SINGAPORE in the EARLY 1970's

Politically and economically speaking, life had not been easy in Singapore. 
After WWII ended, there had been bloody rioting in the streets; the last British military forces had withdrawn from the colony leaving a huge gap in its security and economy; labor strikes had halted public services; there were outbreaks of malnutrition and disease; crime and violence ran rampant and a strong communist threat loomed in its future; life became utter chaos.  However, Singapore did survive, and by the mid 1960's it pulled itself forward and away from the over nearly twenty years of social and political unrest.

Lee Kwan Yew, the father of Singapore as he is locally known, was the first Prime Minister during our three years there and for nearly 20 years after that. He formed (ASEAN) the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and created a unique Singaporean identity in the 1970s and 1980s, one which heavily recognized racial consciousness within the canopy of multi-ethnicity, as well as maintaining religious tolerance and racial harmony.    
Our flat was comfortable within the university compound, rather airy with cement floors and eastern toilets. The nearby Malay long-houses, outside the university gates, were made of wood, resting on cement stilts to prevent flooding during the monsoon season. Some roofs were tiled, but many had zinc panels. Except for the campus buildings -- library, cafeterias, small shops, infirmary, professor and student housing the area that surrounded us was rural and overgrown by the native richness and diversity of the rainforest. The area was occupied by Kampongs (small Malay villages) whose villagers provided some of the needed work force for the university’s many available jobs.  There was a provisions store and hawker stand inside of the University gates which we often patronized. They were able to fill an order by phone and deliver it to our flat; I thought that was pretty handy as I didn’t have to carry bags of groceries (as I had done in Spain) in the heat and humidity of the day, sans car. 

By the time we came onto the Singapore scene in1973, a boom in new construction plus civic and social reforms were in motion; a long causeway, the first land link between Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore (closed in 1964 as part of a curfew after racial riots in Singapore) was reopened allowing goods and people to again move freely between the two nations. For us, it meant we could drive to either Cameron Highlands or Penang without feeling island bound.
Being part of that motion towards progress, allowed us to live and learn within newly found ways of thinking and behaving. Singapore was pulling itself together and re-learning basic civics, ethnic rights, elemental hygene, etc.

While in Singapore, I began to love foods that were poles apart from what I was used to.

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We were absorbed by the new Singapore. There were the street hawkers that gathered in car parking lots (after-working hours) or in the alleyways between buildings; setting up and dismantling their portable restaurants and shops in a matter of minutes, transporting everything in their pushcart  kitchens, even tables and stools for their customers. The foods emerging from the hawker stands – maybe a savory chicken soup, or some stir-fried rice noodles (Kwai tiaw) with fresh vegetables -- were always outstanding.  Conventional restaurants existed as well but street hawkers delivered innovative and reasonably priced food in a multiethnic atmosphere. Some long-time ex pat residents showed us the ropes: how to order and eat the great Chinese vegetable and noodle soups Singapore is so famous for; how to use chopsticks and how to bargain! Never pay the price you are quoted unless you are in a fixed-priced department store or super market. Anywhere else is open for bargainming. Bargaining is an art which, when mastered, can provide great satisfaction.

Orchard Road (so named because of the nutmeg and black pepper orchards of the 1800’s) was the lively thoroughfare where new buildings and shops had established themselves. Initially, we traveled by public bus from the university in JurongTown into downtown Singapore; later on, we would drive the ten miles in the tiny bright orange car we purchased a month after arriving.

There were two modern, albeit costly supermarkets where we’d shop for the familiar foods of our past: Fitzpatrick’s and Cold Storage. However, as time moved on my visits to them began to lessen as my cooking skills appreciated the bounty of fresh local produce and flavors. New Zealand and Australian dairy products, nevertheless, continued to be part of our lives.

The 1970s were a time of rebirth for Singaporeans. A young nation, they began to ban all 'bad' influences of the west such as long hair in males, the use of chewing gum, and of course, drugs and popsongs which were seen to glorify drugs. 
During the 1970s Singapore also began to emerge as a front runner amongst developing nations as news about its economic status began to pop in and out of international newspapers.

Singaporeans adapted quite well to the new norms of the challenging but benign authorities, they obviously found the way to grow economically and I hope spiritually as well.