I recall spending time wandering around the blocks of old houses while in Singapore. Most likely, since the photos follow the one I posted yesterday, I wandered the Chinatown streets framed by Upper Cross street, South Bridge street, Smith street and New bridge road.
I feel sure that the Chinatown streets that remain have been tidied up in the years since, but I hope they retain some of their wonderful character. I found them to be a welcoming place, sitting down at one stage to drink a Tiger beer with a group of locals.
Typical of the area were the laundry poles projected from the windows above the streets to dry clothes in what breeze passed by. Also typical is the commercial nature of the ground floor, shops, workshops, cafes, bars, offices – any type of commerce you can imagine could be found here. Then on the floors above, what I imagine to be cramped living quarters.
The man looking up in the foreground is talking to a (presumably) neighbor leaning out of his window just out of the shot to the right.
I was recently recalling some old photos my grandfather had from his time in the British Army on the North West Frontier (now Pakistan and Afghanistan) from 1917-18 and spinning through the presets in silver efex Pro 2 I came across this one that, but for the two trucks, renders this scene back to a similar era.
