The Straits Times : Eco of the past

The Straits Times
Life Section
Apr 17, 2010

A couple's green efforts include retaining their home's layout and using hand-me-downs

New lease of life: Wine crates turn into rustic planters for herbs such as lemon balm. An old theatre light the home owner brought from Britain is mounted on a tripod to use as a floor lamp. -- PHOTOS: WINSTON CHUANG; ART DIRECTION: BETTY WONG; TEXT: WONG SIOW YUEN

Having an eco-home does not always mean recycled wood floors and energy-saving devices. It can be as easy as using old furniture and respecting the built environment, as this pair of home owners, who wanted to be known only as Vincent and Lynette, proves.

The couple's charming three-room HDB flat in Tiong Bahru contains, among other things, wooden louvred windows left behind by the flat's first owners and furniture their loved ones gave them.

Not one piece of furniture is new, including the stainless steel kitchen. What seems custom-made is actually a recycled kitchen from Lynette's sister-in-law, right down to the sink, oven and hood.

It took a lot of planning to relocate a kitchen from a sprawling bungalow into a flat. Avid cook Lynette says: 'Sadly, I had to dispose of a built-in deep fryer and grill because there was no space.'

Working with designer Diana Yeo from Design Channel, the couple turned the 1,000 sq ft walk-up apartment - which was built in the 1950s - into something that was completely different from the bland condominium that was their first home.

Besides the original louvred windows, the couple also retained the timber frames above the internal windows and the two balconies. In addition, they restored original elements such as the main and bathroom doors, complete with the bolting mechanism and hinges.

By keeping the balcony intact, the home owners enjoy natural light and better ventilation in their bedroom (above) without having to sacrifice privacy.

Keeping the two balconies that 'sandwich' the unit was vital as the couple like an outdoor feel and abundance of natural light.

The one that extends from the kitchen to the master bedroom was partitioned to create a laundry and storage area at the kitchen end and a study for Vincent, an architect, on the other. Here, he can work late without disturbing Lynette, a housewife, by closing the louvred windows between the two areas.

The colours in the HDB flat are kept muted and natural. The sofa came from the couple's old home, while the dining set and glass cabinet were hand-me-downs from their relatives

Throughout the home, the 'reduce, reuse, recycle' mantra is evident, such as a dining set that had belonged to Lynette's brother and a new bathroom sink her dad bought for their family home but was never installed.

The rest were acquired from garage sales and second-hand shops. Their friend, decorator Sean Lee, also made a sideboard and coffee table from metal braces of shipping containers and cargo pallets.

Set against a palette of cement, grey tiles, laminate flooring in a distressed wood finish and white walls, this home, which costs $40,000 to renovate and furnish, is a practical application of Vincent's back-to-basics design ideology.

This spread first appeared in this month's issue of Home & Decor, published by SPH Magazines.

Tiong Bahru Post War Flats

The Straits Times
Life!
February 21, 2009

The bedrooms' walnut veneer-and- black metal doors use tree branches for handles.

Black and woody

Instead of being gloomy, this flat's black decor gets a warm update with woody and colourful touches

When Jermaine Ng received the key to her resale three-room flat in Tiong Bahru, she could not decide on a style for her new home.

So she based her starting inspiration on the things she likes.

'I love black, and on my travels, the things that attract me are prints and graphics,' says the interior director of design firm Juxtapose.

'Along the way, I found that the natural grain of wood goes with all that.'

Her 1,000 sq ft home is now an eclectic mix of trendy black furnishings, walnut veneer carpentry and funky memorabilia.

Playing with light, she elevated her favourite colour from being a stark, gloomy shade.

In the kitchen, for instance, both matte and glossy textures are used - from shiny black mosaic tiles to a rough flame-finished black granite bar countertop - while walnut veneer cabinet doors provide a soft, warm element.

Evidence of her fun-loving personality is seen on the black powder-coated metal shelves in the living room, where she displays her vintage cameras, drink bottles and matchboxes from around the world.

Designed for entertaining, the roomy living area has a digital turntable on customised roller shelves for spinning tunes and a TV projector set-up for film screenings.

The large projector screen is also a treat for the movie buff, who watches DVDs on quiet nights in with her three dogs.

The previous owner had removed the original balcony and expanded the two bedrooms and a little of the living room before Ms Ng took over the flat two years ago.

'The house with the tree' So structurally, all she had to do was to remove the kitchen wall and reposition one of the bedroom doors for a cleaner layout.

Ms Ng, who likes to cook, wanted plenty of natural light in her kitchen.

With the kitchen wall gone, she now has a bright, breezy space with cross-ventilation from the living room and kitchen windows.

She was also keen to keep the look 'raw'.

