life in black and white

PHOTOS: FARAH ELIAS and STEPHANIE YEOW

SPECIALREPORTS

black andblack andblack andblack andblack andblack andwhiteFarah Elias, Syafiqah Omar and Jamuna Sundaraj check out the vanishing lifestyle in colonial-era bungalows, fast being turfed out in a thrusting city of glass and steel.

Nurses Day falls on Monday. Stephanie Yeow documents the expandingrole ofSingapore’s Nightingales.

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LIFE IN

(SPH: ST-SATURDAY-PAGES <SAT-001> [SUPP1] ... 30/07/11 Author:KHIM Date:29/07/11 Time:01:34)

BY FARAH ELIAS,

SYAFIQAH OMAR

& JAMUNA SUNDARAJ

THOSE really were the grandold days. Horse-drawn carriag-es gliding down long shadydrives to shuttle elegant ladiesto a city lunch, armies of ser-vants scuttling around spaciousinteriors – big enough for a wan-dering elephant – while coolbreezes wafted through theopen shutters.

The servants, or amahs asthey were known, always worewhite blouses and black silkpants – typical attire in theblack-and-white houses thatadorned Singapore’s leafy en-claves.

Built by the British from thelate 19th-century to beforeWorld War II, the black-and-white bungalows housed mili-tary officers, high court judgesand others of the colonial socie-ty’s great and good.

They were modelled on themock Tudor style popular inEngland at that time, yet thebungalows reflect an acute un-derstanding of living in the trop-ics. Their high ceilings, tall win-dows and big verandahs are de-signed to let the breeze in andkeep the humidity at bay. It issaid the houses were cleverly ori-ented to ensure they received nodirect sunlight.

To visit one today is to bewhisked back to a grander era.Morning sunlight streamsthrough the black-and-whitebamboo blinds that hang low, al-lowing warm light to filter in.Once the rains arrive, breezescarry in the sweet scent of fran-gipani from the lush garden.

The house dictates how youlive, says archaeologist Jonath-an Cooper, 45, who carries outexcavation works in some of theblack-and-whites.

“The residents do exactlywhat the British did 70 yearsago as they sit on the balcony to-day,” he adds.

“What you see is what yougot in 1928 or 1942. The onlybig differences now are air-con-ditioning and cars.”

There are fewer than 600black-and-white bungalows leftin Singapore now, scatteredacross the island. Nestledamong such estates are alsoblack-and-white apartmentblocks and terraced houses.

They are owned by the Singa-pore Land Authority (SLA),which rents them out ontwo-year leases, while industri-al landlord JTC Corporation andPremas and DTZ real estateagencies handle managementand maintenance.

They can be a pricey indul-gence, with rents from $2,200for a 1,000 sq ft, two-bedroomflat in Portsdown to $23,000 fora 7,000 sq ft, four-bedroombungalow in posh AlexandraPark, although prices can goeven higher than that.

These houses sit on massiveplots, some measuring 60,000sq ft – almost the size of a soc-cer field – and enough for twoblocks of flats for 300 families.

They are out of reach formost, but some expatriates crav-ing a slice of old colonial stylesnap them up.

Ms Rebecca Bisset, editor ofExpat Living magazine, notes:“These beautiful houses withthe lush greenery just look so in-viting and alluring. A lot of peo-ple would do anything to live inthem.”

Ms Bisset, 48, has lived in aSeletar black-and-white housefor eight years.

The houses’ heyday was inthe 1920s and 1930s. They fellinto disrepair and disreputewhen the Japanese occupiersmoved in during the war. Afterthe war, the British reclaimedthe houses before passing themon to the Government afterself-governance in 1959.

They really became popularafter 1971 when the financial ser-vices sector took off, luring fin-anciers, commodity brokers andshipping magnates attracted tothe colonial-era way of life.

While the number of homeshas dwindled, the old attrac-tions still appeal to well-heeledexpats flocking to areas like Alex-andra Park and Mount Pleasant.

Alexandra Park resident Alex

Hambly, 47, who scours Viet-nam for investment opportuni-ties for insurer Prudential, be-lieves expats are attracted to Sin-gapore because “you don’t getthis anywhere else in Asia”.

