Our Bedok Kampong House Singapore

This pebble-strewn pathway linking the back of our Bedok kampong house to the garden in front is memorable not just because the pebbles seem to be varying in colours (not so obvious in this colourised black and white 1964 photo) – each morning we would find dozens of giant garden snails or siput all over this part of the garden and not sure why till this day. For young children like us, it was pretty scary when the snail tentacles were actively moving! And our uncle, dad’s cousin, who lives with us would take his dependable penyapu lidi (traditional broom) and metal puntau (made from diagonally cut cooking oil cans) and clear them all. Hey even in those days we practiced sustainability!

Interestingly, when we did our housekeeping of our late father’s belongings, we found among the many photos not just those of his and of his own family’s but also photos that he kept that once belonged to his father and older sister that were given by friends. Especially wedding portrait photos. We are indeed blessed to see one from each decade before the 60’s or precisely 1934, 1940 and 1952. Observing the wedding gowns and suits of the bride and groom in themselves was a marvel! We do not personally know these couples and would be glad to connect with anyone who know them as your relatives or ancestors. But so glad we found them! Several of these are already on their way to be archived by the National Library Board Singapore to whom we are grateful.

Every once in a while, the family would make a trip to visit our maternal second aunt and her family at Jalan Khairuddin at Opera Estate, Singapore. What was interesting about that house was the music selection our cousin enjoyed, and played while we were there. While we (already 12 and 10 years old at this time) had been exposed to music that our father played at our Bedok kampong house with his LPs (33 1/3 rpm) and EPs (45rpm) vinyls, we heard different kinds of songs from her. Bread, America, Sergio Mendes, Carole King – unfamiliar sounds to us at that time.  But on this day in 1973 it was to celebrate our cousin’s 21 st birthday. To us boys it was a loud party! She and her friends were dancing in the living hall which had its main light turned off with some psychedelic lights to create the atmosphere. No rock’n’roll by now and we distinctly heard them play “I Feel The Earth Move” (1971) by Carole King and “Smoke On The Water” (1972) by Deep Purple! But after the party was over...

Going to Peninsular Malaya (not yet Malaysia then) in the 1950’s for a short holiday has always been a favoured option for many of us, and for our father and relatives it was no exception. And because he already has a car, his trusty Morris Minor, and despite the smaller roads, more complicated network and lack of highways as there are today, it was an adventure he would always cherish and talk frequently about. To ensure he gets to his destination was this 1956 Road Directory he purchased and kept all these years. We can tell from his road trips in 1957 and 1958 that he used it well!

On a recent walk to view the former Sungei Bedok, we noticed how much time has changed things. See this 1959 of our aunts enjoying the evening on the bridge (connecting Bedok Laut with Padang Terbakar and Koh Sek Lim estate..and then trying to get the same angle as that photo, is the same river (now canal)

‘Excavated’ from the family home a few months ago, this  Nestlé  Baby Weight Card, tracking the older of us, this writer until he was about 8 months old (March 1962)…  nice to juxtapose the information against an actual studio (some censorship!) photo of me at that same age.. interesting to note the printer was Tien Wah Press (which was just a few years in operation then) March 1962

Recently while doing housekeeping at our mother’s house, we found this precious large print 1940 photo of our late father's cousin, one of the “Four Beauties” mentioned in an earlier post. This was her wedding day, and she was dressed splendidly in traditional peranakan wedding attire. Sadly the marriage did not last long as she became a widow soon after (no information of the cause of the groom’s death). His will dictated that she was to remain unmarried for an extended period of years before his inheritance to her can materialise. She never remarried, had no children with him and with the eventually realised inheritance purchased two houses, side by side – lived in one (with her younger sis and niece) and rented out the other as her regular source of income. We always enjoyed her company and every year at Chinese New Year, father always made sure he brought the family to visit her (she was about a decade his senior, we call her Ko Ko) and is the 10-year old boy on the left in the...

Our late father had always been fascinated by the James Bond franchise, from the first movie in 1962. Even when we grew up into teenagers he would still make it a point to bring the family to watch the newest release at places like Shaw Lido. So as a family we watched as different actors took over the lead character and until we moved out of our Bedok kampong house in 1974 when ‘The Man With The Golden Gun’ premiered. So keen was he that when we went to Phuket for a holiday in 1987, he made sure we all went with him to James Bond Island (Phang Nga Bay, an entire day’s journey) to view the filming location of that movie! We are glad that up to the last few months of his life journey with us, he was able to watch the newest Bond#25 ‘No Time To Die’ on Prime Video streaming. Now that same fascination has also rubbed onto us. But ask him who his favourite Bond is and the reply will always be Sean Connery.

9 Jan 1955. Barely 2 months after moving into our Bedok kampong house from Kg Soopoo in Kallang, the second generation-ers, ie our father, aunts, relatives and boyfriends (now our uncles) enjoy a sunny day out on the beach outside the house, posing by the felled coconut tree trunks lined along the beachfront. This location was pretty near the Bedok Rest House, we believe, just outside the ‘Sa Chien Lau’ 3-storey building.

