The invasion of futsal cages across the so-called Tanglin Oval is quite a horrifying sight. Surely, the old Tanglin Barracks cricket ground deserves better, having had a place in history as Singapore’s very first dedicated military sporting ground. Set up by the soldiers of the barracks in 1870, the ground represents the commitment of their commander, Major Charles Hamilton Malan, to maintaining the mental, spiritual and physical wellbeing of the troops that he led. Malan commanded the right wing of the then Hong Kong based 75th Regiment of Foot — one of the components of the future Gordon Highlanders.
The 75th Regiment, was the second unit to be quartered at Tanglin Barracks, built to house European infantry soldiers in the early 1860s, but left unoccupied until early 1869. The living quarters back then were a mix of attap thatched timber accommodation blocks laid across the low elevations at Tanglin that up to a decade prior were planted with nutmeg trees. Thick vegetation had taken over in areas that were cleared but not built on. Malan set the troops under his command to work, clearing the “jungle” around the barracks to improve their habitability. The effort provided troops who might have otherwise idled unhappily away in the discomfort of the sweltering tropical heat some purpose.
Carving out a cricket ground — the Oval, as it would come to be known, was next on Malan’s agenda, which as Malan recorded in his memoirs, was no easy task. It not only required the clearing of jungle, but also the levelling of land — all of which was accomplished in a matter of months:
Looking down upon what was then thick jungle I said to my sergeant major: “Sergeant-major, what a capital place this would make for a cricket-ground! I’m an old cricketer; I used to be very fond of cricket. I’ll tell you what it is, we’ll make a cricket-ground. It would be good amusement.”
I looked at my friend’s face. There was a very placid smile upon it; and while he stood strictly at attention, he looked at me, as much as to say, “If you had the whole army here, you would not do it”.
Within six months of that time the jungle was gone, and there, in its place, was a cricket-ground, having a turfed level ninety yards long, forty wide and this level having been made in the slope of a hill!
How often, after it was finished, as I rode or walked up to the hospital to talk to some sick comrade, have I seen the slopes of the barracks covered with men, watching their comrades at play; and how I have lifted up my heart in thanks and praise to God, who gave me the wisdom, energy, and faith in Him to attempt and carry out such an undertaking! The making of this cricket-ground was a work of very great labour. The cutting of the jungle and rooting up the trees was the least part of it.
The former hospital.Malan’s road to the hospital.
Sport has long been a component of military life. Besides the benefits to the physical and emotional wellbeing of the soldiers, sport builds camaraderie and builds bridges between soldiers and their officers.
The cricket field (roots.sg).
Cricket fields and sporting grounds have been an essential feature of British army barracks since the 1840s when General Sir Rowland Hill, Commander in Chief of the British Army, gave orders for a cricket ground be provided in the country’s military barracks and this field in Tanglin Barracks represents the first attempt to export this to Singapore. Up to the point that it got “caged”, the field remained much as it was for over a 150 years. The addition of the futsal cages, laid on a raised bed of concrete, has quite sadly put an end to the field and the legacy (even if one can argue that the futsal cages continues its use as a sporting ground) that Malan left behind. It has also destroyed the wonderful view of the slope that Malan mentions, as well as adding the unsightly clutter of cages.
The former Tanglin Oval, before it was desecrated. The “slopes of the barracks covered with men, watching their comrades at play” that Malan described seeing as he made his way to the hospital (now Loewen by Dempsey Hill) can quite clearly be visualised.
The Tanglin Oval, late 1960s. John C Young Collection, courtesy of National Archives of Singapore
The ugly mess that Malan’s field has become.Work started at the end of last year.De-fielding Malan’s cricket field :(.
Tanglin Village or Dempsey Hill, a spacious and joyous site on the fringes of Singapore’s city centre, has a history that goes back more than a hundred and fifty years. Established as Singapore’s first purpose-built military camp, Tanglin Barracks, it is a place with stories abound. There are quite a few that I find especially intriguing, including one which has as its leading protagonist a rather flamboyant German mariner by the name of Julius Lauterbach, whose exploits on and off the high seas make for quite an interestIng read.
