Man’s collection of photos from the ‘70s depicts Singapore in a grittier light

Photo: Robert Jedrek / Facebook
Photo: Robert Jedrek / Facebook

With a stack of old photos in his possession, Robert Jedrek — the dad of Singapore’s only female race car driver Claire Jedrek — decided to scan them before the prints degrade for good.

Luckily for us all, he uploaded the scans onto Facebook, providing folks with a nostalgia-fuelled glimpse of Singapore in the 1970s.

Photo: Robert Jedrek / Facebook
Photo: Robert Jedrek / Facebook

Some places are instantly recognizable, though a lot has changed since then. There are the familiar red-bricked chalets that used to occupy a stretch of East Coast Park:

Photo: Robert Jedrek / Facebook
Photo: Robert Jedrek / Facebook

There’s the North Bridge Road stretch close to Masjid Sultan:

Photo: Robert Jedrek / Facebook
Photo: Robert Jedrek / Facebook
Google Maps screengrab
Google Maps screengrab

There’s the Merlion statue near Clifford Pier, situated at the mouth of the Singapore River as a tourism symbol. Now, of course, surrounded by skyscrapers.

Photo: Robert Jedrek / Facebook
Photo: Robert Jedrek / Facebook
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

There’s Lucky Plaza, which was one of the more successful malls in Singapore during its heydays in Orchard Road. It’s still a bustling shopping center today, but patronized more by the local Filipino community.

Photo: Robert Jedrek / Facebook
Photo: Robert Jedrek / Facebook
Google Maps screengrab
Google Maps screengrab

While tourists today see Boat Quay and Clarke Quay as a hotspot for bars and restaurants, back then it was a hotspot for bumboats and barges. It was in 1977 that the late Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew initiated a clean up of the once-polluted river as well as pushing squatters and street hawkers to settle elsewhere in public housing and centers.

Photo: Robert Jedrek / Facebook
Photo: Robert Jedrek / Facebook
Photo: Robert Jedrek / Facebook
Photo: Robert Jedrek / Facebook
Photo: Coconuts Media

Then, of course, there are just some things that you don’t see that much along the streets of Singapore anymore. Cobblers, street side vendors, cages of animals (including what appears to be bats), and fresh fish killed on demand.

Photo: Robert Jedrek / Facebook
Photo: Robert Jedrek / Facebook
Photo: Robert Jedrek / Facebook
Photo: Robert Jedrek / Facebook
Photo: Robert Jedrek / Facebook
Photo: Robert Jedrek / Facebook

Check out Jedrek’s collection on his Facebook page, where the man promises that there’ll be more to come soon.




BECOME A COCO+ MEMBER

Support local news and join a community of like-minded
“Coconauts” across Southeast Asia and Hong Kong.

Join Now
Coconuts TV
Our latest and greatest original videos
Subscribe on