[ 7th Lunar Month: Block 53 Chin Swee Road ]

I was fortunate to arrive just as the burning of paper offerings was starting. The participants were boisterous in flinging the paper money and scattering the sweets and candy. They were in good spirits (pun intended).

https://www.historybyeisen.com/post/7th-lunar-month-block-53-chin-swee-road

[ 7th Lunar Month: Pek Kio Market & Food Centre ]

I was passing by the Pek Kio area when I chanced upon this 7th Lunar Month festival under a tent next to Block 44 Owen Road and Pek Kio Market & Food Centre.

According to the organisers, the festival has been organised by stallholders of the market and food centre for at least 50 years.

https://www.historybyeisen.com/post/7th-lunar-month-pek-kio-market-food-centre

[ 7th Lunar Month: Tian Shou Tang Lu Zu Gong ]

The Tian Shou Tang Lu Zu Gong at 9 Lorong 25 Geylang was crowded with devotees conducting prayers, paying respects, and making offerings of food, joss sticks, and paper products. A lot of life and activity.

https://www.historybyeisen.com/post/7th-lunar-month-tian-shou-tang-lu-zu-gong

[ 7th Lunar Month: Tanjong Pagar Plaza Market & Food Centre ]

Arrived just in time to catch the start of the burning of paper offerings. There were a lot of sweets and candy offered too.

Spoke to Roger, the organiser of the festival. He told me the festival was started by him, an individual initiative - there’s no formal association - 20 years ago.

https://www.historybyeisen.com/post/7th-lunar-month-tanjong-pagar-plaza-market-food-centre

[ 7th Lunar Month: Block 252 Jurong East Street 24 ]

Chatted with the head organiser Mr Lim. He and some friends living in the Jurong East area had banded together and formed a society to commemorate the 7th Lunar Month. Their first festival was in 1993 and they’ve been going strong ever since. They even made their own orange polo Ts.

https://www.historybyeisen.com/post/7th-lunar-month-block-252-jurong-east-street-24

[ History By Eisen Blog: Top 10 posts of the last 365 days ]

Here are the top 10 blog posts of the last 365 days, in terms of views:

1. The Diamond Blocks of Taman Jurong (pictured)

https://www.historybyeisen.com/post/the-diamond-blocks-of-taman-jurong

2. A little slice of Malaya in Spooner Road

https://www.historybyeisen.com/post/a-little-slice-of-malaya-in-spooner-road

3. Kampong Wak Selat Muslim Cemetery

https://www.historybyeisen.com/post/kampong-wak-selat-muslim-cemetery

4. Possibly Singapore’s shortest road

https://www.historybyeisen.com/post/possibly-singapore-s-shortest-road

5. The Old Holland Plain

https://www.historybyeisen.com/post/the-old-holland-plain

6. The last of Boh Sua Tian Road

bit.ly/3ZQoNZq

7. The rise and demise of Alexandra Road (North) Estate

bit.ly/3zK6Rou

8. Curtains on Peace Centre

bit.ly/439bhmm

9. The origin of Woodbridge

http://bit.ly/40TjlGf

10. 50 years of Tanglin Shopping Centre

bit.ly/40V2seC

[ 7th Lunar Month: Yin Zhen Dian Temple Association ]

Every year, the Yin Zhen Dian Temple Association at Lorong 34 Geylang organises its 7th Lunar Month festival in the final week of the month. Due to a lack of space in Geylang, the temple trucks its offerings to an open field off Defu Lane 10 for burning.

There, the stacking of offerings took more than an hour. It was a sight to behold. More than a dozen people laboured under a steady drizzle as dusk gave way to night.

https://www.historybyeisen.com/post/7th-lunar-month-yin-zhen-dian-temple-association

[ The Jalan Lam San Roadside Shrine ]

At the corner of Brickland Road and the Kranji Expressway, to the west of Choa Chu Kang town, is a small, nondescript lane called Jalan Lam San.

The place name goes back to the 1940s, and the road is a remnant of a rural past that will soon make way for Tengah town. The road is currently used by heavy vehicles like dump trucks to enter and leave Tengah town’s construction sites over which thousands of new flats will rise.

But more on the curiosities of the place name and the road for another time. This post is about its roadside shrine.

https://www.historybyeisen.com/post/the-jalan-lam-san-roadside-shrine

[ Singapore HeritageFest 2023: A Brief History of Transport Networks in Singapore's Urban Landscape ]

This Friday, 12 May, as part of this year's Singapore HeritageFest, I'll be giving a talk on 200 years of Singapore transport and urban history.

As usual, the talk will draw on material from my book Jalan Singapura: 700 Years of Movement in Singapore. There'll be broad themes across space and time, and specific epochal moments which shaped the present.

I'll also make sure to include recent findings from ongoing research for my next book.

