The 1961 Kampong Bukit Ho Swee Fire

and the Making of Modern Singapore

Loh Kah Seng

B.A.(Hons), M.A. (NUS)

This thesis is presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of Murdoch University

2008

I declare that this thesis is my own account of my research and contains as its main content work which has not previously been submitted for a degree at any tertiary education institution.

----------------------------------

Loh Kah Seng

The 1961 Kampong Bukit Ho Swee fire (Courtesy of National Archives of Singapore)

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Burn, burn! Burn, burn, burn, burn… The scorching rays of the sun Accompany the howling wind--- Ah! Rows of attap roofs suddenly dissolve in a sea of fire! Thick clouds of smoke, like a ferocious dinosaur, Engulf the skies! Pi bo pi bo… Balls of fire and burning flames Extend themselves from the source of the fire in four directions With great force and power, Flashing brightly, and dancing through the air. Ah! One by one, on the attap roofs, The wicked fire demon madly spins and leaps about! Countless columns of water Strike and spray on the fire demon like a silver whip; However, With ease, the heartless fire demon roars in laughter! Hua la la la… Walls crumble; Coconut trees fall… A sudden loud, deafening sound! What has exploded in the fire site? ----Terrifying! Oh dear! Even that factory has caught fire, That school has turned into a plot of scorched earth, And those shops, markets and gardens Have all been engulfed by the brutal flames! The fire displays its prowess And demonstrates its impenetrable force of destruction; A sea of humanity, The woeful cries of fleeing people resemble those of wailing spirits! Amidst all this confusion, Men, women, old, and young, Their faces are a sheet of pale: Some mourn the loss of decades of savings and property; Others weep by the streets, Uncertain of the whereabouts of separated family members! Whether natural disaster Or human calamity, The hearts of thousands of fire victims Have been shattered by the cruel inferno. ‘Fiery Plunder’ by Tian Liu. Sin Chew Jit Poh, 2 June 1961.

Abstract

By 1970, Singapore’s urban landscape was dominated by high-rise blocks of

planned public housing built by the People’s Action Party government, signifying

the establishment of a high modernist nation-state. A decade earlier, the margins of

the City had been dominated by kampongs, home to semi-autonomous communities

of low-income Chinese families which freely built, and rebuilt, unauthorised

wooden houses. This change was not merely one of housing but belied a more

fundamental realignment of state-society relations in the 1960s. Relocated in

Housing and Development Board flats, urban kampong families were progressively

integrated into the social fabric of the emergent nation-state. This study examines

the pivotal role of an event, the great Kampong Bukit Ho Swee fire of 1961, in

bringing about this transformation. The redevelopment of the fire site in the

aftermath of the calamity brought to completion the British colonial regime’s

‘emergency’ programmes of resettling urban kampong dwellers in planned

accommodation, in particular, of building emergency public housing on the sites of

major fires in the 1950s. The PAP’s far greater political resolve, and the timing of

and state of emergency occasioned by the scale of the 1961 disaster, enabled the

government to rehouse the Bukit Ho Swee fire victims in emergency housing in

record time. This in turn provided the HDB with a strategic platform for clearing

other kampongs and for transforming their residents into model citizens of the

nation-state. The 1961 fire’s symbolic usefulness extended into the 1980s and

beyond, in sanctioning the PAP’s new housing redevelopment schemes. The official

account of the inferno has also become politically useful for the government of

today for disciplining a new generation of Singaporeans against taking the nation’s

progress for granted. Against these exalted claims of the fire’s role in the Singapore

Story, this study also examines the degree of actual change and continuity in the

social and economic lives of the people of Bukit Ho Swee after the inferno. In some

crucial ways, the residents continued to occupy a marginal place in society while

pondering, too, over the unresolved question of the cause of the fire. These

continuities of everyday life reflect the ambivalence with which the citizenry

regarded the high modernist state in contemporary Singapore.

