The Bumpy Road off Cairn Hill Road, (actually off Mount Elizabeth Link) parallel to Cairn Hill Road was where we first lived on moving to Singapore from Taiwan.
Our house No. 51A was directly opposite the back staircase to the staff quarters of No. 42 Cairn Hill Road, what is now the Tan Chin Tuan Mansion (TCTM), where Mak and Kong lived, and the surrounding areas along and around Orchard Road.
The Bumpy Road off Cairn Hill Road
We lived at the end of the row of terrace houses on what we (the Campbell family) called the bumpy road, a small tree lined, unpaved, dead end road running parallel to Cairn Hiill Road, off Mount Elizabeth Link, the houses have log since been demolished and replaced by Fraser Residence, but in our time our row was quite a close knit community.
These very practically designed upmarket colonial era terrace shop houses were on normally on 2 levels however ours being built on the side on the hill were on 3 levels, the ground or what in Singapore we now refer to as the 1st floor was the centralised main entrance, usually a set of double doors flanked on either side by large windows, in front of which ran a slightly raised 5 foot way
type landing and terrace which required one to mount 3 or 4 steps to in order to reach. On entering you were straight into the main living room, which led further on to the family dining area. The tiled floors across the whole 1st floor and the high ceilings made the temperature in these rooms and indeed the whole house very comfortable, despite the sun beating down outside.
The house was quite large and spacious, built typically as mirror images of each other so one then either went either to the left or right at the rear of family dining area to walk along an open corridor which led to the back of the house where the kitchen and downstairs toilet were located. Similarly one went either to the left or right at the rear of family dining area to go upstairs to the bedrooms, and or along the left or right along wall until reaching the mid point between the
2 living and dining rooms to go downstairs to the lower floor and garage.
Upstairs on the 2nd floor there were 3 bedrooms and another bathroom and toilet upstairs, configured with the master bedroom to the front above he living room, a second mid sized bedroom in the central area above the family dining area, and again one went along an open corridor passing the toilet and bathroom and the centralised spiral staircase which connected all 3 floors, to reach the third bedroom at the rear.
Downstairs was not a sub-basement for the houses were built on the side of a hill, at the bottom of the stairs you would find yourself in a large open room equal in size, to and directly under the dining area above. This room served as the Ah Mah's bedroom, store and and general covered work area. There was space for an extra room under the living room, however in most cases along this row of terrace houses these rooms served as air raid shelters, and all the houses were interconnected underground so it was possible to move from house to house underground... there was a large open area area and then a garage to the rear, as well as a back door, again wither on the left or right depending on configuration which opened out onto the back road which ran behind the houses, in most cases the garages had been converted their garage into a 4th bedroom.
I remember that at certain times of the year the road would be strewn with thousands of little bright red seed, from the merah saga trees dotted along the tree line which both shaded the bumpy road and separated us from the busy Cairn Hill road above.
No. 39
was at the top of the bumpy road was where I understand lived a grand old lady, who I believe was known as Aunty Chi-Chi
and her daughter Yulin Tseng
(who I believe was a Singapore swimmer of some note in her time), she married and had 3 children Fenian, Felix and Justina. If I am not mistaken they were the only family who had bought their home after the war, the rest of us rented, from Eastern Realty an OCBC linked company. For many years No. 39 was the last and only house standing from the terrace row, the owner then had a daughter attending Singapore Chinese Girls School (SCGS) and didn’t want to move, even after Eastern Realty had knocked down the others in preparation to sell and or develop the land…
No. 41
was John & Evelyn Shaw, who I believe had 2 children David (who I think is still in Spore) and Suzanne (who I believe is in Canada). Aunty Evelyn,
who I remember as a friendly lady with presence, she was always smartly dressed who worked for Ah Kong at OCBC as his right had for many years... she was possibly one of the most influential and powerful people in the bank, despite not holding any formal of Board position, and certainly the safe keeper of Ah Kong's confidence. Some 20 years later, having finished my National Service (NS) and now working for my parents at Graham Brash, I happily discovered that John and Evelyn were once again my neighbors, living just a few houses away Karl Meyer my childhood friend from United World College (UWC) days and I rented No. 41 Namly Gardens our infamous bachelor’s pad, which we rented from Mr. Tan Kok Swee, who owned a VW beetle.
