Bedok Beach 1968 and the Halls

In February 1968, the Hall family arrived in Singapore when Michael’s father - serving with the RAF - was posted here. Michael still remembers the stark contrast between the cold, grey skies they left behind in the UK and the sunny, amazing Singapore that greeted them when they arrived.

October that year saw them move from their Serangoon Gardens home over to Bedok Road, near Simpang Bedok. Evenings were often spent at the hawker stalls at Bedok Corner. Thirteen-year-old Michael recalls, “I remember the pressure lamps hissing away,” he says - a sound and glow that defined the hawker nights of that era.

But what he remembers most fondly is Bedok Beach. “My youngest sister thought it was great jumping around the sand and seeing those washed up sea cucumbers!” he laughs. At low tide, the shoreline came alive - sea creatures emerging with the ebb, the sand rippling with movement, the beach revealing its hidden world.

Thankfully, Michael’s father had the presence of mind to capture a photograph of the beach in October 1968 - a rare and precious view of Bedok’s coastline before reclamation reshaped it forever.

Thank you, Sir, for preserving that moment. And thank you, Michael Hall, for sharing this intimate memory of your family’s time in Singapore - and for allowing us to share this remarkable photograph with our community.