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Acknowledgments Among the early responses to my PhD research outside of the Asia Research Centre, where I was based, was a common feeling that ‘the Bukit Ho Swee fire had nothing to do with the making of modern Singapore’. Upon the completion of this study, I am pleased to say that, in addition to having made a cogent argument for my thesis, even the sceptics have made some form of contribution towards my work. I would first like to thank Jim Warren, my supervisor, who has been both mentor and friend. I am grateful for his untiring support for my research and writing, for alerting me to a variety of ways in which I could further develop as a scholar and teacher, and most crucially, for helping me consider what it means to be an academic and public intellectual. I am also thankful to other staff of the Asia Research Centre, Murdoch University, for their ideas and support, particularly Garry Rodan, Kanishka Jayasuriya, Carol Warren, Ian Wilson, and Tamara Dent. Tracie Pollin, Sit-ling Tull and Grant Stone, librarians at Murdoch, were extremely helpful. I wish to acknowledge, too, the Division of Arts and the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Murdoch for the award of three research bursaries and scholarships which substantially aided my fieldwork in Singapore in 2006-2007. I would like to thank the Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore, for having me as a Visiting Scholar during my fieldwork. I benefited from discussions with a number of staff at NUS, particularly Chua Beng Huat, Brenda Yeoh, Ann Wee, Khairudin Aljunied, Kwa Chong Guan, Hong Lysa, Greg Clancey, Paul Kratoska, Natalie Oswin, Ngiam Tee Liang, Lai Chee Kian, Lai Ah Eng, Albert Lau, Huang Jianli, and Tim Yap Fuan. In my research, I am also grateful to Erik Holmberg, Joey Long, Mok Ly Yng, Lim Chen Sian, Stephen Dobbs, Michael Pinches, Richard Harris, Nancy Kwak, Alvin Tan, Edwin Lee, Tan Siok Sun, Sunil Amrith, Raymond Goh, Riaz Hassan, and Alan Smart. I also wish to acknowledge members of the Tangent, particularly Quah Sy Ren and Chan Cheow Thia, for agreeing to publish a special issue in their journal on my research on the Bukit Ho Swee fire. My archival research benefited from the assistance of a number of institutions and their staff: Pitt Kwan Wah, Elaine Goh, Yvonne Chan, Rahmah Saini, Yap-Wong Hwai Fey, Ng Yoke Lin, and Jason Lim of the National Archives of Singapore; Yeong Yoon Ying and Tan Lai Kheng of the Prime Minister’s Office; Aline Wong, Tony Tan, Lau Chay Yean, and Albert Sim of the Housing and Development Board; Ang Bee Lian, Rao Ker Ee and Khor Su Min of the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports; Ng Ching Huei and Iskander Mydin of the National Museum of Singapore; Othman Wok; J. M. Jumabhoy; and the Ministry of Home Affairs, Internal Security Department, Singapore Civil Defence Force, Ministry of Education, Subordinate Courts, Ministry of National Development, Public Works Department, National Council of Social Service, and MediaCorp.

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I owe a special thanks to my Member of Parliament, Maliki Osman, for helping me with access to the official archives.

Finding and speaking to former kampong dwellers was an entirely different sort of challenge, and my social and intellectual debts here are owed to another group of individuals and institutions: Lily Neo, Member of Parliament for Bukit Ho Swee-Kim Seng constituency; Lee Wai Ying of Bukit Ho Swee Court Residents’ Committee; Gerard Ee and his staff, past and present, of Beyond Social Services; Michael of Thye Hua Kwan Moral Society; Sister Molly Lim of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary; Oak3 Films; Yesterday.sg; and Michael Fernandez, Tan Jing Quee, Linz Lim, Nurul Asyikin Mohd Yunus, Mohd Kamal Jauhari Bin Zaini, Bob Sim, Jack Chia, Melissa Sim, Ho Chi Tim, Ernest Koh, Victor Yue, P. Chitty, Lim Chin Joo, Wui Swee Huan, Seng Yu Jin, Ten Leu-Jiun, Peter Lim Heng Loong, Javier Li, Elena Chia, Wil-kie Tan, Koh Soo Hoon, Eng Yee Peng, Chan Weng Kin, Edward Wan, Koo H. P., Qi Qian, Fiona Chen, and Seng Guo Quan.

My thanks in particular to Lily Neo and Lee Wai Ying for allowing me to

place an open letter in Bukit Ho Swee Estate welcoming the residents to participate in my research.

I wish also to record my appreciation of working with Jane Jacobs and

Stephen Cairns, of Edinburgh University, in their interviews with residents of Block 22 in July 2007.

Friends and former students assisted me considerably by transcribing some

of my interviews, particularly Melissa Sim, Su Yuhan, Neo Xiao Yun, Jack Chia, Cindy Lim, Jacyln Tan, Lim Gui Hui, Gina Phang, and Fang Shihan.

