Into the Snake Year and I’m still in a nostalgic mood. I think it’s one of the moments in history when a number of pivotal events seem to be taking place. The familiar things – places, people and products even – will disappear. Often too fast for us to realise.
So bear with me as I attempt an off-the-head list of brand names which have become history. Some of them were part of our growing-up years. Here goes:
SBC (Singapore Broadcasting Corporation)
Siera tv
Bluespot (Blaupunkt)
Rotax pen
Budget Terminal
Tiger Air
MSA
Cinemas: Galaxy, Roxy, Jade, Prince, Palace, Alhambra, Odeon, Zenith, Paramount, Mercury, Golden, Yangtze, Rex, Bright among others
Framroz soft drink
Seletaris
Green Spot
Red Lion
National electrical products (remember the gigantic neon signboard in the then carpark of Capitol cinema?)
Nightclubs: Rumours, Spark, Fire, Scandals, Xanadu, Fireplace, Rainbow Lounge, Pink Panther, Barbarella, Boiler Room, Golden Venus, Zouk, Kasbah, all the Europa group nightclubs, Fountain, West Point, Kelong, Lost Horizon, Ladyhill, Marco Polo, among others
Magnolia milkbars
Balmoral restaurant l
Donald Moore gallery
Batik Inn
Wonderland
Troika Room
NTUC Welcome
Borders
Jack Chia MPH
Newspapers: Eastern Sun, Singapore Herald, Singapore Monitor, Nanyang Siang Pau, Sin Chew Jit Poh, Streats, among others
Temasek Review
The Real Singapore
Public House
Online Offline
The Online Citizen
The Middle Ground
Breakfast Network
Fanfare magazine
Himalaya store
John Little
Robinson
Silver Spoon coffee house
Sam’s Hoagies
Wendy’s
Dynasty hotel
Ming Court hotel
Daichi hotel
Glass hotel
Morris Minor
Lee Wah Bank
Chung Khiaw Bank
OUB
Fitzpatrick’s
Yaohan
Yokoso
Think of it. These are no longer with us. Years from now, what would the new list be? Which would disappear?
Tan Bah Bah is a former senior leader writer with The Straits Times. He was also managing editor of a magazine publishing company