Singapore
31st December 1977 to 4th January 1978
Twenty of us, all living in Dhahran and Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia at that time decided that we would spend Christmas and New Year in South East and East Asia. We arranged a trip through the Al-Gosaibi Travel Agency, although we did not realise, we were in fact part of a total group of 90, until we arrived in Bahrain on the first leg of our journey. Our trip took in three cities – Bangkok, Hong Kong and Singapore – between 23rd December 1977 and 4th January 1978. This article is an amalgam of the recollections of the author, and some of the travellers who penned their own thoughts at the time. Although we were all part of the same group the chaotic travel arrangements surrounding our trip ensured that at times we split into different groups and parties, such that we saw different things or things differently.
31 December 1977 to 4 January 1978
Destination Singapore
Hotel: Summit Hotel
21 Mount Elizabeth
Singapore 228516
In 1867, Singapore came under the direct control of Britain as part of the Straits Settlements and then became a separate British Crown colony in 1945. It was granted self-governance in 1959, before coming part of the Federation of Malaysia in 1963. Differences led to Singapore leaving the Federation in 1965 and it became the Republic of Singapore.
It has been in the grip of the People’s Action Party (PAP) since self-governance in 1959 and those who believe in a pragmatic policy of free-market principles, civil nationalism, and welfarism. Despite restrictions on civil liberties, political stability and rapid economic growth have seen the development of Singapore as a vibrant city-state. Lee Kuan Yew’s rule, the co-founder of PAP and Singapore’s first prime minister was accused as authoritarian by the West, and as a sort of guided democracy by scholars. The emphasis on rapid economic growth was beginning to show with new buildings and developments on the land shore and islands, and today Singapore is quite different from what we saw in the late 70s.
Our hotel was one of those benefitting from this rapid growth. It had opened in August 1971, having been completed within a year and a half by contractors who built one floor a day using the revolutionary “slipform” method. It was the first all-suite hotel to open in Singapore, although despite our travel agent’s past performance we weren’t allocated any! A big hotel with 400+ rooms, and well situated in the centre of Singapore.
Saturday, December 31st
Afternoon/Evening
Arriving late on New Year’s Eve didn’t deter us, and in any case, we were unable to eat at the hotel - booked for NY parties - so we were out as soon as we had checked in. Our destination, Bugis Street.
The authorities re-zoned the area in the 90’s and Bugis Street, along with Malay Street, Hylam Street, and Malabar Street became Bugis Junction. It was alleged that the authorities cleared Bugis Street because it offered something different from what they were trying to promote in Singapore - Lee Kuan Yew’s benevolent dictatorship.
Sunday, January 1st, 1978
Day: Singapore City Tour
Our day tour took in Chinatown, Arab Town and Little India including the Sri-Mariamman Hindu Temple, prominent Government buildings, the Singapore River, Mount Faber, Tiger Balm Gardens, Botanic Gardens and Jade House. Pretty full on.
Singapore City had originally been planned by the former colonial powers under the Jackson or Raffles Town Plan. It had sought to divide the town into administrative and commercial subdivisions, and then further segregated into four ethnic functional areas, although these were not always strictly enforced with mosques, and Hindu temples built within the Chinese zone and Muslim shrines and Chinese temples located next door to each other. It was intended that European Town would consist of residents who were European traders, Eurasians and wealthy Asians on the north side; an area south of the Singapore River was designated the Chinese Kampong as it was the biggest concentration and the Indian area, Chuliah Kampong, was originally located further up the river next to the Chinese area although the present day Little India is north of the river. Kampong Glam, the Malay-Muslim area was designated for Muslims, ethnic Malays and Arabs who had migrated to Singapore, and situated north of the river, and then further divided for the Bugis, the Arabs and an area for the Sultan.
On our tour, it was still possible to see the distinction in the districts from some of the street names or places of worship: Arab Town for e.g. was centred around Haji Lane, Arab Street, Baghdad Street and Bussorah Street; while Little India had both Hindu temples and mosques including Angullia Mosque, Sri Vadapathira Kaliamman Temple, Jalan Mosque, and the Central Sikh Gurdwara. Raffles’ original concept of a "five-foot way" was still evident from the continuous covered passages on either side of the street, sheltering the original shophouses and customers from the heat. Some temples like the Sri Mariamman Temple lay within Chinatown.
Our journey took in Arab Town, Little India and a number of landmark buildings around Raffles, including former colonial buildings, long since repurposed or gazetted as national monuments, such as the Supreme Court, Parliament, City Hall, Fort Channing Park, the Cricket ground, the Victoria Memorial Hall and the Old Post Office on Collyer Quai and the Merlion statue, the official mascot of the state, a mythical creature with the head of a lion and the body of a fish at the mouth of the Singapore River in Merlion Park. Then we swung through China Town and Mount Faber on the way to the Tiger Balm Gardens, opened in 1937, one of three public gardens built by the Aw family to promote the Tiger Balm products produced by the family, the other two locations being Hong Kong and Fujian, China. And on our way back to the hotel we popped into the Botanic Gardens which had been founded at its present site in 1859 by the Agri-Horticultural Society. It had played a pivotal role in perfecting the technique of rubber extraction and the subsequent boom rubber trade when at its height in the 1920s, the Malayan peninsula cornered half of the global latex production. Singapore was such a clean city, a real contrast to the hustle and bustle of both Bangkok and Hong Kong, a testimony to the authoritarian and benevolent rule of Lee Kuan Yew and his People’s Action Party in their development of Singapore as a high-income city-state.
