CNA Let Me Tell You A Story S2: Life At Largest British Naval Base In Asia
It’s easy to overlook Sembawang – a quiet suburb in northern Singapore. But beneath its streets lie the stories of an empire’s ambition. From the 1930s to the 1970s, Sembawang was home to Britain’s largest Naval Base in Asia – one of the world’s most powerful military outposts of its time.
For the first time, seniors who grew up around the Naval Base share how crocodile-infested mangroves were transformed into a bustling township, drawing their ancestors from distant lands to its shipyards. From rowdy sailors in Navy pubs, to football legends born in a town obsessed with the sport, from racial divides between the British and Asians, to the labour strikes that brought the base to a standstill, we uncover the rise and fall of one of Singapore’s best-kept historical secrets.
Season 2 of Let Me Tell You A Story aired Aug. 9, 2025, on Channel News Asia.
About The Show
These are the stories of the last surviving historians among us. Hear the vivid memories of a time gone by, told by a generation who grew up in a completely different Singapore nearly 100 years ago.