Starting our walk in the heart of Queenstown, which is the town centre, it is hard to imagine today that this was one of the most popular spots in Singapore from the late 1960s for well over a decade.
In its heyday, even visitors from beyond Queenstown flocked to the town centre. The three cinemas here screened to full houses. And Tah Chung, an emporium, was the hippest shopping place where one could buy almost anything from clothes and electronic goods to household items appliances. The Golden Crown Restaurant, well-known for its Cantonese cuisine was THE place to hold a celebration dinner or wedding banquet!
In the evening, night markets (pasar malam) lined the streets, and the crowd would spill over onto the sidewalks whenever there was a wayang (Chinese street opera). All these sights, sounds, smells and riot of colours created such a buzz that Queenstown was hailed as THE place to be.
By the mid-1980s, the town centre had quietened down considerably as young people moved out to other satellite towns that were developed in other parts of Singapore. Fond memories of this once-bustling centre, however, live on in those who grew up with Queenstown.