I am deeply indebted to my family, to Si Wei and Mr Brown, and to friends

who fed me and showed other forms of encouragement, both tangible and otherwise, throughout my journey of discovery and recovery of the past: Stephii Chok (who also proofread my thesis), Elaine Llarena, Lynn Seah, Tan Teng Phee, Henry Chen, Carolin Liss, Brian Tai, Yasuko Kobayashi, Luky Djani, Jay Ram Adhikari, Lim Cheng Tju, Kay Gillis, Kurt Stenross, Ang Cheng Guan, and Ng Eng Ping.

Finally, this study would not have been possible without the memories,

reflections and social contacts of my interviewees, many of whom treated me with both seriousness and kindness in remembering a momentous event in their personal pasts. By detailing their life stories with empathy and imagination, I hope to acknowledge their important role in this research, and in the making of modern Singapore.

LKS April 2008

Contents Abstract iii Acknowledgments iv Tables ix Maps x Photographs xi Abbreviations xv Glossary of Terms and Phrases xvii Introduction 1 Fires in History 3 Documents and Memories 11 Chapter 1 Movement into the Margin 17 Between Staying and Moving 21 Increase in Family Life 25 Exodus from ‘Pigeon Cages’ 34 Negotiating Family and Workplace 39 Direct Arrivals 48 Mobile Families and ‘Unscrupulous Racketeers’ 53 Chapter 2 ‘Black Area’ 59 Origins 61 Fire, Bombs and Sentries 64 The Shadow Economy 70 Community of the Living, the Dead and the Pigs 89 The Pai Kia and the Children 99 Chapter 3 A Roar from the Oppressed People 113 Transforming ‘Old Singapore’ 114 Representations 118 Sanitation and Surveillance 126 Demolition and Dishousing: The Work of the Municipal Commission and the City Council 131

Clearance and Resettlement: the SIT Response 136 Planning and Zoning 144 Resistance and Mobilisation 153 Bukit Ho Swee and Hong Lim Pa Sat 166 Chapter 4 With Wood and Attap Came Fire 173 The Kindling Kampongs 174 Million Dollar Fire: Kampong Bugis, 1951 183 Scene of Indescribable Confusion: Geylang Lorong 3, 1953 185 No to Non-combustible Attap Roofing: Aljunied Road, 1953 186 Mooncake Festival Fire: Kampong Tiong Bahru, 1955 188 Six Dead: Kampong Koo Chye, 1958 189 The Voluntary Kampong Fire-fighting Squads 190 Friday 13: Kampong Tiong Bahru, 1959 194

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Living with Fire 197 Chapter 5 Fire Emergency 205‘Not prepared to live far from their work’, Kampong Bugis, 1951 206‘14-day wonder’, Geylang Lorong 3, 1953 210‘Units of this type should in future be built only in rural areas’, Aljunied Road, 1953 213

‘Permitted to rebuild accommodation themselves within the fire area’, Kampong Tiong Bahru, 1955 217

‘Happy to return to their former neighbourhood’, Kampong Koo Chye, 1958 220

‘The opportunity to clean up the area must not be lost’, Kampong Tiong Bahru, 1959 230

Chapter 6 The Unprecedented Inferno 251174-A Kampong Tiong Bahru, about 3 pm 251Beo Lane-Bukit Ho Swee [Road], from 3.30 pm 260Or Kio Tau-Havelock Road, from Roughly 4.30 pm 275Delta Estate, about 5.30 pm 284Arc of Destruction 286 Chapter 7 State of Emergency 295Fire Site 295A Maelstrom of Activity at the Relief Centre 299Operation Shift 318The Big Singapore Debate 324The Anger and the Rumours 329 Chapter 8 Nine Months 343‘A war on the all too familiar ogres and giants’: The PAP’s Public Housing Policy, 1960 343

‘You cannot make an omelette without breaking eggs’: The HDB’s Managers and Architects 353

‘A God-sent opportunity’: Emergence of Bukit Ho Swee Estate 358End of a Fatal Experiment: The Emergency Housing of Bukit Ho Swee 378‘A planned new city will be built’: The Making of Modern Singapore 386 Chapter 9 Change and Continuity: 1962-2008 401The Flats: Revitalisation and Modernity 402Becoming Good and Loyal Citizens 417‘Tong Kor’: Work and Resignation to Poverty 424The Estate beyond the Law 434The Gangs and the Socially Detached Youth 443 Chapter 10 Memory, Myth and Identity 457The Making of a Myth 459Romancing the Kampong, Rebooting the Estate 477Undying Rumours 485 Conclusion 491

