Episodes
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Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Maria Yap was in the education service from 1973 to 2023. She recalls her early struggles as a beginning teacher and how she learned to manage students. She gives her views on the streaming policy and teaching students from the Normal stream, whom she found to be very intelligent.
00:00 Introduction
01:54 Joined Teaching in 1973
08:18 I Loved to Learn
17:33 Institute of Education & Her First Classes
23:28 Managing Students
28:27 Streaming & Mother Tongue
32:20 Teaching Normal Students
I am Dr Loh Kah Seng, the people’s historian. In Chronicles of Old Singapore, I speak to people about their memories of Singapore before it became a global city.
Do give us a like and subscribe to the channel for future episodes.
Write to [email protected] if you have stories to share.
YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@ChroniclesOldSG
Spotify | https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/loh-ks
Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/61551786759344/
Patreon | https://www.patreon.com/ChroniclesofOldSingapore
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Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Dr Edmund Monteiro was the Medical Director of Middleton Hospital & CDC from 1980 to 1993. He remembers the first time he stepped into the hospital with his family during the Japanese Occupation. An Indian boy his age welcomed him at the gate and asked him, is the water here safe to drink, and can you swim?
00:00 Introduction
02:53 Earliest Memory of Middleton Hospital
11:38 The Houses & Wards
20:55 My Father Ernest
28:56 My Mother Una
38:51 The Japanese at Middleton
42:47 Posting to Middleton
I am Dr Loh Kah Seng, the people’s historian. In Chronicles of Old Singapore, I speak to people about their memories of Singapore before it became a global city.
Do give us a like and subscribe to the channel for future episodes.
Write to [email protected] if you have stories to share.
YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@ChroniclesOldSG
Spotify | https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/loh-ks
Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/61551786759344/
Patreon | https://www.patreon.com/ChroniclesofOldSingapore -
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Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Maria Yap remembers unforgettable places in Old Changi Village like the cinema, the beach, the creek, and the sea. The village diminished when the British forces left and her family moved to Chai Chee Estate. But Maria and her husband still visit Changi Village today for its unique charm.
Memories of Changi Village:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/358860330966889
00:00 Changi Cinema & Other Places
08:09 The British & RAF Changi
12:17 The British Pullout & Moving to Chai Chee
14:41 Decline of Changi Village
16:10 Changi Beach
24:04 The Memories of Changi Village Group
I am Dr Loh Kah Seng, the people’s historian. In Chronicles of Old Singapore, I speak to people about their memories of Singapore before it became a global city.
Do give us a like and subscribe to the channel for future episodes.
Write to [email protected] if you have stories to share.
YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@ChroniclesOldSG
Spotify | https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/loh-ks
Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/61551786759344/
Patreon | https://www.patreon.com/ChroniclesofOldSingapore
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Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Maria Yap recalls her tough but memorable childhood growing up in Old Changi Village before the British vacated RAF Changi. Her father was a cobbler in the village and her mother a washerwoman in the airbase.
Memories of Changi Village:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/358860330966889
00:00 Introduction
02:40 Moving to Changi Village
08:32 Father’s Shoe Shop
15:13 Our House at Jalan Bekukong
22:55 Mother was a Washerwoman
28:36 Childhood Friends
I am Dr Loh Kah Seng, the people’s historian. In Chronicles of Old Singapore, I speak to people about their memories of Singapore before it became a global city.
Do give us a like and subscribe to the channel for future episodes.
Write to [email protected] if you have stories to share.
YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@ChroniclesOldSG
Spotify | https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/loh-ks
Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/61551786759344/
Patreon | https://www.patreon.com/ChroniclesofOldSingapore
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Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Brian Richmond takes us back to the ways football was played, strategised and refereed in the past. He tells us his best game and what an honour it was to captain the Singapore team. He pays tribute to the greatest team in Singapore football and considers the Lion City’s football heritage.
00:00 Tactics & Formations in the Early Days
04:15 Strict Referees & Great Referees
10:04 My Best Game
17:00 The Kallang Roar & the Malaysia Cup
22:28 Taking Care of the Body
27:12 Tribute to the Greatest Singapore Team
30:46 The Problem of Corruption
32:16 Singapore’s Football Heritage
36:09 Local Teams
I am Dr Loh Kah Seng, the people’s historian. In Chronicles of Old Singapore, I speak to people about their memories of Singapore before it became a global city.
