Having mentioned in my last post about visiting the Bukit Batok Nature Park prior to it becoming a park, I remembered and dug out the few old photos I had stashed away somewhere.
I know my siblings are going to have a field day laughing at the pictures below. These were taken 30 years ago when I was just out from the army and was working as a quality inspector for Mercedes Benz. They show me 30 years younger and maybe also 20 kilos lighter.
My job as a final line quality inspector required that I took the newly assembled cars for a test run, road test we called it. Along the test route, we drove to the abandoned Poh Kim Granite Quarry, where the rough track road served as an excellent place to check for rattles from the various car assemblies. Then it was up the slope to Bukit Batok summit where we tested steering alignment by simply rolling down the slope in free gear.
The photos shows Bukit Batok Nature Park and Bukit Batok hill prior to the re-planting frenzy that NParks Singapore did after they took over. Bukit Batok for years was quite bare and the tower and summit could be seen from afar. Today, it's much better, looking like a forest reserve with all its greenery.
Click on the photo for a larger image
At the abandoned Poh Kim quarry, long before the revamp.
The pond had already started to fill with rainwater and natural runoff.
I reckoned the pond to be about 20-30ft deep.
In the background - Bukit Timah shopping malls and view towards the obscured city.
Forestation was then what we called bulukar secondary forest.
At the bare summit of Bukit Batok with Bukit Timah Hill in the background.
The cliff face in the background was the then active Singapore Granite Quarry.
Upper Bukit Timah Road in the valley divides Bukit Batok from Bukit Timah.
In front of the WWII Japanese Army-built steps. The then RTS (Radio and Television Singapore, now Mediacorp) Tower was the original. This was replaced with a newer tower in the 90s.
To know more about the history of these steps, please watch the video from the previous blog entry.
you are so right brother...I'm having a hay day laughing at your pixs. I may be a few years younger than u but i still can't recall u being that young or thin...ha ha
ReplyDeleteLook at thoes pants...and the hair!!! ha ha
I was from St Joseph Church in the 1960s.
ReplyDeleteLike to know since you work for C&C @Hillview, what models they assembled sand when closed down?
I think it was 200 model.
U got photo of view towards Jalan Anak Bukit from Bukit Batok?
Thanks.