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Appendix Localities and Residents of Kampong Bukit Ho Swee 497 Bibliography 507

Tables

Table 1.1: Components of Population Growth, 1881-1931 22

Table 1.2: Components of Singapore’s Population Growth, 1931-1970 28

Table 1.3: Migration Statistics in Singapore, 1947-1953 29

Table 1.4: Population and Economic Characteristics of Urban Kampong Dwellers 46

Table 3.1: Kampong Inspection by the City Council, 1949-1960 128

Table 3.2: Number of Dwellings in Urban Kampongs in 1948 & 1958 130

Table 3.3: Distribution of Population under the Master Plan between 1953 and 1972 149

Table 3.4: Redistribution of Attap Population under the Master Plan 150

Table 3.5: Tolerated Attap Areas 150

Table 3.6: Selected Clearance Areas 151

Table 3.7: Urban Planning Districts in the Master Plan, 1955 152

Table 3.8: Clearance Areas by Priority, 1955 153

Table 4.1: Number of Fires, Fire Risk & Fire Damage in Singapore, 1930-1965 175

Table 4.2: List of Kampongs in the City Area in Order of Fire Risk, 1954 177

Table 4.3: Main Causes of Fires in Singapore, 1949-1970 182

Table 4.4: Fire-Fighting Squads in Urban and Rural Kampongs 191

Table 5.1: Possible Housing Sites for Emergency Housing, 1958 229

Table 8.1: Type and Pace of Construction of Bukit Ho Swee Estate, 1961-1965 369

Table 8.2: Demand for Bukit Ho Swee Phase II Contract I Flats, 1962 383

Table 8.3: Demand for 1-Room Communal Flats, 1962 384

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Maps

Map 1.1: Urban Kampongs in Singapore c. 1955 18

Map 1.2: Percentage Increase in the Population of Singapore Municipality, 1936-1947 34

Map 2.1: Localities of Kampong Bukit Ho Swee, 1960 60

Map 6.1 Path of the 1961 Kampong Bukit Ho Swee Fire 261

Map 8.1 The Building Phases & Housing Blocks of Bukit Ho Swee Estate 370

Appendix Map 1: The Beo Lane-Bukit Ho Swee [Road] Locality, 1949 497

Appendix Map 2: Si Kah Teng, 1949 499

Appendix Map 3: Or Kio Tau, 1949 501

Appendix Map 4: Havelock Road below Ma Kau Thiong, 1949 502

Appendix Map 5: Hong Lim Pa Sat, 1949 504

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Photographs

Plate 1.1: Wooden houses built over a river in Singapore 20

Plate 1.2: Raised wooden houses in an urban kampong in Singapore, c. 1960s 20

Plate 1.3: The children of Kampong Bukit Ho Swee, c. 1960 33

Plate 1.4: Children and youths at the Malayan Chinese Association shophouse 33

Plate 1.5: Ah Kong and Tua Pui Mah, with my parents, c. 1969 38

Plate 2.1: Tay Ho Swee 62

Plate 2.2: Kampong Bukit Ho Swee, 1948 72

Plate 2.3: Kampong Bukit Ho Swee, 1958 73

Plate 2.4: Bicycles and cars on the one-way Havelock Road 77

Plate 2.5: A provisions shop located on the ground floor of the MCA shophouse, c. 1950s

77

Plate 2.6: The empty space behind the MCA shophouse, c. 1950s 78

Plate 2.7: Large pig feeding at an interior road in Kampong Bukit Ho Swee, c. 1960

84

Plate 2.13: A dilapidated toilet constructed of bricks and plank in the Bukit Ho Swee area

92

Plate 2.14: A pig waits near a toilet in the Bukit Ho Swee area 92

Plate 2.15: Young men at the MCA shophouse, c. 1950s 107

Plate 2.16: Young men outside a provisions shop at the MCA shophouse, c. 1950s

107

Plate 3.1: A dilapidated wooden house with attap roof in the Bukit Ho Swee area

124

Plate 3.2: Discarded household items lie in open space in the Bukit Ho Swee area, 1947

125

Plate 3.3: Uncleared rubbish in the Bukit Ho Swee area 125

Plate 3.4: An uncovered drain with stagnant water in the Bukit Ho Swee area

126

Plate 3.5: Free-ranging pigs feed among the wooden houses in the Bukit Ho Swee area, c. 1930s