“So one of the attractions isbeing able to live in such aunique house,” he says.

The influx of expats seekingsuch a black-and-white lifestylehas given rise to close-knit com-munities, with annual Christ-mas parties, Halloween celebra-tions and playgroups.

Portsdown, an estate separat-ed from Alexandra Park by an ex-pressway, even has a BonfireNight on Nov 5 every year tomark the 1604 attempt by GuyFawkes to blow up Britain’s Par-liament.

A bonfire the size of a dou-ble-decker bus is set ablaze inthe middle of the field aroundWilton Close with effigies ofGuy Fawkes stuffed with news-paper crackling amid the burn-ing wood. The next day, a heapof ashes and a lingering smell ofsmoke are the only evidence ofthe celebration hours before.

The organiser of the event re-

mains a puzzle – no surprise,given that such a fiery event isprohibited. “What happens is alittle slip of paper comes to yourmailbox saying ‘the bonfire is onsuch and such’. No name ornumber,” says Ms Alison Tomp-kins, 45, a drama and musicteacher who has lived inPortsdown for three years.

“The police come and askwho’s responsible and everyonegoes, ‘Don’t know’.”

Not just Western expatsIT’S not all Western expatsthough. Madam Ramlah Sulaim-an, known as “Pamela” to herneighbours, is one of the long-est-standing residents inPortsdown with more than 35years in the estate.

The 60-year-old housewife,who is a Malaysian, lives withher brother and daughter in atwo-room unit on the groundfloor of a three-storey apart-ment block.

Fellow Malaysian StellarChong, 60, who moved in morethan 30 years ago, is anotherAsian face in the largely expat

community. Back then, she andher Singaporean lawyer hus-band did not want to live in ahigh-rise as the greenery andtranquillity of Portsdown weretoo hard to resist.

“In the mornings, the birdswill come to the trees here andsing. Where else can you findthis? If you stay in a flat, youlook out and it’s somebody’swindow or roof,” says MrsChong.

The estate’s spaciousgrounds and relative isolationcan bring unwelcome visitors,though. Drug users have soughtrefuge in the abandoned build-ings and a nearby prison used tohouse illegal immigrants.

“Sometimes the prisoners es-caped and hid in the emptyunits,” says Mrs Chong.

And the nearby railway linehas been labelled “suicide alley”by residents, she says, due toseveral incidents of people lyingin front of oncoming trains.

Now new threats have arisen– rising rents and development.

In 1975, Madam Ramlah paid$230 a month for her two-bed-room flat. She now pays $1,950.

Tenants were selected eitheron a first-come, first-served ba-sis or through a ballot. Getting abungalow was akin to winningthe lottery and some residentshanded over their leases tofriends.

“Because of this, the waitinglist for the houses didn’t move.And if we let go of the houses,it’s difficult to get them back,”says Madam Ramlah.

But these informal agree-ments stopped when the Govern-ment introduced an open bid-ding system in 2007 allowingmarket forces to make the pro-cess “fair and transparent”, saidSLA.

Fortunately for SLA, manybidders, mostly expats, havehefty housing allowances so therents they can offer are far high-er than initial valuations.

DTZ agent Keh Peng Leongsaid the highest rental bid hehad seen was $45,000 a monthfor a bungalow in Cluny Road.

Rising rents may force Mad-am Ramlah to move to an HDBflat: “Is it still worth it to pay somuch to live here?” she asks,walking from her spacious balco-ny to her outdoor garden swing.

Lifestyle under threatA MORE pressing threat comesin the form of Singapore’s insa-tiable need for developmentland, a need that pushes conser-vation down the priority list.

Dr Chua Ai Lin from the Na-tional University of Singapore’shistory department says thatmore often than not, it is cheap-er and easier to bulldoze thanconserve, “which requires mon-ey, resources and expertise”.

The black-and-whites standon large plots of land that areclearly in the bulldozers’ sights.

It also does not help that thecolonial bungalows are not highon the list in Singapore’s collec-tive memory of its hallmark ar-chitecture. Locals feel more con-nected to Chinese shophouses.While more than 6,500 of themhave been gazetted for preserva-tion, of the 100 old bungalowsthat have been similarly gazet-ted, only a handful are black-and-whites.

