Memory bridges and barriers

I owe an immense debt of gratitude to the faceless transcribers who listen to National Archives oral interviews done in Hokkien, Teochew, and Cantonese, and transcribe them in Chinese characters.

I don’t understand the three aforementioned languages, and besides, listening to hours of tape recordings made in the 1980s - usually with poor audio quality - can be an exhausting chore.

Instead, with transcriptions, I can read the Chinese characters at a quicker pace, and scan entire blocks of text for keywords. My command of Chinese is not very strong, but regular practice has made it better.

Thanks to the transcribers’ labours, a whole world of memories and experiences from the 1920s to 1980s - lived history - has opened up for my study. Many interviewees were already elderly folk when they were recorded in the 1980s. They were born in the 1920s, 1910s, 1900s, one in 1894. They should have passed on by now.

I wonder how much I would have missed out if I had not understood Chinese script. I also wonder how much I’m missing out by not comprehending Malay and Tamil.

Despite relying on Chinese transcriptions to access interviewees’ recollections, I still occasionally listen to their voice recordings, if only just to feel them addressing me from another time, another realm.

The legacy of Yeo Swee Huat Paper Agency

For 63 years, Yeo Swee Huat Paper Agency was a pillar of the paper offering industry, a crucial component of the commemoration of traditional Chinese festivals such as the Hungry Ghost Festival and the Nine Emperor Gods Festival.

Its owner, 83-year-old Yeo Hung Teo, was famous for being one of the few artisans in Singapore who could craft and paint traditional Teochew lanterns.

Sadly, due to multiple health issues, Mr Yeo is unable to work his craft anymore, and he is currently wheelchair-bound.

Yeo Swee Huat Paper Agency, founded by his father Yeo Swee Piew in 1959, also shut its doors for the last time in July.

The historic Teochew business became a victim of a general decline in traditional Chinese trades in Singapore, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the unexpected demise of a longtime employee.

Faced with these immense challenges, Mr Yeo’s wife, Mrs Yeo Siew Peng, was left with little choice but to cease operations.

My team and I have known Yeo Swee Huat Paper Agency since 2017, when we were conducting research for Hell’s Museum. The museum, which opened in October 2021, focuses on perspectives of death and the afterlife, and the firm was relevant because they made paper offerings for the 7th Lunar Month and for funerals.

We were impressed by the artistic skills of the Yeos and their workers, and their deep knowledge of traditional Chinese festivals and Chinese traditions. They were stewards of Singaporean intangible cultural heritage.

When we received news in early June that the paper factory was shutting down, we were dismayed and saddened. We felt we had to do something to honour the Yeos’ contributions and achievements of a lifetime, and allow them to tell their story.

The result is an exhibition in Haw Par Villa, titled End of an Era - The Legacy of a Vanishing Trade: Yeo Swee Huat Paper Agency.

My team and I curated and put together this exhibition in just eight weeks, to have its launch coincide with the 15th day of the 7th Lunar Month - what would have been a very busy period for Yeo Swee Huat Paper Agency.

On display are photos, footage, and original furniture from the Yeos’ factory, and a plethora of colourful paper offerings for funerals and the 7th Lunar Month and other traditional Chinese festivals, all generously donated by the Yeos.

This exhibition will use their works of art to open a window into the oft-misunderstood world of traditional Chinese festivals and practices, a window into thousands of years of philosophy and culture.

More importantly, I hope this exhibition conserves the spirit of Yeo Swee Huat Paper Agency, and honours the Yeos and more than six decades of hard work.

Yeo Swee Huat Paper Agency may be no more, but it is our duty to ensure their legacy lives on for future generations.

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End of an Era - The Legacy of a Vanishing Trade: Yeo Swee Huat Paper Agency runs from now until the end of December. It is at the Cloud Pavilion, next to the Culture Courtyard in Haw Par Villa.

Directions to the Culture Courtyard here.

A brief history of Singapore’s easternmost road

What is the easternmost road on Singapore Island?

Over 200 years of modern Singapore’s history, the answer has changed a number of times, because of waves of land reclamation, and infrastructural development at the eastern end of the island.

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The British founded modern Singapore in 1819. From the 1840s, country roads began to be built from the Town - occupying an area roughly three miles by one mile in the southeastern corner of the island, around the Singapore River - to various corners of the island. One such road snaked from the eastern end of the Town, crossing the Sungei Kallang, across the eastern part of the island, to Sungei Changi at the eastern end, 15 miles away.

As the road passed the Sungei Changi, itself named after the chengal tree, the road was named Changi Road. It was completed sometime between 1843 and 1845, and became Singapore’s easternmost road.

A Chengal tree in Malaysia. “Chengal tree, Peninsula Malaysia, 2005” by Christoph Swoboda is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Below is an 1846 map showing Changi Road ending around the Sungei Changi in the east of the island.

Credit: Urban Redevelopment Authority.

A Changi Bus Company bus on the 13½ Milestone of Changi Road, about a mile from the Sungei Changi, 1953. Credit: F W York Collection, courtesy of National Archives of Singapore.