126

Plate 4.1: Ho Kok Hoe’s impression of the 1959 Kampong Tiong Bahru fire

196

Plate 5.1: Prototype emergency housing at Kolam Ayer 212

Plate 5.2: The Kampong Koo Chye Fire Rehousing Scheme 228

Plate 5.3: The 3-room terrace houses of the Kampong Tiong Bahru Fire Site Phase I

244

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Plate 5.4: The 1-room emergency and 2-room flats of the Kampong Tiong Bahru Fire Site Phase II

244

Plate 5.5: The completed SIT emergency housing of the Tiong Bahru Fire Site Scheme, October 1960

245

Plate 5.5: Ongoing construction at the Tiong Bahru Cemetery Scheme (Ma Kau Thiong), October 1960

245

Plate 6.1: A family fleeing from the fire at Tiong Bahru Road 256

Plate 6.2: A fire engine is immobilised on the side of the road amid the surging crowd

259

Plate 6.3: The inferno rages in the distance as onlookers observe the dark clouds of billowing smoke

262

Plate 6.4: Sweat-drenched men attempt to establish a fire break by demolishing a wooden house

264

Plate 6.5: Residents move their belongings as the flames, visible in the background, approach

269

Plate 6.6: Men carry bulky furniture up the hill, while others rush in the opposite direction to render assistance

270

Plate 6.7: Another group of young men, carrying a heavy cupboard, reach the foot of Ma Kau Thiong

270

Plate 6.8: Onlookers are clearly visible inside the partially-completed block of emergency flats at Ma Kau Thiong

272

Plate 6.9: Fire victims guard their families’ possessions at the foot of Ma Kau Thiong

272

Plate 6.10: The flames and towering clouds of smoke are visible from the foot of Ma Kau Thiong

273

Plate 6.11: An aerial view of the fire as it heads north towards Havelock Road

273

Plate 6.12: The fire, driven by a strong wind, changes direction and moves northwest from Beo Lane towards Delta Estate

274

Plate 6.13: Beo Lane after the fire 274

Plate 6.14: Fire-fighters and policemen attempt to control the fire-fighting effort

277

Plate 6.15: A shop on the ground floor of the MCA shophouse gutted by the flames

278

Plate 6.16: Inspecting the damage to the shop 278

Plate 6.17: A lorry belonging to ‘广源兴’ soy sauce company in Bukit Ho Swee drives away the family’s possessions along Zion Road

283

Plate 6.18: The fire has reached Delta Estate 285

Plate 6.19: Safe from the fire but heart-broken 287

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Plate 6.20: Koeh Sia Yong depicts a family’s grief in ‘失去家园’ (‘Lost Homes’)

288

Plate 6.21: Artist Liu Kang’s painting on the sorrow of Chinese families who had lost their homes in the inferno

288

Plate 7.1: Fire victims search through the debris at the fire site 297

Plate 7.2: Families with buckets search in the charred ruins 297

Plate 7.3: Tan Geok Hak’s Singer sewing machine, still being used, in her flat in Bukit Ho Swee, 2006

298

Plate 7.4: Fire victims at the relief centre 302

Plate 7.5: Boys and girls bathe at the standpipes installed in the relief centre

304

Plate 7.6: A British army blanket, held by Jack Chia, still in the possession of Tan Geok Hak, 2006

304

Plate 7.7: Relatives and friends wait in queue at the gate of the relief centre while the fire victims wait within the school compounds

305

Plate 7.8: Registration at the relief centre 307

Plate 7.9. The Pepsi-Cola Factory at Havelock Road and the PAP Delta Branch jointly set up a drinks stall at the relief centre to raise funds

312

Plate 7.10: Nestle Company provides hot drinks for the fire victims 312

Plate 7.11: Lee Ah Gar’s relief card issued by the Social Welfare Department

316

Plate 7.12: A woman with toddler recalls her tragedy and reviews the uncertainty of life in the future

318

Plate 7.13: Operation Shift 321

Plate 7.14: A family of five, assisted by two students of River Valley Middle School, prepare to enter their temporary HDB flat

321

Plate 8.1: Artist Tan Choo Kuan’s impression of the rapid rebuilding of the fire site

362

Plate 8.2: Roy Chan with author at Jalan Bukit Ho Swee, 2007 366

Plate 8.3: The official opening of the newly-completed modern emergency housing at Ma Kau Thiong

368

Plate 8.4: The emergence of Bukit Ho Swee Estate, November 1962 371

Plate 8.5: The southern half of Bukit Ho Swee Estate, April 1963 372

Plate 8.6: A picture of Bukit Ho Swee Estate taken from the direction of Delta Estate