Evening: Our itinerary had scheduled a dinner-dance show at the Neptune Theatre. It wasn’t really my scene, so four of us went looking for a bit more fun. A taxi driver told us that he knew this nightclub we could go to. So, we got in the taxi. The journey seemed interminable and the neighbourhood more residential than a fun central area. I think we were getting a bit anxious when we arrived - somewhere? I can’t remember where it was and how we got back - but perhaps we had asked the driver to stick around. We went into this Club, a rather expansive description for a corridor lined with lots of girls. We got to the end of the corridor, turned around, and left pretty promptly back to town. Where we went, I can’t recall.
Monday, January 2nd
Morning: Southern Islands cruise
Our schedule for our second day was a 3-hour cruise to the Southern Islands on a Chinese junk. I am not sure we all felt like doing it, and some didn’t and others looked pretty green on board. We were bussed down to Clifford Pier at Collyer Quai. It was the original landing point for immigrants and other sea passengers, and then later used as a terminal for tourists and day trippers heading for the Southern Islands. The pier which had opened in 1933, ceased operations in 2006 and the whole area has been redeveloped as Marina Bay. The historical buildings of Clifford Pier, the former Customs Harbour Branch building and the former Post Office have been incorporated into the new development and the street pedestrianised.
The Southern Islands is a collection of islands and islets, once home to native Malay islanders. Part of our trip was to a Malay fishing village on Pulau Semakau. These villages were self-contained communities, with families subsisting on fishing, growing vegetables, and keeping animals like cats and goats. In 1976 the authorities had decided that the islands on the western side - in particular Kusu Island, Lazarus Island, Pulau Seringat, Pulau Tekukor, Saint John's Island, Sentosa and the two Sisters' Islands - should be developed, but we were lucky that not much had been developed when we took our cruise.
Afternoon: Chinatown
A more detailed ride around Chinatown had been arranged, with two of us assigned a Trishaw each. After a frenzy of buying very cheap pirated cassette tapes, we headed off to the Long Bar at Raffles for Happy Hour. It had become famous for its Singapore Sling, created in 1915 to allow women to drink alcohol in public. Raffles Hotel had been established by the Sarkies Brothers in 1887 and named after Sir Stamford Raffles, the founder of modern Singapore. The brothers had formed the Eastern & Oriental Hotel Group in Penang, Malaya, and Raffles and a hotel in Yangon (Rangoon) were also part of the group. The Raffles in Singapore has undergone subsequent refurbishments in 1989 and 2019, and different ownerships over the years, and is now part of the Accor brand. It was declared a National Monument in 1987.
Evening: After going back to the hotel, we decided that we should try some street food at one of the Hawker centres. These had been built and governed by the authorities to provide a more sanitary alternative to mobile hawker carts and contained stalls that sold different varieties of affordable meals with dedicated tables and chairs. They were considered to be a venue for the less affluent and had a reputation for unhygienic food, partly due to strays and pests, and the lack of running water and facilities for cleaning.
The one we found in Chinatown was a car park during the day, but by dusk it was cleared of all vehicles, stalls erected for all types of food, and tables and chairs set up. We chose our food from the sizzling woks, paid for it and waited for it to be brought. It was scrumptious and atmospheric.
Unfortunately, hawker centres are gradually being replaced by indoor food courts, located in shopping malls and other commercial venues, but the quality of food is improving. By 2016 two food stalls had been awarded Michelin stars, with more in 2019 and in 2020 UNESCO recognised hawker centres on its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity as "‘community dining rooms’ where people from diverse backgrounds gather and share the experience of dining over breakfast, lunch and dinner.”
We finished off the evening with an hour or so having a drink or two on Bugis Street.
Tuesday, January 3rd
Morning: Jurong Bird Park was originally a 35-acre Aviary on the western slope of Jurong Hill which had opened in 1971, later expanding to 49 acres. It was famous not only for the specimens of magnificent bird life from around the world, including a large flock of flamingos, but also the then world’s tallest artificial waterfall at 98ft contained in the Waterfall Aviary. We crossed the Aviary’s suspended bridge to watch the many different birds and get a fantastic view of the thick wild vegetation in the Park. It became the world's largest bird park with 5,000 birds, and the second largest for 400 bird species, 24% of these threatened species. In 2023 the Bird Park was moved to Bird Paradise at Mandai.