Despite efforts to keep the ex-terior of the colonial bungalowsthe same as when they werebuilt, “all the best black-and-white houses don’t exist anymore”, says author Julian Davi-son, who has written a bookabout them.

The finest ones were demol-ished in the 1970s and 1980swhen land prices spiked, hesays. Singapore’s first black-and-white bungalow, built in1898 in Gallop Road near the oldracetrack, has been in disrepairfor the better half of 50 years.

Although preservation guide-lines are in place now, Dr Davi-son, 55, feels they are still notenough. “You have air-con nowand install glass behind the shut-ters. It completely destroys thecharacter of the building. If youchange the windows, you loseits soul.”

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ONE OF A LUCKY FEW (above): Thisblack-and-white bungalow is ownedby Mr Khoo Ken Hee, 48. He countshimself lucky to be able to own sucha house in Singapore as the SLAowns most of the remainingblack-and-white bungalows. When MrKhoo, who runs a paintball business,first discovered the house in 2005,the bungalow in Cable Road, near theGrange Road area, was derelict.Seeing that the house – built in 1920by a private company – was not astate property, he paid $8 million forthe land and renovations. The housewas awarded the Asian HeritageAward by the URA in 2009, butmaintaining it is a “constant work inprogress”, he says.

OLD-TIMER (left): Malaysian RamlahSulaiman, 60, who has lived inPortsdown for more than 35 years, isvisited by her expat neighbours moreoften than her relatives. “We’ve livedhere for so long, everybody knowsus,” she says. PHOTOS: FARAH ELIAS

In the 600 black-and-white colonial bungalows inSingapore, life has been carrying on as it has been forthe past 100 years. With spacious interiors and lush

gardens, these houses are a stark contrast toubiquitous 25-storey apartment blocks that stand in

grid formation across the island. But the forces ofmodernisation and progress are on the prowl,

threatening to weed out this alternative mode of living.

COMMUNAL SPIRIT: The influx ofexpats seeking the black-and-whitelifestyle has given rise to close-knitcommunities, where neighbourhoodparties are thrown to mark occasionssuch as Christmas and Halloween.

SHOWERING IN STYLE: Briton MichaelCorbidge admits his bathroom is the“most fascinating room in thehouse”. With porcelain plates andantique tiles lining the walls, it isalways a talking point among guests.

Late Arts & Craft (1922)

Life in

black&

white

Arts & Craft (1904)SKETCHES: JULIAN DAVISON


STYLE is never in short supply when it comesto black and white. It’s just not always clearwhat style rules which particular roost.

The homes tend to reflect different periodsof their construction, and the expats who livein them often take their ideas for re-decora-tion from the same blueprint.

Fine blue-and-white porcelain bowls,heavy wood cabinets with hinged doors, andstorage trunks with intricate woodworkstyled from traditional Indian, Indonesian andChinese craftsmanship take pride of placealongside modern lamps and sofa couches.

In the bigger bungalows, ceramic tiles dat-ing back to that early 20th-century layer thefloor, which is usually decorated withhand-woven Persian rugs.

The fusion of rustic Asian furniture andmodern pieces gives most of these homes asomewhat eclectic feel, reflecting a lifewell-travelled.

The popularity of old furniture has led toantique businesses flourishing in these coloni-al bungalows. China Collection, run by Aus-tralian Anne Lockett, even has a showroom ina black-and-white bungalow selling piecessourced from China.

Besides furnishings, residents are also will-ing to spend on new fittings, putting in teakwood floors or even a lap pool, although thesemust be removed when the leases are up.

Most houses open up to sweeping gardens,some as big as a tennis court, and adornedwith outdoor carved stone statues such asmock Chinese terracotta soldiers and Buddhastucco from Thailand.

Inside, you will often find watercolourpaintings by French artist Derek Corke, whomade a name for himself doing portraits ofthese houses, and a coffee-table book titledBlack and White: The Singapore House from1898-1941 by Julian Davison, which high-lights some of these houses.

