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T H R E E
"Worlds"
The singapore legacy.
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H A P P Y W O R L D
Singapore 新加坡Thomas Giam 嚴平凡. “Remembering Singapore 電腦科技還原芽龍繁華世界 Gay World 的昔日輝煌風彩 懷舊影片 2018.” Youtube video, 0.52. October 20, 2020. https://youtu.be/auNAqWuSFcA.
GETTING AROUND
Happy World was located in Kallang, situated between 2 Geylang Road and Mountbatten Road [1].
Before 1942
by Trolley bus
“Photograph of a Singapore Traction Company trolley bus,” National Heritage Board, accessed November 7, 2020, https://www.roots.gov.sg/learn/collections/listing/1277882.
The trolley bus that runs from Geylang to Yio Chu Kang road was the best way to get to Happy World [2].
It costs 10 cents per mile for First Class and 5 cents per mile for Second Class [3].
"A Rickshaw puller,” National Archives of Singapore, accessed November 11, 2020, https://www.nas.gov.sg/archivesonline/photographs/record-details/ad714716-1161-11e3-83d5-0050568939ad.
Alternatively, you can hire a rickshaw puller, which will cost between 6 cents to 10 cents a mile [4] [5].
"A 1910 FORD 'GENEVIEVE' MODEL-T,” National Archives of Singapore, accessed November 11, 2020, https://www.nas.gov.sg/archivesonline/photographs/record-details/9d3b631f-1162-11e3-83d5-0050568939ad.
Other options would be hopping into a car (Ford T-Model), which will cost approximately $1.50 an hour.
"Kallang Airport Terminal Building,” National Archives of Singapore, accessed November 11, 2020, https://www.nas.gov.sg/archivesonline/photographs/record-details/b00fab3b-1161-11e3-83d5-0050568939ad.
Foreigners visiting Singapore would find it convenient to visit Happy World. That was because Kallang Airport was very near to Happy World, in which the terminal was located right opposite Kallang Airport (Across Mountbatten Road) [6].
by Rickshaw
by CAR
by plane (Kallang Airport Terminal)
After 1945
BY MRT
"Kallang MRT Station,” Land Transport Guru, accessed November 11, 2020, https://landtransportguru.net/kallang-station/.
The best way to get to Happy/Gay World following the end of World War II would be through Kallang MRT Station (after 1989) [7].
Alternatively, visitors could take public bus number 1, 2, 3, 4, 12, 13, 20, 26, 28, 32, 33, 41, 50, 51, 62, 100, 149 to get to Happy/Gay World [8].
"Changi Bus Company Fargo Kew Bus in Pickering Street,” National Archives Singapore, accessed November 11, 2020,
"Toyota Crown Taxi 1988,” Remember Singapore, accessed November 11, 2020,
https://remembersingapore.org/2014/10/02/the-evolution-of-singapore-taxis/.
Taking a taxi would cost around 40 cents for the first mile or part thereof and 20 cents for each subsequent half in the 1970s [9].
Visitors who preferred cheaper taxi fare were commonly seen to have hired pirate taxis, although waiting times tend to be longer since drivers would usually wait for full capacity before leaving [10]. This phenomenon would last till the early 1970s as the government had clamped on this illegal mode of transportation [11].
By Public bus
By Taxi
[1] “Map of Singapore City,” Accession No. SP002068_2.
[2] “New Bus Route,” The Straits Times, October 2, 1934, 19, accessed October 25, 2020, http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19341002-1.2.152.3.
[3] CNA insider. “Singapore's 'World-Class' Trolley Buses | Age Of Innovation | CNA Insider.” Youtube video, 0.27. November 5, 2020. https://youtu.be/Iprry0uCF54.
[4] Kennedy George, Interview by Dr Daniel Chew, Aug 30, 1985, Accession No. 000591. Reel No. 7/20, Page 3, Oral History Centre, National Archives of Singapore, accessed October 25, 2020,
[5] Jim Warren, “The Singapore Rickshaw Pullers: The Social Organization of a Coolie Occupation, 1880-1940,” Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 16(1), 9, accessed October 25, 2020, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022463400012741.
[6] “Map of Singapore City,” Accession No. SP002068_2.
[7] “Kallang MRT Station,” Land Transport Guru, last modified February 1, 2018, https://landtransportguru.net/kallang-station/.
[8] “The China Superstar Acrobatic Show,” The Straits Times, March 5, 1988, 12, accessed October 25, 2020,
http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19880305-1.2.22.2.
[9] “Taxi fares,” The Straits Times, April 11, 1970, 18, accessed October 25, 2020, http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19700411-1.2.137.
[10] “Pirate taxis had their heyday in the 1960s, were the Uber & Grab of their day,” Mothership, last modified July 10, 2017, https://mothership.sg/2017/07/pirate-taxis-had-their-heyday-in-the-1960s-were-the-uber-grab-of-their-day/.
[11] “Pirate taxis had their heyday in the 1960s, were the Uber & Grab of their day.”