A Comedy on Subprime Mortgage Crisis

This is a satirical comedy about the Subprime Crisis in the US which has affected the world

severely. The two Johns are old hands in comedy and will bring on the laughs.

Tell Me Why

Have you ever heard a young boy singing so beautifully and perfectly?

Tell Me Why....is a song of PEACE in world that is filled with hate and violence.

When he sang that song, Declan Galbraith was only about 10 years old. Today, he is 18 and a star.

unk Dicko

Kew Ong Yah Temple

This is the page from the October month of the ATC Heritage calendar 2009. It shows the Hougang Tao Mu Gong otherwise more commonly known as the Temple of Kew Ong Yah ( the 9th Deity ).
It is situated along Upper Serangoon Road and was established by the late Mr Ong Choo Kee, a businessman.
Devotees normally gather on the morning of the 9th Day of the Lunar month and they will accompany an urn of burning josssticks placed on a special sedan chair. The procession will then proceed to the Whampoa River to welcome the deity. Today that ceremony has shifted to the Serangoon River.
Quite often, a "tangki" or temple medium in a trance -like state will be along too.

Kitchen Fire: What you must know

Watch this video so that you know what to do in the unfortunate event that there is a fire in your kitchen. Knowledge is always an asset !

CREATIVITY...repackaging and rebranding !

You and I and every little kid would certainly have heard the ever-popular nursery rhyme...

"TWINKLE TWINKLE LITTLE STAR" and also would know how to sing it aloud. Many mothers

would sing it to their babies and toddlers before bedtime too...in the tradtional way, right?

Watch this video carefully. Don't Miss this !!! This version is infinitely more interesting and absorbing.

See how a little CREATIVITY, IMAGINATION and TALENT can transform an old product into

something so ATTRACTIVE, CAPTIVATING and HUMOUROUS!

There are excellent lessons here for us...right?

unk Dicko

Haji Yusoff Mosque

The Masjid Haji Yusoff is located at 2 Hillside Drive off Upper Serangoon Road. It was built in 1921 by philantrophist Ahmad Mohamed Salleh Anguilla who had donated the land and money for its construction. Originally built of wood, it was destroyed in a fire in 1985...and rebuilt subsequently. In 1994 it was demolished and completely rebuilt again...as the photo shows. It serves the needs of Muslims in the area well.

This is the page from the month of September from the ATC Heritage Calendar 2009.

It shows the mosque at its original and present site at Hillside Drive.

The other photo is interesting too..showing a youthful looking trio of Minister S Dhanabalan, Sidek Saniff and our very own MP then..Dr Lau Teik Soon, with the Mosque management.

I wonder when this picture was taken?
Unk Dicko

The BEST Muah Chee in Singapore!

If you are a self-declared muah chee lover and yet has never tasted the muah chee from our 6th Milestone Simon Road...then you are living in fool's paradise!

There were many excellent hawker and food stalls as I have described in my earlier post on the Simon Road Market.

But for me and likely many old timers, this one stall selling muah chee stood out among the crowd.

The young man in this photo is the son of the original "apek" who was a true specialist at preparing and dishing out this fare. The photo of him at his muah chee stall was not at the Simon Road location. This was when they relocated to Hougang after the Simon Road Market was closed in 1999. I have been to the new location some years ago and the stuff was still very good. In fact, I had a chat with the young man who told me that his father had "retired" from active duty and even he himself was thinking of giving up the art and the business. Of course, I was quite shocked to hear all that.
Why?
Their muah-chee is almost like a Serangoon 6th Mile icon!
You know what most people did when they ate at the old market place? Whether it was dinner or supper...you ordered and ate your main food...congee, kiam chye "ark", Hokkien mee, duck rice, mee-rebus etc. Then invariably, as a side dish, a plate of that famous muah chee was a must! To be eaten there or packed take away.

Those of you who had patronised that stall will recall the love and patient labour displayed by
"apek" as he gently plucked each piece of the muah chee dough and then dipping it in a sort of garlic-onion brownish oil paste, before he enveloped that piece with the peanut coated sugar mix.

Muah Chee anyone?

Unk Dicko

Xinmin Secondary School

Xinmin Secondary School was very much a part of old Serangoon history. Originally located along Serangoon Road as this vintage photo shows, the building was an easy landmark along the main road.
This page comes from the July page of the ATC 2009 Heritage Calendar.
In the old days, it was known as Sin Min High School. There was also Sin Min Primary School.
Today, the original building has been taken over by the Helping Hands Organisation. The school was founded in 1945 and relocated to its present site in Hougang Avenue 8 in 1990/1991( See map below ).


