The various facades of the studio in the 1960s and 1970s. Bottom left: Firecrackers were used to celebrate the 9th anniversary of the studio.

The busiest time every year at the studio was always immediately after the Chinese New Year celebration, when an increase in photo print requests meant working into the wee hours at the photo studio for the Keuk family. After the doors closed at 9pm, Gin Bok would enter the dark room to develop films and prints. The dark room is perpetually humid. And with chemical solutions and water running continuously, Angela worried for her father’s rheumatism. His fingers were stained brown from the chemical solutions, which are mixtures of powder formula and water of right proportions. Films and prints are meticulously soaked in these solutions, before running through with clear water.

Angela remembered him to be an extremely hardworking father, who would work long hours to provide for his family of six. Despite his busy schedule, Gin Bok insisted driving the children to their school. There were times when he was delayed in the studio, which meant teary eyes for the children who had to wait patiently at the school gates for their father to fetch them.

Kuet Gin Bok in his studio (left) and repairing a studio spot light. Top right: An old envelope for the photographs.

Views of Changi Road from the studio in the 1960s.

Flooding in the studio.

Gin Bok voluntarily took photos for the neighbours and friends, including the kacang putih seller, who sells Indian snacks typically made of nuts and spices. He was well-liked by his customers due to his photography skills and eloquence, and thus the studio was the meeting point of friends and relatives.

“Life was simpler,” said Angela of the good memories growing up at the photo studio. Floods were common and water would overflow into the shop space. The family would prop the equipment up on tables and stilts to keep them dry. Together with her elder sister and two younger brothers, she remembered each day filled with tasks with for the family business, like drying the photos in a giant air dryer and cutting the photo borders away to the correct sizes. The studio closes on Fridays.

The Kuet siblings drying the prints.

Angela says of her childhood growing up with her siblings, “We were so fortunate that my father used to take us out for activities on Fridays or school holidays. We went swimming at the Changi seaside, visited and took photos at popular sites like the Queen Elizabeth Walk, Botanic Gardens, Fort Canning Hill, National Theatre,Van Kleef Aquarium, Mount Faber and Katong Park. We also visited our maternal grandmother at her coffee shop. Sometimes after the studio closed at 9pm, we would follow my father to send some photos for framing, colouring (for the black and white photos) or to send the clients’ cameras for repair.”

Top and bottom left: Changi Beach and Golden Palace Holiday Resort (金宫水上游乐场). Right: Kallang Park

Left: Ocean Park Hotel at East Coast Road. Right: Tan Kim Seng fountain at the Esplanade Park.

Queen Elizabeth Walk

Before digital ‘photoshop’, workers used sharpened lead to edit films and touch up prints using manual techniques. There were also times when newly weds would form long queues outside the photo studio for their wedding portraits to be taken. Photographs were almost always of happy occasions.

After retiring his photo studio business in 1987, Gin Bok turned to chinese calligraphy, a form of art he had been practising in the 1980s. Impressed and awed by his beautiful calligraphy, his studio clients would ask for his work, in forms of festive couplets and even writing requests.

Kuet Gin Bok, his relatives and friend visiting the Tiger Balm Gardens in 1952.

Gin Bok passed away in May 2014. He had left behind a huge collection of diaries which he had been writing continuously over his lifetime. Writings, like photographs, are moments captured of a certain past. In a way, that moment has ‘died’ because it does not belong to the present. The act of reading, or looking at these photographs however, transports the viewer back to these times which are considered important to the writer or photographer. For a moment, albeit temporarily, the viewer re-lives in that moment and he/she gained an experience and understanding why that moment in time is so important to the writer/photographer. It might take a while for Angela before she has the courage to read and re-live those diaries her father left behind. When she did, she will realise that they are reminders of how her father talks, moves and thinks. These moments are constantly living and it is an entry to his understanding of the world.

The shop of ‘New City Photo Studio’ is currently an eatery specialising in black chicken tonic soup, owned by an old neighbour who knew the Kuet family for a long time while working nearby the shop as a stall assistant. Angela’s daughter is now a photographer, whose interest started after receiving her grandfather’s Leica camera on one of her birthdays.

2012 photo taken at the site of the former studio, showing Mr. Kuet and his wife together with the owner of the current shop.

