tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-108630126700411599.post5377102177434701719..comments2024-03-26T13:52:37.542+08:00Comments on Blog To Express: The Making of "Walk Down Memory Lane - Bukit Ho Swee"Thimbuktuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04495581875211093357noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-108630126700411599.post-667179269458816042011-10-09T16:55:49.484+08:002011-10-09T16:55:49.484+08:00Thank you for sharing memories of the tragedy of t...Thank you for sharing memories of the tragedy of the Bukit Ho Swee fire. At about your same age at that time, I know nothing about fear, sadness or danger which adults realise. Fortunately, the fire hazards of attap settlement in the past and replaced with bricks and mortar for the safety of Singaporeans today.Thimbuktuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04495581875211093357noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-108630126700411599.post-44634014462636521152011-10-09T11:48:03.311+08:002011-10-09T11:48:03.311+08:00I was 11 then when the Bt Ho Swee kampong (kg) fir...I was 11 then when the Bt Ho Swee kampong (kg) fire broke out. My family & others were at our kg at the end of Tg Pagar Rd area. I can still recall as a kid, I saw it myself thick dark smoke bellowing in the sky from our kg. In those old days, there were very few tall buildings blocking the Singapore's skyline, hence, you could see the smoke clearly in the sky from afar. I also remember the adults in our kg were very excited & emotional, and they kept talking about "haw soi san" (Bt Ho Swee)on fire in Cantonese.FLhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03429286415685838183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-108630126700411599.post-53784063179758808052011-07-19T12:09:28.397+08:002011-07-19T12:09:28.397+08:00That b/w photo of the fire in the background and a...That b/w photo of the fire in the background and a mother with her bag of belonging with a crying child beside her is a powerful image. I could imagine I was around the child's age at that time. Memories like that can help to foster a greater social consciousness among the young today.limhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06443241887721915102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-108630126700411599.post-1118930094828273532010-11-09T14:53:55.106+08:002010-11-09T14:53:55.106+08:00Hi Miss Sim,
Thank you for sharing your insightfu...Hi Miss Sim,<br /><br />Thank you for sharing your insightful comments.<br /><br />The photo of the classroom appears to be the former Kim Seng Primary School or River Valley Primary School which were located opposite the former Great World Amusement Park.<br /><br />I believe the various social agencies, military, police, workers brigade and volunteers were very well co-ordinated. Army trucks were utilised to ferry fire victims to be housed in temporary HDB flats wherever available. <br /><br />People volunteered spontaneously to help and donated cash and kinds to the fire victims. Even hawkers raised their fire relief funds with own earnings to donate for several days.<br /><br />My family and I was allocated vacant flats at Margaret Lane until the Jalan Bukit Ho Swee "emergency flats" were completed nine months after the fire.<br /><br />Many kampung dwellers, including Bukit Ho Swee, are ever conscious of fire hazards and ever ready for an emergency. Most of them learnt these lesson like my mother during the Japanese Occupations in Singapore.<br /><br />Nowadays, Civil Defence training for Singaporeans are prepared for national emergency crisis and terrorist attack evacuation,etc through the community centres programmes in every constituency.Thimbuktuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04495581875211093357noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-108630126700411599.post-9098873830193717942010-11-07T20:47:37.296+08:002010-11-07T20:47:37.296+08:00It's a very informative and touching story. It...It's a very informative and touching story. It does sound surreal and the part about being accommodated in the school seems vaguely familiar - didn't the victims of the earthquake in China get accommodated this way? Nowadays, workplaces talk about standard operating procedures. How did the coordination work so fast during the immediate aftermath of the fire? I suppose when there is an emergency, people just know how to respond, whether SOPs are in place or not. Thanks very much, Mr Seah, for this very vivid account of the fire. That point about your mom stashing all the important documents in a centralised place was practised long ago. Nowadays, we tend to be very complacent and I don't think people bother to stash all this in a centralised place. Now, everything is digitalised and there is no fear that you will never get to see your birth cert again.sim hui hwanghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04497812955445397547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-108630126700411599.post-66368818657411533192010-11-07T20:41:19.470+08:002010-11-07T20:41:19.470+08:00It's a very informative and touching story. It...It's a very informative and touching story. It does sound surreal and the part about being accommodated in the school seems vaguely familiar - didn't the victims of the earthquake in China get accommodated this way? Nowadays, workplaces talk about standard operating procedures. How did the coordination work so fast during the immediate aftermath of the fire? I suppose when there is an emergency, people just know how to respond, whether SOPs are in place or not. Thanks very much, Mr Seah, for this very vivid account of the fire. That point about your mom stashing all the important documents in a centralised place was practised long ago. Nowadays, we tend to be very complacent and I don't think people bother to stash all this in a centralised place. Now, everything is digitalised and there is no fear that you will never get to see your birth cert again.sim hui hwanghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04497812955445397547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-108630126700411599.post-22184446023008518862010-11-06T16:55:08.526+08:002010-11-06T16:55:08.526+08:00Thanks for your encouragement, Ivan.
Pls help you...Thanks for your encouragement, Ivan.<br /><br />Pls help your friends and Bukit Ho Swee Kampung blog <a href="http://blogtoexpress.blogspot.com/2010/10/making.html" rel="nofollow"> here </a><br /><br />Cheers!Thimbuktuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04495581875211093357noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-108630126700411599.post-20167674113878229252010-10-15T23:40:51.427+08:002010-10-15T23:40:51.427+08:00Well Done James!Well Done James!Unk Dickohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07050766265321887439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-108630126700411599.post-78619579269477582102010-10-15T21:45:23.041+08:002010-10-15T21:45:23.041+08:00Larger and larger tour group, eh James? Nice.Larger and larger tour group, eh James? Nice.Ivan Chewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02727226573817276108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-108630126700411599.post-67091668209228899982010-10-15T19:30:22.704+08:002010-10-15T19:30:22.704+08:00Hey. I didn't know that there is a Facebook si...Hey. I didn't know that there is a Facebook site for this event. Thanks. I shall add another link and also let the folks there know about my blog article.Lam Chun Seehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01762020157703342970noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-108630126700411599.post-56799261986731558042010-10-15T16:27:17.288+08:002010-10-15T16:27:17.288+08:00Hey. I too just blogged about the WNR conference. ...Hey. I too just blogged about the WNR conference. Will post a link here.Lam Chun Seehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01762020157703342970noreply@blogger.com