No. 43
was where Aunty Peggy Tan
my uncle, Ku-Ku’s (Tan Keng Siong) first wife, who ran a dress making business from her home lived with her 3 children, Debbie, Beng
(Kenneth junior), and Patricia
(Pat or Pattie as we children knew her). I understand that for a time Debbie went to SCGS, and Beng attended 1 or 2 schools in Singapore including ACS before they all moved to the UK, and for a while attended Loretto in Scotland.
Aunty Peggy
later returned to Singapore to look after her own mother, and commuted, while the 3 children stayed on in the UK to complete their studies. She was most certainly a very brave woman to have stood up to Ah Kong, never mind Ku-Ku (who apparently was the one who wanted the divorce) in those days and to have moved herself and the children to the UK, she now lives in Singapore, near Beng and his wife Karen who care for her.
Tan Boon Beng (Beng) & Karen
his wife along with their 3 daughters, Elizabeth and the twins Rebecca and Amy, who are now all married, Elizabeth has 2 children Elliot and Mikaela, Rebecca has a daughter Hanna and Amy has 2 children Heather and Ian, they all live in Singapore. For a time Beng worked at the Overseas Mission Fellowship (OMF)
in Singapore.
Debbie, a nurse whom I have not seen since Ah Kong’s funeral is single and lives in Spain. We recently caught up by phone and she generously shared her memories, insights and related stories from her life in Singapore to date, and along the way we covered her memories of our grandparents, her parents and mine. She spoke very fondly of her visits to stay with my parents at Stenhouse in Scotland, and as we chatted for several hours, she like Pattie impressed upon me how fond she and Aunty Peggy were of mother, and I know that mother was also equally very fond of them. Debbie, told me of how mother had while visiting them one Chinese New Year for dinner had remarked that “this family gathering is far more meaningful than all the banquets that I have been attending” which from Debbie’s tone when relating the story suggested that this had struck a meaningful cord then as it still does today. She also told me of a rather strange but touching phone call she received from my father, out of the blue, warning her about the perils of buying property in Spain as he had just come to learnt of her plans to do so, given that he had heard stories and knew of incidents in the past (some 10 years prior) when people had been cheated.
Pattie & Phil Whittle
her husband, and their children Ruth and Daniel live in London, Pattie and I also recently caught up on the phone, during the course of which she too generously shared her memories, thoughts and insights as we exchanged stories and recalled the times when I stayed a night with them and as I recall, Jackie Ong (our neighbor from No. 47) also joined us. She like Debbie spoke fondly of her visits to stay with my parents in Scotland, of Pattie erecting the
Yurt (round tent) that she had built in their garden and of Ruth and Daniels happy memories of playing and roaming the estate with mother’s dogs Sugs and Gus. Like father I too knew my place in the pecking order of mother’s affections and we were a close second to her dogs, my siblings.. She related how some of her most favorite and vivid memories of time spent with both my parents in Scotland was sat at the large dining table in the kitchen.
Having a few drinks (often too many she remembers, earning a frown from mother, but father usually got a bit more than just a frown, as mother was not fond of him drinking) and sharing her self-roll cigarettes with dad, which she would have to first roll for him... and how one afternoon as she and mother were sat chatting alone at the kitchen table, that during the course of their conversation mother said a few words which were (according to Pattie) very insightful and held deep meaning for she related how she (who having always been a bit of a tom-boy and not one for crying) apparently broke down in tears, and although she couldn’t remember exactly what mother said, I could sense and feel the emotion in her voice over the phone.