Tanglin Village today
Lauterbach’s chapter in Tanglin’s history is set against the backdrop of the First World War, a conflict which pitted his native Germany against Singapore’s colonial master, Great Britain. Almost overnight, friends found themselves on opposing sides and even if the war may have been raging far from Singapore’s shores, its fallout extended to the island in one way or another. On 24 October 1914, some three months into the conflict, nationals of Germany and Austria in Singapore received an order to report to the P&O Wharf. There were a number of prominent members of the mercantile community amongst the group. Initially interned on St John’s Island, the group would be moved into Tanglin Barracks‘ vacant blocks and were joined by internees who had been detained in Malaya.
St. John’s Island.
The choice of Tanglin Barracks as a place of internment was only possible as the British infantry units who would have normally be quartered at the barracks were most — in Europe. This arrangement however, would leave Singapore with threadbare defences, although there seemed to be little of concern with the main threat to the island’s security having been ascertained as internal rather than external. The responsibility for maintaining order was placed squarely on the shoulders of the officers and men of a British Indian Army infantry regiment — the 5th Light Infantry, which was quartered at Alexandra Barracks.
The former Gillman Barrack’s officers’ mess – close to the site where the first shot was fired to signal the start of the mutiny.
At Tanglin Barracks, a total of about 250 civilians were held, accommodated in a cluster of barrack buildings which had been ‘wired in’ with scaffolding used as watch towers. The 5th Light Infantry provided the camp’s security details together with a handful of men from the volunteer units. Within the confines of the camp boundary was also a ‘small bungalow’ that was converted for use as a hospital for internees. Tanglin Barracks’ Teutonic flavour was also to be enhanced by a group of about sixty Prisoners of War (POWs) from the German naval cruiser, SMS Emden, which brought the total number of internees at the camp to 309. The POWs were housed separately within the confines of the camp in a barrack block that acquired the name ‘Emden Villa’.
The cricket field and P-Block.
The Emden must have been quite well known in Singapore, having gained notoriety for the damage and disruption to Allied shipping in the Indian Ocean and the China Sea that it had inflicted in the early months of the war. Among the cruiser’s exploits was a daring raid on Penang harbour during which two ships — a Russian cruiser and a French destroyer — were sunk. The Emden, as did many naval vessels on both sides, also employed tactics that could be compared to pirate ships in sending boarding parties to storm merchant ships, either to scuttle them, or if the cargo was valuable enough, to commandeer these vessels as a ‘prize’. The men of the Emden who had found their way to Tanglin were in fact members of ‘prize crews’ of three ships that were recaptured by the Allies, the most senior of whom was Reserve Lieutenant Julius Lauterbach. Lauterbach was taken along with the prize crew of the collier, Exford, which was carrying a cargo of 6000 tons of coal when it was recaptured by the armed auxiliary cruiser, HMS Empress of Japan, off Sumatra on 11 December 1914.
Lauterbach was already well known in many circles in Singapore in his days as a master mariner who was based at the port of Tsingtao (Qingdao), which Germany held as a concession port from 1898 to 1914. He had been an established fixture on the merchant marine scene and many among the civilian internees had made the passage on ships that Lauterbach had captained. His arrival at Tanglin was said to have been greeted with a loud cheer because of his fame. Being the highest ranking officer among the POWs, Lauterbach was afforded with a degree of respect by his captors, who put him in a three-room house on his own within the camp perimeter and close to the Emden Villa.
Julius Lauterbach at Tanglin
As soon as Leuterbach arrived in Tanglin, he set out plotting an escape and after having observed security arrangements at the camp, he determined that a tunnel would best serve his purpose. On 27 January 1915, with help from a group of trusted men he started on his dig right under the noses of the camp guards, under the guise of doing gardening. It could also have been that the members of 5th Light Infantry who were guarding the camp and who were free to interact with the internees, was under Lauterbach’s influence. Lauterbach was also able to have the company of a French-Chinese Eurasian admirer during his internment, albeit with a locked gate in between them. The young lady, according to a boast that Lauterbach made, had come to Singapore to see to his wellbeing having made her way from her native Shanghai once she got wind of his plight and was also able to hand information such as maps to him to aid in his intended escape.
A very special ward.