“[The book] helps me to understand the his-tory that surrounds the house better,” saysartist and designer Mirna Barakat-Brown, 37,whose house in Winchester Road is featuredin the book.

“There was a woman wholived on Goodwood Hill whohad one of the first air-condi-tioners installed. When the firstbombing raid came in 1941, theair-con was so loud theycouldn’t hear the bombs fall-ing,” adds Dr Davison, whogrew up in a bungalow here sur-rounded by kampungs, farmsand gardens.

“I write about the past, tokeep it alive. I think it’s impor-tant for people to rememberwhere they came from.”

While he understands thatSingapore needs more manpow-er to thrive, he feels theblack-and-whites should besafeguarded as they are a pre-cious commodity in the increas-ingly urban landscape.

Preservation can be helpedby the Government’s desire tosee conserved areas that are rele-vant and still used.

Like a fort guarding the Alex-andra Park estate, Eton Hall issuch an example.

Once an old nursing quartersfor neighbouring Alexandra Hos-pital, the three-storey white co-

lonial building with wood shut-ters has been converted into aboarding house for 150 foreignstudents.

And the Government is notdeaf to the calls for conserva-tion. “There is a need to keepmarkers, to keep identity… andbuildings reflect the history,”says Ms Teh Lai Yip, director ofconservation at the Urban Rede-velopment Authority.

“But what we conserve mustnot be in the way of infrastruc-ture.”

She adds that some areas willhave to go.

“We take a very practical ap-proach and we’re not apologeticabout it.”

Little BohemiaFOR now though, the scene inPortsdown is peaceful. Roadswind between blocks of black-and-white houses. Rolling grass-lands lead down to little valleyswith streams. Mature, sturdytrees have hammocks strung be-tween them or the occasionaltyre swings on a hemp rope.

Every half an hour, a publicbus rumbles down the quiet, un-crowded single roadway, turns

at the end of the lane and rum-bles out again.

The area is undergoing itsown renaissance as the oldblack-and-whites that onceheld British soldiers are nowhome to a flourishing artisticcommunity. Affectionatelyknown as “Little Bohemia”, theestate counts a storyteller, a jug-gler, painters, writers, actors,and musicians among its eclec-tic mix of residents.

Canadians Katherine McLeodand husband Bruce Home areamong the creative people whohave moved in. She is a writerand illustrator, he is a painterand teacher, and they drum to-gether during their Camp Magicsessions, an arts-based holidayprogramme for children.

“There is a sense of freedomhere... there’s space,” says MsMcLeod, 46. “For us, it’s notabout doing things in the orderof the universe.”

On Thursday nights, the150-member Stage Club holdsan open event where anyonecan walk in, don a costume andparticipate in its practice ses-sion. Formed in 1945, it prides it-self on being Singapore’s oldestamateur theatre group.

Other additions, such as theCentre Stage School of the Arts,art galleries and photographystudios like Fringe Benefits,d’Art Studio and Geeleinan,have burgeoned, partly due toheightened government effortsfive years ago to turn Ports-down into an artists’ hub.

Landlord JTC Corporationhas envisioned it as “a placewhere the gathering of diverseand creative minds will engen-der a bohemian culture that tran-scends norms and boundaries”.

Four blocks of walk-up apart-ments have been converted into24 experimental lofts to houseartistic enterprises while artwalks and open houses are heldon some weekends.

Artists from all over havebeen settling in Portsdown sincethe 1990s, lured by cheap loftspace.

“We didn’t really want to besingled out,” says BritonMichael Corbidge, alluding tothe “eccentric” cultural villagelabel that has been stamped onthe estate.

“When I moved in, this place

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EXPAT WIVES’ HAUNT: China Collection, an antiqueshop run by Australian Anne Lockett, attracts aregular stream of expat wives. PHOTOS: FARAH ELIAS

Tropical Edwardian (1913).SKETCHES: JULIAN DAVISON

Post-World War I(1920)

Decor: It’s Eastmeets West

“What you see is whatyou got in 1928 or 1942,the only big differences

now are air-conditioningand cars.”

