Join Jon Christian Silva. as he reminisces with Peew, founder of NBFB to mark this year’s 50th Anniversary of British withdrawal.

Sit back and read this throw-back in B2B at : thenavalbase.blogspot.com

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

THE BASE SOCCER 'NUTS'

Image
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...
Read more

My Heart Never Left Naval Base- By C.P Wan -Pt 3

Image
Growing Up.           When I was growing up in the Naval Base, during the '60s,  our parents, like most parents, depended solely on their occupations in the Dockyard to provide a livelihood for their families.             Wages were mostly paid weekly. Our parents like most breadwinners earned sustenance sums, enough to meet our weekly basic household needs such as purchasing inexpensive outfits to clothe our famished bodies; regular, rather than fashionable footwear to protect our feet; and the biggest challenge was laying food on the table for 8 growing children, with growing appetites.                  Hence there was hardly any money left, to save in the kitty. We were lucky if the weekly wages could meet our weekly needs.              Hence, under such circumstance, some mothers were forced to seek work, i...
Read more

Naval Base Never Left Me - Commentary from Keith Morison

  I was a mere boy of 16 (nearly 17) when I first arrived in Singapore . It was my first time of flying anywhere, and on a British Eagle Bristol Britannia (4 propeller) airline which took 26 hours including 2 hours in Istanbul and 2 hours in Bombay (Mumbai now). We landed at Paya Lebar in the early hours of September 15th 1967 and took a RN bus to the Dockyard. I joined HMS Llandaff in the Stores Basin at 4 am in the morning. It's diesel engines were chugging away and I and seven companions from our basic naval training and one more experienced rating walked up the gangway and joined the ship. My memories of those times are vivid because it was such an impressionable age. Naturally, the things that young (or old) Matelot's get up to will not be published here, but I did enjoy the work which was what we in the RN called ' Tropical Routine.' Working from early in the morning until around 1pm and then we were off for the rest of the day. I remember on occasion, wal...
Read more