When we think of the Swinging 60s in Singapore, one of the images that come to mind is the bustling Bugis street with all its colourful characters and flavours. Yet just a short walk away from Bugis Street is another busy night makan spot, Albert Street. Russ Wickson shares some of his personal photos of Albert Street, taken in 1967 when he was stationed in Singapore.

Albert Street by Russ Wickson

Note the ‘traditional’ satay man working at his craft – while satay sellers still char our meat skewers out in the open today, we’ll probably never see them carry around their equipment on wicker trays ever again. Russ recalls:

We/I recall we always got six sticks of chicken satay for our dollar and a little bowl of peanut sauce, but we were quite naughty really because we always insisted on a second bowl of sauce or even a third. I would hope we threw in a few extra cents but I can no longer remember. We/I sat on steps or kerbstones to eat the satay and I used to be fascinated by the very large and beautifully ruddy coloured cockroaches that ran about your feet and up and down the uncovered monsoon drains. Some of the cockroaches must have been two inches long … or perhaps I had had too many pints of Tiger beer to focus properly.

Russ Wickson is a guest poster on Chun See’s Good Morning Yesterday. You can read his full post and more picture of Albert Street here.