Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Charmaine Leung talks about the community at Keong Saik Road and her struggle to find her identity after moving out. She wrote her book with her mother’s agreement and was overwhelmed by the response. The heritage of Keong Saik Road, she says, should include the lives and struggles of the women who worked there.

Charmaine Leung, 17A Keong Saik Road: A Personal Story,

https://www.ethosbooks.com.sg/products/17a-keong-saik-road

Take Charmaine Leung’s audio tour of Keong Saik Road:

https://www.klook.com/activity/117053-untold-stories-singapore-red-light-district-keong-saik-road/

00:00 Stigma & Shame in the Singapore Story

09:10 Leaving Keong Saik Was Painful

15:49 The Hungry Ghost Festival & the Community

23:21 Shaping My Character

26:07 Writing the Book

32:49 The Overwhelming Response

38:59 Keong Saik Road’s Women and Its Heritage

I am Dr Loh Kah Seng, the people’s historian. In Chronicles of Old Singapore, I speak to people about their memories of Singapore before it became a global city.

Do give us a like and subscribe to the channel for future episodes.

YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@ChroniclesOldSG

Spotify | https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/loh-ks

Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/61551786759344/

Patreon | https://www.patreon.com/ChroniclesofOldSingapore

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Irene Hoe remembers her childhood at Old Dhoby Ghaut. She recalls the two businesses her mother Wu Chuen Chuen ran – Stamford Café and a hairdressing salon. I was surprised by her story of how her mother gave her up for adoption when she was very young so she could have a better life (though she returned home soon), and how she obtained closure over the matter years later.

00:00 Introduction

02:00 19 Dhoby Ghaut

08:22 Rex Bookstore

12:15 Our Hairdressing Salon

19:57 My Mum as a Businesswoman

27:45 Stamford Café

50:20 My Parents & Siblings

55:12 My Adoption

01:04:30 What Girls Did in Those Days

01:09:47 Second-hand Bookstores

01:14:28 Heritage & the Real Singapore

I am Dr Loh Kah Seng, a people’s historian. In Chronicles of Old Singapore, I speak to people about their memories of Singapore before it became a global city.

Do give us a like and subscribe to the channel for future episodes.

YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@ChroniclesOldSG

Spotify | https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/loh-ks

Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/61551786759344/

Patreon | https://www.patreon.com/ChroniclesofOldSingapore

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Charmaine Leung grew up along Keong Saik Road in the 1970s and early 1980s, her house next to the brothel which her mother operated. She tells us about the pei pa zai who worked in the entertainment houses, the transition to a red-light district after the war and some of the women who worked in the brothels.

Charmaine Leung, 17A Keong Saik Road: A Personal Story,

https://www.ethosbooks.com.sg/products/17a-keong-saik-road

Take Charmaine Leung’s audio tour of Keong Saik Road:

https://www.klook.com/activity/117053-untold-stories-singapore-red-light-district-keong-saik-road/

00:00 Introduction

02:30 15A & 17A Keong Saik Road

11:04 Pei Pa Zai & Entertainment Houses

19:21 Transition to A Red-Light District

26:02 The Sex Workers

34:18 My Parents

38:48 The Brothel Business

42:45 Finding Out & Coming to Terms

I am Dr Loh Kah Seng, a people’s historian. In Chronicles of Old Singapore, I speak to people about their memories of Singapore before it became a global city.

Do give us a like and subscribe to the channel for future episodes.

YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@ChroniclesOldSG

Spotify | https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/loh-ks

Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/61551786759344/

Patreon | https://www.patreon.com/ChroniclesofOldSingapore