“I’ll Be There”@Peppermint Park - Peter Chan

Between 1974 and 1984, music entertainment in Singapore was confined to lounge music. This period was a pretty boring decade also when you had three guys seated on high stools strumming their acoustic guitars and crooning to the tune of “Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina”. For those who have patronized the Kangxi Lounge at Hotel Taipan would understand what I am saying. This was the situation after the government came down hard on discotheques and long-hair in the 1970s. OK I am wrong! If you had a fat wallet you could go to supper clubs like the Belvedere (Mandarin Hotel) or The Tiara (Shangrila) but that would have made a hole.

Photo 1: The Peppermint Park advertisement of yesterdays (circa 1984)

Through a chance meeting with a former classmate in 1984, I came to know of Peppermint Park and who was behind it. “Have you heard that Dennis our classmate has opened a new place called Peppermint Park at Parkway Parade? The old boys are meeting there this Friday night. Would you come by?” “I’ll be there”, I said.

There was a long queue by 8pm but I managed to get a place upstairs because we just had to mention the password “From RI” and the captain lead the way upstairs. The party was in progress. I must add that National Service must have done some good to us because we now gulp beer by the jug instead of by the glass. Dennis took time off his busy schedule to show us around his new joint.

At Peppermint Park “live” entertainment took on a new direction. The one big difference, the dance floor was missing but there were no complaints about that. It was easily replaced by incredible showmanship, full band sounds, powerful vocal harmonization, atmospheric lightings and the décor was simply way out of this world. These were the important ingredients for a successful entertainment business.

When I put my memories into this blog article, it’s quite easy to describe the attractiveness of Peppermint Park. Let me elaborate further.

Photo 2: Peppermint Park Theater & Lounge at #04-08 Parkway Parade.

T.G.I.F. was like taking an after-dinner stroll in a park. You hear the sounds of crickets chirping until showtime began after 9pm. The miniature lightings resembling the stars at night hung from a jet-black ceiling. White wrought iron garden chairs and tables – items sold in any garden nursery - provided the seating. Center-stage on the ground floor was a big prop of a Southern Plantation type mansion typically found in the big American tobacco plantations in Mississippi. Trees lined the walls and the floor was covered with carpet grass. On the second level was a saloon with Chesterfield sofas, rugs and a wooden floor. There was a small balcony at one end of the saloon where you could watch the stage down below.

Photo 3: A Southern Plantation mansion found in Mississippi

Showtime started with the appearance of the groups, three bands instead of just one and often fronted by female back-up vocalists. I believe Dennis was able (and still does a fantastic job at St James Power Station) to capture what a demanding market wanted; solid sound, skits and dance routines.

This could only come from foreign bands, mind you only the Filipino showbands could deliver an excellent performance. To get a feel of what energetic Filipino showmanship is all about, click on the video clip below and watch “Everybody needs somebody” (circa 1996).

The Filipino groups rapped with the audience, not just screaming those cliché, “Are you happy tonight. I can’t hear you”. Many local musicians commented that the Filipinos must have under-cut the market to get contracts at our night spots but I say it is entertainment value they provided. When you see them (Filipinos) doing different genres at the same time - top of the chart, classical jazz and even new renditions of old evergreens - you begin to have your doubts of our local musicians. We got “Kharma Chameleon” (Culture Club), “McArthur Park” (Three Degrees) and “I don’t know how to love him” (Andrew Lloyd Webber). There was one novel act which I thought was attention-grabbing. There was a white screen showing a singer’s silhouette until she appeared visible to the audience. This was choreographed to the theme “Candle on the Water” from a Walt Disney animated film Pete’s Dragon.

Photo 4: Left - Filipino showband at the reception area of Peppermint Park (circa 1984). Right - The showband reunion in Manila (circa 1996)

Local names that appeared at Peppermint Park included Anita Sarawak, Kaye Hamid & Hangloose, Tania, and Adam & Ben.

When I took on a regional career posting, I lost touch with Peppermint Park. Some years later I saw that it was called Park Avenue and managed by different owners. Today I hear there is Peppermint Park but this time inside St James Power Station. Is this same Peppermint Park of 1984? I shall soon discover this Friday.

