Blog

Aug 14, 2021

Bringing back the mobile services

As Singapore’s bid to fully vaccinate its population - especially seniors aged 60 and above - against COVID-19 go into overdrive, the authorities are taking a page from the kampung days.

For weeks, the Ministry of Health has been dispatching mobile vaccination teams to dozens of locations around the island, from Woodlands to Bukit Merah, Jurong West to Tampines. They set up shop in void decks and community clubs, bringing jabs to the masses.

There are also 11 home vaccination teams, visiting seniors who are unable to leave their homes.

Two #IGotMyShot trucks, armed with loudspeakers, ply the same areas as the mobile vaccination teams, broadcasting pre-recorded messages in the four official languages and other Chinese languages, calling on the unvaccinated to get their shots. An emcee in each truck provides information such as specific locations and operating hours of mobile vaccination teams.

This harks back to the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, when it was common for the authorities to send mobile teams into the rural areas to provide essential services to villagers.

Retrofitted trucks and vans braved the island’s rural roads to reach the most remote of villages. They provided cheap or free medical treatment and check-ups such as x-rays for tuberculosis, postal services, library services, replacement and issuing of identity cards, and so on. These absolved villagers of the need to travel long distances to the City.

A Health Department mobile dispensary, donated by the Rotary Club, in 1951.

Credit: Ministry of Information and the Arts Collection, courtesy of National Archives of Singapore.

The mobile dispensary serving students of Bukit Panjang Government School, which was deep in the rural regions at the time.

Credit: Bukit Panjang Government School Collection, courtesy of National Archives of Singapore.

A Government travelling dispensary in 1963.

Mobile x-ray units to combat tuberculosis, 1964.

A mass x-ray campaign at Joo Chiat Community Centre, 1966.

In 1967, Member of Parliament for Moulmein Avadai Dhanam Lakshimi (the wife of Singapore’s third President, Devan Nair) launched a mobile x-ray campaign in her constituency.

Mobile skin clinics to fight leprosy, 1965.

Mobile identity card services, 1957.

Mobile library services, 1967.

A mobile postal services van, 1963.

These vehicles were far cheaper than building a new hospital or post office, and their “touring” schedules could be adjusted according to needs on the ground.

From the 1970s, as villagers were resettled en-masse to self-contained New Towns, and as Singapore’s rural areas shrank, these mobile services were gradually phased out. But we are living in unprecedented times now. Old ways sometimes work in the present. 2021’s mobile vaccination teams have successfully reached thousands of people.

Jul 24, 2021

The runway of Lim Chu Kang Road

Lim Chu Kang Road is a trunk road that has been serving the remote northwest of Singapore Island since 1931. Presently, it can be divided into two parts according to width. The southern stretch is a three-lane dual carriageway south of the junction with Ama Keng Road, while the northern stretch is a single-lane dual carriageway north of the junction.

Today, we explored the former, which runs for around 3.3km from the junction with Old Choa Chu Kang Road to Ama Keng Road.

The junction with Old Choa Chu Kang Road.

This 3.3km stretch also serves as an alternate runway for the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF). Since 1986, the RSAF has been practising launch and recovery operations on the alternate runway. The last exercise, Exercise Torrent, took place in November 2016.

It is clear that this stretch of road can be used as a runway - the road is straight and wide, there is plenty of open space, and there are only bushes, no trees. It is easy to imagine planes taking off and landing on this strip.

This alternate runway was created in the 1980s. Originally, all of Lim Chu Kang Road was a single-lane dual carriageway, and the stretch from Choa Chu Kang Road (now Old Choa Chu Kang Road) to Ama Keng Road was a reverse-C shape (see the 1978 street directory map below).

By 1984 (below), a straighter channel had been laid down, resulting in the expungement of a number of tracks, such as Lorong Pasak and Lorong Kikir. The original Lim Chu Kang Road was retained as Old Lim Chu Kang Road.

By 1991 (below), the land west of the new Lim Chu Kang Road was cleared for agriculture. Tracks such as Lorong Lihat, Lorong Ensel, and Lorong Pintu were expunged for Murai Farmway and its farms.

Lim Chu Kang Veterinary Station moved out sometime before 2009. Today, Old Lim Chu Kang Road is surrounded by military camps: Tengah Airbase, Lim Chu Kang Camp I, and Murai Camp.

The bus stops along this stretch of Lim Chu Kang Road are of the old, classic sort, hardly found anywhere else.

Opposite Lim Chu Kang Camp I.

The junction with Old Lim Chu Kang Road.

Always excited to see the remains of an old, defunct road - this time, it’s traces of Lorong Tukol.

Jalan Murai has survived, and now serves the Murai Urban Training Facility.

A bend lies ahead - and beyond, Lim Chu Kang Road narrows to a single-lane dual carriageway.

This stretch of Lim Chu Kang Road, and Old Lim Chu Kang Road, Jalan Murai, and Murai Farmway, all look to be on borrowed time - Tengah Airbase will be expanded westward in the next few years, changing the landscape of the area.

Things have already been set in motion. Around 80,000 Chinese and Muslim graves in Choa Chu Kang Cemetery Complex have been exhumed; the complex will see its size shrink by 100 hectares, or a third. The six farms of Murai Farmway have moved out. And roadworks to construct a new road to replace the runway stretch of Lim Chu Kang Road have already begun; the new road will be completed in 2025 (below).

One thing’s for sure - this area will see plenty of change in the next few years.

Jul 4, 2021

A historic junction

This is the junction of Upper Thomson Road, Sembawang Road, and Mandai Road - a geographical landmark that has existed for around 170 years.

The junction used to be far smaller, as the trunk roads were not as wide - they started out as single-lane dual carriageways, but were progressively widened to accommodate heavier vehicular traffic. Today, Upper Thomson Road-Sembawang Road is a three-lane dual carriageway, while this stretch of Mandai Road, a single-lane dual carriageway, meets the junction as a two-lane dual carriageway.

The junction in 1954, marked with a blue dot.

At the time, it was the heart of Nee Soon Village.

The junction in the 1940s, including a sign for Nee Soon Post Office, which served the eponymous village. I wish the old, classic signs were kept!

The same location today - the attap house behind the men is gone, replaced by trees, bushes, and grass.

The junction in 1975, marked with a blue dot. More roads in the area had been built and / or named, such as Transit Road, Chong Kuo Road, and Thong Bee Road.

The junction in 1976. Nee Soon Post Office was the building on the left, along Mandai Road. The two-storey concrete building on the right was more than a century old, owned by 71-year-old Soh Chee Kim.

Mr Soh outside his dwelling. Sadly, this lovely, historic building - which had been occupied by the Japanese as an operational headquarters during World War II - was soon demolished for the widening of Sembawang Road.

The same location today. Somehow, the area doesn’t look as rural anymore. Perhaps it is because some of the greenery has been trimmed.

Nee Soon Police Station used to be at the southwest corner of the junction, but it has also been demolished, and the former site taken up by road widening and the creation of a filter lane connecting Upper Thomson Road to Mandai Road.

Fortunately, Nee Soon Post Office, just slightly to the west of the police station, has survived.

Today, the post office has been converted to Mandai Pet Sanctuary, at 5 Mandai Road.