So cement walls, grey homogeneous floor tiles and a sinewy tree trunk draped with bulbs and wires in the living room add an organic feel.

'My neighbours know this as 'the house with the tree',' she chuckles and adds that the tree can be seen from the opposite block.

The bedroom, however, takes on a different vibe.

Inspired by the old-world glamour of Hong Kong film-maker Wong Kar Wai's movie In The Mood For Love, Ms Ng went with a black-and-red palette with strong Oriental elements, including a headboard wrapped in a vermillion chinoiserie fabric from Belgium.

To evoke the movie's sultry vibe, she painted the walls rust-red and used black glass sliding doors for the full-height wardrobe.

Black may seem like the worst colour to have for a home owner with three white dogs, but for Ms Ng, it is not an issue.

'Black is hard to maintain but I'm not particular about the mess.'

Besides, the timber flooring was dark-stained for a good reason.

'So I won't trip over my white dogs in the dark room,' she quips.

A black glass panel with sandblasted engraving by the main door acts as a doormat and leads to a tree trunk decor piece in the living room (above).
-- PHOTOS: DARREN CHANG; ART DIRECTION: NONIE CHEN; TEXT: WYN-LYN TAN

This spread first appeared in the February issue of Home & Decor, published by SPH Magazines.

Two 1950s Doors (Up for Grabs)

Two 1950’s doors from the Post War Section of Tiong Bahru is up for grabs.

One of these doors still has the signature chicken wire glass while another has been covered up.

I’ve seen some owners who turned these doors into a sliding door version and they look great!

Please help to prolong these doors’ life.

Repainting of the Pre-War Tiong Bahru Section

What a relief!

I saw another signage along Moh Guan Terrace this afternoon.

The Pre-War Section of the Tiong Bahru Estate will also be repainted.

All the shutter-bugs, please get ready to capture as many images as possible.

We do not know what kind of colour scheme the Tanjong Pagar Town Council has chosen.

Hope it will not be something like the following:

Repainting of the Post War Tiong Bahru Section

Finally there is some information on the repainting of the Tiong Bahru Estate.

Here the signage the Tanjong Pagar Town Council has put up at the junction of Seng Poh Road and Tiong Bahru Road.

It seemed that they are only going to paint the POST WAR section of the Tiong Bahru Estate.

And they have given themselves a huge time frame to do so.
(June 2008 to 3rd Quarter 2009!)

More importantIy, I wonder what the colour scheme will be like.

We, the residents of Tiong Bahru, await the transformation with a tinge of uneasiness.

Check out my previous post about the repainting of this estate: A Fresh Coat of Paint

Insider News

“I've got insider news”. “Someone I know works inside”. “This place is gonna en-bloced in 6 years time”.

These words were uttered smugly by a bespectacled man with a cigarette in his hand.

I had to walk away upon hearing these words as the resentment welling up within me was too intense to handle.

Maybe I'm just too obsessed with this estate.

As a real estate agent, I had to be professional about such remarks and not let my emotions get the better of me. (By the way, that guy is not my customer. He just bought a place in the HDB section of Tiong Bahru and is currently renovating his place and I happen to overhear his conversation with a buyer who just viewed a unit I was selling.)

Perhaps this frustration stemmed from the seemingly indifferent attitude I witness and felt amongst some Tiong Bahru residents.

Maybe no one really cares if this place would be en-bloced or conserved. What seems to matters most would be how much the en-bloced compensation would be and would the allocated flats be near a MRT station.

Seriously, you do not need HDB to en-bloced your home to get a windfall! There are many other ways to make money.

My family has never benefitted from whatsoever handouts HDB has given out.

When I purchased my 1st flat*, it was a total disaster for my wife and me.

We bought our flat impulsively at $495,000 and plonked in another $80,000 to renovate and furnished it.

HDB gave us a $40,000 CPF grant but that did more harm than help.

We later sold the flat off at $425,000.

Our losses come up to about $125,000 (inclusive of accrued CPF interest). To me, that was a financial disaster.

To add insult to injury, if I ever buy a direct flat from HDB, I would have to pay a levy of $107,000. And that amount does not include the interest incurred from the time I sold my SUBSIDIZED flat till the time I purchase my next one. (I wonder who was subsidizing who)

My wife and I never whine about that. We took it in our stride and recovered from it.

We stayed focused in our plans to become financially educated.

I also put in effort to improve my knowledge in real estate so that I can be a better investor and at the same time provide better advice to my clients.

We are still learning as learning is a journey with no destination.

We kept reading relevant books and tried to put what we have read into action.

I am also fortunate enough to meet many people along the way who could offer good advice and directions.

We have developed some kind of AWARENESS and this is a good start.