Singapore's Carpark Wardens Through The Years - By Peter Chan

Scene 1:
Woman claims she parked at 1.10pm. URA car park warden, Ms. Kamsiah bte Wang claims woman parked at 12.51pm. The woman appeals against fine for the second time, claiming her watch is accurate. She decides to appeal (as a matter of principle and not because of the $30 fine) to the URA “relevant authorities”, only to receive a flat rejection letter. Will she go to Subordinate Court #26?

Scene 2:
A motorist considers it a waste of money to use a 50-cent parking coupon and leaves his car at the kerbside. He claims he can see his car and since everybody else is also doing the same, should be no problem. He goes into the kopitiam for that famous Bak Chor Mee and cuppa of coffee. Then all hell breaks loose as someone loudly screams, “Mata lai lor! Kah pak liak! Chut Saman! You see men (and women) dashing off to their cars leaving their bowls of Bak Chor Mee half eaten.

Singapore is a really “fine” city because we Pay And Pay. We have fines for all kinds of offenses, including a fine for paying a fine late. I guess we need fines to maintain discipline otherwise how could Singapore have got to where it is today? But who is that “Chenghu” (Hokkien for the authority) on the street? It is none other than our URA parking warden whose duty has somewhat changed over the decades.

Photo 1: Left; lonely warden writing on her booklet. A Hock Lee Bus passing by the public car park (circa 1967). Right; two wardens needing to rest their tired bodies against the cars. Notice a lorry double-parking “waiting” for a car park lot (circa 1972).

In the 1960s, the car park warden was responsible for issuing tickets to motorists in public car parks and at kerbside parking. Wearing one of those “Chinese funeral type” straw hats, she could be easily recognized by any motorist.

She had in one hand, a booklet of parking tickets, a stiff cardboard to provide hard support and to prevent writing through the carbon paper. She did not have the non-carbonized paper type but the Pelikan brand which came in black ink. The carbon paper was trimmed to the size of the booklet and inserted between the original parking and the duplicate parking tickets.

The entire process of issuing a parking ticket and making a payment was simple. After a motorist pulled into a parking lot, she walked towards him and asked how long he would be parking. The motorist was given the original ticket whilst the parking warden kept the duplicate. Payment received would be kept it in one of her safari jacket-pockets whilst the small change was kept in the other jacket-pocket. If a motorist exceeded his parking time, he was issued with a pink ticket neatly tucked under the windscreen wiper. All he now needed to do was to walk up to her and make the additional payments. The car park warden checked the time the pink ticket was issued and the time on her wrist watch. Mentally working out the duration, she would tell him the right amount to pay.

A fine occurred when the motorist drove off. The URA sent out letters of demand within 2 weeks from the date of the offence - stating the fine, the amount for the exceeded time and due date for payment. The first letter of demand was in white and the final warning letter was in pink. When the motorist chose to ignore, a visit to the courts was not unusual. You don’t need to guess how come I knew so much. In court, you see a long line of traffic offenders in a queue, each person waiting for the prosecutor to call his or her name to stand before the magistrate. When I pleaded guilty (always a smart thing to do instead of raising your hands or displaying a “boh chap” attitude because this adds to the cost) the compounded fine was S$50/.

Photo 2: Left; One display method (circa 1980), Middle; Parking coupon + computerized fine (circa 2009), Right; Car Park Warden speaks: “Madam I already key into computer. You not happy, you can always write in. I am only doing my work.” Then Madam speaks: “Chi kuan a lang bor tow lor….wah buay tahan. Gor a ji tu buay sai……”

One thing good about yesterday’s parking. You doubled-park your vehicle against a double-white line and wait; allowing your passenger to do errands such as running into the bank to make a deposit or to deliver goods. Surely these errands could take up to 30 minutes but the car park warden never chased you away. You could block other motorists also but as long you move your vehicle, it was alright. All kinds of reasons not to pay were accepted by the car park wardens. Maybe people in the past were more reasonable and forgiving. Try doing the same thing today in front of the Bank of China Building on Battery Road. Did you see in the rear mirror someone taking out his “Weapon of Mass Destruction”?

Things changed with the introduction of self-ticketing parking coupons in 1980, the HDB joining URA later that year. In 1980 there were 658 URA car park wardens employed. When the self-ticketing system was introduced, car park warden duties were changed to enforcement duties at the car parks. They imposed surcharges on the spot when motorists display invalid coupons. The surcharge was four times 40 cents parking if it lapsed within one hour, when more than an hour an additional $10 was imposed.

