Making The Call

HAVE YOU EVER watched old black-and-white Hollywood movies from the 1950's or 60's, when it was common to see telephone operators at work, swiftly plugging and unplugging one circuit after another on a large switchboard as they connected people on the phone? In the 60's, Singapore was the same, with telephone operators working under the Singapore Telephone Board (STB), before it became known simply as Singtel. The photo below shows what part of Singapore's telephone exchange looked like then.

In another photo, then-Head of State Yusof Bin Ishak is seen observing the operators at work, with STB's general manager V Knight.

The telephone first appeared in Singapore in 1879 with a 50- line exchange. By the time it was 1882, the Oriental Telephone Company made its first Public Telephone Exchange with 60 lines connecting places of business.