207. A WALK INTO THE PAST - BALESTIER

 

This name Shaw Brothers (SB) belongs to another era and a generation that's referred to at times as the baby boomers, born after the war - in the case of old Singapore and Malaya, it's the Japanese Occupation.

This production studio churned out a prolific number of Malay movies in black and white which were very entertaining than, it was a time of innocence and simple pleasures, although to take in a movie in a cinema was a special treat and not many people than could do it often.

A vintage caretaker looks after the place. He has kept it clean turning it into a museum of sorts with memorabilia of the filming days and the better known actors of that time. The studio is not opened to the public, he was at the gate and kindly consented to let me in for a quick tour.

The place is likely private property belonging to the SB Trust. It's been left standing for so long with no plans of any kind by the look of it. Interested parties may visit with written consent...

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Toa Payoh Town was built in the 1960s - it's a vintage town with this public pool that looks retro and this observation tower that attracted local tourists from other parts of the island when first erected. They are quite charming, has this old world air about them, the local government has retained them even if few people climb the tower...!

The 'lake' garden is just as old, after improvement works, it's nice for walks and jogs.

In those early years of nation building, appealing to the majority Chinese for support was important. The dragon was the symbol of choice before the Merlion came along! This exploratory walk took me to some really old areas of Toa Payoh, Balestier and Whampoa, ending in Kallang - places I would otherwise not have gone to on my own...

The famed Oasis rice porridge restaurant still stands after moving out of Kallang to make way for today's Kallang Wave complex and all the rest of it - I was quite surprised to see this, they must have some ardent fans...

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From Toa Payoh, I cut across into the Balestier area. This Burmese Buddhist temple I visited about 3 years back, it's next door to the Sun Yat Sen Memorial hall where I had spent a pleasant morning checking out its exhibits... (Post 157)

The Sun Yat Seng Memorial Hall is a nice building, he stayed here during his 9 visits to Singapore and is a fitting venue to commemorate him, the exhibits I saw 3 years back were nice (Post 157)

In this compound fronting the Memorial Hall, this is like saying 'I was here' - the inscription mentioned a great man but I can't for the life of me find out what's his contribution to Singapore, unless it's indirectly, that SG is associated with such a famous revolutionary...who turned China and Taiwan upside down. He made time though for a lusty life with several wives and concubines...

This is the only building of interest along this stretch of Balestier that's been restored so beautifully. Others are still waiting and the potential of this district is obvious, just that it's not its time yet. It's a rundown district with seedy looking karaoke bars and typical coffeeshops that have become well-known to the locals and even Asian tourists as food havens.

Tacky signboards and peeling walls, grimy, sooty, that have seen better days...