By this time, URA created a special “Hit Squad”. Enforcement wardens on scooters were sent out to keep a look-out for motorists who did not display valid car park coupons, tampering with the coupons (folding backwards without tearing away the tabs) or cheating on the starting time.

Photo 3: The law on wheels; yesterday and today

I observed that with the implementation of self-ticketing parking coupons, city parking charges went up even faster than before. Consider that in 1965 it was just 20 cents for one-hour, then it became 40 cents for one hour in 1974, 50 cents for one hour in 1980, 60 cents for half-hour in 1985, and now $2.00 for one hour. There were all sorts of variations as shown in Photo 4 that can be very confusing for motorists. Fines also escalated to newer heights.

Photo 4: Motorist woes, government happiness. Left - Early 1970s; Middle - Late 1980s; Right - Today

With coupon parking and Cashcards, it has lead to the demise of the once popular URA car park warden. Now we have the CERTIS-CISCO carpark wardens but they belong to the “Hit Squad”. Thirty meters away, you hear “Vrooom Vrooom, Vrooom”. Then nearer to you, he loudly beeps the scooter horns. You can’t pretend you didn’t see him coming because very soon you see on the driver’s side of the window, a familiar figure in dark glasses starring hard at you. “MOVE!” Sheepishly you crank your engine, move the gears and step on the accelerator. It certainly looks like our car park wardens have “reinvented themselves” so that they can stay relevant in this modern age.

Pimm's #1 or Pussyfoot?

In this post, Peter Chan describes the night entertainment scene in the 1970s.


How did it all begin?

I think it had to be Mr. Adam Hing’s Christmas Party at his Jalan Buloh Perindu house. Adam Hing was our favorite form teacher and his teacher-wife graciously arranged for a dozen girls from St Nicholas Girls School. I sheepishly took my place in the boys’ row of chairs facing the giggly girls. Minutes ticked without any boy daring to walk across the wide expanse of the living room to ask the girl for a dance even though Mr. Hing selected the best from his extensive collection of singles:

“Sugar Sugar” by the Archies



“Yellow River” by Christie



and “In the Summertime” by Mungo Jerry



I suppose those hot numbers were not enough to stir interest on a Sunday at 4.00 pm.

Fast forward to 1970 when dancing was preceded by Pimm’s #1 for the guys and Pussyfoot for the girls - two “in” drinks before Bacardi Coke became the rave. This time the girls (more like women) were more exciting. The lights went out, the boys pressed against the girls, the girls were clutching boys in the 1970s version of slow-dancing and French kissing was a must. Things in Singapore were a bit wilder then - rules were meant to be broken - and this might have contributed to our early maturity. The youth sub-culture was very much adult-oriented. We dressed like adults - guys in jersey material shirts with huge 6” collars and 28” bell-bottomed pants. The girls were dressed in elegant evening dresses - Maidenfoam wired bras (to give that big jug look) and stiletto heels from Bibas of London. Guys, if you did not sport long hair nor had a Benson & Hedges cigarette between your lips, you were not the groovy type*. No wonder we could slip pass the bouncers at “Talk of the Town”.

Photo 1: Left - “Talk of the Town” in High Street spread over 3 levels and you needed to climb a spiral staircase to get to the top floors. Right - The PUB at Hotel Malaysia.

Social outings first innocently started with house parties. From house parties it progressed to town for more dancing. “Double dating” was a common practice then. By the time our Senior Cambridge Examination results came out in March the following year, many would have patronized most of the discos in town. One method of minimizing expenses was to take a bus to your date’s house. Then you impressed her mother by calling for a yellow-black taxi to get to the discotheque. You made sure your date was not the “thirsty sort” or else you would burn a hole in your pocket buying her that second drink at $3+ including service tax; first drink @$5++. What’s left was usually good enough to cover for the “after midnight” taxi fare to send her home first and then to your house. This all required careful planning and you made sure you didn’t have to date someone who “lived in the ulu” unless you had “wheels”. Of course you had to make sure your “father’s wheels” was a/c and sporty. No Morris Minor, Benz or Volkswagen Beetle please!

