Singapore by Brompton: Checking out the first ever HDBs and their predecessors

Join me as I cycle from Queenstown to Tiong Bahru and delve into the history of Singapore’s early public housing projects and other interesting stuff along the way.
Route Map:
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Shuang Long Shan Wu Shu:
www.roots.gov.sg/places/place...
Tiong Bahru:
www.nhb.gov.sg/~/media/nhb/fi...
Queenstown:
www.roots.gov.sg/places/place...
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[@wyattearp88]

You can go to STB ( Singapore Tourism Board ) to apply for a Tour Guide Licence, not only have extra stream of income , also can give more history lesson for Singaporeans and expat who interested in local heritage , another idea is ride and learn history with you 😀, or food tour . Those who support Richard as a Tour Guide on Singapore History and Heritage and food culture, please tick a like for him 😁😁😁

[@dessian1302]

miss this place so much! thanks for covering Tiong Bahru! my birth place and childhood for almost 30 years!

[@haridaspanicker5888]

A good review of how Singapore solved its chronic housing problem. I remember the old Singapore of the 50s,60s, when public housing was a rarity. People lived in shanties made of wood, roofed with corrugated tin sheets. These roofs were really noisy during a rainfall. I remember extreme poverty admist filthy slums. The PAP on bring elected to power concentrated on urban development. The HDB replaced the SIT. There was initially great opposition from people to move into flats. A series of fires had then destroyed a lot of slums, forcing displaced people to acquire HDB flats. Most of Singapore was then very swampy and prone to flooding. I remember flood waters entering the house of my uncle in Nee Soon, now Yishun, as we lived near a large pond. Sanitation, clean water supply, drainage, rubbish collection, sewage disposal all were primitive in the 50s and 60s. I think the great strides made by Singapore in urban development,especially in housing and infrastructure planning have been successfully replicated in many countries and become case studies in many universities.

[@saba6601]

Richard-This episode is real eye-opener for our young generation-keep up your exemplary historical tours-God bless you. Regards Dr Sabapathy.

[@cheongwenpa]

You can easily get a sponsorship from Singapore tourism board

[@ArTiCwInD]

Not only that, Richard needs to be invited by MOE to give historical and nature tours to the school children.

[@BDS190190]

And HDB too.

[@vidtrax662]

your contribution to Singapore's past and present are truly appreciated, thank you 👍🙏

[@AsiaHikelopedia]

Thank you too!

[@AmbientWalking]

I had a great time traveling with you today. Thank you for this. Much appreciated!

[@AsiaHikelopedia]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@ketlee3940]

Thanks for making this wonderful video again , looking forward to your next video.

[@AsiaHikelopedia]

So nice of you

[@jadelpg]

I used to live there as a kid. The Tanglin flat used to have an opening beside the kitchen window. I would stick out my legs through the metal grill and enjoy watching the railway train passing by. There was a mini farm beside the Catholic Church. My dad would bring me there and I would feed the monkeys with peanuts. Really miss this place very much.

[@AsiaHikelopedia]

Nice memories

[@michellebo8173]

I used to throw longan seeds into my downstairs neighbor's bedroom window from the grill when I was little....hahaha...I was born and raised in Tanglin Halt too, in the early 70's

[@khookeatchye6883]

Richard u probably know more about Singapore history than the locals. I’m impressed. Great vid😀

[@AsiaHikelopedia]

Thanks! 😃

[@buayarch]

The name Tiong Bahru is a peranakan term. Peranakan culture is the intermarriage between the malays and local Chinese, mainly the Hokkiens. Tiong is the hokkien for cemetery and bahru is the malay word for new. Tiong bahru literally means new cemetery. I was born in kampong Tiong Bahru and lived through 2 huge fires in 1958. The second fire was so strong that the winds blew fiery attap roofs way over to Bukit Ho Swee and demolished that area.

[@jameslim3850]

Till today no one knows what caused the Bukit Ho Swee fire, but this incident forced the stubborn people who refuse to move out to HDBs to leave their crowded village . This accelerated the transition of attap living to public flats in Singapore.

[@buayarch]

@@jameslim3850 It was around 11.30 am that my 4 classmates and I were playing under a huge cotton tree in Kampong Tiong Bahru ( colloquially known as Si Ka Teng or "4 - posted pavilion" in Hokkien. We were all classmates in the afternoon session of Primary 5A in Tiong Bahru Primary School, and were waiting to walk to school about 800 metres away. (School principal was Mr. Foley). Suddenly we heard shouts of " fire..! " and "api! api!" and saw a bunch of dark-skinned adults running past us. They came from the direction of Silat Road area, deep inside Si ka Teng. . And they were laughing as they ran past. Then minutes later, a huge rush of people started fleeing past us carrying their belongings. The most surprising and puzzling thing was that many fire engines came within hours and 1 day later, the authorities came and assigned houses for us. All of us were given rental homes in Old Kallang Airport and Kallang Bahru area. You figure it out, James.

