Bukit Ho Swee fire survivor featured in 2021 NDP animated film dies aged 98

Tan Geok Hak, who survived the Bukit Ho Swee fire in 1961 and had her story featured in an animated short film for National Day Parade (NDP) 2021, died on Tuesday (Aug 4) aged 98.

Local filmmaker Boo Junfeng, 42, who had directed the animated music video for the song We Will Get There, paid tribute to Tan on social media on National Day.

"After the fire razed everything she owned to the ground, Mdm Tan pulled her sewing machine from the rubble, rebuilt her home, and raised her children as a seamstress," he wrote.

"Hers was a story of resilience we felt Singaporeans needed as we navigated our way through the pandemic."

In accompanying photos, Boo and his team are shown visiting her, as well as her attending the NDP.

Also shown is her trusty Singer sewing machine and the message left by the video team with a flower wreath at her funeral.

Boo added in his post that the team would visit her twice a year since NDP 2021, usually around Chinese New Year and National Day, and the lady had affectionately nicknamed the team her "five stars".

"She would call our producer Ben and ask when her five stars were coming to visit," he continued.

"Each time we saw her, she would have a few more ailments, but her joyful spirit and wicked sense of humour never waned. She was 92 when we got to know her. She passed away on Tuesday at 98."

Boo wrote that the team was "so glad to have crossed paths with her, albeit late in her life" and grateful to have been able to tell her "inspiring story at a time when the nation needed it".

The Bukit Ho Swee fire broke out in a squatter settlement in the area on May 25, 1961, leaving four dead and 54 injured. 

Around 2,800 homes were destroyed, and 16,000 people were left homeless by it.

The cause of the blaze has never been determined and remains disputed, though it remains the biggest in Singapore's history.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqt65FsrL28[/embed]

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drimac@asiaone.com