History Buffs Want More Old S'pore Buildings Saved

Source : The Straits Times, Nov 2, 2007

More than 6,500 old but architecturally and historically significant buildings still have a place on Singapore's skyline, thanks to much-praised conservation efforts.
But now that the dust has settled, the question is: What's next on the 'to-save' list?

The issue is a timely one as the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) announced last month that it was selecting another 228 buildings in the Katong area for conservation.

The buildings are mostly terrace houses and shophouses built in the 1920s and 1930s.

And that big figure comes on top of 700 buildings that are already under conservation orders in the East Coast area.

What with that number going on the long list of buildings that will be treasured, and the fact that the URA's conservation programme is now 20 years old, Singaporeans could be excused from thinking that all the old buildings worth conserving have now been conserved.

But history and architecture experts would have you know that there is still a job to be done.


Singapore's oldest HDB flats

WRAPPED around a bend in Stirling Road, between the Mujahidin Mosque and Queenstown Sports Complex, stand three unassuming but special blocks of flats.

At 47 years old, Blocks 45, 48 and 49 Stirling Road are the oldest blocks of Housing Board flats in Singapore.

They marked the beginning of this revolution in public housing, which has become a quintessential Singapore icon.

Architecturally, the buildings may not look like much, but given their genesis and significance, this is not to be expected and should not compromise their worthiness for conservation as historic landmarks of Singapore's public housing.

Read the full story in Saturday's edition of The Straits Times Life!.