372

Plate 8.7: The 6-storey 1-room emergency flats of Block 3 along Jalan Bukit Ho Swee

383

Plate 9.1: Png Pong Tee with author at her home, 2008 404

Plate 9.2: The proximate spot where the 1961 inferno started, 2006 413

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Plate 9.3: A mix of unchanged private and redeveloped public architecture, 2006

414

Plate 9.4: Block 34 along Jalan Bukit Ho Swee, 2006 414

Plate 9.5: Flats in Taman Ho Swee selected for en bloc redevelopment, 2006

415

Plate 9.6: Ongoing construction of new HDB flats for residents in the locality affected by the SERS, 2008

415

Plate 9.7: The unrelenting pursuit of architectural modernity in Singapore, 2007

416

Plate 9.8: The massive Tiong Bahru Plaza, a multi-purpose ‘one-stop’ shopping mall, 2007

416

Plate 9.9: Ong Chye Ho’s ‘pillar space’ at Block 79, Indus Road, 2006 418

Plate 9.10: HDB flats along Jalan Bukit Ho Swee, built after the 1961 fire, 2007

419

Plate 9.11: Mothers and their children socialising in the day in the open space behind Block 48, Beo Crescent, c. 1980

427

Plate 9.12: The 1-room flats of Block 33, facing each other across a common corridor, 2006

432

Plate 9.13: Block 48, Beo Crescent, at the edge of Bukit Ho Swee Estate

437

Plate 9.14: Jalan Bukit Ho Swee 437

Plate 9.15: The children of ‘NC’ at Block 44, Beo Crescent, c. 1980 451

Plate 9.16: In the foreground, walking away from ‘NC’, are the ‘street children’ of Bukit Ho Swee Estate, c. 1980

451

Plate 9.17: Author on a swing at Taman Ho Swee, c. 1970s 455

Plate 9.18: Author at a playground just outside Block 28, Jalan Membina, c. 1970s

455

Plate 10.1: Ng Hoot Seng, 2006 457

Plate 10.2: 1-room flats along Jalan Bukit Ho Swee 462

Plate 10.3: The Bukit Ho Swee fire exhibit at the Civil Defence Heritage Gallery, Central Fire Station, 2006

472

Plate 10.4: The Bukit Ho Swee fire exhibit at the HDB Gallery, HDB Hub, 2006

473

Plate 10.5: The intersection of historical event, education and social memory

473

Appendix Plate 1: The Beo Lane-Bukit Ho Swee locality, 1958 498

Appendix Plate 2: Si Kah Teng, 1958 500

Appendix Plate 3: The Or Kio Tau locality up to Ganges Avenue, 1958 501

Appendix Plate 4: Havelock Road below Ma Kau Thiong, 1958 503

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Appendix Plate 5: Hong Lim Pa Sat, 1958 505

