Great World Amusement Park was one of the three “Worlds” that lighted up Singapore’s nightlife in the 1950s and 1960s. Although it closed in 1964, cinemas, cabaret and restaurants continued operations at the park until 1978. Today, the site is occupied by Great ...

Opened in 1923, New World Park, an amusement park, was a popular nighttime haunt in Singapore from the 1920s to the ’60s. It was the first of three renowned amusement parks known as the “Worlds”, the other two being Great World and Gay World. New World was located ...

Gay World was one of three amusement parks built in Singapore before World War II and around which Singapore’s nightlife revolved from the 1920s to the ’60s. The other two were New World and Great World. Gay World was a popular entertainment joint before the advent ...

The Singapore Straits is among the most geographically strategic sites in the maritime world. Ships sailing between the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean had to, and still have to, sail around the southern coast of Singapore. Over the centuries, control over ...

Gambling activities, also known as gaming, in colonial Singapore attracted different opinions from the British administrators. Stamford Raffles abhorred it and set out to ban gambling, while Residents William Farquhar and John Crawfurd saw gambling as critical ...

The Parsis (or Parsees) are descendants of Zoroastrian Persians who settled in India in the 10th century. They first arrived in Singapore in the 19th century. As of 2017, an estimated 350 Parsis live in Singapore. Parsi Road and Parsi Cemetery are named after ...

Guthrie & Co.’s history began in 1823 when a partnership was established between Alexander Guthrie and Thomas Talbot Harrington, a family friend. First located in a rented godown on Hill Street, the company sold British goods to the European and Chinese communities ...

Getai (歌台), which literally means “song stage” in Chinese, is believed to have originated during the Japanese Occupation at the New World Amusement Park. It became a popular form of mass entertainment in the 1950s with getai established at various amusement parks. ...

Opened in 1947, Beauty World was a popular market and shopping destination in Singapore during the 1960s. Located at the junction between Upper Bukit Timah Road and Jalan Jurong Kechil, the market comprised over a hundred stalls that sold all kinds of daily necessities ...

Iskandar Shah, also spelt as Iskandar Syah, is closely associated with Singapore and Melaka during the 14th and 15th century. He is also associated with other names in Singapore history such as Parameswara and Sri Tri Buana. His identity remains an enigma – he ...

Yio Chu Kang Road is a major road in the north of Singapore that connects Upper Thomson Road to Upper Serangoon Road. Asociated with gambier and pepper plantations and kampongs in the 19th century, the road today reflects the urban development of 20th-century Singapore. ...

Travelling hawkers or itinerant hawkers were a common sight in Singapore during the 19th century to mid-20th century. They were frequently found along busy streets and intersections, peddling food, drinks, vegetables, poultry and sundries. Street hawking was a ...

The Singapore Poh Leung Kuk (保良局), or “office to protect virtue”, was established by the Chinese Protectorate in 1888. It grew out of one aspect of the protectorate’s work: controlling prostitution through registration and inspection to prevent the spread of venereal ...

The arrival of Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama in India in 1498 meant that the Portuguese were the first Europeans to discover a direct sea route to Asia via the Cape of Good Hope and, subsequently, Southeast Asia. Their main motive in seeking out the maritime ...

Tuberculosis, commonly known as TB, is an infectious disease caused by the Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacterium. It spreads from person to person via airborne respiratory droplets from an infected person, and primarily affects the lungs. In the 19th century, Singapore’s ...

The influx of immigrants to Singapore in the 19th century brought various communicable diseases, such as smallpox, leprosy and cholera to the island. Health inspections and regulations became increasingly important in order to control the spread of such diseases ...

For much of the early 19th to mid-20th century, technical and vocational education in Singapore was underdeveloped due to the nature of the economy and the colonial government’s noninterference in education. Technical and vocational education gained importance ...

Sejarah Melayu (Malay Annals) is one of the most important Malay historical works, and one of the finest literary works written in Malay, that has been handed down in various versions. There were at least seven versions of this text. Sejarah Melayu is also one ...

Sri Temasek is a 19th-century bungalow designated as the prime minister’s official residence. It was formerly the residence of the colonial secretary. While the house has been unoccupied since 1959, it was used regularly for meetings and official social events ...

Tan Teck Soon (b. 1859, Singapore–d. 25 November 1922, Singapore) was a Chinese scholar and writer active in Singapore at the turn of the 20th century. He was a founding member of the influential gentlemen’s debating club known as the Straits Philosophical Society ...