Do give us a like and subscribe to the channel for future episodes.
Write to [email protected] if you have stories to share.
YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@ChroniclesOldSG
Spotify | https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/loh-ks
Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/61551786759344/
Patreon | https://www.patreon.com/ChroniclesofOldSingapore
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Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Yeo Hong Eng remembers illegal wine distilling and secret societies in Kampong Chai Chee, as well as how the villagers tried to maximise their compensation when they were resettled in the 1970s. His sisters worked in the Rollei factory at the new Chai Chee Estate, and he became an avid collector of Rollei cameras.
00:00 Moonshining in Kampong Chai Chee
06:42 Secret Societies
11:49 Avoiding the Authorities
13:34 Rehousing & Compensation
24:23 Rollei at Chai Chee
28:18 My Collection of Rollei Cameras
Mr Yeo can be contacted at yeohongengATyahoo.com.sg
I am Dr Loh Kah Seng, the people’s historian. In Chronicles of Old Singapore, I speak to people about their memories of Singapore before it became a global city.
Do give us a like and subscribe to the channel for future episodes.
Write to [email protected] if you have stories to share.
YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@ChroniclesOldSG
Spotify | https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/loh-ks
Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/61551786759344/
Patreon | https://www.patreon.com/ChroniclesofOldSingapore
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Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Brian Richmond, the beloved voice of Singapore football, talks about a lesser known side of his romance with the sport – his early playing days from the 1950s to 1971. He represented the Singapore/Malaysian youth teams before being promoted to the Singapore national team. He recalls some great players and coaches he met in his playing days and afterwards.
00:00 Introduction
00:58 My Football Story (in Short!)
17:22 Early Romance with Football
22:17 The 1966 Singapore Football Team
26:42 Uncle Choo Seng Quee
32:49 As a Versatile Player
37:42 The Great Players
I am Dr Loh Kah Seng, the people’s historian. In Chronicles of Old Singapore, I speak to people about their memories of Singapore before it became a global city.
Do give us a like and subscribe to the channel for future episodes.
Write to [email protected] if you have stories to share.
YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@ChroniclesOldSG
Spotify | https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/loh-ks
Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/61551786759344/
Patreon | https://www.patreon.com/ChroniclesofOldSingapore
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Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. American geographer Jack Humphrey looks at his old photographs of Kampong Potong Pasir and recalls its houses, residents and flora. We talk about the resettlement of the kampong in the early 1980s and the politics that happened during that time.
00:00 Potong Pasir’s Houses
10:39 Malay Fishermen
16:05 Resettlement
20:07 Politics & Chiam See Tong
27:19 Ingenious Uses of Space
39:28 Conservation of the Kampong
In his research, Jack conducted a preliminary survey of Kampong Potong Pasir before it was demolished. The report has not been published though Jack hopes to do so. His students from the NUS Department of Geography conducted research on Potong Pasir for their Honours theses:
• Lee, Hoong Cheng. Kampong Potong Pasir: A Survey of its Existing Economic Activities 1979.
• Lee, Lye Hoon. Resettlement of the Potong Pasir Community: A Study of Attitudes and Destinations. 1979.
• Heng, San-san. Mental Mapping of Potong Pasir. 1977.
• Jebamoney, Ebenezer. The Use of Space in Potong Pasir: Two Micro-studies. 1976.
I am Dr Loh Kah Seng, the people’s historian. In Chronicles of Old Singapore, I speak to people about their memories of Singapore before it became a global city.
Do give us a like and subscribe to the channel for future episodes.
Write to me [email protected] if you have stories to share.
YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@ChroniclesOldSG
Spotify | https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/loh-ks
Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/61551786759344/
Patreon | https://www.patreon.com/ChroniclesofOldSingapore
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Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Yeo Hong Eng, a retired teacher, wrote two books on the places of his childhood – Tanah Merah Kechil, which was part of Bedok Village, and Kampong Chai Chee. He talks about both kampongs and working on his family’s farm in Chai Chee.