Looking at the old photo carefully will revive many forgotten memories of what sports and PE were like in those bygone days. Did you notice the girls were all running barefooted?
And that was an official race! You can clearly see the competitor's number tag on them...370, 395 and 51 seemed to be ahead of the others...387 etc.
They were running on everyday cowgrass! No school had tartan tracks yet.

The other new photos ( from Xinmin official website) show the spanking new buildings and facilities in their present location.




What a major contrast...the past and the present.

Today, Xinmin Sec is regarded as a top school ( not just top neighbourhood school ). They have won the highest School Awards given out by the MOE...the School Distinction Award and the School Excellence Award.
The transformation from an ordinary school to one of note has been heralded in the media and press and makes a worthwhile case study.
unk Dicko

Bull Run @ The Serangoon

The Serangoon CCC, CCMC, RCs, NCs, CSC & Serangoon North Merchants' Association celebrated the Lunar New Year with a Dinner cum Variety Show on Feb. 7, 2009.

Top photo shows GRLs with "god of wealth" preparing to welcome the Guest-of-Honour, Mrs. Lim Hwee Hua

Photo above shows the "choir" from the Serangoon Constituency singing Lunar New Year traditional songs.
Photos taken by Passion Photographers had been uploaded into the following website: http://theserangoon.multiply.com/photos/album/15

Lim Tua Tow Market

This is the page for the month of June
from the ATC calendar 2009...Our Heritage, Our Home.

That is a photo of the old LIM TUA TOW market, definitely one of the most famous of its time...especially in the 60's where there were up to 500 stalls!
There were also many foodstalls ranging from the famous Chye Tow Kueh and the equally famous "original" Hokkien Mee. They were doing so well they sell right into the late night. My family and I ate there often. I still remember that there was a special feature story in the S Times about the "Original" Hokkien Mee...that appeared in the 80's. If I can recollect the main story..it went like this: Sometime in the 1930's, a Hokkien man started frying his special style of mee ( Hokkien mee) and it tasted so good it became an instant hit. He had only one stall located at Upper Bukit Timah area, near Beauty World. After the War, he continued his thriving business with his young stall assistants. However, before he passed away, he had passed on his original Hokkien mee secrets to his faithful assistants. There were 3 of them, plus his own family who knew how to fry it the right way. All the original 3 young Hokkien mee disciples soon started their very own stalls...preparing the the mee the same way their "sifu"(master) had taught them. All 3 continued selling even to the 90's. Where were they located? Those of you who are genuine,die hard Hokkien mee lovers and around my age may know at least 2 of the original disciple:-
1. Used to be located along Serangoon Road, just before Balestier Road/ Lavender Street junction. This "apek" has polio in one leg, and his son assisting him strangely also suffered from
the same problem. I was his long-time customer...since the 60's and gave him the nickname "OPIUM" which stuck. When "apek" died, his son took over. He used charcoal for fire and the "umpeh" leaf for wrapping. There was always a very long queue of luxury cars and an even longer queue of people waiting for his heavenly fare.
2. The 2nd disciple was our very own Lim Tua Tow Hokkien Mee! Some of you may still recall the 'apek"frying in similar style as "Opium", using the same "umpeh" leaf.
3. The 3rd was at Beauty World area.
Why was their Hokkien mee so, so, mouth-watering good?
The secret was in the special stock they prepared and the way they used the wooden cover over
the "kuali". They took their time too despite many customers waiting. And they were very generous with the ingredients...prawn, sotong, pork, garlic, egg, fresh chilli, sambal....
Today's Hokkien mee ...NONE have come close to those original masters!
Where are they today? They seem to have vanished unless someone can tell me differently.

The locals also call this Lim Tua Tow area " 5th Milestone ".

unk Dicko

Serangoon Lunar New Year GRLs & Families Gathering

The Serangoon held the annual Lunar New Year Gathering for GRLs & their families on Feb. 1, 2009. Mrs. Lim Hwee Hua, Advisor to the Serangoon's GRO was the Guest of Honour. Mrs. Lim went round to meet with all GRLs & their families and to wish them Xin Nian Kuai Le & Wan Shi Ru Yi.

Photos taken by Passion Photographers had been uploaded into the following website for your viewing pleasure http://www.theserangoon.multiply.com/

Chingay Parade 2009

The annual Chingay Parade was held on Jan 30 & 31, 2009. Passion was at the parade to capture the sight, sounds and beauties.

Click on the link below to Passion Photographers' website to view more images uploaded. http://www.flickr.com/photos/passionphotographers/