Archaeologist Jonathan Cooper

EVERY HOUSE TELLS A STORY: For the past twoyears, Mr Cooper (right), 45, has spent most of hisdays digging up the gardens of houses in Adam Parkafter chancing upon a bullet lying on the ground.Since then he has uncovered more bullets, cartridgesand even a radio hide. He described the artefacts as“devastatingly in your face”. Earlier in the day, hegave a sidewalk history lesson to local journalists onthe fierce fighting that took place here between theBritish and Japanese forces during World War II, in abid to raise more funds for his project. He is workingto find out which bungalow housed the chapel usedby prisoners of war.


was derelict,” says Mr Cor-bidge, 50, a member of Britain’sRoyal Shakespeare Company.

“It was full of leaves, full ofnatural squatters – snails, birds,cockroaches – and I was the on-ly person in this entire block foryears.”

But Portsdown risks losingits arty lustre amid the encroach-ing high-rises. On the northernend, the high-tech Biopolis andFusionopolis have gone up and anew MRT station will open laterthis year.

The old army barracks is giv-ing way to Mediapolis@one-north. The media hub, the sizeof 30 soccer fields, will be devel-oped over nine years to housefilm studios, business parks andoffices.

Even the venerable old Col-bar, an expat watering hole formore than 50 years, is feelingthe pressure with buildings go-ing up nearby.

Sitting at his usual table inColbar, retired teacher Alexan-der Brown, 65, sips his pint ofTiger, much as he has done forthe past three decades.

Once viewed as Singapore’s“best-kept secret”, Colbar wasa canteen that served Britishservicemen but it is now a popu-lar restaurant destination.

“Singaporeans who comehere feel like they’re in anotherplanet. They go ‘Whoa!’” saysMr Brown, taking another sip.

But with construction in fullswing just 400m away, he con-cedes that nothing stands still:“Singapore always has to buildinfrastructure, it always has todo things for the benefit of itspeople.”

Over in Seletar, another con-

struction zone, Ms Bisset ob-serves how with the loss ofthese “magical estates”, part ofSingapore’s lure in attractingforeign talent will diminish.

People come here becausethey can have “a bit of space”,she says.

Sitting on the patio of herblack-and-white and overlook-ing the pool, she says: “I hopethe authorities preserve (thehouses) and just don’t developtoo fast.

“Why make it like any othercity in the world? Make it likean Eden, don’t make it like an-other Gotham City.”

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L Frequent painting needed to maintain the black-and-whitefacade.L The largely timber structure can bring termite infestations.L Old plumbing systems require routine repair.L Occasional snakes and monitor lizards from forested areas inbackyards.L Cracks in the floor, walls and ceiling.L Roof leakages during the monsoon season.L The homes have many shutters, so cleaning can be arduous.

GOVERNMENT guidelines were established in 1989 to keep thecharm and heritage of the black-and-white houses. They include:L The exterior facade of the main house must remain paintedblack and white.L Residents can decorate the interior as they see fit but newfittings must be removed when their leases end.L The original windows and doors must be restored and retained.L The main house must be kept intact while the outhouse can bedemolished to make way for minimal additions that do not affectthe look of the main building.L Residents are encouraged to keep the verandahs open as thisadds to the originality of the building but they can enclose thespace with windows of approved material and design.

COLONIAL ICON: Formerly at Jalan Hang Jebat, the Colbar, short for“Colonial Bar”, now sits in Whitchurch Road in Portsdown estate. Opened in1953 as a canteen for the British soldiers, it is run by an elderly Chinesecouple. In 2003, the construction of a major semi-expressway threatened toclose down the establishment. But the Portsdown community, mostlylong-term expat residents, rallied to save it. The Government then moved itbrick-by-brick to its current place, 730m away. Today, the place, which hasretained its original clay roof tiles and timber swing doors, still packs a loyalcrowd who heads down to the eatery after a weekly rugby game for a roundof cheap beers. PHOTOS: FARAH ELIAS

For more stories,go to

www.straitstimes

.com.sg

“Singaporeanswho come here

feel like they’re inanother planet.

They go ‘Whoa!’ ”Retired teacher Alexander Brown, 65,

about Colbar in Portsdown.Once viewed as Singapore's “best-kept secret”,

Colbar was opened as a canteen for Britishservicemen but it is now a popular

restaurant destination.

