Our Bedok Kampong House Singapore

Quiet rowing in the sea off Bedok beach, early 1968 – taken from the reclaimed land just outside Bedok (army) Camp 2 and near Bedok corner. See the many kelongs in the distance! Thanks again to Jackie Munro for this. Perfect photo for a restful weekend for all followers! 

Our late father cut out this 1995 report of a Chinese-language book “Who’s Who In The Chinese Community” launched at that time by Acting Environment Minister Mr Teo Chee Hean - because he believed his father was mentioned within its pages. We have now been able, with the great assistance from the National Library Board staff, to procure a page that mentions our grandfather, Mr Tan Piah Eng, one of the 1,175 listed Chinese community leaders in Singapore then. With the aid of DeepSeek AI, and thanks to our cousin’s husband, we were able to have page 418 which mentions him, highlighting his contributions during World War I (1914 to 1918) translated and transposed into a tribute for him, on the 71 st anniversary of his death on 27 February 1955.  Tan Piah Eng and his legacy During the challenging years of the First World War which started in 1914, Tan Piah Eng, who was 36 years of age then, played a vital yet often unseen role in supporting the community through one of the most di...

This writer, the older of the boys am grateful to have caught up with Michael Hall and his wife when they visited Singapore last few weeks. Michael and I have been in contact since mid 2024, from his home in Devon, UK. Michael and his family stayed at Bedok (along Bedok Road nearer to Simpang Bedok, opposite Bedok Walk) in the late 1960’s when his RAF dad was posted here, and very familiar with Singapore! He just turned 13 (extreme right) when this photo was taken by his dad at Bedok beach (see left side fencing belonging to the holiday home of the Sultan of Pahang). And here we are posing by Sungei Bedok (now a concrete canal) when we visited Bedok corner just last week! Thank you, Michael, for all the support you have given our blog and Facebook page! Oct/Nov 1968 when Michael (extreme right) just turned 13, 58 years ago Inset box: posing by Sungei Bedok (Bedok River), Feb 2026

Early February 1968 and it was the Chinese New Year celebrations then. Taking this photo from her home at Sa-chan-lau, Mrs Jackie Munro witnessed this breathtaking Dragon and Lion Dance ceremony and performance at the beach at Bedok Corner! Our live-in cousin, just 16 then also told us she was present at this event which also had fire crackers! See the Bedok camp fast taking shape on the right of the photo. Thank you for sharing this wonderful and extremely rare photo Jackie!

The Year of the Fiery Horse this Chinese New Year occurs every 60 years with the last one being in 1966, when we were at our Bedok kampong house! With a family portrait, taken 60 years ago in 1966, we would like to wish you a blessed year this 2026 amplified with the Horse’s inherent qualities of strength, dynamism and momentum. Gong Xi Fa Cai! Selamat Taon Baru! Happy Chinese New Year! 1966, colourisation of original black & white studio portrait with reddish tones to invoke the blessings of the Lunar New Year! The original studio portrait of 1966

February 15th each year is Total Defence Day (the day of Singapore's surrender to the Japanese in World War 2). As it is our collective responsibility to defend our nation and strengthen our resolve to keep Singapore safe and sovereign, we wish to give tribute to and honour two men from within our family who were our war heroes then, and they come from both our grandmother’s sisters’ side of the family. The first hero (see photo taken circa 1939 - 1940) Sng Gim Soon , is our grandmother’s youngest sister’s husband. Armed with only this photo, and with the help of AI, we managed to get some possible information about him as follows: He joined the Air Raid Precautions (A.R.P.) organization shortly after its expansion in 1939 and he was part of the backbone of Singapore’s early civil defence efforts among the first wave of A.R.P. volunteers, preparing Singapore for the possibility of air raids. This studio portrait was taken around 1939 or 1940. He could have served as a Warden, whi...