00:00 Introduction
07:11 Tanah Merah Kechil & Bedok Village
13:28 Moving to 262-B Peng Ghee Road
19:56 The Family House
30:21 Working on the Farm
36:27 Floods
40:21 Peng Ghee School
Mr Yeo can be contacted at yeohongengATyahoo.com.sg
I am Dr Loh Kah Seng, the people’s historian. In Chronicles of Old Singapore, I speak to people about their memories of Singapore before it became a global city.
Do give us a like and subscribe to the channel for future episodes.
Write to me [email protected] if you have stories to share.
YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@ChroniclesOldSG
Spotify | https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/loh-ks
Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/61551786759344/
Patreon | https://www.patreon.com/ChroniclesofOldSingapore
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Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Jack Humphrey was an American geographer who conducted a study of Kampong Potong Pasir in the late 1970s with his Singaporean students. He talks about its layout, origins and multiracial population. He found that unlike what people had told him, Potong Pasir was not a bad slum, but a safe and friendly community. It was also being demolished but people were determined to stay.
00:00 Introduction
04:19 Coming to Malaya & Singapore
11:17 Fieldwork in Potong Pasir
20:10 Map of Potong Pasir
29:25 Misconceptions
37:27 Potong Pasir’s Origins
44:07 Ethnic Groups
51:36 Houses & Structures
In his research, Jack conducted a preliminary survey of Kampong Potong Pasir before it was demolished. The report has not been published though Jack hopes to do so. His students from the NUS Department of Geography conducted research on Potong Pasir for their Honours theses:
• Lee, Hoong Cheng. Kampong Potong Pasir: A Survey of its Existing Economic Activities 1979.
• Lee, Lye Hoon. Resettlement of the Potong Pasir Community: A Study of Attitudes and Destinations. 1979.
• Heng, San-san. Mental Mapping of Potong Pasir. 1977.
• Jebamoney, Ebenezer. The Use of Space in Potong Pasir: Two Micro-studies. 1976.
I am Dr Loh Kah Seng, the people’s historian. In Chronicles of Old Singapore, I speak to people about their memories of Singapore before it became a global city.
Do give us a like and subscribe to the channel for future episodes. Write to me [email protected] if you have stories to share.
YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@ChroniclesOldSG
Spotify | https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/loh-ks
Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/61551786759344/
Patreon | https://www.patreon.com/ChroniclesofOldSingapore
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Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Jean Ang remembers setting up a games stall at Duxton Road when she was young and moving out to a HDB flat at Lengkok Bahru. She talks about the different jobs she concurrently held in the hospitality industry, and why it is important for seniors to continue to ‘look up over the rainbow’.
00:00 I was a Stallholder at Duxton Road
07:05 Gangsters & Brothels
13:17 Moving to a HDB Flat at Lengkok Bahru
17:34 The Conserved Shophouses
22:51 My Job & My Many Gigs
31:32 Always at the Front of the Class
35:19 Looking Up Over the Rainbow
I am Dr Loh Kah Seng, the people’s historian. In Chronicles of Old Singapore, I speak to people about their memories of Singapore before it became a global city.
Do give us a like and subscribe to the channel for future episodes.
YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@ChroniclesOldSG
Spotify | https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/loh-ks
Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/61551786759344/
Patreon | https://www.patreon.com/ChroniclesofOldSingapore
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Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. As a teenager in the early 1960s, Jean Ang and her mother went to the wharves to work as longsai, a corruption of the word ‘alongside’. Jean describes how they cleaned the insides of ships, braving the dangers of work that was done by women. Jean lived at Duxton Road and her mother was previously a samsui woman.
00:00 Introduction
02:24 The Longsai, or Ship Cleaners
08:20 Cleaning the Ship
15:32 Hazards & Accidents
20:50 My Mother was also a Samsui Woman
24:29 The Samsui Woman Painting
27:23 My Schools
I am Dr Loh Kah Seng, the people’s historian. In Chronicles of Old Singapore, I speak to people about their memories of Singapore before it became a global city.
Do give us a like and subscribe to the channel for future episodes.
YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@ChroniclesOldSG
Spotify | https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/loh-ks
Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/61551786759344/
Patreon | https://www.patreon.com/ChroniclesofOldSingapore
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Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Rey Pereira remembers growing up in a kampong at Jalan Wijayay (now expunged), part of Kampong Kembangan. He also loves collecting mementos. One fateful day in 2008, he felt Singapore has changed so much that he decided to set up a Facebook group and a blog called Nostalgic Singapore to share memories of Old Singapore.
Nostalgic Singapore:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/48000673979/
https://nostalgicaboutsingapore.blogspot.com/
Rey Pereira’s book on Uncle Choo:
https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/13203#t=aboutBook
00:00 Introduction
05:16 Collecting Mementos
11:38 Jalan Wijaya
18:53 Kampong Kembangan
25:37 Communal Kampong
28:15 24 Jalan Wijaya
36:08 My Childhood Friends
45:26 Sussex Estate
50:01 Nostalgic Singapore
01:01:12 My Book on Uncle Choo
Do give us a like and subscribe to the channel for future episodes.
YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@ChroniclesOldSG
Spotify | https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/loh-ks
Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/61551786759344/
Patreon | https://www.patreon.com/ChroniclesofOldSingapore
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Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Charmaine Leung talks about the community at Keong Saik Road and her struggle to find her identity after moving out. She wrote her book with her mother’s agreement and was overwhelmed by the response. The heritage of Keong Saik Road, she says, should include the lives and struggles of the women who worked there.
Charmaine Leung, 17A Keong Saik Road: A Personal Story,
https://www.ethosbooks.com.sg/products/17a-keong-saik-road
Take Charmaine Leung’s audio tour of Keong Saik Road:
https://www.klook.com/activity/117053-untold-stories-singapore-red-light-district-keong-saik-road/
00:00 Stigma & Shame in the Singapore Story
09:10 Leaving Keong Saik Was Painful
15:49 The Hungry Ghost Festival & the Community
23:21 Shaping My Character
26:07 Writing the Book
32:49 The Overwhelming Response
38:59 Keong Saik Road’s Women and Its Heritage
I am Dr Loh Kah Seng, the people’s historian. In Chronicles of Old Singapore, I speak to people about their memories of Singapore before it became a global city.
Do give us a like and subscribe to the channel for future episodes.
YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@ChroniclesOldSG
Spotify | https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/loh-ks
Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/61551786759344/
Patreon | https://www.patreon.com/ChroniclesofOldSingapore
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Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Irene Hoe remembers her childhood at Old Dhoby Ghaut. She recalls the two businesses her mother Wu Chuen Chuen ran – Stamford Café and a hairdressing salon. I was surprised by her story of how her mother gave her up for adoption when she was very young so she could have a better life (though she returned home soon), and how she obtained closure over the matter years later.
00:00 Introduction
02:00 19 Dhoby Ghaut
08:22 Rex Bookstore
12:15 Our Hairdressing Salon
19:57 My Mum as a Businesswoman
27:45 Stamford Café
50:20 My Parents & Siblings
55:12 My Adoption
01:04:30 What Girls Did in Those Days
01:09:47 Second-hand Bookstores
01:14:28 Heritage & the Real Singapore
I am Dr Loh Kah Seng, a people’s historian. In Chronicles of Old Singapore, I speak to people about their memories of Singapore before it became a global city.
Do give us a like and subscribe to the channel for future episodes.
YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@ChroniclesOldSG
Spotify | https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/loh-ks
Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/61551786759344/
Patreon | https://www.patreon.com/ChroniclesofOldSingapore
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Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Charmaine Leung grew up along Keong Saik Road in the 1970s and early 1980s, her house next to the brothel which her mother operated. She tells us about the pei pa zai who worked in the entertainment houses, the transition to a red-light district after the war and some of the women who worked in the brothels.
Charmaine Leung, 17A Keong Saik Road: A Personal Story,
https://www.ethosbooks.com.sg/products/17a-keong-saik-road
Take Charmaine Leung’s audio tour of Keong Saik Road:
https://www.klook.com/activity/117053-untold-stories-singapore-red-light-district-keong-saik-road/
00:00 Introduction
02:30 15A & 17A Keong Saik Road
11:04 Pei Pa Zai & Entertainment Houses
19:21 Transition to A Red-Light District
26:02 The Sex Workers
34:18 My Parents
38:48 The Brothel Business
42:45 Finding Out & Coming to Terms
I am Dr Loh Kah Seng, a people’s historian. In Chronicles of Old Singapore, I speak to people about their memories of Singapore before it became a global city.
