This picture was the first in a roll of 35mm pictures taken in Singapore when we visiting there. Probably a throw-away shot to ensure that the shots started on a good part of the film after the film was loaded at a camera shop. But it reveals Singapore as it was 55 years ago.
R: Siera was a brand of radio sold in Southeast Asia. We didn't actually have any of their products, but the brand name rings a bell. I've just discovered that they came from Belgium. Another brand from Europe was Philips, from Eindhoven in the Netherlands, of course.
P: Parker pens and Quink were widely used.
B: The Chinese characters read Chung Wah book shop. This is where you could buy paperback literature and textbooks in Chinese. Which reminds me that in those days Taiwan was well-known for pirating books. My father asked my sister upon graduating from a Taiwan university to buy the then 24 volumes of the Encyclopædia Britannica. Some volumes she brought back in her luggage, some she asked others to carry. Miraculously all volumes arrived in KL eventually and I used them for years. But that pirate version would not have been sold in Singapore or Malaysia, which had British ties.
F: What is a bargain at $1 discount per yard? Fabric! These were sold from bolts and Singapore had more variety than KL, and I think no excise duty, so people came to buy here. Then back home they would engage dressmakers to turn it into clothes.
E: Finally, the location of the photo? South Bridge Road which is still named thus in modern Singapore though it's certain that none of those businesses in the photo are extant. How can I tell? The bridge in the distance is Elgin Bridge, spanning Singapore River. (Incidentally it was the father of the bridge's namesake who took the Marbles.) The other side of the bridge is North Bridge Road. The roads actually run from NE to SW, not N to S. You can also see that circulation is one-way. The other direction was provided by New Bridge Road (of course), one block to the NW of this location.
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