Our Bedok Kampong House Singapore

Bedok Rest House, probably the most famous landmark at Bedok corner and most familiar to so many of us. It frequently served as a reference point when we needed to let people know where to meet or to point out where we used to stay (yes just after this building, the 3 Storey Sa-chan-lau (or 2B Bedok Road), then Kak Min’s residence at 4E (the Indian Muslim family), and then us at 10J. Our family went back in October 1992 (we moved out of the kampong in October 1974) to have dinner there and celebrate our late father’s then 62 nd birthday before it closed in end 1992. And in March 1993 on a trip back to Singapore to trace her former residence at 2B, Mrs Jackie Munro and family visited her neighbour next door – before it was demolished completely. Thanks for this memorable photo, Mrs Munro - for a memory keepsake. It was funny to see this huge sign here! Celebrating our father's 62nd birthday then with the family, a few months before they closed for good

Thanks again to Mrs Jackie Munro, who took this early 1968 photo from her home at 2B Bedok Road (the 3-storey building or sa-chan-lau), we are now able to have a glimpse of our Bedok Kampong then with the Masjid Bedok Laut in the centre. On the right the metal railings that served as the moat bridge led up to the Sultan of Pahang’s holiday home, and on the left a tiny glimpse of our neighbour Kak Min’s house at 4E with a small attap structure within her compound. Our own house at 10J is on the left but out of range and not seen here. Also out of range but to the right are the police quarters, after the Sultan’s home (or Istana) The kampong gravel road you see here winds gently (from Bedok corner on its left, towards the Sungei Bedok bridge on its right) between the houses and coconut trees, dry and dusty when it was sunny but turning orangey when it rained with its shallow ruts filled with rainwater and the road sides turning into small torrential streams of water flowing through the...

Our mother reminded us recently that the current bus 10 plies the exact portion of the route taken by the old Katong-Bedok bus when it travelled past Simpang Bedok, down Bedok Road, and on to Upper East Coast and East Coast Road, passing Katong before going on to its final destinations. And the bus number for that same route in those days was also 10! This circa 1956 photo shows such a bus coming from the Bedok corner depot – a British AEC Regal III with its bus body most likely built by Hock Lee Coachbuilders, circa 1953-1956. And well into the early 70's we did take this same bus 10 from the bus stop (same location as Cold Storage now) to our school at St Patrick's and back again...

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...

While most of us would throw and dispose off those Chinese New Year greeting cards mailed to us of long ago, somehow our late father did not. And now we are so blessed to be able to take a trip back to yesteryears to see some of these cards. Sent by relatives and friends from both here and Malaya, here are cards from the 1950’s to share with you all. Most of them here are made more like mini-postcards and printed only on one side. This card is undated (envelope missing) but we can circa it in the mid 1950's. It has multiple sides with cover and back as well, unlike the above cards which are more mini-postcard like. The lady in the front is an anonymous model. This card was recently colourised beautifully by AI. Circa 1955. It was common in those days to use generic models' faces on cards.

Located just behind/next to (depending on one’s orientation) the Bedok Rest House at our Bedok Laut kampong where the Bedok corner was, was a concrete three-storey house us fellow kampong folk called ‘Sa-chan-lau’ (3 storey building in Hokkien 三 层楼 ). Sa-chan-lau, listed as 2B Bedok Road was just next to our Indian neighbours at 4E. We walked by this place each time we left our house to go onto or return home via the main Bedok Road, and it seemed a place of mystery to us until now. Many thanks to our recent interactions with new friend and former neighbour Mrs Jackie Munro who lived in this house, we have a story to tell about this building. She and her Royal Air Force (RAF) husband moved into one of the 8 flats inside this house (believed to be owned by a Chew family) in October 1967 as newlyweds. There were 3 flats on the ground floor, 2 on the first floor (or 2 nd storey, where they lived) and 2 on the top floor or 3 rd storey (we used the British term ‘floor’ until 1983 when w...

In those days kelongs (a wooden structure in the sea a distance from shore, with wooden poles or stilts used to construct a funnel-like structure to guide the fish into the net in the centre of the kelong to be caught, then sold by the fish farmer). They were a common sight all over the Singapore coastline and for us living near the Bedok beach, it was a daily sight to behold. While we do not have a photo depicting one where we lived, here is one taken in 1959 off Katong Park at Meyer Road where our mother, her sister and her cousin posed for the camera when they made the trip there. See the kelong in the distance.. 1959 photo colourised from original black and white

This photo of a quiet stretch of sun-soaked shoreline along Upper East Coast Road going towards Bedok corner where we lived (where the Bedok army camps are now) sees those gentle waves rolling in to shore, meeting the coconut trees swaying in rhythm and tandem with them - in a scene that invokes from within a stillness, settling our busy thoughts and racing heartbeats, giving one absolutely peace of mind, bringing us back to those lovely days gone by. Based on some investigation and AI research on Copilot the photo could have been taken between 1955 and 1962 because by 1963 the coastline would have begun to disappear due to land reclamation works. Also the red car helped in the identification and was likely a Hillman Minx Series III (1951–1956), a British car. Thanks to Mr Yeo Hong Eng for sharing this photo with us.

