Charlie Chaplin, the legendary silent film actor and cinema pioneer, travelled the world from February 1931 to June 1932.

He had just finished making City Lights and the world was still reeling from the Great Depression that began in 1929.

His travel memoirs were published in the book, A Comedian Sees the World.

On March 27, 1932, Chaplin and his brother, Sydney, arrived in colonial Singapore from Sri Lanka.

In his travel memoirs, Chaplin recounted the splendid sight of the Singapore harbour from a distance as the ship he travelled on, the Suwa Maru, approached the island:

Our next port is Singapore, meaning in the Malay language, the City of Lions. Near Singapore the scenery is fantastically beautiful. Trees grow out of the ocean like the designs on blue willow china plates.

The Singapore that he arrived in was part of the British-controlled Straits Settlements, whose Governor was Sir Cecil Clementi.

The year 1932 was when Lee Kuan Yew was only about nine, Goh Keng Swee, 14, Toh Chin Chye, 11, and S Rajaratnam, 17.

Chaplin had arrived 36 days before the old Tanjong Pagar Railway Station was due to be opened.

Chaplin's reception at the docks and his subsequent interview

Chaplin's ship would have docked at the old Johnston's Pier located opposite Fullerton Square along Collyer Quay. He would have seen the pier's distinctive red lantern beacons hung to guide approaching ships, with Fullerton Building close by in the background.

From his ship, he would have seen Clifford Pier under construction, just a short distance away along Collyer Quay. It would only be officially opened in 1933.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="634"] Photo from nas.gov.sg[/caption]

The Straits Times and Singapore Free Press reported that the Chaplin brothers arrived to a relatively small and restrained crowd of about two hundred, compared to the thousands that had turned out to greet them elsewhere.

Nonetheless, perhaps as a testament of Singapore's racial diversity even back then, both ST and SFP noted that there was a multi-ethnic characteristic to the crowd. ST called it "the most cosmopolitan crowd that has ever awaited his arrival".

Even the reporters that stood by were ethnically diverse, as Chaplin obliged the European, Chinese, Japanese and Malay reporters present to an interview.

Perhaps a 22-year-old Yusof Ishak might have liked to be among the reporters, as he had just joined Malay newspaper, Warta Melayu, as an assistant manager that year.

At a time when talking movies or "talkies" were disrupting the movie industry, like what Uber and Grab are doing to the present day taxi industry, Chaplin recorded in his travel memoirs that he told the reporters in the interview that his silent films transcended nationalities:

You see a picture with just a musical accompaniment can be shown anywhere. That is the beauty of it. There are no national barriers to the silent picture.

Spending a day in Singapore

Chaplin and his brother spent a day touring Singapore with a guide.

According to the blog Discovering Chaplin, run by a Chaplin researcher, Sydney complained that Singapore should be called "Stinkapore", in reference to Singapore's conditions back then.

The Chaplins visited "parks and municipal buildings", which perhaps included the Botanic Gardens at Tanglin.

They also visited the "native quarters".

They were also taken to a Hindu temple, which Sydney Chaplin recounted:

We visited Hindu temple and saw worshipping ceremonies. We were especially shown the golden horse with the swinging and detachable phallus.

In between their tour, the Chaplin brothers also went to Raffles Hotel.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="741"] Photo from here[/caption]

Their first day in Singapore ended with drinks at the old Sea View Hotel in Tanjong Katong. Arriving near midnight, they were the only customers there and had to drink in the dark.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="688"] Photo from here[/caption]

Coming down with dengue fever on his return

Chaplin and his brother left Singapore for Java the next day, but returned to Singapore again on April, 20, 1932.

On his journey back to Singapore from Bali, Chaplin fell ill. According to a Straits Times report on April 20, 1932, an ambulance was called when Chaplin arrived at Johnston's Pier.

He was sent to the Singapore General Hospital (SGH), which was already located at the Outram area.

A 22-year-old Benjamin Sheares had just been transferred to SGH's Obstetrics and Gynaecology department for about a year, when Chaplin arrived at the hospital.

At SGH, Chaplin was diagnosed with dengue fever. He was warded at SGH till April 26, 1932.

Recovery and soaking up Singapore

After his recovery, Chaplin re-joined his brother who had been staying at the old Adelphi Hotel. The hotel was located where The Adelphi shopping mall stands in the present day.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="674"] Photo from here[/caption]

From April 26 to May 6, 1932, Chaplin lived it up in Singapore. He recorded this in his travel memoirs:

There were several days to wait before before we could get a boat to Japan, so in the meantime we merged ourselves into the life of Singapore.

Of course anything after Bali is a letdown. But Singapore has its charm. Every evening we would ramble through the native quarters on rickshaws. Occasionally we would go to the New World--the native Coney Island of Singapore--where every known variety of entertainment is given, from Malay opera to prize-fighting.

New World was an amusement park located at Jalan Besar.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="736"] Photo from here[/caption]

Chaplin also went to the horse races, just like the wealthy Europeans living in Singapore during that time.

The races were held at the old race course in the Serangoon area.

Boxing was another sport the Chaplins enjoyed.

Chaplin also visited Capitol Theatre during this period.

On May 6, 1932, Chaplin and his brother left Singapore for Japan.

More details on Chaplin's visit to Singapore can be found here.

Related articles:

Here’s why SGH, the oldest hospital in Singapore, is called ‘sipai-po’

S’pore had 2 Clementis who had the same name, but only one is remembered

S’pore’s Little India was originally for Europeans. That’s why there’s Dunlop, Cuff, Dickson & Clive Street

Top photo from Charlie Chaplin (Official) Facebook

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