Orchard Road’s nightscape was so different from Clarke Quay or Boat Quay. The entertainment strip began at Hotel Malaysia – The PUB, then GINO’S A-GO-GO on Tanglin Road on the second floor, passing Ming Court Hotel’s BARBARELLA, THE EYE at Cuscaden House and Singapore Hilton’s SPOT SPOT. Was that all? Nope, there was BOILER ROOM at the basement of the Mandarin Hotel and MAXIM’s over at the Cockpit Hotel in Penang Road. The discotheques were complemented by more adult-oriented clubs such as DANNY’S LOUNGE at Wisma Indonesia. EL AMIGO or PINK PUSSYCAT.

CLUB 3-9-2 just across the road from the former Singapore Forum Hotel (now Forum Galleria) offered a different kind of experience – no dancing but a live band to keep pubbers happy. The late Michael Isaac was the lead singer. This was where one learnt a new word: “prostitute”, all because the “USS America” came to town and pretty white boy was doing his bit to support our tourism industry. Such was the height of the popularity that it later spread to Orchard Towers where you found strange women with Adam’s apples and speaking in a low voice at the TOP TEN. MOONSHINE at the Ocean Park Hotel in Katong was located out of town and probably the only seaside discotheque in Singapore. The ambience was vibrant like those you find in Kuta Beach Bali. When festive occasions came, even restaurants were temporarily converted into discos, such as the KELONG at the Cathay Restaurant in the Cathay Building.

Photo 2: The PUB at the former Hotel Malaysia which later became the LONDON SCENE (circa 1971). Hotel Malaysia was sold and renamed the Marco Polo Hotel. The PUB was in the basement level below this bunch of musicians. Where is yours truely?

When business people saw more opportunities, competition spread. More up-market discotheques opened at the Shangri-la Hotel – LOS HORIZON, PETE’S PLACE at the Hyatt (the former bowling alley), the ROOFTOP at the Oberoi Imperial Hotel and KASBAH at the top of the Mandarin Hotel. I am quite sure that KASBAH had an Arabian Night theme for its decor. I was pleasantly surprised that after many decades of inactivity, the previous hotel management of Mandarin Hotel did not tear down the decor until the recent upgrading program at the Meritus Mandarin Hotel.

One hot spot for the “under-20something” was BARBARELLA. It was popular with the Singapore students as well as the Singapore American School and St John’s Comprehensive School expatriate students. BARBARELLA was housed in the now-defunct Devils Bar of the Orchard Parade Hotel. Its interior had a space-age theme with dark blackout curtains for the ceiling to floor windows. Smoochers preferred the “capsules” surrounding the dance floor but no advanced reservations could be taken. One had to queue up early as 8.00 pm which was well before the opening hour. This was the place where “Steven Koh” befriended “Baby G” from the Singapore American School. OMG, the Americans were physically much more matured compared to Asian girls; you never could guess a 15-year-old girl could look like a 19-year-old girl. The British girls were a bit snooty but the American girls were easy-going and less demanding on the wallet. If “Baby G” liked you, you got an invitation to swim at the American Club.

Photo 3: Left – The ROOFTOP at the Imperial Hotel. Middle - Ming Court Hotel’s unique doormen. Right - BARBERALLA Discotheque (circa 1970).

Then the bad news came. It was time when the Singapore Government became harsh with the rapid spread of marijuana, LSD and the keeping of long hair by males. The police were hot on local male youths sporting long hair below the collar and covering the ears. Not surprisingly that on Saturday nights, you could find youths running in different directions down in Orchard Road whenever a police car came along. They confiscated your ICs and detained you at the police station until you got a decent haircut. By 1974, discotheques closed and the entertainment scene shifted to Kuala Lumpur such as the TIN MINE at the KL Hilton.

Photo 4: - Left - Review of jazz singer from the Hyatt Hotel. Right – The Mezzanine Floor at the Mandarin Hotel (circa 1982).

Supper clubs, hotel music lounges and pubs appeared, replacing the discotheques. There were TIARA SUPPER CLUB, NUTMEGS, WEST END CLUB and PEPPERMINT PARK. “Live bands” were replaced by DJs like Brian Richmond who began at the WEST END CLUB at the Goodwood Park Hotel and ended at STUDIO M at the Hotel Merlin.

I wonder how things are today. Honestly I don’t know. “Under-20somethings”, you keen to help? You see, the last time I stepped into a discotheque must have been more than a decade ago at the PITSTOP in Jakarta, or was it JJ MAHONEY in Hong Kong? Hmm, cannot remember; so long ago.