Today, 8 Nov 2025 our late paternal aunt’s husband Ah-Tio celebrates his 97 th  birthday! 97 and what an amazing uncle to us. Among the men in our Bedok kampong home he was truly a leader, establishing himself as a manager at Bata shoes for both the Singapore and Malaysia markets. As a result of his work commitments, we find him based out at Klang, Selangor but coming back often to stay the weekend with us. He was always a good companion to our dad on their Malaya holidays together. We hear our paternal aunt managed to get our strict grandfather to approve of their relationship – however they only tied the knot in 1958, 3 years after our grandfather passed away in 1955.. Our Ah-Tio is a good-natured, generous man with a pleasant disposition who puts everyone who meets him at ease. He also had a quiet strength in him, that even after his beloved wife left him in April 2023, lives on in how he takes each day as it comes – knowing one day they will meet again. Blessed 97 th birthday ...

Our very own “ 四美 ” or ‘Simei’ in romanised Chinese (Four Beauties). The four sisters here, children of our grandmother’s eldest sister were cousins to our dad and paternal aunts and visited us often as we did them (there is a fifth sibling, a brother whose deaf mute son came to stay permanently with us). The oldest among them would come even more often, cutting the nails of our grandmother, her aunt. Here they are in 1965 posing together and also with our larger families at the front of our Bedok kampong house with our dad's borrowed camera on self timer. Notice their various dressing styles? 1965 1965

We are pleased to share this 1944 Japanese Occupation certificate of education our late father kept. Direct translation of the Japanese from right to left, top to bottom: This is a graduation certificate ( 修了證書 ) issued by 子普通公學校 (likely a primary school) to a student named Tan Kim Suan ( タン キム スワン ). Key Details: Nationality: 支那 (an old term for China, not commonly used today). Age: 13 years old. Graduation Date: 昭和十九年三月四日 (March 4, 1944, in the Showa era). Issuing Authority: 昭南特別市 (Shōnan Tokubetsu-shi), which was the Japanese name for Singapore during the Japanese occupation in World War II. Official Seal: The red stamp at the bottom indicates authenticity. Interpretation: This certificate confirms that Tan Kim Suan (our late father) completed the seventh-year curriculum at this school in Japanese-occupied Singapore ( 昭南特別市 ) during WWII. It reflects the educational system under Japanese rule at that time. He once told us he wanted to keep this to remind him never ...

Growing up as kids and living in the kampong does give rise to beliefs in spirits and ‘momoks’ (like our dad once warned us never to cut our nails in the house at night or risk being visited by a ‘momok’). The other thing that is just brought to mind is how sometimes we wake up in the morning and see mysterious blue-black bruises on our arms or legs like pinch marks. Our elders would always say that we got ‘cubit’ (pinched in Malay, pronounced 'chew bit') by a ‘momok’! With our Bedok kampong house surrounded by nearby banana trees, dark undergrowth and the nearby huge old kapok tree, we never argued about it! Does anyone have any similar experiences as we did?

He would have turned 95 this week, but left us 2 years ago. Looking back at his old photos, one can see vibrancy and vibes, so we’d like to share one photo of our father in 1958 while on holiday in Malacca, Malaya.  He was just 28 then.. Happy heavenly birthday Dad!

Our Bedok kampong house indeed had many treasures, especially when our late father felt the need to keep the documents and belongings of his father and elder sister after they both passed on. Even after we moved from the kampong to our HDB flat, he still kept them. Since his death in 2023, we made the conscious effort to go through these documents to see if they still hold any historical or social impact values.  To our delight, the National Library Board (NLB) accepted more than 70 items including letters, receipts, documents, photos and books. Recently we attended the NLB Donor's Appreciation Night, graced by Minister Mrs Josephine Teo. 3 sets of his collection were on display. All these 2024 donations are available for viewing and research at the main library's reference section in Victoria Street. We know that our dad would be so proud, given his expressed wish to have these donated but somehow unable to do so in his lifetime.  Among the artefacts on display was a 1942 Jap...

12 October 1960. Our parents were in the midst of their honeymoon in Peninsular Malaysia when they got the shocking news. Beloved Mama Blakang had died within a week of being ill (she caught pneumonia then was felled by a heart attack) and she had attended their wedding 10 days earlier! She was just 53 years of age. Mama Blakang occupied a room in the lower section ‘at the back of the kampong house’ thus her moniker. Yes, she was one of our grandfather’s wives but got along so well with our grandma they lived and did things together even prior to moving to Bedok. Our father showed her a lot of respect referring to her as his step-mother. Abandoning his car in Kuala Lumpur, both returned home by train for the funeral the next day. Mama B was buried at the Hock San Teng Cemetery at the Somapah area (with that area later being developed into the Simei housing estate, her grave was exhumed in 1979 and she is now interred at Yishun Columbarium since). Mama Blakang or Mdm Oh, her real name...

1967 with us boys (one six, the other four plus) posing for our dad after a nice swim at Bedok Beach. Our kampong house is a few minutes’ walk away but this photo is telling as behind us boys, one can see the reclamation projects in full swing. The beach front where Upper East Coast Road is is gone and soon our own place in the sea and sun would be consumed by the frenetic pace of progress and development. Originally in black and white, this version is colourised