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Uncle Velu, our Bedok Kampong Village Barber

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A little less than two years ago, we shared a story about our go to barber along Bedok Road - Hair, There and Everywhere - a hilarious account of how impossibly difficult I was as a young boy whenever it was time for a haircut. Back and forth I went between our Bedok kampong house and the little shop, never quite cooperating. Today, we are deeply grateful to have reconnected with the lovely family who once lived in that humble house cum barber shop at 34 Bedok Road, right by the bus stop - the very spot where Eastwood Centre now stands. M.S. Velu was part of a group of Indian merchants who arrived from Java in the 1930s, seeking a better life in Singapore. Here, he found his life partner, settled into the family home at 34 Bedok Road, and with his skillful hands set up a barber shop that served Bedok kampong, Jalan Greja, and the surrounding neighbourhoods. For many years he worked alone, occasionally receiving help during festive seasons, but he remained the preferred barber for coun...
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Racial Harmony Day 2026 - 21st July

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Some records describe Kampong   Bedok   Laut as a settlement for fishermen and farmers. Yet when our family arrived in the mid ‑ 1950s - and through its life until the early   1990s - the kampong was already a living tapestry of multiculturalism. Having called it home for twenty years, we still recall our neighbours vividly: Kak   Min and her family at Rumah   Bombay; Chew   Nian and Sa   Kor across the lane; the Ho’s and Soh’s nearby. Mdm   Salmah, her large family, and other residents along Jalan   Greja shaped the kampong’s architecture with their daily rhythms. M.   S.   Velu, our village barber, worked beside Ah   Yam of Swee   Aun   Provision   Shop - each eking out a livelihood with steadfast dignity, quiet industry and honest labour. We remember too our friends Adrian   Boudville , Mark   Roch, and their families, and Daniel   Koh. Aimida Haq and the households at Padang   Terbakar who brought colour to our neighbourhood. Adding to this mosaic were Jackie Munro, Ann Froud our R...
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Our Last Kampongs in Singapore - a remembrance on stamps and postcards

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How wonderful it felt when SingPost recently launched their new stamp and postcard issue, Our Last Kampongs - and our follower and friend, Dr   Ernest   Chew, gifted us a full postcard set, “inspired by our posts,” he told us. According to SingPost, these postcards “capture the distinct spirits of Kampong Lorong Buangkok and Pulau   Ubin ’ s Kampong   Sungei   Durian through a charmingly quirky lens. Each design offers a whimsical glimpse into a vanishing way of life, illustrating the tightly huddled zinc‑roofed houses and the sun‑drenched, nature‑reclaimed dwellings. Through these artistic windows, the postcards rekindle the warmth and simplicity of our shared heritage, serving as a nostalgic bridge that transports us to a gentler era beautifully preserved in every tiny, intricate detail.” And inspired by these beautifully illustrated postcards, we tried our hand at an AI-re-interpretion of the August 1955 photo of our Bedok kampong house in a similar illustrative style – and h...
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Bedok Boys' School Recollections

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Mention Bedok Boys’ School and Daniel Koh’s eyes immediately brighten - as though those primary school years from 1960 to 1965 were waiting just beneath the surface. “I remember my time there like it was only yesterday,” he said, his voice lifting with unmistakable excitement. Each day, Daniel walked from his home at Padang Terbakar (later Siak Kuan Road), passing by our Bedok kampong house on his way to school - and again on the walk home. He recalls the flag‑raising assemblies vividly: “We sang God Save the Queen from 1960 to 1963, then Negara Ku from 1963 to 1965, before Majulah Singapura finally came into being.” National milestones, yet also quiet transition markers of his own childhood. Among the boys, it was considered a small badge of honour to be chosen to buy food from the tuckshop for teachers - a task that spared them the long walk from the staff room. And then there was the strict principal, Miss Annie Tan. Daniel remembers her clearly, though not quite fondly, desc...
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Bedok Kampong Hawker Memories That Bind Us

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When it comes to memories of hawker food sold around our Bedok Corner, these flavours transcend time - bringing us together across generations. Our former neighbours Ron   Ho and his siblings can still taste those culinary delights of the 1960’s even now. “Under the tree at the corner across from Bedok Rest House, there were five famous hawkers,” Ron recalls. “Top of mind was Aman, who sold rojak, tahu goreng, jaganan and some Malay kueh. Then there was Yusof with his mee rebus, the daging soup version. And another mee rebus seller, Ahmad, offered a dried prawn soup version. There was also a very popular sarabat stall selling all sorts of hot drinks - coffee, tea, milo - kosong, with sugar, condensed milk, or ginger (alia). Not forgetting their mamak triangular curry puffs, bread, and sugee cookies. And finally, that Chinese man with his push ‑ wheel stall of cut fruits and buah lai chwee, starting his sales promptly at 5pm every day. ” The Hos also reminded us of Bachik, who sol...
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Remembering the Matriarch of our Bedok kampong house

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11 July 2026, we honour the birthday of our paternal grandmother - the quiet pillar of our Bedok kampong house. Had time allowed her to stay, she would be 129 this year; instead, her story closed gently in December 1969 at the age of 73. In this 1960 photograph, she sits at the veranda in full Nyonya kebaya splendour, as befitting her age, gathered with the ladies of the family around the household table covered with a hand ‑ knitted white lace tablecloth she had woven herself - the very same table that still rests in our mother ’ s home today. The moment is tender and ceremonial: it is 2nd October 1960, the day her eldest and only son - our father - was to be married to our mother. They were awaiting the bridal couple's arrival to the house. Her niece stands beside her, while across the table sit our mother’s auntie and our Tua Ee, mom’s oldest sister, dressed in soft lilac. In this quiet tableau, you can almost feel a new family linkage taking shape - two households, two lin...
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Tribute to Maria Menado: A Star Who Once Lit Our Bedok Kampong

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Maria Menado - Malaysia’s beloved actress, screen siren, and icon of the golden era of Malay cinema - passed away recently in Kuala Lumpur on 30 April 2026, at the age of 94. For many across the region, her name evokes the glamour of the 1950s and early 1960s. For our family, her presence was something far more intimate: she was a figure who was once a part of the daily rhythms of our Bedok kampong. In those years, the ladies in our household were enthralled by her celebrity. They would stand at the veranda, or pause in the garden, hoping to catch a glimpse of her whenever word spread that she might be arriving. And indeed, she often did - to stay at the holiday home of Sultan Abu Bakar of Pahang, whom she married in 1963 before retiring from the film world. We were told that whenever she was in residence, music and song would float from that house, carried across the old Sungei Bedok tributary like a soft announcement that the star had returned. That house stood diagonally acros...
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