In A Blink Of An Eye..

I've been following an excellent documentary about our local food heritage, named "Foodage", on our local free to air channel. Being a massive foodie (just a nice term to justify my gluttony), I love following any program about food, but this one was of particular interesting because it was about our history as well. 

I love history very much, and it's also because of my interest in history that started me scuba diving (for those of you interested in scuba diving, you can follow my blog on scuba diving. Yes, I do have a lot to say about everything). It wasn't just about knowing the facts about what had happened, but I also enjoy looking at pictures reflecting the yesteryears. Last night's episode followed a local writer, Sylvia Toh Paik Choo, as she walked down Orchard Road and reminisced what stood where along the stretch of Orchard Road which had been massively redeveloped over the last 5 years. 


Lots of wonderful old brand names were thrown up, such as the Fitzpatricks, Yaohan and A&W. I remembered vividly Fitzpatricks and Yaohan, both of which were located in Bukit Timah Plaza, a shopping centre that was a stone's throw away from my parents' home (where I grew up). For those who are familiar with the new Bukit Timah Plaza (that is provided, if anyone really does read this blog.. apart from my ever supportive wife!), Fitzpatricks used to stand at the stretch where the aerobics studio and Popular bookstore now is, whereas Yaohan occupied the present premises of NTUC Finest.

I remembered the fanfare of Yaohan's opening at Bukit Timah Plaza in 1982. They brought in daiko drummers from Japan and I could hear the drums as the bus I was traveling home from school passed Bukit Timah Plaza. There was so much buzz about it and all my schoolmates made plans to visit the store. It was massively exciting for everyone, and it also marked the entry of international brands coming into Singapore as the global trade became a fact of life. Yaohan, a Japanese retail group, first opened in Singapore at Plaza Singapura and it was a destination for my family during our family outings, which would start off with us bundling into the bus towards the famous old Swee Kee chicken rice restaurant along Bras Basah Road, followed by a visit to the games arcade at the top floor of Yaohan, while my mum would go window shop at the departmental store. 

I honestly don't know much of the economics of those days, but I do believe that Yaohan opened in Plaza Singapura in 1974 to cater to the sizable Japanese expatriate community here, many of whom worked in the electronics, manufacturing and maritime industries. I was chummy with a Japanese boy named Takeshi, whose family was our neighbour. I remember him sharing his manga of Ultraman with me, and I remembered that neither of us could speak much of each other's language, but with kids, our common love of Japanese cartoons was a language we both understood.

I learnt from last night's program that the opening of the first MacDonald's at Liat Towers in 1979 (I believe it's where Starbucks and Burger King now stands)  served up a world record for the most number of burgers served in a day. But the first fast food restaurant to come to Singapore was A&W in 1966 along Dunearn Road. I used to pass the restaurant on my way to secondary school where it stood along the canal with its distinctive Minangkabau style thatched roof. Many older (just slightly older) Singaporeans remember the famous root beer float and also its Coney dog, which is hot dog on a bun, drizzled with brown sauce with ground beef. Honestly, the sauce reminds of the consequences of a bad curry dinner, but Kat remembers "Coney dog Tuesday" really well. Singaporeans would squeal at the sight of an A&W restaurant when they travel overseas, and in fact, many who drive to Malaysia would stop at the Ayer Keroh rest stop along the North South Highway just to get their A&W fix. In fact, according to Wikipedia, there have been numerous online petitions to bring A&W back to Singapore (a check on Facebook turns up several such pages). 

Before 7-Eleven opened in 1983, our grocery needs were filled by "ma and pa" shops as well as the ubiquitous "mama" stalls which were the forerunners of the modern convenience stalls. It sold everyday items like newspapers, cigarettes, snacks, simple medication, etc, manned by ethnic Indians who usually hail from India. They were literally corner stalls, and operating out of a literal hole in the wall and is usually stuffed chock a block with merchandise. There was one at my parents' place and I literally grew up with it. The place changed hands just once or twice, so it was basically the same faces since I was a kid. Typical of a mama stall, they knew almost everyone in the neighbourhood since they were the only convenience store for many years, and they were friends to many of the neighbours as well. I was surprised to still see the same man at the stall when I came back from my studies overseas, although he was a lot older. It was a sad indication, a reflection of how fast the years have gone by, how I've grown up, how my own parents have aged. I moved away from home and set up my own, and one day when I came back, the old mama stall was gone. 

Much in Singapore has changed in such a short span of time, and in a blink of an eye, institutions that I had grown up with, are now no more, many of whom have lasted for age. Sounds a lot like life, doesn't it?