Syonan Jinja(the search for the Yamashita Gold)

Syonan Jinja (the search for the Yamashita Gold)

Hi A bit of history that took place during World War II near Caldecott Hill. Here is the interesting piece.

"Based in the dense jungle of the MacRitchie Catchment Area are the ruins of SyonanJinja, a Japanese Shinto shrine dating back to World War II. Built to commemorate Japanesesoldiers who died fighting in the invasion of Singapore, Syonan Jinja was the locationof many Japanese religious and cultural ceremonies. The original structure,built during the Japanese Occupatiion (1942-5), was a temple with no walls.Raised from the ground by a stone platform graduated with a few steps, the slopingtemple roof rested on pillars that stood at regular intervals round the perimeter of theplatform. It is believed that during rituals, worshippers would drink from a huge granite ceremonial fountain located outside the shrine......."For more information please go to the entrance of Sime Road (left side) and read the two tablets.by courtesy of the National Heritage Board and Singapore pools.
I remember Lisa Ang presented a programme Hey Singapore telecast over Channel 5 in 1999 I think. In one of the episodes “Search for Yamashita Gold” was featured. It is documented that General Yamashita commander of the Japanese Army that swept through South Asia buried his loot along the way..one location is rumoured to be at the Syonan Jinja. Remnants of the Shinto Shrine can be found next to the SICC Bukit 3rd Fairway (see photo) The then Television Corporation had a team there with metal detector attempting to find the gold. Nothing!
I spoke to one of the crew members WL Ang and he said maybe it is worth a second attempt.

Those interested to search for the Yamashita gold please email me.

Who is the first pay TV operator in Singapore?

Who is the first pay TV operator in Singapore?

No, it is not the present Starhub Cablevision(SCV). The first pay TV operator is the then SBC (now MediaCorp). In 1992 SBC ran three subscription TV channels on the UHF band. An engineer from SBC Chang Long Kiat was the first CEO. It operated through a company known as Singapore CableVision(SCV) owned by SBC. The three channels were Newsvision, MovieVision and VarietyVision. Newsvision was a mainly CNN channel with local news and news from UK. MovieVision contained movies from HBO and VarietyVision featured mainly Chinese drama, movies, documentaries from HK, Taiwan and Japan. A TV antenna and a SCV set-top were required and bundled into the services if a viewer paid for all three channels. The rational from offering this service was the need to offer more channels for Singaporeans and expatriates in view of the clamouring for direct satellite services and demand for information. The urgency was triggered by comments that the Gulf war was imminent when viewers saw the grim face of President Bush whilst walking out of a crucial meeting. Millions over the world where CNN was available especially businessmen watched this news clip and made their business decisions accordingly.
SBC took on the challenge to start the first pay TV service in Singapore..and with a view to also operate a cable network. I together two other officials were sent to US to study cable TV operations. Singtel and SBC undertook feasibility study calling for consultants to make proposals. More than five international consultants responded. Eventually Continental CableVision USA was selectd. Engineers from Singtel and SBC assisted in the design of the hybrid-coaxial network which remained in use to this day. When the cable licence was issued in 1995, SPH . ST Ventures, Continental Vision and SIM (which was then a holding company for a restructured SBC) owned SBC. The operations of Singapore CableVision was passed over to engineers mainly from the ST Group together with the running of the three UHF subscription services. In 1998 Starhub Pte the second telecoms operator was formed and 2002 Starhub merged with SCV. SCV then was renamed Starhub Cable Vision (SCV). Randall Coleman from Continental Vision USA was the first CEO and Khaw Boon Wan chairman of SCV.
Continental Vision divested its shares later on to the other shareholders… and the new owners were SPH 26.7%, MediaCorp 41.3% and ST Telecom 32%. (this position has changed over the years)
SCV now carries all the free- to- air channels on analogue and digital cable. For the digital services, a SCV set top box is required to receive MediaCorp channels.
It had been a good experience for me to be involved in this project in the early days ie from the technology perspective. There were high hopes then that engineers from MediaCorp would operate the cable network. But this was not to be. It is one of the disappointments of my career....

If Trees Could Talk......

If Trees Could Talk….…memories wll come alive. And the stories they tell we'll know our heritage better.

