snippets of history of bukit panjang

today, three of my walking kakis came to visit. okay, not exactly visit but they came all the way to bukit panjang to pick me from the bus-stop next to the plaza. two of them laid claim to this place as being their old territory.

tye thong had taught at bukit panjang government high school about forty years ago. it was his first posting. he also remembers collecting his first pay pack from the standard chartered bank at hillview. he is actually more familar with the old bukit panjang, which i remember visiting when it was still a kampong but i was just passing through and so did not get to explore the place then.

tye thong was able to provide some interesting snippets of the history of the place. where sheng siong now stands was the site of the old bukit panjang primary school. bukit panjang government high school was located further inside, where pioneer junior college is today. he used to hail a pirate cab from the rex theatre, and was charged 50 cts for the trip to jalan teck whye. he usually had no problem getting to school on time except on days when the train crossing/barrier was down.

according to tye thong, the red uniform of the school posed a problem when a student was in mourning. the chinese could not wear red when they were in mourning, so when you saw a student in a blue attire, it would mean that someone in his/her family had passed away.

siong chia said that when he was studying at nanyang university, he used to frequent the shops and hawkers in this area. he also rekindled my memory of this area when he mentioned the eveready factory at hillview. there was also storage tanks for petroleum in the same vicinity.