xv

Abbreviations

ARP Air Raid Precaution

BH Berita Harian

BHSFNRF Bukit Ho Swee Fire National Relief Fund

BHSSSC Bukit Ho Swee Social Service Centre

BMA British Military Administration

CC City Council

CC ABSD City Council Architect and Building Surveyor’s Department

CC ED City Council Engineer’s Department

CC HD City Council Health Department

CEO Chief Executive Officer

CID Criminal Investigations Department

CO Colonial Office

DOE Department of Education

EDB Economic Development Board

FD Fire Department

FMS Federated Malay States

FO Foreign Office

gpm gallons per minute

GRC Group Representation Constituency

HB/HDB Housing and Development Board

MC Ministry of Culture

MCA Malayan Chinese Association

MCP Malayan Communist Party

MD Medical Department

ME/MOE Ministry of Education

MOF Ministry of Finance

MLW Ministry of Labour and Welfare

MLGLH Ministry of Lands, Local Government and Housing

MND Ministry of National Development

MP Member of Parliament

MRCA Monthly Review of Chinese Affairs

MT Malaya Tribune

xvi

MUP Main Upgrading Programme

NAS National Archives of Singapore

NC Nazareth Centre

NFWP Nanfang Wan Pau

NYSP Nanyang Siang Pau

OHC Oral History Centre

PA People’s Association

PAP People’s Action Party

PRO Public Relations Office

PS Permanent Secretary

RCS Radio Corporation of Singapore

RG Record Group

SADA Singapore Attap Dwellers’ Association

SBC Singapore Broadcasting Corporation

SCJP Sin Chew Jit Poh

SCPA Singapore Country People’s Association

SCSS Singapore Council of Social Service

SERS Selective En Bloc Redevelopment Scheme

SFA Singapore Farmers’ Association

SFB Singapore Fire Brigade

SFP Singapore Free Press

SIT Singapore Improvement Trust

SJRO Singapore Joint Relief Organisation

SLAD Singapore Legislative Assembly Debates

SM Singapore Monitor

SPD Singapore Parliamentary Debates SPF Singapore Police Force

SRRA Singapore Rural Residents’ Association

SS Singapore Standard

ST Straits Times

SWD Social Welfare Department

SWHDA Singapore Wooden House Dwellers’ Association

TOL Temporary Occupation Licence

UMSU University of Malaya Students’ Union

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Glossary of Terms and Phrases

本性不坏 ‘Their nature was good’ in Mandarin

半天 ‘Halfway into the sky’ in Mandarin

趁火打劫 ‘Taking opportunity of a fire to rob’ in Mandarin

吃什么头路? ‘What is your livelihood?’ in Mandarin

顶呱呱 ‘Very good’ in Mandarin

河水山 Bukit Ho Swee in Mandarin

黑区 ‘Black area’ in Mandarin

很自由, 很自在 ‘Very free, very carefree’ in Mandarin

轰轰的 ‘Hot’ in Mandarin

火不会认识你跟我 ‘The fire would not distinguish between you and me’ in Mandarin

见惯不怪 ‘You grow accustomed to what you frequently see’ in Mandarin

空前大火 ‘The unprecedented inferno’ in Mandarin

你们灾民住屋子一定是不必付屋租吗?

‘Are you fire victims living in the flats sure that you don’t have to pay rent?’ in Mandarin

上上下下 ‘Regulars’ in Mandarin

失去家园 ‘Lost homes’ in Mandarin

天阴之别 ‘Vast difference’ in Mandarin

我们没有路可以走了

‘We had no other roads to walk’ in Mandarin

乡村 Village in Mandarin

又是好象河水山 ‘Just like another Bukit Ho Swee’ in Mandarin

这种话你不可以说 ‘This sort of things you cannot say’ in Mandarin

终身注定 ‘Life is fated’ in Mandarin

最有人情味 ‘A warm place to live in’ in Mandarin

xviii

ah long ‘Loan shark’ in Hokkien, an unlicensed moneylender who makes unsecured loans at high interest rates

amah Female domestic servant

ang chia ‘Red car’ in Hokkien, referring to the riot truck

attap Thatched roof usually made of dried nipah leaves

bang kali Hokkien corruption of ‘Bengali’

bee hoon Rice vermicelli

beo Temple in Hokkien

bo bian ‘Hopeless’ or ‘no choice’ in Hokkien

bo lang, bo lang, kin ‘No one here, no one, quick!’ in Hokkien

bodoh ‘Stupid’ in Malay

bo cheng hu ‘There was no government’ in Hokkien

bo ho sor chai ‘Bad place’ in Hokkien

bukit Hill in Malay

chai tow kway Local light dish, rice flour stir fried with eggs and radish, also known as carrot cake

chap ji ki Twelve-digit Chinese lottery

chap lak lau ‘16 storeys’ in Hokkien, referring to a 16-storey building

che lor ‘Find a road’ in Hokkien

chee cheong fun Local light dish, rice noodle roll

cheng tng Local dessert, fruits and seeds in a sweet syrup

chin chai ‘Easygoing’ in Hokkien

curry puff Local snack, fried pie with curry, chicken and potatoes

di siao siao ‘Mischievous’ or ‘deviant’ in Hokkien

For Seng ‘Fire City’ in Cantonese, referring to the City Gas Works at Kallang and more generally to the locality

char bee hoon Fried rice vermicelli

char kway teow Thick, flat rice noodles stir-fried in dark soy sauce with fish cake, cockles, and Chinese sausage or beef

gado gado Local vegetable salad served with peanut sauce dressing

gong ‘Stunned’ in Hokkien

goo li Coolie or labourer in Hokkien

gu ni te ‘Milk pigs’ in Hokkien

gua ‘Evict’ in Hokkien

Guanyin The Goddess of Mercy in Mandarin

Ho Chui Sua Bukit Ho Swee in Hokkien

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hock chap ‘Complicated’ in Hokkien