She like Debbie impressed upon me how fond she and Aunty Peggy were of mother, and that her mother Aunty Peggy had given her one of her favorite photographs of the 3 of them in Singapore.
No. 45
was where Mr. Chew & his family
lived, for the most part they kept to themselves, I don’t really remember them very well, only that Mr. Chew worked at OCBC, that they used to visit Ah Kong every Chinese New Year (CNY) and he always enjoyed having a beer or 3. I do however remember going on my own to visit him in hospital; possibly after having overheard his wife talking to mother and learned that he had been diagnosed with cancer, had lost lots of weight, was not doing very well and was refusing to eat, and that brought a few cans of Guinness Stout along with me, as I remember that he liked to drink. I believe that my rational at the time must have been, that he was losing too much weight, was refusing to eat, that he enjoyed drinking, and was going to die, so why not… in those days the Guinness Stout advertisements had the tag line “Guinness Stout is good for you” which I guess it must have been, for he did recover and I saw him for several more years at CNY and he would always remind me and anyone else around the table that might care to listen of my having brought him Guinness when he was warded at Mount Elizabeth.
No. 47
was where Bobby & Mary Ong
lived along with (one of their fathers) and their children Jackie (deceased) but who I believe was married and had a daughter, and Kevin (Ah Hock as I knew him then) who is a dentist, married with 4 children, and lives in Singapore. I must try to track down Ah Hock....
No. 49
was where Uncle Beng Chuan
(the Principle of St Andrew Primary School) and Aunty Elsie Quahe
(who taught at MGS Geylang) lived with their 3 children, Yvonne, Leslie
and Ann. Their grandmother Helen Lim
(nee Zecha) who lived with them at No. 49 was married to Lim Eng Hae, an Ophthalmologist who was friends with Ah Kong. After the war Kong invited Helen along with her 6 young children to move into 49, where Aunty Elsie the eldest of the 6 stayed on to raise her family.
Yvonne
is married with children lives in Washington DC
Leslie
who married Linyun
and are about to celebrate their 31st wedding anniversary, they have 2 daughters and the family live in Bangkok. I recently had the pleasure of catching up with Leslie after almost a 20 year lapse and without realising the time we had suddenly been chatting amiably for almost 3 hours… during which time we exchanged stories and memories and he very kindly shared stories from his very colorful and interesting life, we covered his education and theological studies, and learnt how he earned the moniker as the Motorcycle Minister (Pastor) after an unfortunate incident during a Singapore to Phuket motorcycle rally organized by Caltex, after which he worked at motorcycle and wrote a weekly motorcycle column for the Straits Times.
In addition to his calling to minister as an agent of the Lord, he was involved with, and in his time was a property agent, a golf professional, during which time he helped to start and stage the Caltex Masters that was staged at Laguna National and the Asian Golf Expo staged at the same time at the exhibition centre across the road from Laguna. This in turn led to him running a golf exhibition company operating in Singapore, Thailand and China, during which time as a result of the heavy commuting schedule, he decided to move the family from Singapore to Bangkok, that was about 13 years ago.
On moving to Thailand, at the urging of his daughter (as this was where her friend was going) he attended what was then a small fellowship gathering, which on the congregation discovering that he was an ordained pastor put him to work, and now with a congregation of about 300 he is an Elder at Bangna Christian Fellowship. At some stage he got out of the exhibition business and went to work managing a local golf club, during which time he helped to found the ASEAN golf club owners association, and subsequently went on to set up a golf club management company. Leslie has certainly led a most interesting, varied and full life and in his 60’s still seems intent and interested to learn new things and to take on new challenges, in addition to continuing his Missionary work, his current interests include music, and selling guitars..…
Lawrence
(Ann as I still know him) became a lawyer and is now a businessman, I must get hold of him and have him bring me up to date, married to Sul-lyn have 4 children and live in Singapore. I do see / bump into Ann from time to time, last time was at the Singapore Cricket Club (SCC) I really must get hold of him...