All are welcome!

https://www.sgheritagefest.gov.sg/programmes/roam-talk-series-transport-networks-in-singapore-urban-landscape-a-brief-history

[ Singapore HeritageFest 2023: A Brief History of Transport Networks in Singapore’s Urban Landscape ]

During my talk on 200 years of Singapore transport and urban history, I introduced audience engagement, inviting participants to answer two questions on their mobile phones:

1. What is one enduring memory you have of Singapore land transport, which no longer exists?

2. What is your biggest wish for Singapore transport / urban development?

https://www.historybyeisen.com/post/singapore-heritagefest-2023-a-brief-history-of-transport-networks-in-singapore-s-urban-landscape

[ From Vernon Park to Sang Nila Utama Road ]

On 25 September 2022, Sang Nila Utama Road in Bidadari Estate opened to vehicular traffic. In turn, a nearby road named Vernon Park was permanently closed - as I had predicted in October 2020.

Sang Nila Utama Road will be opened in two stages. It is now a meandering road with two U bends, which will eventually be straightened.

https://www.historybyeisen.com/post/from-vernon-park-to-sang-nila-utama-road

[ Nine Emperor Gods Festival: Leng San Giam Dou Mu Gong ]

It was time to invite the Nine Emperor Gods. A small group of devotees, with a medium, headed out to sea on a motorboat, while the priests waited at the edge of the pier.

The motorboat returned after 10 minutes; the medium had the Nine Emperor Gods in him. He was led up the pier, where he was greeted by lion dances and hundreds of devotees in a carnival-like atmosphere.

The nine joss sticks he clutched were transferred to the nine urns for the Nine Emperor Gods.

https://www.historybyeisen.com/post/nine-emperor-gods-festival-leng-san-giam-dou-mu-gong

[ Sending off the Nine Emperor Gods ]

In modern Singapore, ancient practices like the Nine Emperor Gods Festival must adapt to urban development and redevelopment.

Around 10.30pm, the dragon boat was brought out to sea; flames lit up the night sky as the boat was torched.

As devotees filed out, a brisk landward wind blew ashes from the burning boat over the crowd, prompting cheers.

https://www.historybyeisen.com/post/sending-off-the-nine-emperor-gods

[ The Lorong Chuan Overhead Bridge ]

The Lorong Chuan Overhead Bridge is unique because it looks like it belongs to another era.

The overhead bridge resembles an elongated, olive green shipping container, with rows of octagonal windows on both sides. One might mistake it for a temporary structure, or an overhead bridge under construction.

But, it is the finished product - and it has been there for decades.

https://www.historybyeisen.com/post/the-lorong-chuan-overhead-bridge

[ The Datuk Gong shrine of Tanglin Halt ]

As the residents of Tanglin Halt Estate gradually move out because of the Selective En Bloc Redevelopment Scheme (SERS), the long-term future of a Datuk Gong shrine in the area is up in the air.

The shrine is at the foot of a tree along Tanglin Halt Road, between Block 48 Tanglin Halt Road and Block 50 Commonwealth Drive.

https://www.historybyeisen.com/post/the-datuk-gong-shrine-of-tanglin-halt

[ The Cheng San Market & Cooked Food Centre Tua Pek Kong Shrine ]

Whenever I visit a hawker centre for the first time to have a meal, I also search for its shrine. For every hawker centre, there is a unique shrine with its own deities, bearing a unique history. The hawker centre shrine is the nexus of the combined faith of a closely-knit community.

This is the shrine for the Cheng San Market & Cooked Food Centre at Block 527 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10. It has one deity - Tua Pek Kong.

https://www.historybyeisen.com/post/the-cheng-san-market-cooked-food-centre-tua-pek-kong-shrine

[ The Cross Island Line on a hill ]

This is the construction site for the Cross Island Line section of Ang Mo Kio Station, which will become an interchange with the North South Line.

The view is from the 12th and top storey of Block 424 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3. Its residents will have to endure the noise and dust from the works for the next seven years in exchange for an MRT interchange at their doorstep.

https://www.historybyeisen.com/post/the-cross-island-line-on-a-hill

[ Urban renewal in Shenton Way and Tanjong Pagar ]

1. Torn down: AXA Tower at 8 Shenton Way
To be replaced by: Skywaters Residences

2. Torn down: Keppel Towers at 10 Hoe Chiang Road, and Keppel Towers 2 at 240 Tanjong Pagar Road
To be replaced by: Keppel South Central

3. Torn down: Tower Fifteen at 15 Hoe Chiang Road
To be replaced by: A hotel

4. Gone: An open field at the corner of Tanjong Pagar Road and Bernam Street
To be replaced by: One Bernam

5. Torn down: Realty Centre at 15 Enggor Street
To be replaced by: A 37-storey mixed-use complex

6. Torn down: Fuji Xerox Towers at 80 Anson Road
To be replaced by: Newport Plaza

https://www.historybyeisen.com/post/urban-renewal-in-shenton-way-and-tanjong-pagar

[ 2023 in 12 photos ]

2023 is coming to an end, so here’s my year-end tradition of posting 12 photos, one for every month of the year that has just passed.

https://www.historybyeisen.com/post/2023-in-12-photos