ROOM WITH A VIEW: The lush foliage surrounding the 20th-century buildingsis a source of inspiration for Mr Michael Corbidge. The eaves of his balconyact as a rainbreak and the 50-year-old does a lot of his writing in the “lightand airy” space.

ARTS BEAT: Ms Katherine McLeod, 46, and Mr Bruce Home, 42, lead adrumming routine with Camp Magic members. This “multi-purpose area” isused for shows, rehearsals, meetings and workshops. “The room does notlook the same two days in a row,” says Ms McLeod.

CONSERVATION GUIDELINES

1819: Sir Stamford Raffleslands in Singapore1824: Singapore becomespart of Straits Settlementsand a British colony1898: First black-and-whitebungalow built in GallopRoad1923: Seletar Airbase builtfor British Royal Air Force1927: SingaporeImprovement Trust (SIT) setup by British in response tocountry’s housing needs1942: Start of Japaneseoccupation– Feb 14: Battle at AdamPark– Feb 15: British soldierssurrender to Japanese1945: Japanese surrender onAug 15, and British return bySeptember1959: Singapore becomesself-governing1960: Housing andDevelopment Board set up,taking over from SIT1963: Singapore merges withFederation of Malayaalongside Sabah (knownthen as North Borneo) andSarawak to form Malaysia1965: Singapore gainsindependence1967: Urban RenewalDepartment (URD) is formedto facilitate redevelopmentof central area1970: British troops start toleave, abandoningblack-and-white houses1974: Urban RedevelopmentAuthority (URA) set up,taking over from URD1989: URA’s Department ofConservation formed andlegal protection forblack-and-white houses putin place2001: State landlordSingapore Land Authority(SLA) formed2006: Governmentannounces plans foraerospace hub in Seletar2007: 174 black-and-whitehouses demolished inSeletar; open biddingsystem introduced forblack-and-white houses2010: Plans for Mediapolis@one-north announced2011: Malayan Railway (KTM)services cease in July2018: Seletar AerospacePark to be completed2020: Mediapolis@one-northto be completed

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PROBLEMS OF LIVING IN A COLONIAL BUNGALOW

TIMELINE

Late Arts &Craft (1922)

Arts & Craft (1903)SKETCHES:

JULIAN DAVISON


(From left) Ms Syafiqah Omar, Ms Farah Eliasand Ms Jamuna Sundaraj, all 22, areundergraduates at Nanyang TechnologicalUniversity’s Wee Kim Wee School ofCommunication and Information.

For their final-year project, they sought touncover the stories behind Singapore’sblack-and-white colonial bungalows before theydisappear from the country’s landscape andconsciousness.

Ms Syafiqah said: “For many of usflat-dwelling Singaporeans, we see thesecolonial houses all around. Yet, we know solittle about them.”

Added Ms Farah: “We were certain therewas more to these black-and-whites than theusual stories of supernatural happenings.”

Over a span of eight months, the triotraversed the island, knocking on bungalowdoors and speaking to more than 50 residentsto learn more about their homes and lives.

They felt that these enclaves were “athrowback to old-time Singapore in thekampung days”, said Ms Farah.

“We found out there were tight-knitcommunities living within these enclaves whocarried their traditions from back home. Theresidents were very welcoming and invited usalong for their festivities,” said Ms Jamuna.

Their project has given them a greaterappreciation for heritage buildings, as well as adeeper understanding of Singapore’s colonialhistory, they say.

And given the chance, theywould love to live in ablack-and-whitesomeday.

“We all fell inlove with thespaciousverandahsandsprawlinggardens.It hasbecome mydreamhome,”said MsSyafiqah.

FOR more than 50 years, the res-idents of Seletar Camp had justthe birds, children at play andoccasional lizard to disturb theirneo-colonial tranquillity.

Now it is mostly noise and tu-mult as trucks rattle into the140ha compound every day tounload sand and cement. Thewhine of pumps and cranes andthe shriek of power tools add tothe cacophony.

It’s the old Singapore story:land giving way to develop-ment, in this case an aerospacepark. The $60 million park duefor completion by 2018 will havea bigger airport, wider runways,several hangars and an aviationtraining school.

