The older wing of the Chinese Swimming Club.
Who would have expected that there could actually be a lot of history behind a swimming club? At least, I hadn’t.
When I met up with several of the Friends’ of Yesterday.sg for brunch on 25 Mar 2007, the ignorant me was only expecting to find myself at a club with swimming pools. But I was pleasantly surprised that history could actually come alive for me at this seemingly common swimming pool.
Our host for the day was Dr Tan Wee Kiat, author of the book titled Singapore’s Monuments & Landmarks: A Philatelic Ramble. I was a lucky person as I managed to get a special autograph from Dr Tan himself on my copy of the book.
Rambling Librarian, Victor and myself were in time for Dr Tan’s special tour of the Chinese Swimming Club.
I learnt from Dr Tan that the Chinese Swimming Club existed even before I was even born! If I had heard correctly, Dr Tan became a member of the club about 30 to 40 years ago.
To ensure that I won’t look ignorant when I write this post, I did a search using google to find out a little more about the Chinese Swimming Club a day after the brunch.
Google led me to find the following sites that contain good information on the Chinese Swimming Club:
http://infopedia.nlb.gov.sg/articles/SIP_628_2005-01-22.html
http://www.chineseswimmingclub.org.sg/milestone.htm
I learnt that the Chinese Swimming Club “was founded in 1905 by a group of six middle-class Straits Chinese men swimming enthusiasts.” (view source). One thing that struck me was that during the Japanese Occupation of Singapore, “the Japanese soldiers used the three-storey club building as a recreation centre and an interrogation room. The platform of the club’s swimming pool became a stage for the Japanese firing squad in the massacre of the Chinese during the Operation Sook Ching“. Simply reading this part of the club’s history reminded me of the cruel side of war. May peace be with the world and everyone.
The new wing of the Chinese Swimming Club.Wait a minute, if Dr Tan had became a member of the Club about 30 to 40 years ago, I wonder if he was one of those privileged people who have gotten themselves a life-time membership at S$100 then? (refer to this source)
Anyway, I dare say that the photo right below will one of the most blog-worthy photos on this post. Why?
Look at the photo right above, and look for the lamp post. Dr Tan shared with us that 40 years ago, before the land in that area was reclaimed, the area beyond the lamp post was part of the sea! I tried to imagine that instead of those brown-looking tiles, it was sea-water beyond the lamp post, more than 40 years ago.
I heard that there used to be a salt-water pool many steps after that lamp post. I can’t quite visualise how the salt-water pool had looked like, so if any of my readers happen to have a photo of it to share, please do. If you happen to have personal memories of the Chinese Swimming Club, please do share with me too.
Meantime, here is a photo taken in the year 1953 at the Chinese Swimming Club.
PhotoCD Number : PCD0096. Image Number : 091. Photo taken from Access to Archives Online, Singapore.
Dr Tan told me that pagar (Pagar is Malay for fence) were used as barricades, and children were told the myth that the pagar were meant to keep the sharks off. I think I would be one of those innocent children who would believe that the pagar were indeed meant to keep the sharks off. If I have heard correctly, the barricades were actually meant to keep the swimmers out from swimming into the deeper regions of the sea.
Dr Tan also pointed us to the Cashin Mansion that was located nearby. I was told that beyond those grill-like fences, it used to be the seafront before land reclaimation had taken place. It was about ten years after the land reclaimation before any development of the reclaimed land took place. It must have been the way Dr Tan related the past to me, I somehow felt exhilaratingly strange that I was standing on reclaimed land yesterday. I was actually standing on a piece of land that used to be part of the sea! I was suddenly reminded that our country has changed quite a lot over the past 40 years.
Cashin Mansion.
Cashin Mansion designed by Regent Alfred John Bidwell in 1912.
I came across this photograph which contains an aerial view of the Cashin Mansion (on the extreme right) and the Chinese Swimming Club at http://www.irenelow.com. I have no idea when the photograph was taken, but it appears that this photo could be taken at least 3 decades ago. I wonder if those fence-like looking barricades were the pagar that Dr Tan had spoken about?The next part of the tour of Chinese Swimming Club was to see its various facilities. Even though viewing the various facilities weren’t as exciting as listening to how this part of Singapore used to be like in the past, I gladly obliged. I heard that the committee members of the club comprise of volunteers and I salute them for their great job in ensuring the smooth running of the club.
The pool.
Otterman, A, Toycon, coolinsights came subsequently, and we started having brunch.
There was a lot to learn from the rest. Otterman, Rambling Librarian and coolinsights started sharing about Nexus 2007, and about museums having their own blogs. We can take a peep to the discussion by checking out these two posts by Otterman: Nexus 2007, Changi Museum News?, and a post by coolinsights: What Nexus 2007 is All About
Otterman also spoke about a financial model of funding one’s publication. I found it quite an interesting stimulus to my brain while having a lovely brunch at the ManChu Cafe in the Chinese Swimming Club. Though I suppose I do need time to assimilate and digest the wealth of knowledge that has been shared during the brunch.
