1950’s Singapore Photos

Uncle Chow recently showed me his old photographs from his youth in Singapore.  He has an book of old black-and-white photos from the time before and after he was married.  Photos that show glimpses of what Singapore was like back in the 1950s.

It was quite an honor to see these photos, and Uncle asked me to make some print copies and some electronic copies (well, actually the electronic copies were my idea!).  Uncle has had occasion to meet a few of my friends and he asked me to deliver to them some paper copies of his old photos.

Here on my blog, I’ll share copies of those photos.  You can view a few choice shots here, and then see the slide show link below.

I plan to ‘interview’ Uncle to get the stories behind each photo.  I’ll update the captions in the slideshow as I get the stories.  So check back to learn more.

The first photo is from Uncle’s wedding day in 1959, when he was 26 years old.  He was always and attractive man, and note that he is still a ladies man after all these years!

The second photo is from Uncle’s earlier days.  Uncle Chow never went to school a day in his life.  His mother did not have money to send him, and his father suffered as an opium addict during the rough times in Singapore.  So Uncle Chow started working from the age of 8.  He did various jobs over the years – from working in a ship yard, working in a metal foundry, driving as a chauffer, running a shop, and probably more too…  He was always very strong and told me he used to lift weights regularly at the gym.  He said he could tie a cord to his chest or biceps and flex his muscles to break the cord!  他很厉害！

The last photo is of Uncle Chow playing the lap guitar on a parade float in the city.  He has always loved music and played in various bands over the years.  Now he still plays violin, harmonica, and sings.  He is teaching me the basics of the Chinese violin, the erhu (二胡）。

For more photos, see the slideshow below.