All photo credits to Angela Kuet and Kuet Gin Bok.
Written and edited by Tan Wei Keong

Top photo: After a day of play, Meng Wong captured the delight of friends sharing hot satay right off the charcoal grill, and ketupat (hanging on the horizontal pole), both signature Malay food in Singapore. Photo: Meng Wong

Be it an excursion with primary classmates or family weekend outing, a good number of us would have spent some warm, sunny afternoons by the beach with friends or families. Along the East Coast and Changi beaches, families can be seen swimming, cycling, picnicking and cooking by the barbecue pits. Photographs are usually used to capture good fun times. Many of our contributors’ photos depict the activities enjoyed in the 60s and 70s, like having a dip in the warm water, enjoying the home-made food and playing along the shore. These are actually not far from what modern Singapore families enjoy till this day as well.

Swimming in the Sea. Photo: Ng Wee Jian

A group of youths paddling their canoes and learning team work in the process. Photo: Soh Khim Choo

Big Splash! Photo Credit: Lim Poh Kwan (left), Sarah Wong Bee Lian (right)

Have you ever glide down a long water slide, almost flying horizontally and ending in a big splash in the pool at the bottom? Some of you might remember the huge and colourful slide at Big Splash. The waterpark was built in 1976 and had a 7-storeys water slide consisting 5 separate lanes of different heights. That slide was even visible to drivers along the East Coast Park highway. The owners had revamped Big Splash a number of times, and the slides had ceased operations. Today, Big Splash has transformed into a lifestyle hub, which hosts family-friendly activities and houses several food establishments and shops, continuing to bring families together.

Black Swans at Singapore Botanic Gardens. Photo Credit: Anne Phua Geok Neo (left) Pearl Pang (right)

One of the popular spots that appeared in many of the photos contributed at SG Snaps was the Singapore Botanic Gardens, the oldest tropical botanical garden in the Straits Settlement. Families were seen enjoying the serene views, strolling along the lake and feeding the swans. The Swan Lake was given its name because of the swans inhabiting the lake, with the first pair of beautiful mute swans imported from Amsterdam. The photos above shows a black swan (Cygnus atratus). This lake is considered to be the oldest ornamental water feature in Singapore, constructed in 1866. Early this year, in February 2014, the Singapore Botanic Gardens submitted a nomination dossier to the UNESCO World Heritage Board, in hope of receiving Singapore’s first UESCO world heritage site. The decision could be announced in June 2015. It will, perhaps, be an acknowledgement of our rich heritage, a gift of nature, during the nation’s 50^th anniversary as Singapore comes of age.

Curious faces peering into the net for the day’s catch. Photo: Loo Kin Meng

Kelongs, shown in the above photo, are a romantic reminder of Singapore’s beginning as a fishing village. Kelongs are wooden platforms built with nibong palms, primarily for fishing purposes although bigger structures serve as houses for families. With a net secured in the centre of the platform, batches of fish would be caught simply by raising the net. Families could enjoy a hearty seafood meal for a weekend dinner. You could even stay overnight at a kelong, fishing with your own fishing line, and sleeping under the stars! During the late 2000s, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) led a reformation to increase the supply of fish for local consumption in the local fish farming industry. Well-educated and young urbanites were drawn to life by the sea. They redeveloped some of the remaining kelongs into fish farms with new knowledge and skills from the AVA. Some of the new kelong owners happily re-named themselves as aqua entrepreneurs and fulfilled their dreams to live by the sea.

Colourful paddle boats dotting the Singapore River. Photo: Mdm Lim Pho Kwaun

The river brings life. Sir Stamford Raffles established Singapore as the first free port in the region, allowing free passage of ships through the Strait of Singapore, thus attracting trade activities between India and China, and the British. Businesses developed around the quay in 1823 and subsequent developments continued up-river along the banks of Clarke Quay, Robertson Quay, and further upstream. Around the 1970s, the river was carrying the debris of the increasing settlers who were living around the water, as well as from businesses and developments around it. Pollution levels could be detected by the whiff of the nose! The government conducted extensive cleaning to restore life to the waters. By the 1980s, the old quayside commercial enterprises gave way to recreational activities such as popular al fresco dining and “live music” entertainment. Merging in the scenery of the trading boats of the past, happy paddlers could be seen riding in the colourful paddle boats along the waters teeming with life.

We have captured snapshots of life by the water. Hopefully, it will refresh your memories like the way water refreshes your body on a typical hot and sunny day. When was the last time you played by the water?