With the road came settlers to the area around Sungei Changi, although it is also possible that settlers arrived by sea. By the start of the 20th century, two villages arose along the coast off the 13th and 14th Milestones - Kampong Telok Paku and Kampong Beting Kusah. Telok Paku is Malay for “Bay of Nails”, while Beting Kusah is Malay for “Troubled Shoal” - possibly hinting at the dangerous waters off the coast.

The beach at Telok Paku, 1954. Credit: Donald Moore Collection, courtesy of National Archives of Singapore.

The beach at Telok Paku, 1955. Credit: Donald Moore Collection, courtesy of National Archives of Singapore.

Below is a 1923 map showing two tracks connecting the kampungs to Changi Road - Telok Paku Road and Beting Kusah Road. A footpath ran north from Telok Paku Road, hugging the coastline, making Telok Paku Road Singapore’s easternmost road.

Credit: The National Archives, United Kingdom.

During the Japanese Occupation, the Japanese forced Allied prisoners-of-war to start work on an airfield in the area, building two landing strips intersecting in a cross. After the Japanese surrendered in 1945, they were made to complete the airfield, and it opened as Changi Airfield the following year.

The airfield was laid down over parts of Telok Paku Road and Beting Kusah Road, and the shorter, horizontal landing strip forced the realignment of Beting Kusah Road to the east, closer to the coast. However, it still fell short of Telok Paku Road, which remained Singapore’s easternmost road.

Below is a 1945 map showing Telok Paku Road in blue, and Beting Kusah Road in yellow.

Credit: Survey Department, Singapore.

Telok Paku Road, 1942. Credit: The National Archives, United Kingdom.

Telok Paku Road, 1956. Credit: F W York Collection, courtesy of National Archives of Singapore.

Telok Paku Road finally relinquished its title close to a decade later in 1955, when Nicoll Drive was completed as the new road hugging the Changi coast, running from the mouth of Sungei Changi to Tanah Merah Besar Road.

For years, there had been calls for such a road to serve the bungalows lining the coast. Nicoll Drive was built over parts of Telok Paku Road and Beting Kusah Road, and it was named after Singapore Governor Sir John Nicoll (below). He also gave his name to Nicoll Highway, many miles away in the City.

Credit: Lok Wan Tho Collection, courtesy of National Archives of Singapore.

Below is a 1955 street directory map showing the realigned Telok Paku Road in blue, and Nicoll Drive in green.

The seawall next to Nicoll Drive to the far left, 1956. Credit: Public Works Department Collection, courtesy of National Archives of Singapore.

Nicoll Drive was Singapore’s easternmost road until the late 1970s, when major land reclamation pushed the island’s eastern coast eastward for the construction of Changi Airport. The new coastal road serving the reclaimed land was Changi Coast Road, which officially opened in 1981.

Below is a 1981 street directory map showing the realigned Telok Paku Road in blue, what was left of Nicoll Drive in green, and Changi Coast Road in yellow. The kampungs of Telok Paku and Beting Kusah, and the seaside bungalows along the idyllic beach served by Nicoll Drive, became distant memories.

One drove along Changi Coast Road to get a good glimpse of Changi Airport and its control tower (below, in 1990).

Credit: Singapore Tourist Promotion Board Collection, courtesy of National Archives of Singapore.

From the 1990s into the 2000s, more reclamation took place in phases to the east of Changi Coast Road, creating a massive, 1,545-hectare block of land called Changi East. By 1995, Changi Coast Road became a misnomer - the coast had retreated far from it.

By 2001, Changi Naval Base was completed at the southeastern corner of the reclaimed land. The road serving it, accessible from Changi Coast Road, was Tanah Merah Coast Road - which then became Singapore’s easternmost road.

Between 2009 and 2017, Aviation Park Road became Singapore’s easternmost road instead, as it was built in the northern part of Changi East to serve Changi Exhibition Centre.

Below is a 2009 street directory map showing Changi Coast Road in yellow, Tanah Merah Coast Road in blue, and Aviation Park Road in green.

By 2017, Tanah Merah Coast Road was extended from south to north to meet Aviation Park Road, covering the eastern coast of Changi East, consequently becoming Singapore’s easternmost road again.

With the completion of the extension of Tanah Merah Coast Road, most of Changi Coast Road - save for a short stretch between Nicoll Drive and Aviation Park Road - was closed and expunged for the building of Changi Airport Terminal 5 (below).

Credit: Land Transport Authority.

Today, Tanah Merah Coast Road remains Singapore’s easternmost road. It is also the only public road in Singapore with a dedicated on-road bicycle lane (below).

Credit: Google Maps.

The current coastline at Changi East is miles away from the original coastline of the 19th century. And, it is set to move further east in coming years, away from Tanah Merah Coast Road.

It has been announced that reclamation of around 900 hectares of land will start by the end of this year, to the east of Changi East (below). The project will take at least 10 years to complete.

Credit: SPH Media Trust.

It remains to be seen what the land will be used for. Likewise, it remains to be seen whether Tanah Merah Coast Road will be realigned to hug the new coastline, or a new coastal road will take its place as Singapore’s easternmost road.

Telok Paku Road today, at the junction of Changi Village Road (formerly part of Changi Road). Credit: Google Maps.