Mutiny
All this while, unhappiness was fermenting (some say fermented by Lauterbach and company) among members of the 5th Light Infantry. In January 1915, a decision was made to deploy the 5th to Hong Kong. The destination was however not communicated to the troops. There were rumours abound that the destination was not East, but West in Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq). With it large Muslim contingent, many among the rank and file were incensed by the prospect of having to fight fellow Muslims. In a move to quell the growing sense of unease, the transfer was brought forward. With the 5th due to be sent out on 16 February 1915 — the day after the three day Chinese New Year holiday weekend, the unit stood down from its duties at Tanglin on 14 February 1915 and camp security was left in the hands of one British and three native officers and twelve men of the Johore Military Forces, who were without ammunition, and a deployment of volunteers.
Remembering the victims of the Mutiny – a plaque at the Victoria Concert Hall.
The growing sense of unhappiness and the impending move to what was rumoured to be Mesopotamia provoked members of the 5th Light Infantry into action and just after 3 pm on the afternoon of 15 February 1915, members of the regiment’s Right Wing — numbering just over 400 men, mutinied (infantry regiments were then split into two wings, each with four companies). A group of about eighty rebels headed to Tanglin, intent on freeing German prisoners in the hope that they would lend support to the rebellion. At 3.45 pm, the mutineers reached Tanglin with a group among the eighty laying siege to Tanglin Military Hospital and firing into its administration building. In spite of coming under fire, Staff Sergeant Vickers, RAMC, managed to make his way to the medical officers bungalow some 300 yards away (270 metres). Finding the Medical Officer out, he was able to raise the alarm to the police, Fort Canning and a Dr Fowlie. A group of fifteen men reached the POW camp about half an hour later around 4.15 pm and also fired on the guards. The lock to the gate was then blown up. In the chaos of the attack, four officers were killed along with ten men. One German prisoner was also fatally wounded.
Buildings of the former Tanglin Military Hospital.
An eyewitness, Corporal J F Bray, RAMC, who was stationed at the prisoner hospital recalled being roused by the firing. German prisoners then told him that a mutiny had broken out. He then rushed to the POW hospital’s dispensary to get dressings in order to attend to the wounded, one of whom was a prisoner in W-Block (now Block 17). Inside W-Block, Bray witnessed six to seven members of the 5th freeing German prisoners before moving them into Y-Block (Block 26). Bray also witnessed the leader of the mutineers shaking hands with the German prisoners. Unsuccessful in their attempts to enlist the help of the Germans, the mutineers then left, promising to return with arms and ammunition. The bulk of the German prisoners, including Lauterbach, had in fact refused to take up arms; some went on to help in attending to the wounded, and transport the more seriously hurt to Tanglin Military Hospital.
Block 17 – a block that many who served National Service in the army will remember as the Enlistment Centre
Lauterbach’s Epic Escape
In the commotion of the disturbance at Tanglin, Lauterbach made a final push to finish the tunnel that he had been working on. Determined to get away unnoticed, he decided against walking out the open camp gate and use the tunnel he had worked on. Selecting a handful of prisoners to go with him for their ability to speak English made the escape as the darkness fell, having to making a vault over a final set of barbed-wire that lay beyond the tunnel exit. Leaving at around 8pm, the group decided that the main roads were to be avoided and took a route through grass, lallang and rubber plantation — a decision that got their guide and themselves lost. With some further help obtained through a handsome bribe, the group eventually found their way to the coast, some five hours after leaving Tanglin. There the scene was set for a voyage to Karimun. The long twelve hours that it would take them to get to the islands, which lay on the neutral Dutch side of the Melaka Strait, would only be the first leg of what was to become an epic journey of escape. The journey was to involve trudging through the jungles of Sumatra, a journey from Padang to Batavia (Jakarta) to Surabaya, a passage on a Dutch steamer to the Celebes (Sulawesi), a five day passage across the Celebes Sea to Mindanao in a leaking boat that required water to be bailed out by hand continuously, a voyage disguised as a Dutchman from Manila to China’s north coast where he made his way down to Shanghai. From Shanghai, he would head east to Japan, then Hawaii, and San Francisco from where he boarded a train for New York. At Hoboken — across the Hudson from Manhattan, Lauterbach signed on to a Oslo bound Danish ship as a Swedish stoke. Making landfall in Europe, he made his way to Copenhagen before finding himself on German soil on 10 October 1915 — some eight months after his escape from Singapore and ten months after his capture onboard the Exford.
