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thesundaytimes May 26, 2013
PHOTOS: ST FILE, DIOS VINCOY JR FOR THE STRAITS TIMES
Clifford Pier in 1950 (above), and under reconstruction in 2009 (below) with Marina Bay
Financial Centre also under construction in the background.
“I can’t
remember how
long we waited,
but there was no
boat schedule
and we did not
have mobile
phones then.”
MR WONG HIONG BOON
(left), 81, a part-time
art teacher who, as a
six-year-old in the late
1930s, spent hours at
Clifford Pier waiting
for his father to return
from his job working on
ships out at sea
One On The
Bund (left)
at Clifford Pier
serves
contemporary
Chinese
cuisine. Some
architectural
features have
been retained
in the
makeover
because the
pier has been
designated a
conservation
building.
A Pier into the
past and future
A new exhibition will trace
how Clifford Pier has
changed from a humble
pier into an upscale venue
Cheryl Faith Wee
A
s a six-year-old in the late 1930s,
Mr Wong Hiong Boon would
head to Clifford Pier at least
once every two weeks on
Saturday mornings.
There, he would spend hours waiting for
his father Wong Seet Lin to return from his
job working on ships out at sea.
The 81-year-old part-time art teacher
recalls standing on a platform near the
water’s edge with his older brother and late
mother, who were then nine and 30something respectively, anticipating his father’s
return on a sampan.
He says: “We would get there early. I
can’t remember how long we waited, but
there was no boat schedule and we did not
have mobile phones then.”
Clifford Pier, which opened in 1933,
was then a bustling landing and departure
point for passengers commuting to ships
out at sea. It was nicknamed Ang Teng Beh
Tao (red lamp pier in Hokkien) because of
the lights used to direct sea vessels.
Today, boats no longer arrive and depart
at the art deco-style pier. It closed in 2006,
and was converted into an upscale dining
complex in 2008.
An exhibition next month in celebration of the pier’s 80th anniversary will take
a look at its past. It is organised by The
Fullerton Heritage, a dining and hospitality
group which runs the building.
On display are about 60 photographs of
the pier, donated by the public and government agencies. Mr Wong’s memories of the
place, along with 13 other personal
accounts of the pier, will also be featured.
They consist of first-hand accounts gathered by The Fullerton Heritage, as well as
memories submitted to the irememberCliffordPier campaign of the National Library
Board’s Singapore Memory Project.
The president of Singapore Management University, Mr Arnoud De Meyer, 59,
who has lived here for about eight years
and is originally from Belgium, contributed
his memories to The Fullerton Heritage.
He made trips here about three to four
times a year from 1984 to teach operations
management to executives from developing countries. He visited Clifford Pier in
1987 when he took a wooden boat from
the pier for a day-trip to the Southern
Islands.
Mr Meyer, who is single, says: “I came
out of the clean high-tech world in
Orchard Road, where my hotel was, into an
older part of Singapore – it was a lot messier
back then. There were the old Indonesian
boatmen who were quite loud.”
Clifford Pier was given conservation
status by the Urban Redevelopment
Authority in 2007.
The 26,000 sq ft space currently serves
as the entrance to The Fullerton Bay Hotel,
which opened in 2010. It also houses the
five-year-old Chinese fine-dining restaurant One On The Bund.
A chandelier now hangs from the
distinct arched concrete trussses that hold
up the former pier, designed by the late
Brtish architect Frank Dorrington Ward.
He was also responsible for the former
Supreme Court building on St Andrew’s
Road.
Ms Susan Leong, an administration
assistant in her 30s, recalls going to
Clifford Pier with her mother when she
was seven years old. They were en route to
the Central Business District to run errands
and spent several minutes at the pier just
enjoying the sea breeze.
She says: “It used to look very dark from
the outside. Now it is all lit up. The high
arched roof looks the same but it is now a
place that is more for tourists.”
Kezia Toh
Black-out curtains, warm milk before bed
and lavender-scented pillows. For years,
insomniacs in Singapore have been tossing
and turning out ways to slip into a dreamy
snoozefest.
A recent editorial in the Annals, a
journal by the Singapore Academy of
Medicine, found that one in three people
here is getting so little sleep that it is
affecting their health. It said that people
who do not sleep enough are more likely to
become obese and suffer from diabetes and
heart problems.
SundayLife! asks a range of experts, including sleep doctors, traditional Chinese
medicine physicians and aromatherapists,
for tips to make falling asleep easier.
Hide the clock
Avoid the temptation to watch the clock if
you cannot sleep, says Dr Ong Thun How,
director of the Sleep Disorders Unit at
Singapore General Hospital.
