Our Bedok Kampong House Singapore

In 1970, So we were just 9 and 7, our dad and paternal uncle brought us both to the Capitol theatre to watch the film (we called them filem then) “Taste The Blood of Dracula”. At that time, the horror genre was increasingly popular until actors like Christopher Lee owned the Count Dracula ‘franchise’ in as many as 10 movies which he starred in. We don’t know what made these men bring us boys for such an experience. When the curtains drew lavishly to either side of the screen, all we remembered was a scene when the ghastly blood-filled red eyes of Dracula filled the entire cinemascope screen. We had nightmares for months after that. It did not help that our Bedok kampong house was scarcely street lit at night and surrounded by banana trees, and a renowned haunted kapok tree nearby.. shudder

One of our mother’s favourite memories, she tells us was to once-in-a-while visit the corner coffee shop at the side of this row of shop houses to get her Wantan Mee fixes! (This is a noodle dish of Cantonese origin and still very popular today). This coffee shop was just a few minutes walk from our Bedok kampong house. She would usually get them packed for her to bring home to eat and in those days of the late 60’s and early 70’s, it was indeed a treat!

Some of the plants and trees that grew in our Bedok kampong house garden provided a lifelong memory for us. Harking back more than 50 years ago, besides the iconic Belimbing tree in the middle of our house courtyard and the flowering Bunga Santan and Japanese rose plants, we recall a Custard Apple tree that gave us fruit from time to time. In the early 70’s our paternal aunt and uncle would plant tapiocas and when ripen, they would remove the roots and our aunt would steam the tapioca for a delightful afternoon tea, dipped with sugar. The guava tree we had was memorable in a unique way in that it hardly bore any fruit in all the years we had lived there! 1969 - Us standing just in front of the tapioca plants 1970 - The Belimbing tree at the house Custard Apples

After our father passed on in mid 2023, we took over his stamp and coin collection he amassed over the years, even from before the time he moved into our kampong house. Led by his older sister, who likely worked as a clerk in a European company, she managed to get postage stamps from all over the world with some really old ones with the oldest stamp from 1872 (Sweden). Over the past 6 months we managed to slowly organise these stamps, which were all in boxes and envelopes written by her own hand and not previously displayed in their albums. Her death at age 28 in 1952 did not deter our father who continued his love of stamps until his old age, all the more determined to finish what she started. Now completed, this gathering of legacy and heritage is a loving tribute to both of them.

Music was always wafting through our Bedok kampong house and right about the time the older of us began his days at kindergarten in 1967 a new singer began conquering the Singapore radio airwaves with his love ballads, as well as hearts of the womenfolk like our mother – the British singer ‘King of Romance’ Engelbert Humperdinck. We boys did not know at that time that he was named after the German composer but the name was long and complicated to spell for us! Songs like ‘Release Me’, ‘The Last Waltz’ and ‘Les Bicyclettes de Belsize’ was swoon worthy indeed and easy to listen to and enjoy. Even our mother’s youngest uncle was collecting Engelbert’s LP vinyls and when we visited him in his Geylang kampong house, he would always oblige us to play his latest songs (we remember 1968’s ‘Pretty Ribbon’). Amazingly Engelbert continues to sing (and be active on social media too) and this year at 89 years of age, will be back in Singapore for a concert in November 2025. This post is to celebrat...

75 years ago on 9 August 1950, our grandparents took a lovely holiday to Penang, onboard a Malayan Airways Douglas DC-3 flight. They boarded the plane at the former Kallang Airfield/Airport with family members from our pre-Bedok address at Kampong Soopoo seeing them off. We had previously shared some of the photos from the album but here is the complete album that included boarding and take-off, photographed by our then 20-year-old father. We also included screenshots from the National University of Singapore’s site: https://nusgis.org/historical-maps-of-singapore/ showing the 1945 and 1953 maps illustrating just where this airport, which closed in 1955, was. 9 August 1950 - just before boarding with the airport terminal building (still standing today) behind them 9 August 1950 - siblings, children and relatives seeing them off. Everyone stayed at either 58 or 60 Kampong Soopoo Boarding the Malayan Airways Douglas DC-3 plane Taxiing along the runway Take off! 1945 map showing Kallang ...

Taking a special moment to give a special SG60 hormat to our nation on this 9 th August 2025 – from all of us families who lived together at our Bedok kampong house in this 1967 photo. We are proud to contribute to the building of Singapore’s social fabric. Majulah Singapura!