[@fuqingshen]

Richard, your knowledge of Singapore's heritage is indeed amazing. I find your videos very interesting and I must say you put in a lot of effort doing extensive research into your subjects. Thank you very much for showing us the Singapore, we Singaporeans hardly know. Keep up the great work.

[@AsiaHikelopedia]

So nice of you

[@dbrown101272]

Glad I came in late on this channel so I still have plenty of SG content to get through!

[@RainSunRain]

I love Tiong Bahru! It has such a chill and unique vibe

[@AsiaHikelopedia]

Me too.

[@yatishafii4976]

Like this video. Enjoy travelling down memory lane with you.

[@AsiaHikelopedia]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@vern2996]

I always love how i learnt a new thing every video despite being a Singaporean. Thank you so much!

[@bklim951]

Well researched. Enjoy every tour of yours.

[@gracewy2292]

I had April staycation at D'Hotel, it was fantastic. Tiong Bahru Pao main kitchen is just next door. Galicier kueh are so so good! Yes, you are on point the chui kueh texture is so creamy-melt-in-your-mouth. I will revisit Tiong Bahru neighborhood again. Thanks Richard - I enjoyed this episode very much!

[@AsiaHikelopedia]

Thanks

[@razifmahathir2437]

Fascinating video and chock full of background history. Like the channel very much. New sub from Malaysia 👍🇲🇾

[@AsiaHikelopedia]

Thanks and welcome

[@noelmirando]

I used to live around this area. So many memories

[@guidoz1747]

Always look forward to Saturday evening when I view your latest adventure, in the comfort of a non-humid hot climate!

[@AsiaHikelopedia]

Thanks

[@1changi]

D' is our shorthand for "The" when Singaporeans take notes.

[@winters4960]

It is also widely use in sumatera and java haha

[@fusioncrews5329]

and i also feel that it is cheesy

[@mindtwister1984]

It is also to emphasize its exclusivity. - "THE"

[@razakidris]

Reminds me of D24

[@muhammadzhafranbahaman6401]

Love your videos! Your videos are awesome and informative especially for younger Singaporeans like me. Awesome!

[@AsiaHikelopedia]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@viok2932]

Thank you Richard for such an enjoyable video!

[@AsiaHikelopedia]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@ssc4933]

D’: When they ran out of creativity in naming a place, and still want to add a bit of French flavor to their name to make it sound Atas, they put a D’ in front of a noun - D’Spa, D’Bakery, D’Michael. D’ in French has the meaning of ‘s as in Michael’s hangout place.

[@mousemaps9168]

1) It's only D' before a vowel, otherwise it's De. 2) "D'Bakery" makes as much sense as "Bakery's" would in English, i.e. none.

[@ssc4933]

@@mousemaps9168 That’s the point. Some Singaporean use it to appear “Atas” / classy as it has a French flavor. Whether it make sense in actual French grammar is beside the point. Many won’t know anyway - that’s the thinking. Neither do the people who name it that way. I am not saying D’Bakery or D’Spa has a meaning, but it’s the type of names that you can expect to see in Singapore. In general, as a Singaporean, when I see any place whose name starts with a D’, I would assume that it is some second-rated place or management - at least in the way they choose a name for the place. However, I am not saying that “second-rated” places or management does not have their important place in society.

[@razifmahathir2437]

See the same here in Malaysia as well.

[@justwalk-travelasmrchannel1630]

Good morning Richard! awesome topic for today! planning to go there for a walk too :)

[@AsiaHikelopedia]

Thanks

[@garycook5140]

I always enjoy your videos, nice to watch and very informative. Thank you..... Fellow foldy cyclist, long time resident and explorer of the dot.

[@AsiaHikelopedia]

Thanks for that!

[@maggielua8471]

Top of the morning Richard! Thank you for great topic for today! I spent almost all my teenage days in Queenstown and also eating a lot in Tanglin Halt! Thank you for bringing back those good memories! 😊

[@AsiaHikelopedia]

You're welcome

[@anderslarsson1256]

I love Spore and your videos are really educationing! Greetings from Anders, Anton & Agnes from Sweden !

[@AsiaHikelopedia]

Glad you like them! Thanks for dropping by!

[@GeographySingapore]

Great vid. Stay safe

[@AsiaHikelopedia]

Thanks, you too!

