# Singapore in the Sixties



## Succour

Do any of the members recall Nelson Road in the sixties ?.
I seem to remember going there for a blood test before heading back to UK. A brown envelope waited for you in Liverpool and hopefully a sigh of relief.....
Succour.


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## billyboy

could be a good thread this one eh!. Come on lads come clean and tell all (unless the wife's looking over your shoulder...LOL)


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## Billieboy

Coming around the corner to turn up the straits one sunny Saturday, we were a little to port of the buoy which was supposed to be well off on the port beam. Only a little bump! it was the 8-12, I was below and only just felt it; eventually got the hook down and we had to await an underwater inspection,(we were a tanker in ballast). The girls came alongside and I was playing strip poker in a towel in my cabin with four of them all afternoon. One of the best weekends I ever had in Singers!


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## knighta

*"Coca-Cola" girls*

Your post sent me down Memory Lane. I remember that every time we anchored in the Western Anchorage, the "Coca-Cola" girls, also known as "Milk Girls" would scramble aboard, and offer us fruit, milk, and "other services". Do these "ladies" still ply their trade in the Western Anchorage, or have they been swept away by Singapore's relentless descent into respectability?
Also, does anyone remember the Keelong Bar, which was at the S end of Bukom Island, near the ferry dock? The Bar was on stilts over the water, and us Apprentices would go there for a few beers and a Nasi Goreng, then walk up to the Shell Club at the top of the hill, for a swim in the pool, under the stars. Shell's bunker barge was named "Rita" which had been a tanker, but had had a bad Engine Room fire. The "Coca-Cola" girls used to use the "Rita" as their floating whare-house. Perhaps there should not be an "a" in that last word!


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## John Briggs

Those were my times in Singapore (before they "cleaned" it up!)
As Master I always allowed the milk girls on board and made an agreement with the Mama San that no girls were to come up to the officers quarters.

Any officer who was thirsty and wanted a bit of milk had to personally find and escort a milk purveyor up to his cabin and away again after he had quenched his thirst.

I was always offered a freebie for my cooperation. (Before anyone asks - no I didn't).

Another abiding memory was as third mate sent tank crawling in the double bottoms during cleaning by the gangs of young girls.
They used to work naked and it was quite interesting following one closely through the lightening holes. Double bottom tanks indeed!


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## Dickyboy

A brief glimpse of what Singers was all about......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUrkPDhsqAY

I had some good times there, though I was only there a few times, and with quick turnarounds. Sam Bwang? and NeeSoon? are the places that I remember, as well as Bugis Street of course.
They say Singapore has been cleaned up, more like sterilised I reckon.
I recall very many years ago the News of the World made a huge fuss and caused a lot of comment when a group of Royal Marines were spotted performing in Bugis Street. Such terms as "National Disgrace" "Bringing Shame" (To British Troops) and so on. "Not the sort of thing that our boys should be doing" and so on and so on.


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## Keith Adkins

Knighta,
You have brought back memories! The Keelong Bar knew it well, I spent 3 years, with Shell Eastern, from 60-63, and Bukom was our home port especially on the old G boats. Does anyone remember missing the last ferry from Singapore Docks to Bukom and putting your life in peril by taking an up rated dug out with outboard motor to get back to Bukom because your ship was sailing at some ridiculous hour in the morning!


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## Olosun

During the real early 70th I was sailing on a run between South East Asia and Australia for few years. We did have a stop both on north and south bound in Singapore for 4 to 7 days and always alongside at Keppel’s.
Cellar Bar, close to the Keelong (I belive that was the name) pier, was a place to sit down and have a beer and a “Flielice”. You could always meet some long time no see sailor there as most seaman did drop by the Cellar. 
In the evening it was nice to visit Ritz hotel where there were some nice girls and if you like the little bit more rough style it was Tonys Paraise and Casanova night club.
Then, if you still were upright, you could always go to Bugis Street after midnight and have a night snack and look, no touch, at the gorgeous “girls” and see Charily, Queen of Bugis street, and lose some money to the kids running around among the tables.
I had a look at Singapore on Google earth and it doesn’t look as nice as in the 60-70th .


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## Pat Kennedy

Olosun said:


> During the real early 70th I was sailing on a run between South East Asia and Australia for few years. We did have a stop both on north and south bound in Singapore for 4 to 7 days and always alongside at Keppel’s.
> Cellar Bar, close to the Keelong (I belive that was the name) pier, was a place to sit down and have a beer and a “Flielice”. You could always meet some long time no see sailor there as most seaman did drop by the Cellar.
> In the evening it was nice to visit Ritz hotel where there were some nice girls and if you like the little bit more rough style it was Tonys Paraise and Casanova night club.
> Then, if you still were upright, you could always go to Bugis Street after midnight and have a night snack and look, no touch, at the gorgeous “girls” and see Charily, Queen of Bugis street, and lose some money to the kids running around among the tables.
> I had a look at Singapore on Google earth and it doesn’t look as nice as in the 60-70th .


Did you mean Toby's Paradise bar at the corner of Anson Rd? 
A nice clean and airy place, owned by a black guy who ran a very tight ship and charged reasonable prices and even had an in house barber who would give you a haircut without interrupting your drinking.
Pat


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## Olosun

Pat Kennedy said:


> Did you mean Toby's Paradise bar at the corner of Anson Rd?
> A nice clean and airy place, owned by a black guy who ran a very tight ship and charged reasonable prices and even had an in house barber who would give you a haircut without interrupting your drinking.
> Pat


Yeah, that might be right as its a few years since I did wake the streets of Singapore and Anson Rd.


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## Pat Kennedy

Olosun said:


> Yeah, that might be right as its a few years since I did wake the streets of Singapore and Anson Rd.


Me too, but there was a fellow on here last year making enquiries about Toby's Paradise Bar, he was a film maker based in New York, and was researching for a movie that was apparently about to be made, concerning Singapore in the 1960s .
I passed on all I could remember about Toby's Bar, and I got a couple of e mails and a phone call from him, but nothing since.
It will be interesting to see this movie, if it ever gets made.
Regards, 
Pat (Thumb)


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