In the 1970s, as Mr Jagtar Singh peered out his window, he noticed a family moving furniture into the flat above his. Without much thought, he and his younger brother rushed to lend a hand.
Amid the boxes and bustle, he locked eyes with 14-year-old Balvinder Kaur, the second eldest daughter of the family.
“I remember seeing him and thinking that he looked very handsome, like a Bollywood hero,” said Mrs Balvinder, now 68, with a laugh.
Though they lived just a floor apart, they were not formally introduced until her father encouraged her to make friends in the Whampoa neighborhood. Over the years, their friendship blossomed into something more.
Fast forward 50 years, the pair was among 202 couples honoured at the Golden Jubilee Wedding Celebrations on Feb 16. The event, held at the Raffles City Convention Centre, recognised couples who had been married in Singapore for at least five decades.
Mr Jagtar and Mrs Balvinder’s courtship was adorably old-fashioned. Without the convenience of smartphones or social media, Mr Jagtar would pass tiny notes to her through his younger brother, arranging to meet whenever possible.
Since her father was strict, Mrs Balvinder often had to be discreet. “I would tell my family I was going for sewing classes and my sisters helped cover for me,” she said.
Mr Jagtar would ride his scooter down to pick her up, and the two lovebirds would spend time together before she had to return home.
“There was no dramatic proposal or courtship,” Mr Jagtar, 76, said. “It was just a mutual understanding between us that we would eventually get married.”
When her father finally found out about their relationship, the reaction was not as harsh as they had feared. Mr Jagtar, a police constable by that time, was seen as a steady, responsible man.
“My in-laws trusted that I would take good care of her, and I took it to heart to never break that trust,” he said.
They got married in September 1974 when Mrs Balvinder turned 18.
Their early years as a married couple were filled with simple joys – quiet evening drives to Marina Reservoir and ice cream dates at coffeeshops.
The couple have a 45-year-old daughter and two grandchildren.
At the event on Feb 16, many, including Mr Jagtar and Mrs Balvinder, took the opportunity to renew their vows, reaffirming their love in the presence of family and friends.
Each participating couple received a commemorative package, including a certificate, a gold medallion, a congratulatory note and a photo memento.
President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and his wife Jane Ittogi, and Minister for Social and Family Development Masagos Zulkifli graced the occasion, which was jointly organised by the Families for Life Council, the Registry of Marriages and the Registry of Muslim Marriages.
Mr Jagtar, who was a policeman for 27 years, always had a passion for the culinary arts – a love that began in his youth when he helped his father run a humble food stall.
In 1998, with help from his wife, he opened Riverwalk Tandoor, a North Indian restaurant in Rangoon Road that remains popular today.
In recent years, they have left the running of the restaurant to their daughter and nephews, and spend their retirement days keeping each other company.
From time to time, they still go on evening drives.
“We still enjoy our simple drives. She loves heritage sites, the old neighborhoods and the places we used to go when we were younger,” said Mr Jagtar.
