THE BASE SOCCER 'NUTS' The Straits Times 23 April 1978 by Bernard Pereria who lived in Block 23 Madras Road . Soccer to the local kids living in Singapore’s former British Naval Base at Sembawang was not just a sport to be played on proper marked out pitches. The kids living in the uninhabited world of their own used to spend hours on end in the open spaces that offered an ideal sanctuary to their sporting needs. Boots were alien to them nor did they have any formal training by competent coaches . Observes, national soccer and hockey star Bernard Norbert, ‘The warm and friendly “Peyton Place” like atmosphere and the landscape where everyone knows everyone also contributes to our success. From the Naval Base came the great veteran Vivian Roberts and the famed Quah brothers Kim Tuan, Kim Beng, Kim Choon, Kim Swee, Kim Saik, Kim Lye, Kim Song who ruled soccer for nearly three decades since 1948. Patrons of sports The British knew that sports was a social event int...
By Victor S.G. Pragasam Edited by Cynthia Anne Victor Pragasam As someone who grew up in “Naval Base”, I share similar sentiments and fond memories with many of you who, like me, were former residents of the Old Sembawang township. In candid conversations with taxi drivers, I take pride in saying that I was from the old Sembawang area. There is a sense of identity and belonging that I would say is deeply embedded in my soul. Etched to this feeling are bountiful memories that I have had as a child, a son, a student, a friend, a neighbour, a colleague and as a member of the wonderful Sembawang community. The way we communicated with residents and even the shopkeepers were as if we were closely knitted. Nowadays, it is very different as I hardly know anyone. But whenever I bump into someone from my past, a loud cheerful roar and a joyful exchange often follows. A year ago, I had a pleasant reunion with Chan Peew Wan, whom you may know as the Co-admin of Block2Blog. We lost contact w...
What I Miss About Naval Base The “village vibrancy”! The sounds and sense of our Base which was our whole world then. From the time your neighbours get up and prepare to go to work...be it at the dockyard, home or school, the radios that would be switched on early morning would be left on the whole day, everyone listening to Chinese, Malay, Tamil, English, Hindi and Malayalam songs...in the mornings the sounds of your neighbours bathing, mothers shouting out to children to wake up...the routines of the housewives and children after fathers left for work. Then would come the lull after the hustle and bustle for a couple of hours after lunch, when tired mums would be taking their siestas and the not so tired little ones sitting on the steps “networking” which were the cause of differences amongst the neighbours! Then would come the buzz again when afternoon tea, dinners and breakfasts (for the following morning), would be prepared till the siren wen...
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