Like many children in the 60’s we too owned the old Chung Khiaw Bank bronze animal coin banks. It was a great way for our parents to start inculcating into us the habit of saving money. Our animals were the Frog and the Rhinoceros. We also had another smaller plastic coin box of a boy holding a large piggy bank. Just twist off the head and the coins (it is only for the smaller coins) can be retrieved. And like quite a few other grown-up, grown-old kids now, the Frog and the Rhino are still with us in our current respective homes! Juxtaposing our 1969 photo in to lend context to this post. The boy bank was taken off the internet, the background bank photo was also taken off the internet and adjusted with AI

Our cousin, just 8 years old then told us this interesting story. In December 1958 when our paternal aunt got married, she happened to be the first one in the family to do so but at that time our father, the oldest sibling was still unmarried. There is a Chinese tradition to be followed when such a situation happens. Our mama (grandmother) instructed that the bride and groom walk under the older brother's trousers, literarily. The purpose of this ritual was to show respect to the elder brother.  We checked that the Chinese word for "trousers" sounds like the word for "wealth," so the item is also associated with bringing prosperity. The trousers are typically hung across the main door of the family home and the bride and groom had to walk underneath as they enter the house. In our case it was a pair of pyjamas our paternal aunt and Ah Tio walked under as they entered our Bedok kampong house! Our mother told us it wasn’t a brand-new pair! While we don’t have phot...

This writer, the older of the boys was in Jakarta, Indonesia a few years ago, when he was in his early 60's. One evening back at my suburban hotel, I heard a familiar sound ringing out into the neighbourhood and it instantly brought me back to our childhood days living at our kampong house in Bedok, giving me a sense of familiarity and comfort – the sound of the call to prayers from the nearby Masjid Bedok Laut mosque. This mosque was close by within a very short walk from our house. I was informed by my Muslim friend that the calls to prayers are now only broadcasted aloud from the Sultan Mosque at North Bridge Road and not elsewhere but still audibly available via radio broadcasting five times a day. Thanks to this precious photo of the mosque (probably taken in the early 80’s after we moved out) and being able to share this by permission of the National Archives of Singapore, we are indeed grateful. Approval to reproduce was given by the NLB/National Archives upon submission req...

A fitting way to start the new year is to honour new beginnings when a man and woman come together in holy matrimony. Here is a tribute to the beautiful wedding studio photographs from the late 50’s, 60’s and early 70’s celebrating the union of 18 of our relatives - from both maternal and paternal sides of the family - our parents, aunts, uncles, cousins. Several are no longer with us, but the love and commitment on display is everlasting and lasts for all time, and the remaining partner carries on emboldened by the love of their marriage that strongly endures still to this very day. Enjoy this gallery of 18 couples celebrating their blissful day captured in time, originally in black and white, and now brought to life in colour

Just sharing this memory of one of our house treasures with you. This was the first known vocal LP (33 1/3 rpm) that our father owned. He bought it not long after its release in 1956 and our mother just loved “I’m In The Mood For Love” as she sang it. We kept this LP with us until now.. In case you are interested, the back sleeve copy reads: Arthur Godfrey has an eye and ear for unusual talent, and his latest discovery—Miyoshi Umeki—is probably the most bewitching “bird of paradox” he has ever presented on TV. Visually, the tiny Oriental nightingale possesses the fragile beauty and delicate grace of a Japanese print, while vocally, she displays all the modern technique and polished phrasing of a really hep Occidental canary. Godfrey first introduced Miyoshi to American audiences on his CBS-TV show “Talent Scouts” at the beginning of 1956. The doll-like performer—attired in a quaint kimona—astonished both the famous red-head and his audience by singing a sultry version of “How Dee...

Not long after we moved out of our Bedok kampong house to the Marine Terrace HDB flats in October 1974, we passed by ‘Jodhi Book Store’ at Block 58 and saw a familiar face inside. How nice to have met this vendor once again then. Oh yes, he reminded us he came from Bedok kampong like us and had a mama stand along the wall of the terrace shophouses where the smaller road turns into our kampong from the Bedok corner turn-around. How nice to see his business expand like this. Oh yes, we loved to visit him back at Bedok (everyone had to walk by on route to their house) and amidst the usual sales of sweets, snacks, drinks and the usual offerings, he also sells and rents books, magazines etc – and we bought this second-hand Disneyland magazine there.. We read lately of the closure of this bookstore in 2019 after operating for 42 years.. but then it was time for him to retire and enjoy life! Thank you for those memories indeed Sir…  this colourised photo (by Copilot) indicating where the ...

This is a 28-year table top calendar that began for the year 1948, (and ended in 1975) most likely belonging to our grandfather which found its way onto the display cabinets at our Bedok kampong house but somehow still kept till today with us. It was a year-end corporate gift from the “Holland-Indonesia Shipping Agency”, non-existent today. We took some time to remove the grime from over 77 years, got it polished somewhat and now sharing it with you! The month on display is set to November 1954, the month the family moved into that old house of ours. Imagine the pairs of eyes gazing on its dial all those years ago to check the dates… Polished somewhat, and set to November 1954, the year the family moved into the house How it was, after 77+ years

It’s the start of the new school year! And in 1957, that was what our paternal cousin did when she enrolled into Primary 1 at Bedok Girls’ School along Bedok Road (opposite Jalan Nipah) and walked there daily from our house. She was the first child to move into our Bedok kampong house in 1954 at age 4 (we boys only came later when our father got married in 1960). Alas, the school is no more and the land it sat on is currently occupied by Bedok South Secondary School. According to the MOE Heritage Centre ( https://moehc.moe.edu.sg/school-histories/bedok-girls-sch/ ) the school was established in 1952. In 1986, Bedok Girls’ School merged with Bedok Primary School and Bedok Boys’ School to form the new Bedok Primary School. In 1998, Bedok Primary School was closed, and its remaining students were transferred to Bedok View Primary School. In 2002, Bedok View Primary School merged with Bedok South Primary School to form Bedok Green Primary School. But thanks to her, who kept her old re...