Hong Lim Pa Sat ‘Hong Lim Market’ in Hokkien, referring to Covent Garden

hong kau ‘Christian’ in Hokkien

Hungry Ghosts Festival

Chinese festival on the fourteenth day of the seventh lunar month celebrating the spirits and ghosts leaving the lower world to visit the living

hwei Local informal system of rotating credit, also called tontine

ikan bilis Deep fried anchovies

jaga Indian watchman

jalan ‘Walk’ in Malay

jin cham ‘Very difficult’ in Hokkien

jit bang bua tia ‘One bedroom and half a living room’ in Hokkien, referring to an improved 1-room HDB flat

kampong Village in Malay

kangkong Local species of leafy green vegetables

karang guni Local rag and bone collectors who visit residences door-to-door

killer litter Litter thrown from a high-rise flat

kong ‘Panicked’ in Hokkien

kua tau lui ‘Protection money’ in Hokkien, fee which secret societies extorted from businesses

kua liao du lan ‘If I see them, I get very angry’ in Hokkien

kway Generic term for local light dish or snack

lah Local colloquial term added at the end of sentence for emphasis

laksa Rice noodles cooked in coconut curry gravy, frequently with shrimp and cockles

long sai Cantonese corruption of ‘alongside’, referring to shipyard cleaner

longkang Drain in Hokkien

lua hiong ‘Very impressive’ in Hokkien

luan kong ‘Wild talk’ in Hokkien

Ma Kau Thiong ‘Macau Cemetery’ in Hokkien, referring to Tiong Bahru Cemetery, formally known in Mandarin as Lu Ye Ting and in Hokkien as Loke Yah Teng

Merdeka ‘Independence’ in Malaya

Mid-Autumn Festival Chinese festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month celebrating family reunion. Also known as the

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Mooncake Festival

Mukim Malay term referring to subdivision of a district

Nanyang ‘The South Seas’ in Mandarin, referring to the Southeast Asian region

ohayo gozaimasu ‘Good morning’ in Japanese

Or Kio Tau ‘At the head of the black-painted bridge’ in Hokkien, referring to the part of Havelock Road before the Delta Circus

otah Local snack, spicy fish cake grilled in banana leaf

pah chiu chia ‘Robbery vehicle’ in Hokkien

pai kia ‘Bad kids’ in Hokkien, referring to delinquent youth or gangsters

pai mia ‘Has a hard life’ in Hokkien

pang keng ‘Sleeping quarters’ in Hokkien, referring to common rooms shared by low-income Chinese workers in the Central Area

parang Malay equivalent of the machete

Po Tui ‘Town area’ in Hokkien, referring to the Central Area or Chinatown

Qing Ming Festival Chinese festival to remember and honour one’s ancestors, which involves, among other things, the burning of joss sticks and paper. Also known as All Souls Day.

rojak Local fruit and vegetable salad served in thick dark prawn paste

samseng ‘Gangster’ in Hokkien

si ‘Die’ in Hokkien

Si Kah Teng ‘Four-legged pavilion’ in Hokkien, local term for Kampong Tiong Bahru

Sio Po ‘Small Town’ in Hokkien, referring to the part of the Central Area north of the Singapore River

soon kueh Local light dish, vegetable dumpling

taman ‘Garden’ in Malay

tau suan Local dessert, soft soya bean curd in sweet syrup

tey gu ‘Earth bulls’ in Hokkien, local term for the Ministry of Health’s Hawker Inspectors

Ti Kong The Heavenly God in Hokkien

Ti Kong Tua Temple of the Heavenly God

ti lam Mattress in Hokkien

tikam tikam Local gambling game commonly played by children and youths

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tiao lau ‘Jumping off a building’ in Hokkien, referring to high-rise suicide

toh poon Swill collection in Hokkien

tong kor ‘Painful bitterness’ in Hokkien

tongkang Local cargo carrying craft

towgay Bean sprouts in Hokkien

towkay Employer in Hokkien

tu tu Local snack, rice flour with ground peanut or shredded coconut filling

Tua Po ‘Big Town’ in Hokkien, referring to the part of the Central Area south of the Singapore River

Tua Pui Mah ‘Fat Grandma’ in Hokkien

twakow Light local craft for loading and unloading goods along the Singapore River

ultra vires ‘Outside one’s jurisdiction’ in Latin.

Wa m chai ‘I don’t know’ in Hokkien

Wah Local term added at the end of sentence for emphasis

yong tau foo Chinese soup dish with stuffed bean curd and other vegetables