Dr Tan enlightened me of the previous locations of the Van Kleef Aquarium and the National Theatre, both which no longer exist now.
A suggested that I take a photo of Rambling Librarian and his plate of oysters from the buffet brunch spread. As Rambling Librarian seemed rather shy of my camera, I decided to take photographs of the oyster shells.
Otterman and his bowl of ice-cream.
In short, it was a pleasant brunch-gathering with the other Friends of Yesterday.sg, many who are older than myself. There was simply a lot to learn from these people.
Special thanks to Dr Tan and his wife for the lovely brunch.
Last but not the least, if you are keen in blogging about heritage-related issues or your personal memories of the past and you would like to be in the company of like-minded folks, you may wish to consider joining as a Friend of Yesterday.sg.
References:
http://infopedia.nlb.gov.sg/articles/SIP_628_2005-01-22.html
http://singaporemagazine.sif.org.sg/focus04.html
http://www.a2o.com.sg/a2o/public/search/index.html
Also read:
http://www.chineseswimmingclub.org.sg/milestone.htm
http://victorkoo.blogspot.com/2007/02/losing-someone-over-small-stuff-1.html
http://www.irenelow.com/
http://yesterday.sg/detail/national_theatre_a_different_view/
http://yesterday.sg/detail/vanishing_scenes_of_singapore_part_1/
9 Responses
Thank you for the very well written post, PY. Can we appoint you as official blog-writer at future events like this? LOL.
Posted on April 2nd, 2007 at 2:59 pm
My pleasure.
Well, maybe for future events, we have to meet at places that has some kind of history behind it so that I can combine heritage, leisure and food (quoting otterman) in one single post.
Posted on April 2nd, 2007 at 3:04 pm
Thanks to Dr. Tan Wee Kiat for bringing us to the club. It was an eye-opener for me. I didn’t realise it was that accessible. Always thought it was in some “ulu” place that’s reachable by car only. From the outside, it wasn’t apparent that there was such modern facilities.
Posted on April 3rd, 2007 at 6:40 am
1. It’s true life membership was S$100 before 1980. Then it went up to S$1K and now #13K.
2. The staging platform was actually the concrete wall built into the sea. The actual site of the killing” is at the public carpark behind the block of flats. Further up was Mandalay Villas (now Seaview Condo), the lady owner who donated the piece of land to the Chinese Swimming Club. BTW, children could swim in the nude in the 1950s at the pool (I was one of those fellas but then who cared about private parts…..) After the war, the British made the Japaneses clean up the swimming pool area.
3. Opposite side of the new pool is the “old pool” where there was a concrete diving board. There were street hawkers on this side of the road. If you notice that day there is an old Malay man who “jaga kereta” and sits at the entrance of the clubhouse on Amber Road, he is none other than the same jaga kereta who worked there as a small boy in the 1950s.
3. The block of flats at #15 Amber Road, to the left of your old picture of the club from the air was a well-known brothel in the 1960s. No wonder I saw so many ladies standing on the veranda in the early 1960s. If you check Victor’s blog on the British Out-of-Bounds site, this was one of those infamous places.
4. Have you heard the story about the old Dragon Lounge KTV in the clubhouse? Should ask Wee Kiat why got 2 doors…..
Posted on April 3rd, 2007 at 6:43 am
As they say, “Membership has its privileges. Thanks to PY’s colour description and photos, I won’t be surprised if many readers will want to join in and become a Friend of Yesterday as well. We founding members better ask for ‘life membership’.
Posted on April 3rd, 2007 at 7:25 am
I had an old feeling in that new place, that day.
One of my kakis used to mention his swimming days at the club and the various school mates and swimmers he used to bump into.
Those were pre-renovation stories though, but I felt I had a sense of the ambience of the place he used to frequent that day.
Posted on April 3rd, 2007 at 8:29 am
“Dr Tan told me that pagar (Pagar is Malay for fence) were used as barricades, and children were told the myth that the pagar were meant to keep the sharks off. I think I would be one of those innocent children who would believe that the pagar were indeed meant to keep the sharks off.”
I believe that “keeping the sharks off” is a plausable explaination. A well known story from the 1920s details a shark attack near the Singapore Swimming Club.
http://www.can.com.sg/neocan/en/streetwise/can_book_of_records/singapore_s_oldest2.html
Posted on May 8th, 2007 at 1:55 pm
Hi Kevin, thank you for the link to the accounts of the shark attack.
Posted on May 11th, 2007 at 1:03 pm
Hi Kevin, thank you for the link to the accounts of the shark attack.
Posted on December 20th, 2010 at 4:35 pm
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