How Come Sennett Road Is Not In Sennett Estate?

Today, Patricea left a comment on this post saying that her family used to live in Sennett Estate. Some 14 to 18 years ago, she would take bus 154 or 151 to school in the morning, and it would pass the National Aerated Water building at the traffic junction directly opposite it.

I must confess that I did not know exactly where is Sennett Estate in Singapore until recently. (For those who still don't know, it is in the corner bounded by Upper Serangoon Road and Macpherson Road.)


All the while, I thought that Sennett Estate was off Upper East Coast Road where a cluster of streets with names starting with "Sennett" are found - Sennett Road, Sennett Lane, Sennett Drive, Sennett Place, Sennett Close and Sennett Avenue. Who would have thought that Sennett Estate is actually so far away?


Some people may also confuse Sime Road with Simei Road or Anderson Road with Henderson Road but at least their spellings are different. A taxi driver once complained to me that a passenger asked to be taken to "Bedok Park". When the taxi arrived at Bedok Park, the passenger said he actually wanted to go to "Bedok North" (pronounced as "Bedok Park" in Cantonese). Now how do you expect the poor taxi driver to ever decipher that?

Do you know of any other places in Singapore with similarly confusing names?

Old Singapore Quiz (3)

1. What is the address of this building? (Provide the number, road name and postal district.)

2. When was it built?

3. Who was its occupant (up till the early 1990s)?

4. Who is its current occupant?

5. When did the current occupant move in?

Note: I have "painted over" the square signboard above the main entrance to the building as I recently discovered that Icemoon has an uncanny ability to read very small signs. Now I hope that he can't read the plaques hanging in the corridor of the ground floor.

Update on 1 Oct 2008 - Answers to Old Singapore Quiz (3):

YG provided the most complete and correct answers in my blog. He got 4 out of 5 answers correct. His answer "1976" for when the building was built was incorrect. Before I give you the answers to the quiz, let's look at other photos I took of this building.




This is the unmistakable old gate of Institute of Dental Health (IDH) - the letters "IDH" appear 20 times on this gate. It is a good thing that the old gate was retained.

1. What is the address of this building? (Provide the number, road name and postal district.)
Ans: 10, Hyderabad Road (off Alexandra Road), Singapore 119579.

2. When was it built?
Ans: 1935.

3. Who was its occupant (up till the early 1990s)?
Ans: Institute of Dental Health.

4. Who is its current occupant?
Ans: S P Jain Center of Management

5. When did the current occupant move in?
Ans: Mar 2007.

I remember having had a few dental treatments done at the IDH in the late 1980s. It had an open concept, just like what this 1952 photo from National Archives of Singapore shows:


While waiting for my dreaded turn, I could hear the drilling sounds as well as the moans and groans coming from the patient in the adjacent chair. This only made me more nervous. No wonder I still dread going to the dentist till this day.

Old Singapore Quiz (2)

1. What is the address of this building? (Provide the number, road name and postal district.)

2. Which company used to occupy this building?

3. When did the company move into the building?

4. What product did the company manufacture?

5. Name 3 brand names under which the product was marketed as.

Note: To make the quiz more challenging, I have deleted the background as well as the words on the building.

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Update on 24 Sep 2008 - Answers to Old Singapore Quiz (2)

Thanks for all your guesses. Most of you got the answers right. The most complete answers were provided by a reader named Eugene (please see this post). Well done, Eugene.

First, let's take a look at the original unedited photo:


Another photo taken from a different angle:


Below are photos of the same building from other sources. Here's one from National Archives Singapore (NAS) circa 1986:


Photo from Straits Times article dated 3 Jan 2007:


Here is an NAS image which shows a different building but with the same name. Anyone knows whether this building was located next to the present one? (I think the building has been demolished.)


There is even one of the same name in KL:


(Photo taken from this blog.)


