Blaze, relief efforts captured by papers
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The front page of The Straits Times on May 26, 1961. The catastrophic fire and the subsequent relief efforts were captured in photos and articles in newspapers like ST and the now defunct Singapore Free Press in the months that followed.
The headline "Hari Raya inferno" was blazoned on the front page of The Straits Times on May 26, 1961.
The Friday report carried a large photograph of clouds of smoke billowing from Bukit Ho Swee kampung - so large they seemed to obscure the sky.
The catastrophic fire and the subsequent relief efforts were captured in photos and articles in newspapers like ST and the now defunct Singapore Free Press in the months that followed.
The Bukit Ho Swee Fire was mentioned in 187 English-language articles in 1961 alone, according to search results from the National Library Board's digitised newspaper archive, NewspapersSG.
The fire would go down in history as engendering the replacement of the sprawling kampung with new Housing Board flats, but the immediate aftermath was fraught times.
Multiple cases of looting were reported and there were 16,000 kampung residents to rehome.
On June 1, 1961, Minister for National Development Tan Kia Gan appealed in the Legislative Assembly of Singapore for 13,000 HDB applicants to wait a little longer. There were not enough flats to rehouse all the victims so the others would have to wait, reported ST.
Also recorded was the outpouring of aid from far and wide.
An article on May 29 that year in The Singapore Free Press detailed an islandwide collection drive.
Churchgoers, office workers, students at the American School - residents from all walks of life were recorded coming forward to pool funds to support the victims.
The Singapore Polytechnic Students' Union and the Naval Base Employees Union were reported to have started their own collections as well. There were also reports on cash donations from Thailand and Australia.
Newspaper records reflected lingering fears of more fires breaking out in Singapore's kampungs.
A letter to the editor of The Singapore Free Press, published on June 10, 1961, detailed a list of recommendations for both citizens and the Government to prevent another fire. One suggestion was for professional firefighters to help train teams of residents in the kampungs. "We must not have another Bukit Ho Swee," wrote the unnamed author.
Ng Wei Kai
