Vintage treasures found! 1960s OCBC bank book & more..

Was doing some major spring-cleaning recently. Came across some really old stuff which belonged to my late grandparents. I found a truly old OCBC bank book from the 1960s! It was my grandmother's. OCBC was one of the largest bank in Singapore since the 1930s. I was guessing why my grandmother had a OCBC bank account. One of the reasons is probably she was related to one of the founders of OCBC Bank.  

The bank book is longish and printed with English and Chinese on the front and back respectively. It came with a pastel blue plastic cover, embossed with both English and Chinese too.  The logo is the familiar Chinese Junk Ship. 

Inside, the T&Cs were in chinese. The date was stamped 30 Dec 1963.  Is OCBC Bank or the Museum interested to procure this?  Hehehe...

Grandmother also kept a short Colonel Sanders' pencil! It was probably a freebie from the then Kentucky Fried Chicken.  

This kind of old school beaded purse was so common in the 1960s-1970s.  

Wow, a vintage metal round container which was used by the goldsmith when you purchase jewellery.  Nostalgic and beautiful! 

A photo of a hardware shop in the 1960s, I think.  Or was it a post office? 

Mr President Sir

We Singaporeans will be going to the polls again tomorrow on 27 Aug 2011. I believe this Singapore President Elections is the most exciting one so far in the history of electing a President. We see hot competition from 4 potential candidates and their surname is Tan.  

One of these Tans will become our new President tomorrow. From left to right, Dr Tan Cheng Bock, Mr Tan Jee Say, Dr Tony Tan and Mr Tan Kin Lian.  There were so many jokes about just the surname alone.  They say for Tan Jee Say, who is from the Opposition camp, to win this election, it is "tan goo goo" (wait for a long time) or "ban ban tan" (again wait long long). 

Let's take a look at the candidates and their First Ladies... because a pair of the portraits would be hung in all the schools, government departments and institutions for the next 6 years.....

Dr & Mrs Tony Tan. He did not give me much impression except that he reminds me of the PAP government and the Minister he used to be. Also, the dirt dugged up these few days wasn't what I would like to know. But seriously, what's with using the trademark square-rimmed spectacles as his election logo? Need foresight much? 

Dr & Mrs Tan Cheng Bock. I can feel this man's sincerity and his point by point rebuttals to his competitors. I trust that he will be able to represent Singaporeans adequately and be daring enough to voice out to the government when things have gone awry.  He was the first candidate to mention about his participation in this election way before the General Elections. This shows he is committed and has done his preparations. And it helps that his wife reminds me of Mrs Wee Kim Wee. 

Mr & Mrs Tan Kin Lian. I know nuts about this man's background except that he is ex-NTUC honcho. He reminds me of my businessman uncle and better off in the corporate world making lots of bucks.  Yeah... high-5 ! 

Mr & Mrs Tan Jee Say. Kudos for his daring effort being the first potential candidate from the Opposition party to be a President-elect.  His election logo of a heart is really appropriate - the heart and pulse of the nation. The only thing is, his presence in this election reminds me too much of the recent General Elections in which the opposition fought a good fight. I prefer him to win in the GE as an Opposition MP who can check on the government rather than as the President of Singapore.

This blog post would not be complete without mentioning my 2 favourite past Presidents of Singapore - Mr Wee Kim Wee (top) and Mr Ong Teng Cheong. Both of them have passed away. I love Mr Wee who was so kind and benevolent, gentle and soft-spoken and definitely a people's President. And I salute the handsome Mr Ong for daring to speak up issues with the PAP government when he was in office. I deeply respect him even more the more that he was denied a state funeral. To me, these 2 Presidents are the perfect role model of what a Singapore President should be. I miss you both dearly, Sirs. 

I have already made my choice when I go to the polls tomorrow. I think the votes for a couple of candidates would be divided thus swinging and affecting the results. May the best Tan win.  If the wrong Tan goes into office, we can still vote him out in 6 years time, albeit $25.2 million later.....

Electoral Division Map 2016 - one big happy family

The envisaged electoral division map for the next election in 2016, by our lovable mrbrown. I told him he should have added Mountbatten SMC into the gigantic Tanjong Pagar GRC as well. One big happy family.

My favourite has got to be "No Man's Land" (aka Aljunied GRC and Hougang SMC). In fact, Workers Party should propose merging Hougang SMC into Aljunied GRC (aka. Repenting GRC). After all, Minister Mentor LKY has said losing Aljunied GRC would not "be the end of the world" for PAP and that Aljunied GRC residents should "repent". I think by 2016, Aljunied GRC would still be repenting. That said, my wish is to see East Coast GRC be absorbed into Aljunied GRC by 2016. Lagi one big happy family. :D

Fly our kite?

Today is Singapore's National Day. We're 45 years old. Old enough for anything. Or, are we?

During this period, when you walk around some housing estates, you will chance some interesting sights. In this estate, there is only ONE national flag in the entire block of flats.

In contrast, some housing blocks go OTT dressing up for National Day. Is this a necessary KPI for RCs (Residents Committee), I wonder? 

This is this year's NDP's (National Day Parade) slogan. Why do I keep reading it as "Fly our kite"?

Happy Birthday, Singapore.

Dragon power

While having lunch at a coffee shop, I witnessed a dragon dance, commonly seen during the chinese new year. There were at least 10 people carrying the dragon on poles.  Many  businesses invite the dragon or lions into their shops and offices during the festive season, to herald in good fortune and prosperity in business in the coming new year.  All but of symbolic significance. Dragons are believed to bring good luck to people, which is reflected in their qualities that include great power, dignity, fertility, wisdom and auspiciousness. Huat ahhh!!!!

313@Somerset

Dropped in at 313@Somerset, the new shopping mall in Orchard Road briefly. Didn't have time to shop. Was just there for lunch at the Food Republic on the top floor. Perhaps will review the place and shops next time (BTW, Uniqlo has an outlet here too!).

I ordered the Thye Hong Prawn Noodles. Had to check how good it was compared to the outlets in Vivocity and Suntec City.  They used Opeh leaves, cut into the shape of a boat.  Well, the Opeh was supposed to enhance the taste of the fried noodles. I would say it was comparable to the Vivocity outlet. 

Also ordered BBQ fried chicken wings and Bak Kut Teh from Balestier, as the signboard said. The wings were not up to expectation, it was  hard, whereas the BKT was just so-so. At the rate some of these dishes were priced in a food court, I think I could have gone to Han's or Jack's Place.

I noticed something new in this foodcourt. There was a lady peddling drinks on a 2-wheel scooter! What a novel way to go about in this huge foodcourt, plus the lady was very smiley, friendly, quite pretty and spoke good English. This two-wheeler is battery-powered and called the Segway, distributed by a company who has collaboration with Jackie Chan. Remember Jackie Chan was here to launch this some time back? Well, this two-wheeler will set you back at about S$13,000. I heard some individual professionals have bought it as well, to use it as a mode of transport to work.

Thumbs up!

Singapore Press Holdings publishes a weekly chinese magazine for primary school kids in Singapore. It is called 大拇指, or Thumbs Up. My niece and nephew subscribe to the magazine from school.

My niece showed me this edition. There is a section where school students can showcase their drawings and they are good enough, they may get their pieces printed on the magazine. 

My nephew's drawing of Pokemon or some monsters is on print!  According to his sister, he will be so excited when he sees this.  And he will be receiving a prize for this as well.  Heard my niece's art piece is also up in the next issue. Stay tuned.

*Chuckle* (do I sound as if it was my son who has graduated from university?)  *BEAM*