Now for the answers to Old Singapore Quiz (2):

1. What is the address of this building? (Provide the number, road name and postal district.)

Ans: 1177 Serangoon Road, Singapore 328231.

2. Which company used to occupy this building?

Ans: National Aerated Water Co. Ltd.

3. When did the company move into the building?

Ans: 1950s.

4. What product did the company manufacture?

Ans: Soft drinks.

5. Name 3 brand names under which the product was marketed as.

Ans: Sinalco, Kickapoo and Royal Crown (RC) Cola.


Here are some items related to the 3 brand names:


Old Sinalco symbol. You can see a partial image of this symbol in the NAS photo of the building above. Hence the building was also referred to as "Sinalco Building" by people of the older generation (like Peter).


A Sinalco bottle but not quite like the ones we used to see as kids. The surface of the old bottle was not so smooth, the Sinalco symbol was the old one shown earlier and the colour of the drink was more reddish and transparent.


An old Kickapoo advertisement, courtesy of the NAS. The Kickapoo glass bottle was dark green in colour and the picture on the bottle was printed in red words on a yellow background. (Hmm... I wonder why they called it "joy juice"?)


A Royal Crown Cola cap. This is a US version. I think ours looked different - the words "Royal Crown" were simply replaced by a stylised red "RC". However, I am so sorry that I can't find a sample to show you.

An Indecent Exposure

A few days ago, I read a New Paper article about a molester at NUS. It gave me the inspiration for this post.

He displayed his upright organ in public
A despicable act that makes one sick
Unaware of the risk he posed
By a concerned neighbour he was exposed

A prized and personal possession like me
Admired and played in privacy it should be
Why expose it in a common corridor
Right next to somebody's door?

Though wrapped up properly
Beneath it the large member all could see
He obviously thought it was alright
But right or wrong was clear as black and white

First saw his offending act yesterday
Yet he was still at it today
Why can't he be more considerate
For neighbours living in the same estate?
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(Please scroll down for a photo of his offending act.)
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(Warning: If you are offended by such photos, you may hit the "Back" button now.)
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(Oh, you didn't hit the "Back" button.)
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(Woah, I admire your guts.)
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Caught a second time? (First time here.) Oh my, then consider yourself really gullible. Muahahaha.

Old Singapore Quiz (1)

I am starting my very own "no-prizes old-Singapore" quiz series of which this is the first one.

Below are photos of two very similar-looking structures. Both are still standing today somewhere in Singapore. You will probably be more familiar with the one on the left as it is situated in a very central location. The one on the right is in a more obscure location; so much so that you may not even notice it when you are in its vicinity. (I am not joking, I saw it only on my umpteenth visit to its location. And yet I am often described by some people as being the very observant type. Haha.)

There, I hope you have enough clues to work with. Now please attempt the quiz questions below the photos. Have fun guessing. (I better confess first that I do not know all the answers to my own questions.)


Update on 18 Sep 2008 - answers to the quiz:

I guess most of the questions for this quiz were quite easy for the majority of you. Most who answered got the answers correct. Ordinary Guy gave the most comprehensive answers here.

In fact, if you know what to search for, you can find most answers (not just for this quiz) by doing a search on the Internet. More likely than not, what you want to know has already been documented by some website or blogged by someone before.

Actually, when I took the photos of these two structures, I did not know that Singapore Paranormal Investigators (SPI) already has the mystery solved here.

You can also read more about the Labrador Obelisk at the Infopedia website here.

1. What is the generic name for this type of structure?

Obelisk - A tall 4-sided shaft of stone usually tapered and monolithic that rises to a pyramidial top.

2. What are the names given to the structures?

Left photo - The Dalhousie Obelisk.

Right photo - The Labrador Obelisk. (May not be the official name.)

3. Where are they located?

Left photo - Empress Place in the vicinity of ACM, Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall.

Right photo - Labrador Park, near the machine gun pillbox.