We have since made back what we lost from our 1st HDB flat through our real estate investment. (By the way, my wife is not in the real estate business but she took the time to understand how it works…..actually she does not have a choice, I have verbal diarrhoea and I demanded total attention when I am exploring my theories or analysis with her)

I strongly agree with Robert Kiyosaki that all of us should stop having this ENTITLEMENT mentality and instead steer our own future.

As the saying goes, give a man a fish you feed him for a day, teach him to fish and you feed him for life.

But BEWARE of the person who does neither but wants to sell you the fish. (They have a SELFISH reason for doing so and real estate agents** are classified by Robert as a fish seller in his book, “Why we want you to be RICH!”)

I was sold a fish when I bought my 1st HDB flat. I am now learning how to fish.

So for whatever reasons you might have about buying into Tiong Bahru and one of them happens to be about some en-bloc windfall, I urge you to explore other options which has a more certain outcome.

Betting on some insider news is akin to gambling.

One of my wise clients recently said this to me: "Wiseman PLANs, Poor man HOPEs". There is much wisdom in that statement.

But if you already living here in the Tiong Bahru Estate and you cannot really tolerate living in these walk-ups anymore, give me a call and I will help you explore possibilities on how you can be happily moved to a place where there are ELEVATORS and extra toilets to serve you.

That way, we can still keep Tiong Bahru low density.

Being collectively INDIFFERENT to the fate of this estate would be the greatest tragedy.

So the song goes, Coz we are living in a material world and I’m a material……..,

If everyone is consumed by that song, the GREED will eventually come and Tiong Bahru’s low density existence will be threatened.

*Note: I was not yet a real estate agent when I purchased my 1st HDB property.

** When real estate agents cajole you into buying a property, do not become too emotional and overstretch your budget. Remember, you are the one who is going to service that mortgage loan over a long period of time and that agent would not be around to help you service that loan after the sale. You need to know your own financial numbers so that no one can pull wool over your eyes.

*** Stumbled upon this site and I would like you to check it out too: http://www.saveclementipark.com/. I am glad there are some people at Clementi Park who cared enough to speak out.

New "Enhancement"

This rustic laid back image has been erased forever.

For the whole of last week, I was wondering why there were so much hacking and drilling activities and I thought a new neighbour was renovating their place.

It was only when I was walking to the Tiong Bahru Market that I spotted some workers along this pavement. I thought they were repairing the drains or just doing some resurfacing of the walkways as there were some cracks along the pavement.

Perhaps someone complained about those cracks as it made roller blading a little bit more challenging.

Anyway, I walked off thinking that it was just some routine maintenance undertaken by the Tanjong Pagar Town Council who responded to some of the resident's frivolous request.

Saw this yesterday while on the way to Eng Watt Street. So not only did the town council made this pavement a better place to roller blade, they made it a nicer place to roller blade as well!

I hope this "enhancement" will quell all talks about this place being en-bloc in the near future.

By the way, I do not know how to roller blade and I am hoping to learn it someday. Yes, someday.

A fresh coat of paint.

Finally! Tiong Bahru will be getting a fresh coat of paint. What a relief!

I found out from this tender notice as well as from the Tanjong Pagar Town Council.

It was a little puzzling to be told that the Tiong Bahru Estate would only be repainted NEXT YEAR in 2009!

One year to plan the re-painting job.......sounds like a very elaborate one.

I just hope the colours Tanjong Pagar Town Council eventually settled for would be pleasant enough for all of us here.

Hope we don't end up like those flats at the Jalan Kukoh area. The Jalan Besar Town Council chose shocking pink combined with hunting green for that area.

What a weird combination!

By the way, when was the last time Tiong Bahru was re-painted?

I was told that Town Council usually re-paints the flats between 5-7 years.

Anyway, it feels good just to know that this place will look and smell fresh again next year!

Make Tiong Bahru a preserved site

The Straits Times

Life Section (Mailbag)

Nov 10, 2007
I READ Tay Suan Chiang's story (Pieces Of Singapore, Life!, Nov 3).

It brings to mind the SIT flats in Tiong Bahru which hold many fond memories of younger days for many Singaporeans.

I remember returning from my studies in Britain and feeling overwhelmed by the sight of these flats. I felt I had arrived home.

Their architecture is unique. Not long ago, two architectural students from Sweden begged me to let them in to view the interior of the flat.

The buildings are characterised by the round stairway balcony with a porthole at the side, and the sheltered five-foot-way.

The Tiong Bahru market blends in beautifully with the neighbouring blocks and the town council has done a wonderful landscaping job.

In Yunan, China, the government preserved the Old Town of Lijiang and it is recognised as a Unesco preserved site.