Afternoon: Cable-car ride and Sentosa Island tour
After lunch, we took a cable car ride to Sentosa Island. This was the largest of the Southern Island chain and as I mentioned earlier, in 1976 the authorities had decided that the Southern Islands on the western side should be developed, although plans for Sentosa itself had been drawn up much earlier in the early 70s, tying in with even earlier plans for a cable car which has been first mooted in 1968 as part of the authorities masterplan for tourism projects. In 1972 the go-ahead had been given, and the Mount Faber Cable Car opened in 1974. It was the second aerial ropeway system in the world to span a harbour, and also the second to span a sea. It opened with 43 cabins, increasing to 51 in 1976; these required cabin attendants to manually open and close the doors. The number of cabins was increased to 51 in 1976.
Sentosa Island was originally called Pulau Blakang Mati which in Malay means the "Island of Death Behind". Various accounts are given as to its original name, but the most resonant was that "dead back island" arose either because of the lack of fertile soil on the hills or because of an area of dead water created behind it because of the lack of wind. Take your pick.
It had formerly been used as a British military base, a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp and a Singapore naval base. It was the site of “Fortress Singapore” during WWII. and had been decommissioned. The island was renamed "Sentosa" in Sept 1970, meaning peace and tranquillity from a suggestion by the public, and plans announced in 1971 to develop Sentosa. A military museum had been opened in 1974, displaying its history and various naval guns, as well as other British and Japanese coastal guns from different parts of Singapore. To be honest I am not sure what we saw but the main attraction in 1977 was Fort Siloso, which then had a reconstruction of the British surrender, although it had actually taken place at the former Ford Factory in Bukit Timah.
A monorail system was built in 1982 and a causeway bridge in 1992. Sentosa today is a very successful resort island.
Evening: Malaysian night
That evening, we all went to a Malaysian Evening at Raffles. The package was a buffet of typical Malay dishes followed by displays of music and dance from a Malay troupe. After dinner, we went off to the hotel disco to have one last dance or two before our departure the next day.
Anecdotes: Sandy reminded me that her sharpest memory was " Carole ‘defending’" Robert in Bugis Street with her handbag". Carole couldn’t remember defending him but did remember a group of thuggish-looking young local men wanting to get to know some of the girls a bit better, as she says, “after all it was 1977 and we wuz all young and bootiful!” Apparently, they looked menacing and Robert decided that they should all leave quickly. Robert didn’t need any assistance as he towered over those guys.
Wednesday, January 4th
We had to check out at 11pm, although our SQ33 flight didn’t depart for Bahrain until 1830. I think by this time I was so exhausted that I probably just walked around the shopping malls near the hotel, just to kill time before the bus came. We had done the sights and scenes, and it was time to go home.
It was an 8 ½hr flight but with the 5hr time difference we were due to arrive at 22.00. Surprise surprise the flight was once again delayed, not leaving until 10 in the evening. It stopped at Bangkok for an hour and then back on the plane eventually arriving in Bahrain around 1 in the morning. Our flight to Dhahran was around 6am.
We had to personally check our baggage onto the plane to Dhahran. It had been heaped onto the tarmac. Lucky for us Find Your Luggage was successful for all of us and we eventually were back on Saudi soil, through customs very quickly and eagerly waiting the Thursday / Friday weekend to get some rest before going back to work.
A great trip.
The travellers :
Judy Enright, John Hough, Margaret Renwick, John McNally, Damian Mitchell, Edda Brunetti, Graham Vizor, Sandy Birkett, Robert Huisman, Yvonne Miles, Ray Woods, Susan Sharman, Brian Miles, Chris Makin, Graham Edgson, Martin Rawlings, Richard Thom, Carole Johnson, Nasr Husseini, and Tricia Ryan. Many airport waits.
Images:
Richard Thom
About the Author
Richard Thom worked in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia between 1976 and 1980 for Aramco’s Internal Audit and Contract Cost Compliance departments, and then in Tokyo, Japan between 1980 and 1983 for Dodwell, a member of the Inchcape Group of companies. During this time, he took a number of trips and has written these articles about them:
Letter from India and Sri Lanka 1976
Letter from India and Nepal 1978
Letter from India and Sikkim 1982
Jimmy Abdul McGregor, and other Stories: Tales from the Yemen
Dhahran to London 1978, a journey in 10 parts
Other articles for AramcoExpats include a review of Not the May Ball 3 in September 2022; a 10-part serialization of the unofficial history of the Dhahran Rugby Union Football Club,
And a look back on life after Aramco “Dance in the Desert”,
Richard has also published Dance into Business A how-to guide for dance students, teachers and professionals wishing to start up a dance studio or go freelance. It is based on his experience as Finance Director for the Royal Academy of Dance where he worked between 1985 – 2015. It contains helpful tips, practical examples, and points to consider whether just starting out or already in business.
It is available from Amazon websites as a printed book, or an e-book priced locally.