I can imagine what stories the trees on Caldecott Hill tell if they could talk. Here is some interesting information on some trees ( with a quiz)

We are a cluster of old trees near the former street scene and next to the old canteen and broadcasting house. I think one of us is at least 75 years old when Radio started and the others are probably 10 years younger. Many had come by us to the canteen and many drama artistes enjoyed the shades during filming at the old street scenes. Perhaps you can see me in some of the archive pictures of old broadcasting house during the launch of television services when an OB van was parked next to us..or archive recordings of the fire that destroyed the record library a few meters away from us. Thank goodness we are still alive! You can find our kind at many places on the island as we are in the class of the heritage trees in Singapore. I think we will make it to the top 10 in Nparks campaign on the Top Ten Trees in Singapore.

We were planted during the 80s when RTS rolled over to SBC. The Management decided to upgrade the slope with greenery including a nursery nearby. I don’t think many people notice us as we are not shady. We are just there to soften the hard environment between OBH and the new radio and TV building. Staff come and go at the entrance nearby. It is also the exit and entrance for busloads of our artises and extras that go out for filming. We notice those beautiful people (Zoe , Fann , Eileen, Wenyong) in beautiful costumes that walk pass us daily after their make-up at the OBH.

I was rooted when the first satellite dish was built..which brought live news to our news bulletin on channel 5 and 8 then. And I am situated near the TV building entrance where VIP alights on their way to the TV studios. The land which I stand now was vacant land during the time when Lee Kuan Yew opened the black and white TV service in a ceremony at the entrance of the TV building. Now the place is clusterd with a number of different species of trees. It is a place where producers will do their outdoor shooting when time is short. Many can be found near the entrance of the Singapore Botanic Garden

Perhaps the biggest pride of Caldecott Hill is the beautiful entrance to the TV reception. I mean all of us line up in straight line and look majestic and tall with the MediaCorp signage next to it. It is nice to hear that we give out fresh air for the humans and beautify the compound. The whole concept of this scenic entrance is work of the ExCo chaired by the then boss Cheng Tong Fatt. It is said that Albert Hong contributed the idea of us being installed there to look nice and beautiful for the visitors . But we not sure that we were there because of complaints by the neighbours that the TV building did not gel with the high-class bungalows nearby.

I am part of a landscaping done in 1985 or so next to the Management Carpark. There are about 10 different types of plants in this location I guess you can say I am the most outstanding there. The CEO’s car (Cheok Yew, Hup Seng, Ernest Wong and now Lucas) would inevitably glance at me on their way to their office.

We can be seen on this short clip at video. Please watch this clip and send the names of 10 trees on this video to tay.philip@gmail.com. The first email that has the answers will get a prize.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2S8BrTdDI04

For info, Nparks has launched the know 10 trees of Singapore movement. Please click here for details. http://www.nparks.gov.sg/cms/index.php?option=com_news&task=view&id=171&Itemid=50

If Trees Could Talk.....

i love lucy

"I LOVE LUCY
I Love Lucy debuted on CBS in October 1951 and was an immediate sensation. It spent four of its six prime-time seasons as the highest-rated series on television and never finished lower than third place. Eisenhower's presidential inauguration in January 1953 drew twenty-nine million viewers, but when Lucy gave birth to Little Ricky in an episode broadcast the next day forty-four million viewers (72% of all U.S. homes with TV) tuned in to I Love Lucy. When it ceased production as a weekly series in 1957, I Love Lucy was still the number one series in the country. And its remarkable popularity has barely waned in the subsequent decades. Since passing into the electronic museum of reruns, I Love Lucy has become the Mona Lisa of television, a work of art whose fame transcends its origins and its medium."

The above is gleaned from the web. I Love Lucy an American television sitcom, starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance and William Frawley was my favourite comedy TV show during the late sixties and seventies when the re-runs were shown on TV Singapore in B & W. Lucy never failed to make me laugh. I watched it on a 27 inch Setron set . Setron was a local TV set manufacturer located at Tanglin Halt industrial estate.

And what were the other acquired shows I tuned in those days? I remember All in the Family, Bonanza, 77 Sunset Strip, the Lone Ranger, Hawaii 5-0 and many more. In the early 80s I remember Dallas, Magnum and Charlie Angels, MASH, The Incredible Hulk...... I loved to watch TV after my school home work ,of course.