There is little doubt that The White Rabbit, an exclusive dining destination in the former Tanglin Barracks, occupies a building that was built as a small church. The only question is when. Little does seem to have been documented about the building, or its history other than the fact that it was used in the post-British military pull-out era as a chapel — the Ebenezer Chapel — for two different Protestant denominations, before its conversion. There is also that suggestion that the church building dates back to the 1930s, although it does seem to predate that. One less known but well established fact, is that it served the barracks’ Roman Catholic congregation in its post-second-world-war era until the pull-out as the Church of Christ the King (no relation to the Roman Catholic church in Ang Mo Kio of the same name, a period of time when it play host to quite a few weddings.
The White Rabbit at 39C Harding Road.
It is its location, relative to the former Tanglin Barracks’ garrison church of St George — across what used to be the barracks’ parade ground, that holds a clue to its origins. Now a parish church of the Anglican church’s diocese of Singapore and a National Monument, St George’s was built in the second decade of the twentieth century to replace an older and smaller garrison church that based on the church’s publications was erected in 1884 and was located west of St George’s. The position of The White Rabbit, on the western edge of the parade grounds — a venue for the church parade services that the British military had a tradition of — and on a site that is shown in pre-St George’s era maps (including one produced in 1892) to be occupied by a similarly proportioned structure, provides a strong hint that The White Rabbit was that older 1884 church. Along with this, the existence of a photograph taken in 1903 in Tanglin Barracks provides further evidence that the structure, in what is more or less its current form and possessing identical architectural features, was very likely to be that of the 1884 garrison church. The structure is identified as a “Chapel School” in maps of the barracks during the interwar period — a possible carry over from its use prior to St George’s being built. The use is consistent with that of buildings built to serve the religious needs of servicemen and their children in various other late 19th and early 20th century military barracks across the Commonwealth.
A view of the east end of the building with what is possibly the remodelled north side where the 1903 photograph could have been taken.
While St George’s continued in its use as a church following the late 1971 pull-out of British forces, the older church fell into disuse before becoming the Hebron Bible-Presbyterian Church’s chapel in 1979 until 1983 and then the New Life Baptist Church’s chapel from the late 1985 to 1993. It wasn’t until 2007 that the delightful old church saw life breathed into it again, when The White Rabbit took up tenancy. The restaurant opened the following year in 2008 and it hasn’t looked back since.
A view through the grilles of one of the lancet windows. The grille-work dates back to the building’s days as the Roman Catholic garrison church.
A westward view across the former parade grounds to The White Rabbit.
An eastward view across the former parade grounds to St George’s Church.
Another view of The White Rabbit.
A comparison of the building seen in a Tanglin Barracks photograph dated 1903 with The White Rabbit today. Several of the building’s external features such the position of the pair of lancet windows with respect to a gothic arched doorway at what would have been the altar of the church, the gothic arched windows next to it and the label moulds and label stops above the openings match quite perfectly. (Do note that the top image is flipped along the horizontal axis – one explanation for this is that the photograph is taken on the other side of the building which has since been remodelled. This would also explain the slight differences in the structural column).
An 1892 map showing a building on the site of the present day The White Rabbit (just west of the Parade Ground) that is thought to have been the same building.
The relative isolation of Loewen by Dempsey Hill within the former Tanglin Barracks is a clue to how its buildings might originally have been used, as a military hospital that was known as Tanglin Military Hospital. Established at the end of the 1800s in what were attap roofed barrack-like buildings, it served as the military’s main medical facility for its European contingent of troops on Singapore’s main island until Alexandra Military Hospital was opened in mid-1940.
No. 32 Company, RAMC at Tanglin Military Hospital c. 1930 (source: Wellcome Library via Wikipedia).
With British units involved in the Great War in Europe, Tanglin Military Hospital was manned by members of the Singapore Volunteer Field Ambulance Company during that period.