Written by Gracie Teo

Edited by Tan Wei Keong

http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_148_2005-02-02.html?s=Singapore%20River
http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/singapore/story/botanic-gardens-submits-bid-become-first-singapore-unesco-world-herita
http://wildsingaporenews.blogspot.sg/2008/11/city-bred-singapore-entrepreneurs.html

The red dot marks the site where the National Theatre used to be in an early map from the Singapore Directory published in 1976. From “Our Collective Memory”, a book written by Mr Koh Eng Soon.

Neither of us in the SG Snaps team has had the opportunity to attend a performance at the National Theater of Singapore previously situated on the slope of Fort Canning Park along River Valley Road. Before we were born, or could develop a conscious memory of the world, the theater also known as the “People’s Theatre” was already demolished in the mid-1986. That was when the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) North East line to connect Chinatown to Dhoby Ghaut and the Central Expressway (CTE) began construction and the theatre had to make way for these developments. Our only encounters with this theatre were through the collected photographs and conversations with the contributors, and we certainly saw and felt the glory and splendour the theatre exuded that remained in the hearts of Singaporeans.

The patriotic facade of the theatre is a common backdrop for snapshots. Photo credit: Tan Hoon Ngoh Evelyn

There were aplenty photographs of people taken in front of the iconic façade of the theatre. Browsing through all the contributed photo albums, it is easy to recognise the five-point exterior, which is emblematic of the five stars on the Singapore flag. The center of the theatre’s outdoor fountain is a crescent moon sculpture representing the crescent moon on our flag. What a brilliant piece of architecture it was, by Singaporean architect Alfred Wong, whose firm won the design competition for the theatre in 1963.

The architecture of the building takes on a unique form from a distinctively different angle. Photo credit: Pearl Pang

The year the National Theatre of Singapore was constructed was a significant and eventful one for Singapore. 1963 was the year Lee Kuan Yew had declared de-facto independence for Singapore from the British colonial rule, and the year The Malaysia Agreement was signed, combining North Borneo, Sarawak and Singapore with the existing Federation of Malaya. These two events placed Singapore amongst the other newly formed independent nations in Southeast Asia.

Commemorative stamp for the South-east Asia Cultural Festival released on the opening day, 8th of August 1983. From the book “Our Collective Memory” by Koh Eng Soon.

The inaugural show at the National Theatre reflected just that. The Southeast Asian Cultural Festival was launched to celebrate the opening of the theatre on August 8 1963. Eleven Asian countries attended this grand opening, including film stars from Hong Kong. A postage stamp of a value of 5 cents was specially released to commemorate the event. There were performances of folk dances from around the region. In the opening, our first president, Yusof bin Ishak described the festivities as a “South-East Asian cultural renaissance.” It seems that this interest of a bourgeoning cultural scene in South East Asia is not a recent construction but one that has its roots way before our nation’s independence in 1965.

The National Theatre was also the result of one of Singapore’s first major crowd-sourcing project – “A-dollar-a-brick” campaign, in which the public could buy a $1 paper brick, a colour-printed frame showing a design of the National Theatre. This fund-raising campaign supplemented the government for the building costs, and described by the then Minister of Culture, S. Rajaratnam as “a good example of how the success of any effort depends ultimately on the co-operation and dedication of people from all walks of life.” The theatre also became an emblem of community-building, earning its civic name of the “People’s Theatre”.

Buses parked in front of the theatre to charter students for their performances. Photo credit: Rohani Binte Din

The National Theatre of Singapore has its significance beyond its history of being the first and largest theatre in Singapore. Aside from its massive 3,420 seating capacity, it is also a reminder of our beginnings as a nation. As written on the twin heritage site markers by the National Heritage Board on the current site, the theatre signifies “a spirit of self help and nationhood in the early days of nation building.”

Same place, many years later – a photo of a student (above) taken at the National Theatre and another image of her with her son many years later, as a mother. For many Singaporeans, the National Theatre is one landmark that had seen them through their times. Photo credit: Seow Shin Horng

Now, close to the original site of the National Theatre of Singapore, stands an artwork by Architectural historian Lai Chee Kien for the Singapore Biennale in 2013. In exactly 50 years since its construction, the sculpture is a reminder of the theatre’s existence, possibly unknown to many Singaporean youths. The 40m-tall painted steel sculpture of the theatre’s façade pales in terms of scale compared to the original size, but it makes an excellent backdrop for photographs as a tribute to the ones taken when the theatre was still around.

