Block2Blog

  Christmas in Naval Base I was born in 1957 and lived just across Canberra Padang in Block 7 Room 8 Kowloon Road. My first Christmas is probably my most unforgettable and harks back to the Padang and the twin trees soaring into the skies.   During Christmas, these majestic fir tree would come alive with colorful lights. I remember as a child, taking refugee under the tree and gazing at the starry skies.   The colorful lights on the tree drew children outdoors who lighted sparklers and played blind man’s bluff and catching which the night created greater suspense. Children were running helter-skelter, creating much mirth and laughter and I looked forward to this magical season.     Nelson Road leading to Admiralty House was also brightly decorated with colorful lights where we often strolled to soak in the Christmas atmosphere. CHRISTMAS WISH IN HOSPITAL Christmas is also the season of giving, and we knew that Santa would be bearing gifts for children ...

  Amarjit Singh’s mantra “My Father, My Hero ” resonates childhood memories of his late father Mr Maghar Singh (also known as)  Sergeant 23 in the Naval Base Police Force (NPF).   Born in 1902 in a remote village in Punjab, North India and when most teens were brimming with idealism, 19-year-old Maghar. driven by patriotism and devotion of a ‘Singh’ (which means ‘lion’ in Sanskrit), enlisted himself in the Indian Army as a Sepoy in 1921.     After serving for five years, he left the Army in 1926 at age 24 ventured from Calcutta to Malaya where he found work at a towkay's (Chinese businessman) mansion doing odd jobs. Joins Naval Base Police Force While his father was in Malaya, he heard that the NPF was recruiting policemen and in 1931, the 29- year-old Army trained soldier came to Singapore and joined the NPF. As part of the Army's Basic Combat Training (BCT) he was grounded in the core values of a soldier viz Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service...

           "A Firefighter from the former British Naval Base became a full Cabinet Minister in 1959" “Minister Ahmad Ibrahim Dies, 35,” – The Straits Times  breaking news that broke the hearts of thousands of Singaporeans. INCHE AHMAD IBRAHIM, (b. 17 May 1927 – d. 21 August 1962) Minister for Labour, passed away in the Singapore General Hospital on Aug 21, 1962. He was 35 and had been in poor health since 1958.   According to the article, ‘Inche Ahmad underwent a liver operation in 1958 and in 1961 he was flown to London for another operation. Two months, after attending the International Labour Organisation (ILO) conference in Geneva, he returned to London for a check- up. He came back more than a month ago and was admitted to the Singapore General Hospital. On Sunday morning his condition deteriorated and relatives began a round the clock vigil at his bedside. Just before 3pm he solemnly shook hands with his wife, his father Inche Y...

Rail tracks in the former British Naval Dockyard, Singapore I did much research regarding the railways of the Naval Base about twelve years ago, at the National Archives of the UK and the British Library, and produced the attached plans. There were two gauges of railway in the Naval Base: a metre gauge system that linked to the Federated Malay States Railway at Woodlands and a 'standard gauge' system (4ft 8.5 inches) within the Dockyard itself. Studying the track plans I came to the conclusion that the metre gauge system was intended primarily for incoming supplies (including shipments from UK by commercial vessels discharged at the Singapore docks), and the standard gauge system with its wider wagons primarily to move heavy and awkward pieces of equipment between the workshops and ships alongside under refit etc. The system in the Armament and Torpedo Depots were also metre gauge, initially connected to the rest of the system during construction but probably not subsequently....

Review by Abhijit Nag (ex journalist at SPH) PN Balji has the distinction of helping launch two newspapers in Singapore. Starting as the deputy editor of The New Paper, he soon became its editor and, after steering it to success, was the founding editor of Today . Though both are available online only now, they were widely circulated major dailies with large readerships in their day. The catchy, splashy The New Paper could not be more different from the text-heavy Today — proof of Balji’s versatility. Innovative, incisive, a gregarious wordsmith who mixes freely with people and writes insightfully about society, Balji has his fans who catapulted his memoir, The Reluctant Editor, to the top of the bestseller list in Singapore. Now here’s his biography by another media trailblazer: Woon Tai Ho founded the Singapore TV news channel, Channel NewsAsia. An admirer of Balji, he writes engagingly about the newspaper veteran. While Balji in The Reluctant Editor wrote primarily about his ex...

  Precious Memories of My Growing Years in Naval Base The British Influence My experiences, from my time in a colonial Singapore back in the 1960s, are unique, endearing, and unforgettable and may resonate with many of you. I was born in the Solomon Maternal Clinic, situated at Prinsep Street in the Dhoby Ghaut district. I lived my first 15 years in Naval Base, from 1956 to 1971. At that time, the community was fully protected and equipped like a satellite town, thanks to the British rule. I grew up at the Naval Base Hospital Quarters among 11 families. The men of these families helmed the breadwinner role by working in the Hospital, while the womenfolk stayed at home to cook and care for the children. The residents in our community were a mixture of races and religions, which did not matter to us. We carried on as One People, enjoying each other's company. In the 1950s, the hospital was renamed as the Royal Naval Asian Hospital and was located along Canberra Road (as state...