The hospital, which has certainly had a colourful past, was among the locations where the Singapore Mutiny of 1915 was played out. That incident saw a party of Sepoy soldiers raiding Tanglin Barracks. Among the locations the mutineers entered was the hospital. Patients were driven out and personnel shot at. The mutineers succeeded in scattering guards and liberating Germans prisoners. The hospital staff were reported to have “displayed great resource and bravery in attending to the wounded and in remaining within the vicinity of their post” during the incident.
Block 72 during days when the Ministry of Defence occupied Tanglin Barracks. Buildings within the cluster at Loewen was put to use by the SAF Medical Corps, HQ 9 Division and also the Music and Drama Company.
The opening of the new military hospital at Alexandra, saw the hospital’s role reduced to one used primarily for the care of soldiers afflicted with skin conditions and diseases of a sexual nature. A significant part of the hospital was in fact already dedicated to this even before the move. Infections of the nature were apparently quite common among the troops and as a main hospital, one of Tanglin’s two large ward buildings was already given to this use.
The former military hospital’s general ward.
It was in its days as a hospital for skin diseases and STDs that a young doctor, Dr William Frankland, was posted to it. Now 106 (and still working!), Dr Frankland has since acquired the reputation of being the “Grandfather of allergy” – for his pioneering work in the field. His remarkable life and accomplishments has been celebrated in many ways, including through the publication of his biography “From Hell Island To Hay Fever: The Life of Dr Bill Frankland” in October 2018. This biography would probably not have read very differently, or not have been written at all, if a toss of a coin not long after he had arrived in Singapore late in 1941 had not been in Dr Frankland’s favour.
The building where the hospital’s dermatology and venereal diseases wards were located.
The toss decided who would take on the seemingly more appealing role of treating patients with dermatological conditions and venereal disease and involved Dr Frankland and another newly arrived colleague with the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC), Captain R. L. Parkinson. A choice had been offered to both and it was either to have been this, or an Anaesthetist at Alexandra, which neither doctor fancied. Quite sadly for Parkinson that toss would seal his fate. He was killed on the 14th day of February 1942 during the Alexandra Hospital massacre, while administering anaesthesia to a patient on the operating table.
Another view of the buildings used by the military hospital at Loewen by Dempsey Hill.
The long career of Dr Frankland, who is now considered to be Britain’s oldest doctor, has been especially eventful. He is best known for the introduction of pollen counts in weather reports. He also has had the privilege of working under Sir Alexander Fleming and counted among his patients, a certain Saddam Hussein. More information on Dr Frankland can be found at the following links:
November’s #SLASecretSpaces guided visit takes participants to the former Tanglin Barracks. There an introduction would be made to two of the barracks’ institutions of healing: physical healing in the form of the former military hospital, and spiritual, in the form of a beautiful garrison church.
The barracks traces its history to the early 1860s, when it was among the earliest that were purpose-built in Singapore. The design of the original barracks is attributed to Captain George Collyer (after whom Collyer Quay is named). Many of the structures that we see today are the interventions of the early 20th century when the current church building as well as what we see today of former military hospital were put up.
Singapore’s main military hospital before the completion of the modern hospital at Alexandra in 1940, the complex featured three main buildings. The larger two were where large and airy wards were laid out. The visit will end in St. George’s Church, which although is no longer a garrison church, is still very much in use. Completed in 1913, the history of the church actually dates back to the early days of the barracks. The church was gazetted as a National Monument on 10 November 1978.
More on the history of both institutions will be shared during the visit.
Visit Details & Registration
When : 3 November 2018, 9 to 11 am
Where : Loewen Cluster, Dempsey Hill (the visit will end inside St. George’s Church)
Participants should be of ages 18 and above.
A unique registration will be required for each participant and each registration admits only one (1) person.
(Duplicate registrations in the same name shall count as one registration).
Please register only if you are sure that you will be able to make the visit.
Motoring Heritage Day, which sees Singapore’s largest display of vintage cars is bacon 11 September 2016 from 10 am to 6 pm.
Held at Dempsey Hill (Carpark at Block 15), this year’s edition will see 30 pre-war vintage and post-war classic cars and motorcycles on display. The event is organised by Malaysia and Singapore Vintage Car Register, which encourages the use and preservation of period cars and bikes.
Besides the vintage car display, visitors can look forward to live music being performed by local bands as well as other fringe activities to entertain the entire family.