There is a situational irony literally behind the sculpture. The vacant space of what used to be the area where cultural celebrations were held is now empty. What is left is but an empty plot of grass with trees meagrely occupying the space. Is this current state of the site a reflection of how our country, in its race for progress, has emptied out any semblance of a true aspiration to culturally define ourselves? Only to be left with an empty shell to remind us of its ghost? Only one can ponder, looking at the smiles of the people in the photographs of the theatre from before.

Written by Samantha Tio
Edited by Tan Wei Keong

Singapore Snaps would like to show our great appreciation and admiration to the work of Mr Koh Eng Soon, author of “我们的集体记忆” (Our Collective Memory) – A self-published book, in Mandarin, on the National Theatre of Singapore and several other historical landmarks. Mr Koh had visited us at the Singapore Snaps booth at the National Library building on July 27 2014. That afternoon, he had shared with us all the wonderful histories of the theatre. In the book, he shares his valuable collection of photographs and paraphernalia of the theatre through its lifetime and his personal memories of it. We salute Mr Koh for his love for civic history and his generousity. This article will not be possible without him.

My husband’s uncle was barely 10 years old when his great-grandmother passed away in 1968. Although she was 92 years old then, a deceased woman is granted three more years to her age, according to tradition. Therefore her death age was declared as 95 instead.

The great-grandmother was the oldest elder in the Jalan Kayu village. She lived through five generations. For the wake, my husband and his siblings were dressed in green “xiao fu” (孝服), which literally means “filial clothes”, with pink overlays. The youngest member was just four years old then.

In the traffic. Photo: Teo Yap Tee

The wake lasted for 7 days – only odd number of days, and the duration of wake is dependent on the seniority of the deceased. The funeral procession was done in Hokkien-Taoist tradition. Besides serving dinners, my husband remembered that they had to order a truckload of “Green Spot”, a brand of soft drinks, to be given out to people who showed up to pay their respects. Thus, you can imagine the crowds who turned up.

Green Spot served to guests at the wake. Photo: Teo Yap Tee

Funeral procession through the village, as curious bystanders look on. Photo: Teo Yap Tee

On the final day of the funeral, the family and close relatives walked some 2 kilometres through the village, to send the great-grandmother off for the last time before the burial. Coffins, at that time, were made from solid wood and it was very heavy to have to carry it and walk for a distance.

Stilt walkers stand tall among the crowd. Photo: Teo Yap Tee

As you can see from the photos, stilt-walkers were invited to perform for the procession.

As the deceased had lived to a respectable age and has had a long and enjoyable life, the funeral was considered a “xiao sang” (笑丧), a term which combines the word “smiling/laughing” and “mourning” to describe a “smiling funeral”. A “xiao sang” is a term used mainly in comforting the bereaved, rather than being put into practice, although no one was allowed to cry at the funeral.

It was the grandest funeral that my husband’s families had gone through.

Interviewee Teo Yap Tee
Written by Gracie Teo
Edited by Tan Wei Keong

Credits to Lim Sok Tin.

Credits to Lim Sok Tin.

Credits to Lim Sok Tin.

“Dark Room Photoshoppers”, as we shall call them, worked with actual film negatives and chemicals. Coupled with precise timing, Dark Room Photoshoppers manipulated the conventional film development process and came up with experimental effects that they applied to the negatives of their more daring customers.

Again, I was speaking with Jerome of thelongnwindingroad.wordpress.com, picking his brain for insights on these whimsical “frames” printed in the photographs, and we’re guessing that these frames were custom designs and each studio had their own set of designs.

Back in the day, photo studios were not as common as they became in the 1990s. Going to a photo studio was eventful and owning one was a big deal! Photo studios used to brand their studio names and contact details on all the photographs that they developed for customers.

Some studios embossed their studio logo onto the photograph.

Some simple stamped the back of the photograph.

Some times, the way they brand the photographs can actually damage the image. In this example, the pink stamp on the back of the image caused this to happen to the photograph, over time (see below).

Photo credits to Chang Chia Wei.

These are just some of the examples of amazing trends in photography in Singapore, during the 1960s-70s. I really wish we could find more of these treasures, as they represent a time that no longer exists, in Singapore, and in other countries where digital photography is prevalent.

If you have a photograph like this at home, please share them with us by telling us your story and any bits of history that the image inspires. You can do so by posting a as a comment, or emailing to us at we@SgSnaps.com