1960s – HDB was set up, Bukit Ho Swee fire, Singapore becomes independent, race riots ...
OLD PLASTIC CARRIERS
"My aunt of 83-years-old just passed away. She loved working with her hands, and made numerous hand-crafted bags, pouches, beaded work, and a variety of arts and craft.
She left behind unused lengths of unique fabrics and prints she had bought from shops, back when textiles shops were mushrooming in the 1960s, and flourishing in the heyday of Singapore's textile trade in the 1970s to 1980s.
The textiles came in plastic bags, bearing addresses of old textile shops in Singapore back then. The addresses themselves give us a glimpse into Singapore's textile history, and subsequent rise and expansion, in entrepot trade."
- Aileen Tan
BOY SCOUTS MAGAZINE
"In 1965, half a century ago, the Raffles Institution Boy Scouts 2101 published a magazine. They were looking for someone to assist them in the preparation. I assisted them. In those days there wasn’t any computer. I used the good old typewriter to prepare the whole magazine on stencils, which were then used to cyclostyle the pages of the magazine. It was a laborious process. Errors had to be corrected by applying correcting fluid on the stencil.
In a short half century, the whole printing method had changed. When the photo-copying machine was introduced, the time taken to prepare printed magazines was drastically improved."
- Tan Peng Ann, 67
SCHOOL MAGAZINE
"This is a school magazine that came out in 1965 to commemorate my school, the Methodist Girls' School in Ipoh. My photo is inside so that is why I didn't throw it out. I was in that school from 1946 to 1955.
The magazine shows the former principals of the school as well as the teachers. It is hard to remember the names of the people. I also kept it because it has my class photo and I still remember the names of the girls in my class."
- Wong Hup Kheng, 80
BABY TOP
"This was my son's cotton baby top in the 1960s. It is made in England. Below, he would wear a baby nappy.
My son doesn't know I have kept it."
– Wong Hup Kheng, 80
BABY NAPPY
"This Muslin cloth baby nappy is from Johnson's. You have to keep folding it into triangle shapes, and a big safety pin holds the cloth in place. This was used before Pampers and it absorbs the urine and soil.
On wet days, you can use 40 pieces of nappies. It can be washed, dried and then re-used. This was used by my son who is now 40 over years! I don't know why I kept it; I guess it is for memories. You can't find any more now as they are disposable.
During those days, we didn't bring babies out for long hours and there was always people at home. My daughters were using them even in the early 1960s."
– Wong Hup Kheng, 80
CHINESE READING BOOK
"This is my Chinese reading book used in school in 1965. When the teacher explained, we had to quickly write down the meaning as it could be on the exam. One word (with a few Chinese characters) can have a lot of meanings so if four words, there would be lots of explanations (see faint notes on the pages)."
- Goh Siew Geok, 66
HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS
"During our school holidays in 1966, we had to read famous Chinese books and then do the assignments. I always got 'A's; very few students got 'A's. My friends always wrote few words only. I would write a full page as well as at the back of the page. The size of the paper is longer than an A4.
I did it with my heart so when I got an 'A', I was very proud and so I kept those assignments. I have the whole year's worth of assignments.
I kept practising my handwriting. At the time, we used an ink pen."
– Goh Siew Geok, 66
JUNGLE WARFARE SCHOOL COURSE NOTES "In 1969, I was a young newly-minted Second Lieutenant posted to the Singapore Armed Forces Training Institute (SAFTI). One day, the director of the Institute, the late Colonel Wee Soon Whatt, summoned for me and told me that I was to attend the Jungle Warfare Course conducted at Ulu Tiram, Kota Tinggi, Johor, Malaysia. It was a school run by the British Far East Land Forces (FARELF). The course was from July 7 to 18, 1969. I enjoyed the course with course mates from the British Military Forces then stationed in Singapore and Hong Kong.
I kept the notes for the following reasons:
1) The course that I attended was I think the second last course that admitted Singaporean officers.
2) The notes were cyclostyled notes done with the typewriter, not like nice printed notes today.
3) It was a course I attended with foreign students.
4) It can be left as a legacy and if the future military museum wants it." - Tan Peng Ann, 66
RESTRICTED PASSPORT
"Many of us may not be aware that about 50 years ago there was a need to have a restricted passport for entry into West Malaysia. This practice was terminated in the mid-1980s. The fee was S$5 at the initial years and was raised to S$7.50.
Travelling to West Malaysia then, to Malacca, Kuala Lumpur and Penang were luxuries. There was no North-South highway, and travelling by the old trunk road and trying to overtake the slow timber trucks was hazardous."
– Tan Peng Ann, 67
GLASS CUP
"This was 1978 when I was a member of the 3rd Singapore Division (this is a military division of the Singapore Armed Forces). They made it only that one year and I decided to keep it. I have six of them with me still. These were actually made for souvenirs for visitors who came to the division then."
- Tan Peng Ann, 67
SONGBOOK
"I have had this songbook since the 1960 and I bring it along with me wherever I go to play the ukulele. In the book, there are two very special songs, which traces back to me winning the Geylang English School PTA Talentime competition in December 1960. My Primary 6 A form teacher who was also my Scout Master back then was Mr Cheong Cheng Swee. He knew I loved to sing however, I couldn't play an instrument. He requested me to take part in the end of year School Talentime – he would accompany me on the guitar while I sang. I was very gung-ho at the time and said ok.