[@davidezappa9999]

Thanks Richard for another great video and history deeply analyzed as well. I never known the Hock Lee bus riot, before. Kind regards from Milano.

[@AsiaHikelopedia]

Very welcome

[@tomcat1251]

Enjoy watching yr video Mate

[@AsiaHikelopedia]

Thanks 👍

[@dessian1302]

Alot of other good food in Tiong Bahru Market :) hope you can come back and explore more of this place. There are two parts of TB, one half is pre-war and the other is post war :)

[@hjw2405]

Good. If such video can be updated for including more info from others in the comments or correcting any errors, it will be even better channel to watch.

[@AsiaHikelopedia]

If you update KZbin videos you lose all the views.

[@scorpio573]

Always love your videos! Love your adventures! Ya. It's not nice to poke your sticks vertically in your food. 😊

[@andrewwee12]

Cheers Richard! Another great video. Btw - tickled to see you mention Wee Kay Siang (one of the original business men). He’s my great grandfather :) All the best - Andrew

[@AsiaHikelopedia]

You're welcome!

[@neelmurty]

The music is spot on

[@AsiaHikelopedia]

Thanks

[@fasgfuew123]

best history teacher evver!!

[@TheXavixavieri]

Feeling cheesy? That's good, it is d' intended effect

[@weshz2429]

Good video👍

[@khoosengkuang3575]

Love it.

[@laurencelee1030]

Tiong （塚）in the Minnan (閩南）dialect of the Fujian Province （福建省）spoken by those from Xiamen （廈門）, Zhangzhou （漳州） and Quanzhou (泉州）refers to grave（墳墓）。

[@mindtwister1984]

D' Chui Kway (Atas Hokkien). I hope the government will at least retain one of the flats for Queenstown and turn it into a neighbourhood incubator for startups.

[@ixactan69]

"D' " Honestly, as a Singaporean myself I have never noticed this even. haha Anyway, not that I know it means anything. Likely as what you say, want a cheesy feel to sound "up market"... 10:54 You really understand the chinese culture very well to know this. I think many Chinese in Singapore may not understand what is that about.

[@joybernardo4887]

Tiong Bahru and Tanglin Halt, they are great places! I enjoyed eating at their food centres. Hope Tanglin Halt's redevelopment arrives soon! Better and best place to live and eat.

[@AsiaHikelopedia]

I have a feeling it won't be as pleasant afterwards.

[@joybernardo4887]

@@AsiaHikelopedia Yes, it will be more expensive to live and eat there.

[@foodmore]

That D’ naming convention already irked me about 10 years prior..... I think somehow people think it makes the name more “atas”....! Haha

[@kelvinhor5119]

Good morning Richard

[@yubooncheng9309]

Welcome to my neighborhood!

[@sktan784]

D' prefix attempts to makes it sound exclusive.

[@dinghao3107]

We are running out of names to give our condominiums. " D' " is commonly used in French. So my guess is the intention would be to give places French-sounding names.

[@united24601]

Wow. Last weekend we decided to leave the railway corridor and ended up stumbling into Tanglin Halt by chance. Was thinking that this feels like early Singapore HDB and could feel the vibe. What a coincidence that this week's video starts here so I can learn more

[@united24601]

On the way to kranji marshes on mrt now so will have to watch later!

[@gotmyonu1027]

I enjoyed watching you eating the Gee Kueh....

[@AsiaHikelopedia]

I enjoyed eating them

[@yangtzeling7468]

And the chilli oil dripping down the chin …. 😜

[@AsiaHikelopedia]

@@yangtzeling7468 it was too bright so I couldn't see it in my camera screen!

[@owenchuarbx]

D is usually a short for The in Singapore

[@willyhuang4026]

👏👍

[@CharlieTan-kl5tf]

The 'D' makes it sounds 'Atas'(exp) and 'Frenchy'

[@jessicagomez8387]

Is interesting how toa payoh is also one of oldest estate but its SO different from queenstown

[@AsiaHikelopedia]

Yes. Tao payoh was first ever completely designed and built by HDB I believe

[@jessicagomez8387]

@@AsiaHikelopedia its much vibrant and alive than queenstown

[@Jxyn1711]

D'... Lol 😂 I wondered about that myself! Started in the early 90s I think. I think it's meant to make it sound high class as in the French 'de..' or 'd'...' haha 😊

[@LifewithSSss]

I’m also curious to know why they like to use D’ so much 🤔 Jian Bo shui Kueh is one of the best 😋😋

[@mindtwister1984]

D' Chui Kway.