Dawn of Chinese Dramas

In my view 1 Feb 1980 was the turning point for local productions especially Chinese Dramas. On this day RTS became a statutory board Singapore Broadcasting Corporation. The late Ong Teng Cheong was appointed Chairman Cheng Tong Fatt General Manager and the late Wong-Lee Siok Tin the Deputy General Mnager. According to Chairman Ong “ Western values and standards alien to our society are being introduced all the time. We must therefore produce our own programmes with standards and values suited to our society.” With this direction local entertainment productions increased and the Chinese Drama Production Division was set-up. It was not easy for our locals to meet the challenges of this venture. Production experts from Hongkong were recruited and on-the-job training started. The first drama produced with the HK producers was a film titled the Seletar Robbery – a true story about three men robbing a construction site. This was followed by the Army series in 6 parts telecast in March 83. Viewership climbed steadily. And the best series I ever watched was the 26-episode The Awakening – the story about Singapore immigrants from the 1920s. I could identify it with my father’s early days when he came to Singapore in a tongkang from Swatow. Then came Flying Fish a 8-part series on swimmers. After that there were many more successful ones. Please refer to Wikipedia for a full list.
I remember some of the incidents that happened during early stage of Chinese drama productions. I was the engineer-in charge of TV Studios and Outside Broadcasts. There were incessant complaints from the HK experts that our locals were not creative, our talents were dumb-dumb for example. In one of the post mortem on Seletar Robbery the producer pointed out the actor just took the money under his arms and ran and his facial expression did not appear that he has robbed someone. In another incident, a bird in a cage used as an extra flew out and could not be retrieved. The producer had to change the script to a cat instead. In another incident in TV Studio 4 the producer banged the production panel and shouted to an actress (she is with us till this day) “Cry , Cry damned it cry..” No tears came out. There were many retakes. After the recording the actress went behind a backdrop and cried this time for real! And there was this diligent HK producer who could not work without smoking in the TV Studio...........

Please email me tay.philip@gmail.com if have any interesting memories of the early days of Chinese drama productions.

Seah Hong Gim and F1

Seah Hong Gim ,a TV lighting expert in this region , helped to light more buildings along the F1 route again. This year STB asked him to light up three more buildings. The new areas included the Pit, Sheares Bridge, and the Merlion area. According to him the lights used this year doubled to 3,000. This would give the buildings greater contrast, a 3-dimensional effects and with an overall night-glow. With this the whole City skyline gave an impressive sparkle to the whole event.

Hong Gim worked for MediaCorp for more than 30 years. He was responsible for lighting up some of spectacular outdoor shows. And most memorable must be the 1986 NDP when for the first time the night entertainment displays segment was introduced. It remains a hallmark of NDP shows till this day. He is now a free-lance lighting consultant after his retirement. For F1 he worked through Showtec the show contractor.

At 65 Hong Gim is till active in work and enjoying his passion for TV lighting. He gives lectures frequently to TV production people in the region.

The Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union

The Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union(ABU) is a non-profit, non-government, professional association of broadcasting organisations, formed in 1964 to facilitate the development of broadcasting in the Asia-Pacific region. it provides a forum for promoting the collective interests of television and radio broadcasters, and engages in activities to encourage regional and international cooperation between broadcasters. It currently has 199 members in 58 countries, with its broadcaster members reaching a cpotential audience of about 3 billion people.

I have been associated with the ABU for more than 30 years, having attending its technical meetings and contributed to its deliberations. It is a platform where one makes the contacts for business and career. Over the years I met many broadcasters from all over the world. It was through these contacts I could contribute more to the growth of my company in knowledge and skills of new broadcast developments. Many producers and management attended ABU meetings as well.

It was with great pride and honour that I received the award of the ABU Engineering Industry Excellence this year at the annual meeting in Ulaan Baatar Mongolia. It is for my work in introducing digital television in Singapore and promoting common digital TV standards in the ASEAN region. I am especially pleased to share this honour with engineers from the MDA , MediaCorp and RTB Brunei who are part of a team to promote common digital television standards in the region.

(Photo shows the ABU General Meeting in Singapore( in the early sixties. By courtesy of National Archives)