No. 51
was first inhabited by the Lim family in the 60's, and then Mr. Roper, who I believe worked for OCBC, possibly involved with the construction of OCBC new office tower building, and when he left, it remained empty.
No. 51A
was where the Campbell family lived, along with Ah Tong
our long serving Amah (house keeper & nannie) who has been with the family since our arrival in Singapore. In the servant’s downstairs, at the rear of the property, which was actually the garage that had been converted lived Nasir (one of the gardeners at my grandparent’s No. 42) and his family, Kakak
his wife and their children, Junidah, Mafut, Samsuir, Malek and Sarimah
who I believe went to work for Tecity
or Consultant Services
on of Ah Kong’s many personal companies and may still in fact be working there still, possibly at TCTM for the Tan Foundation.
At the rear of the row of terrace was a back road, behnid which was empty land and a small stream. After our house there was also empty lad which was later redeveloped upon which Cairn Hill Plaza now stands.
Across the road (Mount Elizabeth Link) from No. 39 Cairn Hill Road became Bideford Road along which ran another row of 2 terrace houses where Aunty Sally and Uncle On-yip (Melvin) lived. Aunty Nancy who lived with her sister Sally and On-yip was the original Singapore Girl, face of the advertising campaign that Ian Batey and his team conceptualized to promote the then fledgling Singapore Airlines, this most successful campaign launched and consolidated his company Batey's Ads position on first on the regional playing field and very quickly thereafter onto the international stage.
I remember watching the Thrilla in Manila, the third and final boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, on the 1st of October 1975 for the heavyweight championship of the world at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City, Philippines, on TV with some of the drivers and their children in one of the staff quarters behind someones home on Bideford Road.
Behind the Bideford Road terrace houses, if memory serves, where several long single story rows of one roomed, small barrack like structures, what I believe were staff quarters, were there was an oval grassed open area, surrounded by a low fence, that served as a playing field, where I would regularly sneak off to in the late afternoon to play football with the children living in the area, they were mostly Malaya and a few Indians, but hardly any Chinese boys... I do recall this very distinctly and me this Eurasian boy... although never very good at football this was still far more fun than and time better spent than doing homework of any kind, especially Chinese homework which was beyond me, so it never got done, which was why and after my first year at the Anglo Chinese School (ACS) at Barker Road I was allowed to change to studying Malay in primary 2...
To friends, and relatives both those with whom I am still in touch, and or with whom we have only recently reconnected via email / facebook / linkedin please do kindly reach out and share whatever stories that you might remember, and any photographs you might have, it matters not if they are good or bad.
I do hope to hear from you, to be reminded of how we met, and for you to kindly share stories and adventures which we have shared, for it is only with your help that I / we will be able to flesh out this website and fill in the blanks.
I can be reached by any one of the following means; the contact & feedback section on this website, via facebook, linkedin, chuancampbell@gmail.com or whatsapp, line, viber, wechat and or by calling me at +65 96346497
I do look forward to hearing from you, many thanks in advance, warm regards,
Chuan Campbell
More to come……
Bideford Road
Seiko House
Champion Motors and other car dealerships on Orchard Road
Shaw House
Tropicana
Orchard Road Police Station
CK Tang department store
Yu Yi department store
Fitzpatrick’s grocers
Orchard Rd Shopping Center
The Heren Building
The Pink Pussy Cat (bar) on the corner of Biderford Rd and Orchard Road
The Tivoli
The Hang Ten clothing shop
Detlhem furniture show room
The Heeren Building
The Mandarin Hotel
Center Point
Hotel Phoenix
Cold Storage
Emerald Hill
Singapore Chinese Girls School (SCGS)
Monk’s Hill Primary School
Gluttons Corner
Newton Circus
Introduction of the Central Business District (CBD) and the Restricted Zone