“If you lie down and stare at the clock
while trying to fall asleep, you are inadvertently stressing yourself by trying to meet a
‘deadline’.”
Turn your clock towards the wall while
you sleep to avoid sneaking peeks at it and
No electronics allowed
Keep mobile phones, television sets, laptops and iPads away from your haven of
sleep. If these are in your room, switch
them off.
While there is no scientific evidence that
the wavelengths from electronic devices
affects sleep, turning off mobile phones
removes the “subtle stress” of the need to
stay connected, says Dr Shirish.
A bedroom “only for sleep” may be
difficult to achieve, says Dr Ong, as many
Singaporeans live in crowded living spaces,
which may not be sleep-conducive.
Leave your bed
If you lie awake in bed for 30 minutes or so,
get up to do something else. A sedate
activity such as reading is good, but avoid
doing it in bed.
Make sure you are in a different part of
the bedroom or in a different room, says Dr
Shirish. This conditions the body to sleep
when you fall into bed.
Return to bed only when you feel sleepy.
The exhibition Clifford Pier – A Place
In Our Hearts will run from June 4 to
Aug 31 at One On The Bund restaurant
at 80 Collyer Quay.
Smell sleep
An aromatherapy burner to diffuse fumes
from essential oils of lavender, mandarin,
rose and chamomile can do wonders, says
Ms Julie Lew, 52, manager of aromatherapy
brand Perfect Potion.
A cheaper option is to drip one or two
drops on a tissue and slip it into your
pillowcase so that you can smell it while
you sleep. A scent pillow or satchet may
not be a good idea as it could grow mould
in about three months, she adds.
Cedarwood, ylang ylang and patchouli
could also work, says aromatherapist
Sheeba Majmudar, 39, from health and
wellness centre Verita. You can apply a
drop behind each ear or use a timed
diffuser, which will automatically switch
off when you fall asleep, she says.
Keep hands and feet warm
Wear mittens, gloves and socks to “trick”
the mind and body for better sleep, says Dr
Shirish Johari, 43, a senior resident
physician at Tan Tock Seng Hospital’s Sleep
Disorder Clinic.
Studies have shown that keeping your
hands and feet warm dilates blood vessels
in those parts, which cools the blood as it
flows through the open channels near the
skin’s surface, lowering your body temperature and making sleep come easier.
turn it back around in the morning to
check the time.
cherylw@sph.com.sg
stress hormones like adrenaline.”
Doctors advise a two-hour wind-down
period – have a hot shower, a massage or
practice muscle relaxation techniques, or
listen to new-age music.
Avoid studying, office work, cybergaming, television or housework during
this period, says Dr Sridhar Venkateswaran,
43, assistant director of Changi General
Hospital’s Integrated Sleep Service. It sees
about 120 patients with sleep disorders a
week, an increase from previous years.
Sleepless in
Singapore
no more
Cool your room
Sleep at a temperature which is comfortable for you, says Dr Shirish. Though it
differs from person to person, the ideal
range is between 20 and 22 deg C. A cooler
room tricks your body into lowering its
temperature, a pre-requisite for deep sleep.
Likewise, Mr Wayne Lim, 28, an operations executive in the maritime industry,
says he can barely recognise the pier.
From 2003 to 2006, he went to Clifford
Pier almost every day as part of his job, to
take small speed crafts to big ships. Sometimes, he arrived at the pier in the wee
hours of the morning at 4am.
He recalls: “Some of the people who
worked there would be sleeping on the
floor on mattresses. In the past, it was a
very simple place but it is so high-class
now. It is such a big change.”
Strangely, trying to stay awake rather
than trying to fall asleep can do the trick.
He says: “In what is known as ‘paradoxical
intention’, the mind that focuses on being
awake will relax sooner than the mind that
is struggling to fall asleep.”
Two-hour wind down
To relax the mind and body, dedicate a
winding-down period to prep for a good
snooze, says Dr Ong. She says: “The mind
is not an engine that can be turned off at
will and when you are tensed up after a
hectic day, the body is still pumped full of
TCM methods
Cook a sweet dessert of lily bulb, lotus seed,
red dates and longan – about 30g of each –
and drink it two hours before sleep, says
TCM physician Lim Lay Beng, 50, of YS
Healthcare TCM Clinic.
These ingredients clear the “heart fire”
which prevents sound sleep.
To calm the nerves, drink half a glass of
warm milk. However, avoid drinking Milo,
says Ms Lim.
“I usually do not encourage patients to
drink this as it contains cocoa and can
wake up the brain,” she adds.
She also recommends a 30-minute warm
foot bath an hour before bedtime – dip
your feet in warm water mixed with about
30ml of rice wine or vinegar, which helps
the blood to circulate.
keziatoh@sph.com.sg