Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Quek Siow Kai relates his story as one of Singapore’s Technical Generation in the 1970s. He struggled in the Singapore Polytechnic as a Chinese-medium student, before graduating into the recession caused by the 1973-74 global oil crisis. He found a job in a textiles factory, managing an entire shift. The night shift was noisy and exhausting, and he had to wear masks for the blue dust produced when working on jeans.

00:00 Introduction

02:59 Struggles at Singapore Polytechnic

09:15 Understanding the Lecturers

16:34 Running a Whole Shift in a Textiles Factory

22:19 Shift Work was Tough

28:14 Productivity & Profit

31:00 Jeans & Blue Dust

25:58 Low Wages

Inquiry Report on the Explosion and Fire on Board S.T. Spyros, 12th October 1978.

https://www.nlb.gov.sg/main/book-detail?cmsuuid=119cee73-85f5-4555-997c-e73aa4b4ba31

I am Dr Loh Kah Seng, the people’s historian. In Chronicles of Old Singapore, I speak to people about their memories of Singapore before it became a global city.

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