Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Koh Boon Long discusses the streaming policy in 1980 and its drastic effects on students, teachers and society. He explains why it endured for so long as a ‘sacred cow’, which only began to be questioned in the 2000s. He also considers if the introduction of Subject-Based Banding in 2024 will improve teachers’ work-life balance.

Koh Boon Long is a retired educator, with more than 50 years of experience in teaching, leading and consulting. Beginning as a PE and GP teacher, he then served as a HOD, VP, and Principal at two secondary schools, before becoming the Director of National Education. His formative experience was as a trainee teacher at Jalan Lama Secondary School along Jurong Road. In 1982, he moved to Jurong East, where he still lives today.

YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@ChroniclesOldSG

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Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Koh Boon Long notes that education changed greatly after Singapore became an independent nation in 1965. The teachers then were ‘chalkboard-facing’ while students were more innocent. As a PE teacher, it is important to encourage learning outside the classroom through camps and excursions. In the 1980s, teaching changed again, partly due to developments in Singapore society.

Koh Boon Long is a retired educator, with more than 50 years of experience in teaching, leading and consulting. Beginning as a PE and GP teacher, he then served as a HOD, VP, and Principal at two secondary schools, before becoming the Director of National Education. His formative experience was as a trainee teacher at Jalan Lama Secondary School along Jurong Road. In 1982, he moved to Jurong East, where he still lives today.

YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@ChroniclesOldSG

Spotify | https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/loh-ks

Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/61551786759344/

Patreon | https://www.patreon.com/ChroniclesofOldSingapore

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. James Kwok remembers his mother, Wong Siew Aye, a former member of the People’s Action Party and Barisan Sosialis, one of the original ‘Women in White’.

YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@ChroniclesOldSG

Spotify | https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/loh-ks

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Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. James Kwok had a ringside view of Singapore politics in the ‘50s and ‘60s, as his mother was with the People’s Action Party and later, the Barisan Sosialis. He relates the many memorable and often funny stories that seemed bewildering to a kid.

YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@ChroniclesOldSG

Spotify | https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/loh-ks

Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/61551786759344/

Patreon | https://www.patreon.com/ChroniclesofOldSingapore

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. James Seah and his family lived in a kampong house at 21A Beo Lane before the fateful day on 25 May 1961 when the greatest fire in Singapore history occurred. After the fire, they moved into a 1-room emergency flat in Jalan Bukit Ho Swee, built by the HDB. They had to share toilets with the neighbours, but the threat of fire, at least, was gone.

James started a Facebook group, I grew up in Bukit Ho Swee, which has over 2,800 members today.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/21314871472

His blog: https://blogtoexpress.blogspot.com/

YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@ChroniclesOldSG

Spotify | https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/loh-ks

Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/61551786759344/

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Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Alex Tan Tiong Hee remembers the marketing campaigns of the soft drinks and sings a few jingles. Singapore became increasingly Westernised in the ‘70s and ‘80s, even among the older generation. At the end of the interview, I ask Alex to choose between the competing brands of soft drinks in the past.

Alex is a good friend from our Singapore Heritage Society days. He is a trustee of the Lim Boon Keng Settlement (1921). Blessed with a truly encyclopedic memory, he is a voracious reader of anything history. He is known for his rich stories, passionate talks and long walks into Old Singapore.

YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@ChroniclesOldSG

Spotify | https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/loh-ks

Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/61551786759344/

Patreon | https://www.patreon.com/ChroniclesofOldSingapore

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Alex Tan Tiong Hee talks the cola wars – Coca Cola vs. Pepsi Cola (he is a Coke guy). He recalls the myriad brands of aerated drinks in Singapore (many now defunct) and their bottlers – Green Spot, Red Lion, RC Cola, F&N, Amoy Canning, Yeo Hiap Seng etc. Together, we map a fast-moving business and cultural landscape as Singapore became middle-class and Westernised in the ‘70s and ‘80s.

Alex is a good friend from our Singapore Heritage Society days. He is a trustee of the Lim Boon Keng Settlement (1921). Blessed with a truly encyclopedic memory, he is a voracious reader of anything history. He is known for his rich stories, passionate talks and long walks into Old Singapore.

YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@ChroniclesOldSG

Spotify | https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/loh-ks

Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/61551786759344/

Patreon | https://www.patreon.com/ChroniclesofOldSingapore

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Alex Tan Tiong Hee takes a stroll back in time along Old East Coast and tells us how it was like to live along the seafront. He stumbles across Marine Parade, Katong and idyllic Kampong Amber, before the Great Reclamation in the 1960s changed the shoreline forever.

Alex is a good friend from our Singapore Heritage Society days. He is a trustee of the Lim Boon Keng Settlement (1921). Blessed with a truly encyclopedic memory, he is a voracious reader of anything history. He is known for his rich stories, passionate talks and long walks into Old Singapore.

YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@ChroniclesOldSG

Spotify | https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/loh-ks

Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/61551786759344/

Patreon | https://www.patreon.com/ChroniclesofOldSingapore

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. In our concluding segment on Chinatown, Alex Tan Tiong Hee highlights its food culture, the exotic animals sold there and the decline of hawker food. He tells us what his parents felt about conserved Chinatown and what he hopes to achieve by conducting walking tours there.

Alex is a good friend from our Singapore Heritage Society days. He is a trustee of the Lim Boon Keng Settlement (1921). Blessed with a truly encyclopedic memory, he is a voracious reader of anything history. He is known for his rich stories, passionate talks and long walks into Old Singapore.

YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@ChroniclesOldSG

Spotify | https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/loh-ks

Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/61551786759344/

Patreon | https://www.patreon.com/ChroniclesofOldSingapore

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Alex Tan Tiong Hee recalls memorable events and going-ons in Old Chinatown: the second day of the 1964 race riots, his favourite lor mee stall, and travelling by trishaws and pirate taxis. We end with thoughts on how to rediscover the Chinatown of old.

Alex is a good friend from our Singapore Heritage Society days. He is a trustee of the Lim Boon Keng Settlement (1921). Blessed with a truly encyclopedic memory, he is a voracious reader of anything history. He is known for his rich stories, passionate talks and long walks into Old Singapore.

YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@ChroniclesOldSG

Spotify | https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/loh-ks

Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/61551786759344/

Patreon | https://www.patreon.com/ChroniclesofOldSingapore