I was never one that was motivated to frequent the area that is known as Dempsey Hill and maybe finding myself there voluntarily, twice in a two month period, would have been seen as odd. But of course, the circumstances of my being there had changed since my days of trudging up the gentle incline of the hill often enough to leave me with a dread of the hours I would spend in getting permission to travel out of the country. That was at a time when the single storey blocks that were typical of the British military establishments found around Singapore, housed the Exit Permit Office of the Central Manpower Base (CMPB), to which I needed to submit myself to everytime I wanted to leave the country since I turned twelve.
Dempsey Hill is a very different place from the one that I used to trudge reluctantly up to during its days as CMPB.
These days, Dempsey Hill is a different place, one that despite the numerous rumours of supernatural sightings, is no longer haunted by its association with its days as part of the Ministry of Defence complex that had occupied the area. Dempsey Hill is today, a place that despite its relative inaccessibility by public transport, is growing in popularity as a destination for the many fine dining establishments that now fill the dusty offices where the sounds of army boots and typewriters had once dominated. It was to one of these establishments, many not so much a fine dining, but an establishment that serves not just great food, but also along with it, great beer and great entertainment, that combined with the wonderful setting it is in, make it a wonderful place to not just dine, catch up over a few drinks but also to chill out after a day at the office.
Great tasting food at Overtime complements the great tasting Stärker Fresh Beer.
Stärker Fresh Beer comes in two varieties, the Aromatic and Lager ...
Having already taken up an invitation to attend its grand opening, which featured none other than the international Taiwanese based superstar, Lin Chi Ling, during which I had become acquainted with the brand of beer it serves, I was quite happy to accept an offer to attend an “initmate” food tasting session at the establishment Overtime. With a wonderful array of food on offer, ranging from a choice of 39 skewers to various different platters on its menu, who could resist the invitation, and just as I wasn’t disappointed with the excitement of the grand opening of the outlet, I certainly wasn’t disappointed with the so called intimate session.
There is a full menu that offers platters, skewers and even some local favourites.
In the excellent company of the wonderful PR personnel, and an old friend, it wasn’t hard to get intimate and commit one of the seven deadly sins – with the food that is, as the seemingly never ending flow of platters and skewers came fast and furious. Besides the German styled Stärker Fresh Beer, which is brewed in Malaysia on offer, the interesting beverage menu also includes a few interesting Overtime creations, Beer Cocktails made with Stärker Beer, which offers a refreshing beverage as an alternative to anyone with a sense of adventure. You can choose to Go Naked, or have a Caribbean Night or as we were recommended, the Lychee Slush, which proved to be sweet and light beverage if you aren’t keen on a full glass of beer.
The Lychee Slush, a light and refreshing beer cocktail on offer at Overtime.
The platters and skewers on offer are a fusion of east and west, asian influenced flavours, some mixed with western type foods such as the Jumbo Sausage. A favourite, Platter A on the menu, Crunchy Pork complemented with Crispy Fried Mushrooms and Fish Fillets, certainly did not disappoint, as did the several skewers that went smoothly down with the pint of Aromatic Stärker Beer I decided to indulge in this time. The highlight for me was the Teriyaki Beef, which was lightly flavoured and tender and moist as I like my beef, as well as the Squid Skewer – squid grilled to perfection.
Platter A - Crunchy Pork, complemented by Crispy Fried Mushrooms and Fish Fillet - yummy!
There are also some delicious salads on offer including a Thai Style Calamari Salad.
The sumptuous squid skewer ...
Homestyle Prawn Crackers with Deep Fried Bean Curd ...
It was a great night that had to end too soon, as I had an early start for the following morning. With the knowledge that besides the wonderful beer and food that was on offer, and also the information that a delightful local band The Repeats, who performed at the grand opening would soon be performing three acts every night from 7.00 pm onwards, Dempsey Hill and the single storey blocks that I used to reluctantly visit, would probably see a lot more of me in days to come.
The Repeats will perform 3 acts every night from 7pm onwards at Overtime's Dempsey Hill outlet.
A parting shot ... the air-conditioning vent on the ceiling ...
[Click on this link for details of Overtime’s X’mas and New Year Promotion].