Industrial landlord JTC Cor-poration, the developer, says itis expected to bring in 10,000new jobs and pump $3.3 billiona year into the economy.

There is some irony in it all.The estate, built as an airfield in1923 for Britain’s Royal AirForce, became something of amodern-day battleground as res-idents fought to preserve their“secret garden”. The campaignbegan in 2006 when the Govern-ment announced plans for thepark. Residents sent impas-sioned letters to the media andgathered to carve out a strategy,but that sometimes backfired.

A 15-minute documentary,Seletar Airbase – Singapore’s Se-cret Garden, directed by localfilm-maker Li Xiuqi, was part ofthe campaign. Ms Li, a grand-daughter of former prime minis-ter Lee Kuan Yew, wanted to in-crease public awareness but itwas not enough.

“Reality really hit home inJune 2007 when, after a seriesof closed-door briefings withresidents, it was revealed that al-most half of the houses wouldbe demolished. Relief for some,anguish for others. People hadto try hard not to be happy thatthey didn’t get affected whilemany others were,” says teach-er Andy Tear, 35, who has hadto move twice in Seletar.

A road sign from his oldhome hangs on his windowsill, areminder of the house that oncestood in Regent Street. By theend of 2008, the mood was som-bre as residents of the doomedhomes held garage sales to getrid of furniture and appliances.And one by one, they left.

For those who stayed on, lifehas become a case of trying tomake the best of it, while livingon borrowed time.

Mr Tear, an Englishman whocame here 11 years ago to work

as a drama teacher, is building abamboo fence around his sin-gle-storey Seletar home – anear futile attempt to shield thehouse from construction noise.

A few hundred metres downMaida Vale, a road of similarblack-and-white houses, anequally frustrated resident hasdouble-glazed his shutter win-dows. Another has turned hisgarden into a mini-jungle ofsorts, planting bushes and treesto block out the din. In OxfordStreet more than 1.5km away,

others have hung wind chimesand installed outdoor speakerson their verandahs, fightingnoise with noise.

“Everyone’s trying to com-pensate for it. We’re trying tohide around the corner. It’s justnot what it was at all,” says MrTear, straining to make hisvoice heard over the sound oftrucks rumbling by.

Seletar still has touches ofthe foliage that made it a greenoasis, with stands of100-year-old tropical rainfor-

est, casuarina and tembusutrees. “Once we even had a mon-itor lizard in our garden,” saysMr Tear, as his children agedeight and four play in his gar-den. He teaches drums to youngchildren so he is no stranger tonoise, but finds all the racket dis-tressing. And if the constructionis not enough, at night the roadsbecome illicit race tracks.

Media studies tutor SusanAmy, 51, used to ride her bicycledown the narrow Seletarstreets, often named after plac-es in England, to deliver the Sele-tar Chronicle, a monthly news-letter she started in 1999. Shewas occasionally distracted bythe blue zip of kingfishers dash-ing from the tembusu trees.

“‘Aren’t we so lucky? Isn’tthis so amazing? How comewe’re allowed to stay like this?’

“We used to say just that,” re-calls Ms Amy, who lived inHyde Park on the estate for over10 years. Residents acknow-ledge that development is inevi-table. “I guess there will bechange when things grow andexpand,” says Mr Tear.

JTC Corp has said it will tryto keep a semblance of the oldcamp. It has kept 204 of 378houses, leaving about two-thirds to continue as homeswhile the rest will be convertedinto restaurants. Post-warwrought iron lamp posts andsome “heritage trees” have alsobeen spared.

Architect Sonny Chan, 70,whose firm Chan Sau Yan Asso-ciates has worked on restorationprojects here, says: “The Gov-ernment has actually been verypragmatic in maximising what’sbeen left over by the British.”

Citing black-and-whites inDempsey Road and RochesterPark that have been convertedinto restaurants as examples, headds that the Government hasfound the appropriate adaptiveways to re-use these places.

In the end, he says priorityhas to be assigned to older hous-es with higher historical value.These Seletar houses, unfortu-nately, are just not of the same“pedigree” as black-and-whitesin Adam Road or GoodwoodPark as their design is more mili-tary and basic, he says.

