A People's Farewell for Dr Goh

Over 18,000 people paid their respect to our late Deputy Prime Minister Dr Goh Keng Swee in Parliament House over the weekend. Young and old, male and female; some even wept. While not part of the multitude, I paid my respect in another way. On Sunday, I gave our great architect a silent farewell outside Parliament House.

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2nd Shot: CHIJMES from Bras Basah and North Bridge Road Junction

The second shot was taken in 2004, proof that my hobby predated the blog. It was memorable shooting from the hedge along Raffles Arcade, with vehicles coming in my direction. I was able to align the steeple of CHIJMES Chapel with the roof of the foreground building, so this second shot is one of my most satisfying to date.

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2nd Shot: High Street and North Bridge Road Junction

Source
Source: National Archives of Singapore
Caption: Electric Tramcars at High Street and North Bridge Road Junction
Record Date: circa 1908
2nd Shot
Date: August 2004

This is actually my second 'second shot'. The first is here. After four years lying in a digital forest, it is time to let her see the world.

My old second shots are especially memorable. Back then, with the old 3.1 Megapixel Amconics, I would retake and retake the second shot, on multiple days, until they look perfect to me. They are still not perfect, but the end result looks better than those taken by the new 10 Megapixel prosumer camera.

How did it feel like to sit in one of those trams, I wonder?

Update: Victor asked in the comments how I oriented myself at the junction. Unless you are an oldie and frequented High Street often in the past (Aurora, Metro, Polar Cafe, TMA, Ensign Bookstore anybody?), or you have elephant memory like Peter Chan from GMY, the best clue will be the bridge in the background. That is the old Elgin Bridge. The bridge in the modern photo is the new Elgin Bridge.


Old Elgin Bridge
Source: National Archives of Singapore

Tan Quee Lan - The Man Who Donated a Monkey

I mentioned Tan Quee Lan Street in my discussion on 7th Storey Hotel and Farquhar Street. I even did a second shot on it.

However I do not know anything about the man after whom the street is named. This man, Tan Quee Lan (陈桂兰), is obscure among the Tan clan of Singapore. The Tan clan boasts of distinguished pioneers like Tan Tock Seng, Tan Kah Kee and Tan Kim Seng. According to statistics, Tan is the most common Chinese surname in Singapore.

Who is Tan Quee Lan? What is his legacy, his contribution to Singapore?

Google reveals nothing about the man. So I look for the man in the toponymic guides.

ROFL.

The four letter acronym is what describes my reaction.

Other than describing him as a "prominent Hokkien merchant and landowner", the guide also tells us "he presented a monkey to the Raffles Museum".

Well done!

I shall remember him as the man who donated a monkey. What about you?

On a side note, while exploring the street, I found traces of the old. The drain is right behind the car park. The buildings on that side of the street were demolished, so the grass patch is where the buildings used to be. I'm not sure why they spent money to tile the wall/floor beside a drain.


Traces of the old at Tan Quee Lan Street.

2nd Shot: North Bridge Road Sook Ching Centre

Source
Source: ?
Record Date: 1942
2nd Shot
Date: Mid 2004

A few friends have been quite supportive of my blog project and I'm heartened to know they like my entries and photos.

I've taken up a small hobby sometime back. I call it "precision heritage photography" - find a source, scout the location today and snap the second shot. The series of photographs are the inspiration for this blog.

In this entry, I humbly present to you my first second shot. It was taken 4 years back.

The source shows the Sook Ching (肃清) interrogation centre along North Bridge Road. It is amazing that such a shot was taken. How did the photographer do it? Where did he stand? What camera did he use?

Finding the present day location was my first lucky break for the hobby. The source photo can be found in many history books but the captions do not reveal anything beyond "North Bridge Road".

As I wandered along North Bridge Road, a familiar yellow sight caught my attention. Slowly but swiftly, it transforms into the hauntingly black and white photo of yesteryear.

Stare at the photos long enough. It is not hard to imagine the same crowd, with the tank, in front of the yellow sight today....

PS: Full source photo here.

2nd Shot: Tan Quee Lan Street

Source
Source: National Archives of Singapore PICAS
Record Date: 1945
2nd Shot
Date: June 2008