I was fortunate to be able to “Let My Hair Down and BLOG” at the Grand Opening of Singapore’s latest happening place OverTime @ Dempsey Hill. With the promise of free flow of “fresh beer”, great food, great music, great company in the form of like-minded bloggers (most of them probably half my age), and an appearance by “The First Face of Taiwan”, International Celebrity Lin Chi Ling (林志玲), it was certainly worth putting everything else aside including a Christmas party to spend a Thursday evening at.
OverTime at 18E Dempsey Hill is one of two OverTime outlets to hit Singapore this December. The other is at Holland Village.
Taiwanese Celebrity Lin Chi Ling was to make an appearance on the evening to open the outlet.
OverTime @ Dempsey Hill seen here. Its three outlets in Kuala Lumpur have been a hit since they opened in 2009.
Arriving early enough before the official starting time at 7 pm, I was surprised to see that a huge crowd had already arrived on the scene as well as a crowd of curious onlookers, drawn perhaps by a banner with a image of Lin Chi Ling. That I guess was a sign of things to come and it wasn’t long before space within the outlet felt like a premium. Promptly served with half a pint of the house brand Stärker Beer, which was first introduced in Malaysia a year ago and is apparently brewed with German technical know-how, I was pleasantly surprised by its full-bodied taste. Not too bad I thought. The beer I was to find out later, comes in two variations: Lager and Aromatic.
OverTime is also home to Stärker Fresh Beer which comes in either Lager or Aromatic variations.
Next it was time to sample the food. Maybe I was hungry having skipped lunch (not so much in anticipation of the free food but to make time at the end of the day for the event), but the fried rice that was served was just what I was craving for with the little bits of salted fish, along with other food which was actually from the kitchen – great stuff! All then that was left was to savour the happening atmosphere of the place, share a few laughs with funny man Yong Wei and await the arrival of Lin Chi Ling entertained by the live band on stage.
The happening crowd at the Grand Opening of OverTime @ Dempsey Hill.
The ever humourous Yong Wei ...
There was great entertainment to accompany the great food and beer.
Some of my fellow bloggers posing for a photograph.
Blogger Ying Zi being interviewed.
With the wonderful atmosphere and company, it didn’t seem long before Lin Chi Ling arrived as scheduled at 8.45 pm in a minibus … which she stepped gracefully out of accompanied by her entourage. For a while I got to be a member of the Paparazzi trying to get a good photograph of her as she made her way to entrance. It certainly wasn’t easy doing it and perhaps I have a bit more respect for the Paparazzi, not so much for what they do, but more for how hard it really is for them to do what they do. The gorgeous Lin Chi Ling passed through like a flash, and before I knew it, she had opened the outlet, vanishing quickly into the press tent where she spent the rest of the evening being interviewed by the mainstream media. I waited for a while, hoping perhaps to get a better shot of her thinking she would be out soon. But on hearing that there was a large queue of interviewer lying in wait, I thought against it. It was time perhaps to go back in and join the crowd, but then I thought against it as well, not wanting to be tempted by the free flow of beer as I would have to get behind the wheel later, so in anticipation of a long day I had ahead the very next day, I reluctantly decided to also part company with the great new place, the great atmosphere and the great company (not to forget the great beer), knowing that I will definitely be back soon to do lots of OverTime!
The "First Face of Taiwan", Lin Chi Ling gracing the occasion.
One more of Lin Chi Ling leaving the stage.
Some of the Who's Who of Singapore were also seen at the event.
Stärker Promotion:
Opening to 7pm: Buy 1 pint get 1 pint free.
7pm to 12am: Buy 1 pint get a ½ pint free. (extended happy hour).
33 Fushion Skewer Promotion:
5pm to 12am
With every purchase of 2 litres of Stärker, you get 2 sets of 2 skewers free!
With every purchase of 5 litres of Starker, you get 2 sets of 5 skewers free!
Together with 9 other bloggers and thanks to Tigerair Philippines and the Philippine Department of Tourism, I found myself on a dream trip to Boracay in July 2013. Read about the fantastic experience I had at Boracay Island Escapade or on my blog.
Courtesy of the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB), I had the opportunity to have a 4 day adventure in Hong Kong with 9 other bloggers. To read our collective Hong Kong Travel Blog entries, please click on the icon below:
The Long and Winding Road 