who could have imagined that fullerton building which used to house among others, the general post office, would one day became a five-star hotel with much of its facade intact. the general post office occupied two levels of the building. it vacated the place in 1996. i vaguely remember going to the general post office to collect a parcel during the 70s.
i also remember going to fullerton building to submit my income tax returns. between 1970 and 1995, the inland revenue authority of singapore used the building as its headquarters.
the general post office was the largest post office in singapore then and provided the whole range of postal services. today, there is no longer a general post office or a central post office; all post offices are about the same. if i am not mistaken, there was a sorting centre somewhere in kaki bukit. is the sorting centre at jalan eunos today, where the singapore post centre is located?
the site of the present iras building at the junction of newton road and thomson road used to be a petrol station and a row of shop-houses. there was a roti prata stall where i used to eat plain prata for 10 cents a piece.
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I remember the food alley behind Fullerton Bdlg. Though stuff, you get a good view of the dirty Singapore River and smell during low tide. Was my place for lunch during office hours. I preferred going into Straits Trading Bdlg rather than the GPO for the cool a/c.
i have eaten there before but not during the lunch hours when it would be packed with office workers.
I had eaten many times at that Boat Quay food street in 1979 when I was working in Banque Nationale De Paris (now Banque Paribas) and then Bank Negara Indonesia 1946 (now defunct or merged?). At lunch time, it was so crowded that you have to wait for your seat.
do u remember the glass blocks which were a part of the flooring at the GPO. They allowed light to pass through so that the basement can be lighted up. As usual I was very curious as a child and......
BNI46 still around at Cecil Street.
There is an excellent external panoramic shot AND internal view on '''live video'' in the movie ''Saint Jack'' (available on Amazon.Com) which shows the olde GPO in its original glory. In general, that movie is an excellent video capture of Singapore in the 70's. Its really worth buying it, for all of us nostalgia freaks.
On the issue of old hotels, you recall the famous Mitre Hotel? Check out www.flickr.com and search for the term ''Mitre Hotel''.
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