Rojak Librarian

 Homer Cheng Hui Ming, M.B.E (21 May 1906 -17 January 1954) was born in Foochow, China. He graduated from the Anglo-Chinese College at Foochow, China and came to Singapore in 1924 and entered Government service as a translator in the Chinese Secretariat before rising to being the Assistant Secretary for Chinese Affairs  (1948-1952). Mr. Homer Cheng Hui Ming was the first Chairman of Official Board of Foochow Methodist Church (卫理公会福灵堂设教) in 1940. He was a founder Member and Vice-President of China Society, Singapore (1949-1954), Assistant Registrar of Societies (1949); Secretary of Chinese Advisory Board and Board of Visitors for Social Welfare Homes (1952), Member of Singapore Anti-Tuberculosis Association (1953) and widely remembered for being the President of Chinese YMCA (1949-1954).  Homer Cheng Hui Ming was awarded the Member of the Order of the British Empire (M.B.E.) in 1952. In that year, Mr. Tay Koh Yat received his O.B.E -Honorary) and Yap Pheng Geck received his M.B.E.  Hom

I heard about the Tai Thean Kew circus  from my involvement with Bukit Brown and during one my tours on the Queenstown Heritage Trail , i was told of another Indian circus troupe that existed in the late 1950's and 1960's. Recently, while curating ideas for a Bukit Brown tour on Pioneers of Early Entertainment, i came across a travelling circus troupe by the name of Kamala Circus. Kamala Circus (source: NewspaperSG) Kamala Circus was reputed to be the largest travelling show in the Far East. It boasted over 100 Indian artist and featured acts such as the flying trapeze act, the "Globe of Death" motor cycle act by two young girls, a 30 foot leap by a motorcyclist and the "cat" act. It claims over 300 tons of equipment and animals which include 16 horses, 8 Ceylon baby elephants, an African lion and 2 lionesses, 2 tiger cubs and 3 Indian mountain goats. It came to Singapore in 1947 from India via Ceylon and performed for a month before touring around th

8 years ago i met the descendants of Yap Geok Song in a very happy gathering to celebrate the clearing and restoration of the tomb after they contacted me. The occasion did not go unnoticed and was reported in Zaobao dated 22 September 2014 . Today (16 April 2022) i was fortunate to meet again the descendants in their annual Qing Ming occasion to honor their ancestor. I am thankful once again for their permission to document this private moment and for allowing me to join them in this special occasion. I was also very happy they remembered me as well and to note that all who attended today are healthy enough to make the journey into the forest despite a wet muddy day. Fortunately everyone arrived to tomb of Yap Geok Song safely and without incident. Experience shows and everyone efficiently did their part to get ready the offerings and prepare for the prayers and subsequently completing it. It was a gathering of sorts as well, where while waiting for their ancestor to "finish ea

If you happen to take multiple wrong turnings while exploring MacRitchie Reservoir, you might see a stone structure and other structures such as the ones below in the beautiful forest of MacRitchie. This are remains of a shrine built by the Japanese during its occupation of Singapore and the carved stone you see with water on top was part of a "temizuya" water pavilion or water-fill basins used by worshippers for washing before approaching the Shinto Shrine. Shinto Shrine at MacRitchie Reservoir Temizuya" water pavilion Granite wall  Granite steps leading to the shrine  The jungle has reclaimed this shrine and what remains are memories of a place that once was a symbol of occupation. Researching, i found some photos of this place at its construction phase and later in its full glory. source: Syonan Shimbun Remains of the bridge  Close up of the wooden pillars of the remains of the bridge The bridge  Construction of th

There was a series of pictures that were recently published on PictureSG, donated by Foo Chin Hwa 胡拯华 1962 that got me curious. It was a series of pictures that shows and describes exhumation being carried out and bones found in Siglap. However nothing further was added in the description and credit line of this pictures except for a few. For this series of pictures, a few things were consistent, the year the pictures were taken and the donor, Foo Chin Hwa 胡拯华.  source: PictureSG Bones found in Siglap (source: PictureSG) Piles of discarded footwear source: PictureSG Storing bones in jar (source: PictureSG) Siglap's "Valley of Death" The newspaper article headline of 24 February 1962 caught my attention. It describes a recent sandwashing activity at 7.5 mile Siglap Road which led to a discovery of mass war graves. The location of this place is off Evergreen Avenue and very close to Puay Poon School. The Chinese Chamber of Commerce set-up a

Sir David James Galloway, Kt. Bach, M.D. , F.R.C.P, , (Edin) was born in Edinburgh in 1858 and graduated as medical doctor (M.D.) in Edinburgh University and elected to the Fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. He arrived in Malaya at the age of 27 on 15 February 1885 and took over the the practice of the Dr. John Robertson (father of Dr. Murray Robertson). Early in his Malayan Career he gained the confidence of the Sultan Abu Bakar and his family as their family physician. He was awarded the second class Crown of Johore in 1896. He was the person that accompanied Sultan Abubakar to England where the Sultan passed away. He brought back the embalmed remains back himself.  In 1890, David James Galloway became the President of the Straits Medical Association and later President of the Malaya branch of the British Medical Association. In 1902 he entered the Legislative council and served until 1914 and again in 1920. He was nominated to the Executive Council (the firs

I have long known that there was a school that existed near Bukit Brown since its mentioned back when there was an exhibition about Bukit Brown  ( Bukit Brown: Documenting New Horizons of Knowledge 2014 ). The name of the school was called Chin Chung Public School (振中学校) and it's address was No 25, Jalan Berahi, off Kheam Hock Road, Singapore 11 (The postal code was only 2 digits !). The interest came back recently when Soh Ah Beng, a friend and fellow explorer showed me his school report card and that spurred me to ask this question, where is the original location of the school and is it still there?  Today's discovery was a very exciting one because we manage to find out the foundations of Chin Chung Public School was very much still intact and the road that led to the school was still intact as well ! Chin Chung Public School Report Card of Soh Ah Beng  Chin Chung Public School no longer exist but the foundation and the steps leading to the school from Jalan Berahi is still