis street , no bum boats in harbour were raffles statue is new hotels in little india and elsewhere tiger beer is still a good brew , get it in tesco if you want, it is a great place to visit and have a beer in raffles hotel or the famous singapore sling thrw your nutshells on the flooris still done yes a good stopover if you are going to oz.

[HappyJack]

Re: Old Singapore

singapore sure has changed yes a shopping area in bugis street , no bum boats in harbour were raffles statue is new hotels in little india and elsewhere tiger beer is still a good brew , get it in tesco if you want, it is a great place to visit and have a beer in raffles hotel or the famous singapore sling thrw your nutshells on the flooris still done yes a good stopover if you are going to oz.

Is the old China town still there Peter?
It was out of bounds to us / westerners
At the time, but some of us used to creep in.

[trubrit2411]

Re: Old Singapore

Could a bloke move to Singers ?
How old were you when you got out of there John.
I think I would have stayed and just disappeared into the thronging mass.
You already had a foot in the door.
How did you get on with the Malayans ?

[tudor]

Re: Old Singapore

Yes,I think you can Tone - when I win the Lottery,I plan to spend some time there.....with John D of course !! Daren't go otherwise

[HappyJack]

Re: Old Singapore

Could a bloke move to Singers ?
How old were you when you got out of there John.
I think I would have stayed and just disappeared into the thronging mass.
You already had a foot in the door.
How did you get on with the Malayans ?

I was 3.1/2 yrs old when I was first taken there (1951)
If only I knew then etc etc.
The Malayan people were mostly Muslims, but not like other countries around M/E for example.
They were (at that time) considered to be a gentle race.
Of course by the age of 7 I couldn't speak a word of English.
But Malay, Chinese and some Urdu / Indian.
I got on quite well with the local villages / peoples, and remember there was a war going on.
Not that they recognised it as such, as because of the insurances it was called an Emergency, but believe me it was a war.
There was a calculation on an approx total of over 10.000 deaths, but they don't know for sure.
Yes I was also in the thick of it (so to speak).
I have put quite a lot of what went on in my novel, so don't want to spoil it too much.
I found this photo on the internet, but don't know the story behind it, except that when CT's were killed
the heads were taken back to base for identification. Again I saw that happening first hand.

A British Royal Marine holds up two severed heads, both Chinese-Malaysian villagers suspected of Communist sympathies, in the 1948 CI campaign

[HappyJack]

Re: Old Singapore

Yes,I think you can Tone - when I win the Lottery,I plan to spend some time there.....with John D of course !! Daren't go otherwise

You had better not.

[tudor]

Re: Old Singapore

[Mal Reid]

Re: Old Singapore

Rubbery Mal !!

Taff you are sirry iriot if you think I gonna bite !

[Mal Reid]

Re: Old Singapore

I saw him a couple or so times Mal, he used to drive an ordinary car, and used to shop around the harmes (spell) market, a peoples man.
I think that's why he lasted so long, the people loved him.

I believe so John, my dad was stationed at RAF Changi at the start of the 60's.I'm not sure but Lee Qwan Yu may have been prime minister at the time. He used to knock on our door which used to send our Aiya (helper) into raptures. He always arrived by car and sometimes he was accompanied (I guess this guy may have been security cos sometimes he stayed in the car and I remember him in our kitchen a couple of times)It wasn't till years after when I saw a photo of Lee Qwan Yu and asked my dad about him that I attached any significance to my dads golf buddy

[Taff Loxton]

Re: Old Singapore

Taff you are sirry iriot if you think I gonna bite !

Are you still dating Joanna Rumrey ???

[HappyJack]

Re: Old Singapore

I believe so John, my dad was stationed at RAF Changi at the start of the 60's.I'm not sure but Lee Qwan Yu may have been prime minister at the time. He used to knock on our door which used to send our Aiya (helper) into raptures. He always arrived by car and sometimes he was accompanied (I guess this guy may have been security cos sometimes he stayed in the car and I remember him in our kitchen a couple of times)It wasn't till years after when I saw a photo of Lee Qwan Yu and asked my dad about him that I attached any significance to my dads golf buddy

Such a small world innit Mal.
My dad was also stationed in Changi, amongst other places, must have been around 65 - 67 ish. I used to go on RnR from the Saudi tour between 66-67 and he was there then.
Good days... The time when 3 para patrols lost an SLR in a jungle river, and my dad and self went on a jungle patrol with aqualungs.