[@user-um8wi5ym4y]

From my understanding D' = The. I guess it was suppose to be a "creative" way of replacing "The" and perhaps it has to do with Singaporean culture such as Singlish where everything is simplified and straight to the point. Another oddity in names of places/buildings is "at" or often shortened to "@". I think "at" or "@" is an attempt to make a building (usually a Condo) more atas (upmarket) e.g. xxx@Orchard.

[@LucidFlight]

Mmm, chwee kueh! 🤤

[@reyskidude]

07:46 if you go to Daiso, there are Japaness cookies named D'asses 🤣

[@AsiaHikelopedia]

LOL

[@windsorus]

Unsure what the d' stands for. Probably do not want to say "The Hotel" so they named it as d'hotel. Previously this hotel is called Wangz hotel.

[@jjyf78]

Hi Richard, are you cycling all the way from Bedok Reservoir rd to Queenstown!?

[@AsiaHikelopedia]

No. I didn't have time to do that so took taxi there and MRT back.

[@bendobendotrango3025]

👍👍

[@abuhazim2920]

All along I thought Tiong Bahru means "New Myna" in Malay. Thank you for the history lesson Sir Richard!

[@AsiaHikelopedia]

Glad to be of assistance

[@buayarch]

Che Abu Hazim, Mr Richard was not accurate on the meaning of the name of Tiong Bahru. See my correction .

[@AsiaHikelopedia]

I took my explanation from the NHB's Tiong Bahru Heritage Trail.

[@isswann8248]

👍🏾👍🏾

[@franzthegardener6978]

the D' is to denote that it is from France ... started off with the fashion industry where many brands uses the D'..... yeah it is cheesy... and for me it does not exude that the product is from France.

[@dlewis9760]

I've been watching you for maybe a year. What was the temperature + humidity? I've never seen you sweat like that before.

[@AsiaHikelopedia]

It was no hotter than usual, but I wore a mask all day and my hair was longer than usual. Other than that I have no explanation. I sweat a lot every day. No way to avoid it.

[@bayernarsenal3979]

@@AsiaHikelopedia Richard, I think you take cold shower daily. Correct me if I'm wrong. The way to avoid sweating so much is to take lukewarm water shower 🚿. Let your body adjust to the surrounding through the lukewarm water. Of course you will still sweat but I reckon you will not sweat as much. If you shower with cold shower the feel good only last whilst you are in the shower. As soon as you dried yourself, the sweat will start spewing out. Give it a shot and see how it goes.

[@bayernarsenal3979]

D' is meant to be the only as when the is pronounced as d.

[@Tinpinming]

welcome to my hood!

[@yangtzeling7468]

Oh you missed the lovely wall murals at Tiong Bahru ….

[@AsiaHikelopedia]

I saw them. Just didn't film.

[@temasek65]

Today is it Covid prone??

[@dajai-6394]

Singapore is about england in east 1800-1963

[@DALLEY_SANI]

when an ang moh is more local than locals... look no further!

[@forgetmyname5166]

Pls cycle on the pedestrian pave way, it is dangerous to cycle on the vehicle road, 😊

[@AsiaHikelopedia]

Did I cycle on the road in this video?

[@jjyf78]

@@AsiaHikelopedia yes! on the ending part of your video!😁

[@AsiaHikelopedia]

@@jjyf78 That road has very little traffic and no pavement. The rest of the time I was on the sidewalks.

[@Potomacstud]

Tiong could be the malay name for chinese ..tiong bahru ..new chinese ?

[@lawrenzhuang9748]

Your description of the word "Tiong" is incorrect. It actually means "cemetary" in Hokkien. So, Tiong Lama is Old Cemetary and Tiong Bahru means New Cemetary.

[@AsiaHikelopedia]

You'd better inform the NHB then, cos I got the info from them.

[@geokinski]

Indeed, "Tiong" (塚 ) is a Chinese word for cemetery. There are a few different words for specific classes of burial grounds, 陵 、塚 、墓、墳 roughly in descending order of "class". The first being one for the royalties.

[@wq2746]

🤔 To my understanding D=The in short 😂

[@gotmyonu1027]

The D'..... probably came from DELUXE!!!.It makes it more 'French' as in D'elifrance....

[@juventusfcrules]

Delifrance probably derived from delicatessen + France. So nothing to do with deluxe.

[@gotmyonu1027]

@@juventusfcrules okay.... Bad example.

[@yangtzeling7468]

Real or not ? Don’t anyhow say leh

[@roychia2672]

Oh dear, fyi it is a mandatory requirement to wear helmet while riding on public roads.

[@jensentsan4122]

Boring

[@yangtzeling7468]

I found it interesting & informative