On the evening of Friday 12 May, as part of this year’s Singapore HeritageFest, I gave a talk on 200 years of Singapore transport and urban history.
Like previous talks, it drew on material from my book Jalan Singapura: 700 Years of Movement in Singapore. This time, however, I included findings from ongoing research for my next book.
I also introduced audience engagement, inviting them to answer two questions on their mobile phones:
1. What is one enduring memory you have of Singapore land transport, which no longer exists?
Some answers:
- Riding Bendy Buses in eastern Singapore
- The “ding dong” speed limit warning in the old Crown / Cedric taxis
- The train from Tanjong Pagar to Woodlands and beyond
- The first railway track! In one of the walking tours, I was brought to this underpass near the pinnacle hdb, I was told this was part of the first railway track. That was what led me to do my own reading up on it, and Eisen’s book shed useful insight in this area
- The old non-air-conditioned SBS buses with the sliding windows. If you didn’t close them on time or couldn’t close them when it rained, the rain will fall and collect on the tracks of the sliding windows and dribble onto the seat and onto the floor which I remember was the industrial aluminium flooring with the anti-slip pattern
2. What is your biggest wish for Singapore transport / urban development?
Some answers:
- Can eat (on public transport)
- To not further disrupt the nature for more roads and mrt networks
- 24 hour public transport
- magnetic levitation
- Bike path connecting each district
- More diverse rail transit modes like bringing back trams, use of monorails beyond Sentosa, etc…
- A wider variety of bus models please
- Abolishment of “Jaywalking” for more pedestrian friendly streets
- ...I would love to see a museum of transport in Singapore with life size vintage vehicles
Hear, hear!
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