4. What are their significance, i.e. what do they commemorate, what do they stand for and why are they erected?

Left photo: To commemorate the second visit of the Marquis of Dalhousie in February 1850. He was Governor General of British India and his visit to Singapore was for the purpose of "liberating commerce from all restraints".

Right photo: According to SPI who consulted a historian, the Labrador Obelisk used to be the marker of the most southern tip of Asia continent. However, according to the Infopedia site, the white obelisk marked the Western Harbour limit. So who is really right?

5. When were they erected? Were they built around the same time?

Left photo: Erected in 1850.

Right photo: In the 18th Century. (Exact date unknown.)

Hence they were not built around the same time.

6. Were they designed/built by the same person?

Probably not.

7. Who is (are) the designer(s)/builder(s)?

Left photo: Designed by John Turnbull Thomson. Built by prominent merchants and traders.

Right photo: Not known.

Below is a photo of the plaque found at the Dalhousie Obelisk. (The Labrador Obelisk does not have any accompanying plaque.)

A Man Fell Down

A man fell down yesterday morning
Happened at a pedestrian crossing
Wasn't a serious circumstance
Yet his life hung in the balance

Couldn't get up on his own
Nearby in red stood his clone
The companion didn't look like he cared
'Cos he simply stood by and stared

Oh dear, what happened har?
Was he knocked down by a car?
Or assaulted by an enemy?
How it came to this I didn't see.

I approached the injured man cautiously
And took a photo of him discreetly
A few times he blinked at me
Before passing out momentarily
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(Scroll some more.)
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(Yes, some more.)
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Hahaha, gotcha didn't I?

Rediffusion And Big Fool Lee

Lee Dai Soh telling a Cantonese story at Rediffusion in 1960. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

My earlier post on the legendary storyteller Lee Dai Soh 李大傻 (literally "Big Fool Lee") attracted a comment from a reader named Jon. Among other things, he asked, "Could you kindly tell whether his recordings are available on CDs anywhere? I'm very keen to get hold of them, if available."

Recently, Mr Roger Sim, Business Development Manager of Rediffusion responded to the comment by saying "Rediffusion is selling Lee Dai Soh 6-CD box sets".

I got in touch with Roger via his email address roger@rediffusion.com.sg and collected 2 sets of the CDs personally from Rediffusion's office today.


The CDs, titled 蛇鬼山斗蛊記 and costing S$18 per set self-collect, came in very attractive packaging.


Rediffusion's office is no longer located in Clemenceau Avenue as shown below in a 1950 photo， courtesy of the National Archives.


Their office was in Clemenceau Avenue up to the late 1980s or early 1990s, I think. Now it is at Morningstar Centre, 12 New Industrial Road:


I met up with a very friendly Roger and we had an hour-long chat (off the air) about the good old days of Rediffusion as well as Roger's plans in moving his business forward.

Roger showed me what Rediffusion is offering now.


It is called Digital Audio Broadcast (DAB) service. The above DAB receiver set is provided free-of-charge with a minimum 15-month (1 year + 3 months free) subscription at S$192.60. The set produces crisp, clear and interference-free digital sound which is even more evident when played via an audiophile valve amplifier:


In terms of aesthetics, the receiver set is definitely far better-looking and more compact than the toaster-like boxes of the 1950-60s:


You can have access to 19 "unique informative, music and entertainment content" for as little as 43 cents a day.


Some of the stations provide 24-hour non-stop commercial-free music, ranging from classical, jazz to hip-hop. Of course, the traditional Chinese dialect stations "Gold" (now called "RediGold") and "Silver" (now "RediSilver 25") are included in the package. Personally, I think it is very good value for your money.

If you are interested in Rediffusion's services or the Lee Dai Soh CDs, you may contact Roger directly via his above email address.

You can read more about the history of Rediffusion from this Infopedia link.

Other articles about Rediffusion in my blog are accessible via the following links:

1. I Remember Rediffusion

2. "Grandfathers Telling Stories"

3. Big Fool Lee

4. Rediffusion