the oberoi imperial hotel singapore

when i look at the red match-box, i remember the hotel tucked away in a corner of orchard road, at jalan rumbia. it was a grand hotel with a fine dining restaurant, in later years, called the rang mahal. it was very popular with visitors from india because the owner was an indian. today, the oberoi group still has hotels in indonesia, mauritius, saudi arabia, egypt and india but the one in singapore has long since been demolished. that was in 1998. in its place are now some luxurious private apartments.

in retrospect, collecting match-boxes is in fact collecting a bit of history. the building may not be there anymore but you still have the match-box as evidence of its existence.

i have also in my collection match-boxes of a few other hotels which have either disappeared and some which have undergone a change of name.

some hotels that may have been forgotten include aldelphi hotel, cathay hotel, hotel malaysia, prince's hotel garni and queen's hotel.