He chose two songs for me to sing – 'Ramona' in the qualifying round and 'Melodie D'Amour' for the finals. This was the first time I had taken part in such a contest as a 12-year-old kid. I won the first prize. Both songs are in my songbook.
When I taught myself the ukulele in 1963, I also included my hand-drawn chord diagrams in the book. I slowly built up different songs in the book – songs I like as well as songs I think people like. I have songs from the 1960s like 'Sixteen Candles', 'Pretend', 'Look for a Star', 'Bimbombay', 'River of No Return' and 'Outsider' to name a few. I would also draw the chord chart for a particular song as a way to learn. If you learn hard, you remember as you put in so much effort.
Over the years I have also added songs from the '70s and '80s, pictures of my ukulele journey, songs from movies as well as songs from ASEAN including from Vietnam, Thailand and Philippines. I have at least 400+ songs and there is a contents page for easy reference as I separate the songs according to their genres."
– Dick Yip, 67
BEADED HANDBAGS
"These hand-beaded handbags are from the 1960s. People used fishing line thread to string the beads of different sizes together. It usually takes a long time to do one. Once it is beaded, it gets sent to people to sew the cloth inside as well as the zip.
My mother's bags [which were like these] were thrown out and I sadly didn't keep them. When one of my students was clearing her things and she asked if I wanted them, I said yes."
– Goh Siew Geok, 66
NATIONAL SERVICE MEDALLION
"This medallion was presented to me in 1968 as a recognition for being the first batch of civil servants being called up for National Service. I kept this to show my grandchildren when they grow up."
- Tan Peng Ann, 66
UNIVERSITY POSTCARDS
"I studied at Nanyang University for half a year in 1967 and bought these postcards. The school is no longer around and is replaced by the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore." – Goh Siew Geok, 66
ART POSTCARDS
"I have a big box of postcards. Long time ago, we didn't have colour printers and if you like art or art works, you would keep these postcards. These postcards are from 1965. They were printed and given by bookshops when customers bought books." – Goh Siew Geok, 66
RADIO "I was cooking and my son (early teens at the time) came back and held a radio and said it is an antique radio and he wanted to keep it. The radio was actually thrown away." – Lim Guat Khim, 65
LETTERS
** These letters include Samat's father, Sulaiman Yusop being employed as a mador at the Reform Fruits Limited (dated 1940) (top most), Samat being selected for enlistment as a volunteer into the Singapore Military Forces (dated 1963), Samat joining the Singapore Volunteer Corps (dated 1963) and his letter of promotion at the Telecommunications, Singapore (dated 1964).
“I am a self-proclaimed historian. Each letter holds memories of events that happened in my life, including my father's life. I keep them so I can show them to my children or grandchildren and tell them about the stories and experiences I have had.”
– Samat Sulaiman, 76
BOOKLET
"This was the first National Service Handbook with was issued in 1967, which is given to all the recruits. It details what the responsibilities as an NS man, privileges, etc. I felt I should keep it.
- Tan Peng Ann, 67
BABY COT BLANKET
"My husband's mother who was Peranakan made this baby cot blanket and matching bed sheet. She gave it to me when my son was born in the 1960s. It is made out of cotton and oblong in shape.
She took a lot of trouble to do them and they are a labour of love. I keep these for sentimental reasons."
- Wong Hup Kheng, 80
TUMMY COVERS
"My mother gave me these in the early 1960s for my first child. This would go on the tummy of a baby to keep it warm so the baby won't get sick and catch a cold. Each piece is different and it was handmade by my mother. The string on top is to tie it around the neck. There is a lining behind it.
They were to be used during my child's first year but I never used them as I felt they would be too hot [to have on]. However, I kept them as I really appreciated my mother's love in making them. It was at a time a very traditional gift."
– Wong Hup Kheng, 80
PAINTINGS OF ANCESTORS
"My grandfather got a studio called Yak Yong Art Studio located at 76 Upper Nankin St to draw these pictures of his ancestors in 1963. The top two pictures represent a husband and wife of the 28th generation of Engs, while the two bottom ones are a husband and wife from the 27th generation. I represent the 33rd generation.
Did my grandfather have a picture of his ancestors or the studio looked at my grandfather and then made a guess on what they looked like? Why did they have head gears on and was it because they were officials at the time? These questions I have yet to find out."
– Jeffrey Eng, 54
TAPE RECORDER
"My father had money so he bought a tape recorder in the 1960s. Today, tapes are smaller in size.
I used it to record the music of stage performances and opera that was on Redifussion (radio channel). Tapes were very expensive so I would re-record on the tapes."
- Goh Siew Geok, 66
BLOOD DONATION CERTIFICATE
"In 1967, while in confinement in camp during a Basic Military Course, we were asked to donate our blood in exchange for a half-day off. This was an enriching experience, and since then, I have donated about 15 times before I was instructed to cease because of my health."
- Tan Peng Ann, 66
GREETING SEALS
"SATA greeting seals of 1962, 1963 and 1965 are shown here. These seals are bought as donations to support the efforts of SATA (Singapore Anti Tuberculosis Association). The organisation's role has since changed with the improvement of healthcare.
On the cover of the seal booklets that are in denominations of $2, $3, $5 is this message: "Singapore Anti Tuberculosis Association
Please use these Greeting Seals on your Hari Raya, Chinese New Year, Deepavali and Christmas Cards. Use them, too, to decorate your letters, postcards and parcels locally or when you send them abroad.”"