Do give us a like and subscribe to the channel for future episodes.
YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@ChroniclesOldSG
Spotify | https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/loh-ks
Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/61551786759344/
Patreon | https://www.patreon.com/ChroniclesofOldSingapore
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Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. I didn’t realise that when I asked to interview Ronald Chng, Singapore’s golden judoka of the 1970s, he would take to the podcast to highlight the connection between sports and work. His fighting spirit helped him succeed as an engineer even though he faced discrimination from some companies that frowned upon his training and competing in judo.
00:00 Introduction
01:10 Judo for Self-Defence
09:51 My Fighting Spirit
17:45 Self-Belief in Judo and Work
26:18 A Bad Time at Diethelm
35:05 Du Pont: The Company That Supported My Judo
38:51 Switch to F&N & Soft Drinks
42:01 Working in Myanmar & Vietnam
57:53 The SEA(P) Games
01:03:19 Judo in Singapore
01:14:47 Training Elite Athletes
YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@ChroniclesOldSG
Spotify | https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/loh-ks
Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/61551786759344/
Patreon | https://www.patreon.com/ChroniclesofOldSingapore
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Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Irene Hoe recalls having non-Chinese friends during her childhood in Dhoby Ghaut, as well as Indian, Eurasian, Chinese, and Malay classmates at CHIJ. She organised a three-day reunion party for old girls in 2006 and tells us why she feels CHIJ’s heritage and memory have not been adequately documented.
00:00 The Curriculum
06:27 The Malay Class
08:12 My Non-Chinese Childhood in Dhoby Ghaut
21:40 The 2006 Reunion
30:14 CHIJ’s Heritage
36:53 Multiracial, Multicultural CHIJ
42:05 The Campus in Toa Payoh
YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@ChroniclesOldSG
Spotify | https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/loh-ks
Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/61551786759344/
Patreon | https://www.patreon.com/ChroniclesofOldSingapore
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Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Wilson Tang & Elsie Fong tell the story of Ren Ren Desserts, from his parents’ zi char business to studying at the Hotel & Catering Training Centre and then working at Hyatt Hotel as a chef. He explains the decision to run the desserts stall at the Chinatown Food Street with Elsie in 2001.
They also talk about Yat Ka Yan 一家人 and Hup Ka Foon合家歡 – two popular desserts businesses today by their younger relatives – as well as what could be done to make the new Smith Street a success.
Order from Ren Ren 仁仁Desserts: https://www.renrendesserts.com/
00:00 Introduction
02:08 My Parents’ Zi Char Business
06:43 二姑糖水 Second Aunt’s Desserts
12:36 Effects of the Hotel Boom
20:13 Hotel & Catering Training Centre
27:40 What Shatec Can Do at Smith Street
36:07 Culinary Teachers from the Hotel Industry
42:02 Ren Ren Desserts at Smith Street, 2001
50:12 Learning to Make Cantonese Desserts
59:14 Moving to Katong Shopping Centre
01:04:52 Running Ren Ren Together
01:08:30 Success of Yat Ka Yan & Hup Ka Foon
YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@ChroniclesOldSG
Spotify | https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/loh-ks
Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/61551786759344/
Patreon | https://www.patreon.com/ChroniclesofOldSingapore
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Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Old girl Irene Hoe takes us back to the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus at Victoria Street, where she studied from 1957 to 1966, and a few of the nuns she remembers vividly. She also recalls helping out at Stamford Café at Bras Basah Road, run by her enterprising mother. One of the patrons was the late former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew.
00:00 Introduction
01:23 Enrolling in CHIJ in 1957
09:16 Stamford Café@82 Bras Basah Road
26:55 Her Book on CHIJ
31:41 Small Gate
38:17 The Nuns
41:10 School Discipline
YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@ChroniclesOldSG
Spotify | https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/loh-ks
Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/61551786759344/
Patreon | https://www.patreon.com/ChroniclesofOldSingapore
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