Another resident of ablack-and-white, businessmanKhoo Ken Hee, 48, who lives ina bungalow in Cable Road, be-lieves tearing down the Seletarhouses is a necessity for Singa-pore’s economy to progress.“There is a need to make wayfor new things,” he says. MrTear too acknowledges this: “Iguess there will be change whenthings grow and expand.”

Even so, the changes arestark. Where early 20th-centu-ry houses once stood, land hasbeen stripped bare and flat-tened. A Rolls-Royce hangarnow looms over theblack-and-white houses.

“It feels imposing. Before wehad no buildings blocking ourview,” says Mr Tear, who wantsto stay put despite the changes.

But for others like Ms Amy,living with the noise and dustwas not an option. In 2009, shemoved into a colonial house inJohor Baru. “I used to say Sele-tar is my one and only home,”she says with a sigh.

LUXURY OF SPACE (above): On theeastern side of the Portsdownestate, residents regularly take theirpets for a walk down the rolling hillswhere there is space to roam. OnSundays, churchgoers from TheChurch of the Blessed Sacramentnearby congregate in the park for apicnic. On the western end wherethe new Mediapolis@one-north willstand, the serenity has beenreplaced by the steady dull thuds ofconstruction.

CLEARING THE WAY (right):Excavators left at the constructionsite where two dozen Seletar Campblack-and-whites have been clearedto make way for the aerospace park,which is due for completion in 2018.

PHOTOS: FARAH ELIAS

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Black-and-white houses are scattered all around

Singapore, leading to the growth of large expat

communities over the years. The shaded areas also

highlight where development is fast changing the look of

the estates.

Previously an air base for the British Royal Air Force,it is now made up of homes and office space for aerospace companies.A private airport sits within the estate

DEMPSEY ROAD

ADAM PARK

The bungalows were used as both offices and homes during colonial times and are now mostly residential. It was once the site of an intense battle between the British and Japanese forces. Today a Japanese restaurant sits at the entrance of the mostly British neighbourhood

Once houses for the British Army, they were taken over by the Singapore Armed Forces in the 1970s and turned into an enlistment centre. Now, the area is full of hip restaurants and pubs

SEMBAWANG PARKPreviously occupied by the British Naval Force in the 1900s, the bungalows are now rented out toa mostly expat community. Streets like Delhi Road, Pakistan Road and Kenya Road are named after British colonies

SELETARCAMP

GOODWOODHILL

In downtown Singapore, the massive bungalows come with long driveways and sprawling gardens

CHANGI

The estate, near Changi Air Base, was used mainly for the officers and families of the British Royal Air Force. The terraced houses and bungalows are now rented out as homes

PORTSDOWN ROAD

MOUNT PLEASANT

A quiet little village of both bungalows and walk-up apartments which were once British officers’ quarters, and are now work lofts and homes

The 33 bungalows with massive gardens housed senior colonial administra-tors and are now homes to an expat community

NEPAL HILLROCHESTER PARKThe 40 bungalows here date back to the 1940s and housed British soldiers. Today, most are used as restaurants, bars, galleries and spas

Near research clusters such as Biopolis, Fusionopolis and the National University of Singapore, the area called LINK@Nepal Hill is being developed by the Economic Development Board to house think-tanks

Black &

ALEXANDRAPARK

Once a British military estate, the bungalows here housed generals and colonels and are now rented out to a mostly expat community

MOUNT FABER

Planned as a tourist destination, the bungalows will be converted into bed and breakfast lodgings, culinary schools and arts housing

GILLMANBARRACKS

Now known as Gillman Village. British officers used to live here and when they left, the Singapore Armed Forces moved in. The small enclave of restaurants, pubs and furniture shops is being redeveloped into an arts hub

PHOTO: FARAH ELIASST GRAPHICS

As construction for the Seletar AerospacePark continues, some residents in the area

are struggling with the noise andpollution, while others have moved on

TropicalEdwardian(1905).SKETCHES:JULIANDAVISON

Fight tostay on

Post-World War I(1921)


life in black and white

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