Ms. Mabel Wong

Mabel’s six years at City Hall were spent with different departments of the Ministry of Culture. Cultural Affairs Section was her last department before she left, where she was Assistant Organiser (Drama).
 

Culture across borders

After she was posted to the Cultural Affairs Section, Mabel helped with secretariat work for the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association Conference. She also supported the ASEAN Secretariat to organise cultural events like the ASEAN Film Festival and the ASEAN Exchange of Radio & TV Artistes.

“Back in the 1970s, Singapore was the host and secretariat of the ASEAN Permanent Committee on Mass Media and the ASEAN Permanent Committee on Socio Cultural Activities. The Secretariat was based at our Ministry so Assistant Organisers like me, Lim Mee Lian and Chua Ai Liang, were all involved with supporting the ASEAN Secretariat and its events,” explains Mabel.

“We also worked closely with Statutory Boards under our Ministry such as the National Library, National Museum, Board of Film Censors, National Archives, and Singapore Broadcasting Cooperation. Today, some of us are still in touch and meet up socially.”
 

Seeing stars
It was not all desk work for Mabel though. She recalls attending the Hong Kong Arts Festival where the National Dance Company (NDC), the dance group supported by the Ministry, performed.

“NDC had established dancers and choreographers like Madam Som Said, Madhavi Krishnan and Lee Shu Fen. Their performance was beautiful! The finale, called ‘Unity in Rhythm’, featuring drums from our different ethnic groups, was excellent. The NDC certainly flew our Singapore flag high.”

With the City Hall building housing important ministries, there were many foreign politicians and members of the royalty making courtesy calls on the Ministers. But it was the famous artistes who came a-visiting that made an impression on young Mabel.

“I remember vividly a visit by the Hong Kong actress, Carol Cheng, who was very popular then. We all tried to catch a glimpse of her when she walked past our offices.”
 

Public Entertainment Licensing Unit
One of her more memorable experiences was of her time with the Public Entertainment Licensing Unit.

“I had to support a panel assessing nightclubs like Neptune Theatre with live performances. We had to preview some of these floor shows which were, shall we say, not very conservative, and stipulate the licence conditions, for example, what can or cannot be done” said Mabel.
 

Lunchtime forays
For Mabel, working at City Hall had its perks as it was close to her home in Waterloo Street. She could either take a short bus ride home for lunch with her family or eat with her colleagues.

“Back then, the whole department would often have beef noodle soup together at Hua Eng coffee shop at Bain Street, opposite Odeon Cinema. We had a Hainanese colleague who would act as our advance party. She would order for us from the Hainanese hawker who would give us slightly larger portions than usual.”

The nearby Cortina Department Store is another fond memory for Mabel who enjoyed some lunchtime shopping with her colleagues.

Mabel looks back at her days at City Hall with much joy. “If you ask me if it was stressful working there, I’ll say no, especially compared to my work in later years. We had such happy times in our little corner room in City Hall,” Mabel laughs.