Note:

* - Alfred Dunhill, the cigarette brand, even bought advertising hours on local TV showing a swanky Chelsea discotheque with psychedelic lightings and spotlights beaming to a rotating globe-shaped crystal ball above the dance floor. Guests to discotheques were even handed 45 rpm records of the theme song and a complimentary packet of the cigarette. Such was the power of cigarette brands that in later years, they were sponsors for various international sports.

The "Old Smuggler's Trail"

In this post, Peter Chan describes an epic journey which he made with his friends to Haadyai 35 years ago. All of them had just turned 20 that year. Hmm... Haadyai? Could it be the men's rite of passage to turn them from boys into real men, something which National Service in Singapore had failed to do? Yes, it is the "S" word. However, it is not about sex this time. Read on to find out.

On my way to the Thai Immigration & Customs Checkpoint, I briefly conversed with Anan. After many decades, this would be the first time I was using my “pasar bahasa”. Anan is of ethnic Malay descent but holds Thai nationality**. He makes a living by fetching passengers on his 100cc Honda across the Malaysian-Thai border crossing at Padang Besar, Perlis.

Anan: “Kenapa awak mau datang ke-Padang Besar?”
("Why do you want to come to Padang Besar?")

Me: “O, macham ini-lah. Lebeh 35 tahun dulu, ada enam olang Singapore naik keretapi sampai ke-Padang Besar. Mereka nak pergi Thailand dari Padang Besar…….”
("O, it's like this. More than 35 years ago, there were 6 Singaporeans who boarded a train to Padang Besar. They wanted to go to Thailand from Padang Besar......")

Anan: “Berapa hari di sini? Sekarang nak chari apa? Ini tempat sangat sengep. Semua orang sini chepat tidor”
("How many days you plan to stay here? What are you looking for? This is a very sleepy town. All the people here go to bed early.")

Padang Besar is located at the north western corner of Peninsular Malaysia and happens to be an important border-crossing and rail connection between Malaysia and Thailand. I dare to make this trip after spending 2 years of planning, researching and analyzing the information. The background work faced many shortcomings because I relied on information from backpackers, Malaysians and Thais - people who visited Padang Besar but with very little knowledge of the 1970s era. I even turned to motoring road maps and street directories but none were available on this remote Malaysian town. Literatures from Tourism Malaysia were vague.

The break-though came about three months earlier when an important parcel arrived from England. It contained a 1: 63,360 topographical map of the Padang Besar area prepared under the direction of AD Survey, Far East Land Forces and revised by the Survey Department of Malaya. This excited me because “Survey Department of Malaya” was something I could connect with. Back in the 1980s, I had worked for an American IT vendor which supplied the software mapping package to the Survey Department of Malaysia, now called JUPEM. JUPEM is responsible for land surveying, mapping and aerial photography. Why didn’t I think of this “Malaysian Kawan” right from the start?

Photo 1: Left - Topo map of PD vicinity (circa 1960). The black line across the map is the Butterworth to Bangkok railway track. The old Padang Besar Station is the black rectangular box below “2102”. Center - In the background is the border which is shared between Malaysia and Thailand. In the foreground and right of the track is the old Padang Besar Station which was completed in 1957. The future new railway station would be to the left of the Padang-styled roof. Photo courtesy of Chayaphiwat . Right – The border areas between Malaysia and Thailand were closed between 6pm and 6am as shown by these border security signboards (circa 1970s). This explains our predicament at the Padang Besar Station which housed both the Malaysian and Thai immigration & customs facilities.

The topo map corrected any previous perceptions which I had of the landscape and the relative positioning of prominent landmarks such as the old railway station, the railway siding and the “bukits”. When the topo map was superimposed over Gogglemap, I could see that the entire landscape has radically changed. For example, an important building, the old Padang Besar Station has disappeared to inside the inland KTM Bhd. container-yard. The railway siding is now the roundabout. Some landmarks did not change: the single railway track across the border, the Chinese temple in Pekan Siam, and the highway to Sadao. The new landmarks that appeared included the semi-concrete security fence, a PETRONAS gas station, Bazaar Padang Besar, and of course the new Padang Besar Station - entirely in a new position carved from the former hilly terrain.

So why do I attach so much significance to this trip?

