While some Southeast Asian cities were completely unrecognizable from their current self in 1979, Singapore at that time was already on its way to becoming the region's most developed location.
While it was a bit rougher around the edges back then compared to the hyper-modern Singapore of today, these photos from Doi Kuro — a Japanese photographer who traveled throughout Southeast Asia in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s — provide hints of what the city-state would become.
Skyscrapers are already starting to line the downtown Marina Bay, while the streets look much more orderly than the likes of Bangkok and Hoi An, cities which Kuro also explored and documented with wonderful film photographs.
Drivers wait at a red light at an intersection. Motorbikes like these would be a rare sight today.
Given the sometimes-anodyne nature of contemporary Singapore, perhaps some would yearn for a setting more like what is depicted here, though old shophouse neighborhoods can still be found in some areas.
Explore the city-state in 1979 below.
Singapore's harbor with high rises in the background. The nation is now home to one of the world's busiest ports.
Boat traffic at Clifford Pier.
The entrance to a Chinese restaurant.
Bananas piled outside of a produce shop.
A sidewalk newsstand with rows of magazines for sale.
Daily life in an older Singapore neighborhood.
A scene like this would be hard to find today.
Waiting for a bus.
Colonial-era buildings line a small road.
[Photos via RedsVN]
