“CHAP GOH MEH” Celebrations at Havelock Road in 1958.

Next up is an article written by one of our highly knowledgeable members, James Seah who has shared with us his memories of Chap Goh Meh 57 years ago when he was living in the Bukit Ho Swee kampong. 

 

The above photo is a recent photo of the “Grand Old Building of Havelock Road”. The corridor was elevated above street level in the 1960s. The arrow points to the unit occupied by the Soh Beng Tee Construction Co.

Chinese around the world, including Singaporean-Chinese celebrate "Chap Goh Meh" to mark the closing of the traditional 15-day Chinese New Year celebrations.

It would be interesting to have a chronological record (by year) of first person experience stories about "Chap Goh Meh". "Chap Goh Meh Through the Ages" would serve as a historical record of the different ways people celebrate this traditional Chinese festival in different places around the world.

I remember "Chap Goh Meh" at Bukit Ho Swee kampung 50 years ago on 4th March, 1958 (Tuesday) when I was a 10-year-old kid. [The exact date is traced with the help of the Chinese calendar program on my Treo 650, not that I could remember the exact date so well].

The venue of the Bukit Ho Swee "heartland happening event” was at the 'Grand Old Building" (GOB) at Havelock Road, where shop Unit No. 715 to No. 745, Havelock Road, Singapore are located. I found a best-view spot at the corridor of the coffee-shop at Unit No. 719 beside the Soh Beng Tee Construction Co. office at Unit No. 721.

About 20 workers and the proprietor were having a grand "Chap Goh Meh" celebration dinner when I arrived at about 7:00 pm. There were crates and crates of firecracker stacked outside the office. 4 or 5 earthenware stoves with burning charcoal were also placed nearby.

At about 7:30 pm, I heard 3 rounds of rousing shout of "Yam Seng" from the diners to signal the completion of the company dinner to celebrate another year of business prosperity.

Several male workers then came out of the office. Their faces were red with too much brandy and beer and they appeared tipsy. They were laughing, apparently happy after an enjoyable and sumptuous dinner with alcohol drinks.

The crates of firecracker were quickly opened. There were a few hundred packets of firecracker. The wrapper of each packet of the red firecracker was peeled off at the edge to expose the flint.

The unpacking process was done by a group of 4 or 5 workers while another group lighted the firecrackers on the charcoal fire and threw them onto the road, packet by packet. It was a dangerous maneuver without any safety protection for the workers.

The sound of the firecracker was deafening. Very soon Havelock Road at the GOB was covered in a cloud of dark smoke. Cars which passed through this stretch of the road have to keep the windows wound up. Packets of lighted firecracker accidentally thrown into an open car window could explode and cause injuries to the occupants. Most other vehicles prefer to use an alternative route instead of traveling through the “war zone” for safety reason.

As the unpacking and unwrapping of the firecracker was completed, more workers joined in to throw the packets of firecracker. The tempo and speed of the cracker firing increased tremendously and I had to use my hands to cover my ears. I was also inhaling the toxic firecracker smoke.

After a while, I noticed that the workers at the woodmaking factory across the road have also started to throw fire crackers onto Havelock Road. The factory must have had a profitable year and celebrated it with a "Chap Goh Meh" staff dinner in the same way as Soh Beng Tee, I guess.

It was the first time in my life I had witnessed such a firecracker display.

The workers at Soh Beng Tee continued drinking beer while firing the crackers. They were in high spirit and appeared to be having lots of fun, shouting loudly above the din to the people at the woodmaking factory, "Lets see who can fire the most firecrackers, who can last the longest" ... Oh My God, it was not just an ordinary firecracker display. It was a competition to see who has the most money (Oops...firecracker) to burn.

When “showtime” was over at around 9:00 pm and the billowing cloud of firecracker smoke was drifted away by the wind, I slowly made my way home. There was a constant buzzing sound in my ears and I feared that I would become deaf. I was also stunned and shocked by what I heard and saw at the "Firecracker Fest".

After the firecracker smokescreen disappeared, the bright, the full moon above Havelock Road on that “Chap Goh Meh” could again be seen.

I did not know that it was the first and also the last time that I had the chance to witness such an event in Singapore.Please check out this website if you want to find out why firecracker was banned in Singapore.