There were six of us who made the trip on July 20, 1974. All of us turned 20 that year and so a trip to Haatyai was meant to be a celebration. Of the six who went, Michael Chua passed away in 2000 due to terminal illness. It was sad to hear of his demise but the spirit has to continue because of a pact we made; that by the time we reach our golden years, we would come back for a reunion and make a commemorative trip for old time sake. You see we all knew that we would part ways after NS. We were also aware that each of us had to pursue a career and possibly even settle down with families. That would have meant we would never “talk shop” or do things like we once did as “young cocks”. Only See Kit and I kept in touch; each time we met he would ask for the others; Rennie Wee, Mohan Raj and Teo Wee Kiang. Thirty-plus years is a very long time and the fear is whether people and places change. So in a way it was my “baby” to make sure our forthcoming commemorative trip at the end of this year will turn out well. Today this trip was a reconnaissance mission. Now I like to share with you on the legacy of this project.

Photo 2: The group of six with the late Michael Chua as the camera man. We stood in front of the newly opened Sukhontai Hotel (now Novotel Centera Haatyai). We travelled with the Nam Ho Travel bags and a shared Samsonite suite-case. Besides the Sukhontai Hotel, the other top-rated hotel in Haatyai at that time was the Montien.

1974

About 8pm we arrived at the Padang Besar Railway Station in a hired taxi from Butterworth. It was certainly the wrong time to come because the Thai and Malaysian immigration counters inside the railway station area were closed for the day and there was no way we could cross the international border nor find hotel accommodation in Padang Besar because it was an “ulu town” (and it has ever been since thy kingdom come). We were dejected until a dark tanned figure appeared and told us he could take us into Thailand the very same evening for a fee of M$10 per person. Anan is the modern version of that dark tanned figure of 1974 except for one major difference. He does it with official approval from the Thai and Malaysian authorities. Unlike foreigners, Anan does not need a passport or show letters to cross the checkpoints. Incidentally, Anan was once a runner fetching people across the border in the 1970s.

It can be very difficult for me to explain the route we got into Thailand. Firstly there was no moon that night and no street lights, secondly no map and thirdly no camera to take any photos; if we did we had no camera-flash. However there was something good which has stood the test of time – our memory.

“Face the Padang Besar Station’s main entrance from the main road, kekanan pusing and chepat jalan 250 meters until you come to a concrete-paved open space. Walk in a 1 o’clock direction and cross a railway track. Belok kanan until 2 o’clock position and walk for 100 meters before reaching a fence with plenty of shrubs and lallang. Get down on all fours and crawl through the hole in the fence. Bediri dan chepat jalan 150 meters, then berhenti.”

How does this look on a map? Let’s examine Fig 1 closely.

Fig 1: My mental map of Padang Besar reinforced by fresh inputs from topo maps and street-level photographs. The orange colour indicates the route taken by us from the railway station through the border fence. Inside Thai territory is the Pekan Siam to Sadao Highway which we traveled to get to Haatyai. This is the same highway which connects to Danok and Batu Kayu Hitam.

After emerging from the other side of the fence, technically we were on Thai territory. The unmistakable sound of the percussion instruments and someone singing “Lol Lol Krathong” was the evidence. It didn’t strike us that we were doing the wrong things because the runner had assured us everything was above board. We thought it wise to organize ourselves just in case something unexpected was to happen. Walking in a section battle formation of “1-Up”, we walked down a narrow track, lallang on one side and trees on the other. The further we walk; the lights in Padang Besar became smaller and dimmer. We came to a wooden hut and waiting for us at the steps was another tanned-looking fellow (only this time he was a fat one) dressed-up in a sarong and white Chinaman singlet. Our runner whispered into his ears and on his signal, we handed-over six Singapore international passports to him with M$10 neatly tucked inside. Our passports were returned to us. There was something unusual about our passports; the passports were not rubber-stamped but carried hand-written signatures and the date of entry. Of course we were suspicious but language difficulties prevented further probing. A short while later a big beige 1960s Chevrolet appeared which took us for a 1.5 hour drive to Haatyai. We did talk about it in the car, whether the endorsements in our passports would be valid on our return trip into Malaysia but the long journey up from Singapore – by train and taxi - simply drained all our energies. That issue was the last thing on our minds. Whilst one or two of us kept awake, the others fell asleep. An hour and the half drive would not be considered long by any standard but in southern Thailand and the only car on the road at this hour of the night did give rise to concerns. What happens if we were kidnapped? Can the Thai driver be trusted – he was always so polite and laughing? He didn’t speak English, we didn’t speak Thai. The only light was the car’s headlights beaming weakly into the dark.

