Opium Smoking in Singapore (Images from the Past)

Below is another great series of photos by Harrison Forman that when you do some research, gives insight to Singapore's dark past when there were still government regulated opium factories and opium dens. There are many well written and research work already on how this opium (seemingly harmless extracted from the poppy plant) affected and distorted trade, changed history, made some people rich and destroyed the lives of many more. (Do see some of the references below which i have provided link for if you want to do more in-depth reading). My focus for this article is trying to make sense and understand this series of pictures from the context of the time period it was taken (1941) were Chandu (opium in smokable form) was still legal, but regulated in Singapore.

Chandu (opium sold in tubes) sold at 26 cents from a legalised Opium retailer, location unknown
(source: Harrison Forman Collection, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries)

Registration Card and Opium (Chandu) sealed in metal tubes 
(source: Harrison Forman Collection, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries)

Factory and factory workers packing opium into metal tubes 
(source: Harrison Forman Collection, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries)

Opium smokers
(source: Harrison Forman Collection, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries)

In 1928, all smokers need to be registered and subsequently made compulsory. A permit card bearing the photograph of the smokers was introduced and by 1934, no more new applicants were accepted unless for medical purposes. The colonial government not only controlled the sale and distribution but also on its manufacturing. In 1930, a packing factory in Pasir Panjang hermetically sealed opium (two hoon worth) into small metal tubes that were affixed with the date and place of issue. The amended Chandu Revenue Ordinance thus made it stricter for illicit chandu to be distributed and purchased.  Opium-smoking was finally outlawed in Singapore on 10 November 1943 during the Japanese Occupation. Post 1945, the war against the scourge of opium continued this time going underground. That is of course for another story all together. 

Unfortunately, i am not able to figure where the location of the pictures are from.  

References

Harrison Forman Collection of the American Geographical Society Library of the University Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries
NewspaperSG. (website). National Library Board, Singapore.
Chasing the Dragon: The Scourge of Opium. (website). BiblioAsia. National Library
Opium and Empire: Chinese Society in Colonial Singapore, 1800-1910
Carl A. Trocki. (website). Available from JSTOR
The Opium Problem in Singapore. (website).United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

About Harrison Forman and his Collection

Harrison Forman (1904-1978) was an American photographer and journalist. He wrote for The New York Times and National Geographic. During World War II he reported from China and interviewed Mao Zedong. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a degree in Oriental Philosophy. His collection of diaries and fifty thousand photographs are now at American Geographical Society Library at University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. The Harrison Forman Photo Collection contains over 3,800 prints and over 300 negatives. This is a fraction of the total Forman collection, sized at 98,000 images, most of which are in 35mm slide format. While the geographical coverage between the slides and photo collections is similar, the photo collection contains Forman’s early work including his Tibet imagery, the Sino-Japanese War, Chinese Civil War, the Henan Famine, and the Blitzkrieg of Poland.