Edward Williams brings to life the history of Sembawang Hills Estate during the 60s and 70s, through the stories of three bars in the estate. A significant number of people living in Sembawang Hills at the time were RAF servicemen (and their families) from the UK, Australia and New Zealand.

One particular watering hole, the Sembawang Cafe, was a favourite among the Maori troops from New Zealand:

Sembawang Café stood at the corner of Jalan Batai and Jalan Leban, at the end of a row of two-storey shop houses along Jalan Leban. It served very good sizzling t-bone steak on a large wooden plate at $4 each. The café was a popular hangout for the Maoris from the early 70’s onwards. On one of its glass doors a kiwi sticker was stuck there, as a sign of their territorial claim.

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The Maoris also enjoyed communal singing. Give them a guitar and they’ll have a hearty sing-a-long. It doesn’t matter if they played or sang well. They were prepared to give it a go and everybody seemed to enjoy themselves tremendously. Once I even saw a Maori strumming a guitar with only 2 or 3 strings left. Nobody seemed to mind, or perhaps they couldn’t tell the difference after a number of drinks!

The life of servicemen working in Singapore in the 60s and 70s is a fascinating glimpse into our world, especially from the foreigner’s standpoint. If you read on along the comments on Edward Williams’ The bars of Sembawang Hills Estate, you will also find stories of cross-cultural love, successes and failures – between the servicemen and the locals, as well as some more stories about night life in those days.