We (honestly) didn’t know that we were on the “Old Smugglers Trail” when we crossed the border. It is only after much reading and getting comments from others that we know what we did 35 years ago. Some commended us on our courage. Smuggling along the Thai-Malaysian border was very rampant in the 1970s, comprising rice, fuel, sugar, fire arms, cigarettes and the vice trade. You can imagine the consequences if we were detained by the authorities or worse still by the smugglers. Beside the smugglers, there were also fear of the Communist Terrorists (CTs) and armed bandits. Today, Malaysian Rangers from the 8th Infantry Bde are deployed on the Malaysian side of the common border because of militant secessionist movements.

2009

Now try and guess where did we enter Thailand in today’s context?

Photo 3: (A) 2.4 meters high border fence beside the railway track. (B) The empty plot of land on the Thai side of the border viewed from a passing train heading into Malaysia. We came through the gap between the two parked trucks and continued walking to the tree on the right. Behind that tree is now a metalled road and a row of 2-storey houses. (C) The view of the parked truck and the border fence from the metalled road. Behind me on my right is the Chinese temple. (D) The road beside the railway track where container trucks enter/leave Thailand for the KTM inland container-yard. This container-truck is heading back into Thailand.

Photo 4: (E) The semi-concrete security fence when it was under construction (2002). Photo courtesy of Jasa Kepada Rakyat Malaysia. On the left of the fence is Malaysia, the building right of the fence belongs to the Thai Immigration & Customs. The “Bukit” in the background is at the spot height of 660 feet. The security fence begins from Wang Kelian in Perlis to Rantau Panjang in Kelantan. (F) The same Thai Immigration & Customs building today. (G) The Maybank branch was the spot where a road led to the old Padang Besar Station.

Photo 5: Left - Anan brought me to this location to see a recently discovered secret “smugglers trail”. Grey colored markings on the rubber trees and tree trunks buried in the sand serve as direction indicators. After its discovery by the Malaysian authorities, this trail was shut-down. What is the clue to this location? Look out for places (along the border) with rubber cultivation. Right – A typical hole in the fence. Notice there is no concrete wall below the fence unlike today’s border fence.

The next time when you visit Padang Besar, look out for those places I have mentioned. Just picture this as a young adult’s adventure which only can happen once a life-time. On the other hand should you think that is inappropriate, try to imagine then as a “Then & Now” thing; i.e. you are into heritage trail stuff. Next time I might consider writing the next episode of our return journey from Sadao (Thailand) to Changloon (Malaysia).

Notes:

** There is a difference between an ethnic Thai Muslim and an ethnic Malay Muslim of Thai nationality.

Further readings:

The Smugglers' Express

A Business Proposal For Marina Bay - Will It Work?

(This is an article written by my friend Peter Chan.)

"Singapore needs to plan for and invest in our city so as to safeguard our position as a premier place for business and talent. With its waterfront location and availability of unencumbered land, the Downtown at Marina Bay can be Singapore's competitive advantage, providing the opportunity to develop a unique business and financial hub as a seamless extension to the existing CBD (Central Business District)."

Photo 1: Model of the Downtown at Marina Bay

“The planning vision is to develop the area to provide prime office space for global business and financial institutions, complemented by a full range of residential, shopping, dining, and cultural and entertainment activities. Hence, the Downtown at Marina Bay will not be just a place for work but will be a business and financial hub that is integrated with quality housing and recreational and leisure facilities to provide a total live-work-play environment.” URA Vision Statement (2004)

So far, the progress has been very impressive:

Photo 2: Left; Marina Sands Casino, Right; One Raffles Quay, The Sail and Marina Bay Financial Center.

Hmmm…another project, another concrete jungle! How about some rustic charm that beats everything that has been called “entertainment” so far?

Photo 3: Floating Bar & Restaurant in the middle of Marina Bay with transfer service from pick-up points at Clifford Pier, Marina Sands Casino and the Promontory@Marina Boulevard.

Photo 4: Options for Transfer Services; “Quickie Quickie” or “Slow Boat”.

Photo 5: If you happen to lose your way, just look out for these prominent signboards.

Photo 6: On-board the deck is the “watering hole”, there will be space for a bar and a restaurant. Diving is also permitted.

Photo 7: Variety and reasonable prices on food and drinks.

Will this proposal work?