There are mascots that are used for posterity and there were also mascots that were quickly forgotten. MICOS being one of the latter. MICOS, which stands for “Malays, Indians, Chinese and Other Singaporeans” was a creation made in the early ’80s to foster neighbourliness, who made its first appearance in 1982 in Kampung Chai Chee as…
Many Singaporeans are probably familiar with the many public health and environmental national campaigns like anti-littering and anti-smoking ones which are recurring features on this island state. However there was a island-wide campaign against spitting going back far into the late 1950s, carried out by the then Singapore City Council. This campaign was known as “Anti-Spitting…
The time period in the last few years of Singapore’s Straits Settlements history leading up to the Japanese occupation was an interesting one, with the impending and inevitable threat of war on the crown colony; well understood by the British forces when World War II broke out in 1939. The increases in military operations meant…
Fi-drant, as the name already suggest, is a combination of “Fire” and “Hydrant”. The story behind this mascot is comparatively more epic than the other more well known ones. Despite its rather amicable outlook, it was poised as a hero caught in the good vs evil battle across the island, to combat its nemesis, The Fire…
Nanyang University (南洋大学) was the only Chinese language post-secondary institution and it existed between 1956-1980. In 1980, Nanyang University and Singapore University merged to become the National University of Singapore. The original campus of Nanyang was taken over by Nanyang Technological Institute in 1981, which was upgraded to Nanyang Technological University in 1991. Because Nanyang University…
Operation Coldstore (started as a covert operation in 2 February 1963) led to the arrest of over 100 people (most prominently Barisan Sosialis leaders), who were detained without trial under the Preservation of Public Service Security Ordinance (PSSO). This operation however continued even after the 1965 independence of Singapore from the Malaysian Federations. This propaganda flyer…
Jurong Crocodile Paradise was not the only Crocodile farm in Singapore; there were the Tan Moh Hong Reptile Skin & Crocodile Farm, Singapore Crocodilarium and the Long Kuan Hung Crocodile Farm, and all of them except for the last closed down. Jurong Crocodile Paradise was opened in 1988 opposite the Jurong Bird Park, and changed names…
It is hard to fathom any enthusiastic punter when faced with the prospect of hardship and suffering during the Japanese Occupation of Singapore in the 1940s. But only several months after the fall of Singapore in 15 February 1942, the Central Military Administration (known in Japanese as the Gunseikanbu or 軍政監部) started issuing lottery tickets, administered by the Yokohama Specie Bank…
The Malaysia Plot also known as the “Malaysia Conspiracy” is a conspiracy theory concerning the reasons as to what led to the “Merger” of Singapore with the federated states of Malaya (and North Borneo and Sarawak) into Malaysia in 1963. This propaganda calendar card was distributed probably in early 1962 by the socialists, prior to…
The name “Safey Bear” might not even ring a bell amongst the Singaporean readers here, but it served as a mascot in the mid ’80s for the road safety campaigns. These set of stickers were distributed in the past bearing graphical illustrations of the mascot. The campaigns were initiated by Professor S. Jayakumar, Home Affairs Minister and…
This sepia-tinged photograph is an original amateur shot taken of the propaganda flag during the second sit-in on 22 May 1954 at Chung Cheng High School, commemorating the May 13 1954 National Service Riot referred to as 5.13 movement (no relation to the 1969 event). The flag featured a group of Chinese students consisting of both…
This propaganda flyer was acquired primarily for the interesting caricature bearing Lee Kuan Yew, Tunku Abdul Rahman and the third person unclearly depicted as either S.Rajaratnam or Goh Keng Swee. The drawing depicted a quarry worker wearing a shirt bearing the words 石業工友 (Quarry Union) wielding a hammer striking at the three politicians scurrying away, with…