Can the same be done for Tiong Bahru?

Lee Hoi Yin

Copyright © 2007 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved. Privacy Statement & Condition of Access

The "Seng Poh Road" Divider

There is an error in the current issue of the Home and Decor magazine. They have erroneously tagged the transacted prices for HDB in the Tiong Bahru Estate as Conserved flats. And to make it worse, the magazine mentioned me and my website. (Hello!? Were you working under pressure?)

Home and Decor did ask me to provide the prices of the Pre-War flats but I told them I only have the HDB transacted prices in my website. As for the Pre-War section, there are no public records of them in either the HDB or URA website. We gotta find out from the valuers or do a search on them....with cost. (I wonder why these information are not readily available).

Anyway, to "right" the wrong, I hope to be crystal clear this time around in explaining where the HDBs are and where the conserved ones are located.

Seng Poh Road (highlighted in PINK) is the road that separated the 2. I hope the picture I have provided below would clarifies this once and for all.

Extreme Makeover

BEFORE ????????????

AFTER ????????????

In case you are wondering if someone in Tiong Bahru has done an Extreme Makeover - Home Edition......sorry to disappoint.

The 1st picture was taken in the Tiong Bahru Estate while the nicer one was taken at the SMU Residences @ Prinsep .

If you intend to buy a ground floor unit over at the Tiong Bahru Estate, perhaps you can take a cue from these trendy hostels.

Where are the Privates and where are the HDBs?

There are 2 categories of flats in the Tiong Bahru Estate and these flats are
split up into 2 sections within the Tiong Bahru Estate.

On one side are the HDB regulated flats while on the other side are the privatised properties.

HDB SIT flat (Post War)

The HDB Post War flats are rather angular and the shapes are very standardised. Some people always refer to it as the ones with the round balconies. Actually, they are not balconies but the staircases for the residents to climb up to their unit. It is also what makes the building unique and charming.

These flats were built from the 1948 - 1951 period. It was built by the Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT). Some people refer these flats as the LIM YEW HOCK flats but I do not think they are built during his reign as Chief Minister of Singapore as he only took office in 1956. So to call these the LIM YEW HOCK's flats is actually inaccurate. I usually call them the SIT flats but that still does not clear up the confusion as the PRE-WAR section are also built by SIT.

An easier way is to identify them by the block number. Blk 17 to Blk 50 are flats which requires the buyer to comply with the HDB's eligibility scheme.

Originally, these flats were rented out and later, resident were "encouraged" to buy them in 1973, when HDB took over the responsibility of running the estate.

Blk 55 to Blk 82 are the Pre-War Conserved flats which were privatised in 1965 to 1967 under the Government's pilot Home Ownership Scheme. The conservation status was only awarded in 2003.

PRE WAR CONSERVED FLATS

These flats were built in 1936 and most of them survived the bombing of World War II. Blk 78 Guan Chuan Street even has a bomb shelter beneath them.

The walls of these buildings are really tough. If you even need to hack away these "historical" wall, your contractor can get rather creative with his choice of words while hacking them.

Although these buildings look almost the same from the outside, the buildings actually contain apartments of various sizes. Even the building height is rather varied. Some buildings are a mixed 2 to 3 storey high while some are as tall as 5 storey. The "super senior" taxi drivers will always refer this place as the "GOR LAU CHU" (5 storey flats). (Do not attempt to utter this to the modern day taxi drivers...unless you have a lot of time or is dying to start a conversation.)

The Singapore Government started selling these flats to the residents from 1965 to 1967 under a Government's pilot Home Ownership Scheme. Which explains the reason why the 99 lease starts from 1965 to 1967 and not from 1936.

Number of Toilets Available

How many toilets are there in these Tiong Bahru Flats?

One and only..... regardless of the size of the unit.

Unauthorised Renovations

Over at the Pre-War section of the Tiong Bahru Estate, it is quite common to see unauthorised renovations amongst the residents there.

Before purchasing a Pre-War Tiong Bahru flat, it would be prudent to ask the owner or the seller's agent if there are any unauthorised renovations within the flat.

Some obvious ones that are easily spotted would be the location of the MAIN DOORS for ground floor units. The original Pre-War flats does not have any main door facing the corridor walkways except for a few rare units who has such privileges.

Most main door should be located within the stairways in the buildings. If it is located along the corridor walkway, the owner would be required to shift the door back to its original position before the transaction could be completed. Many a times, this has caused a lot of unnecessary argument over who should pay for the relocation of door and whether or not the owner has to reinstate back the door after the inspection is done.

The other obvious NON APPROVED renovations would be the hacking down of walls in the AIR WELL area. This is especially common amongst the ground floor owners. When these owner sells, they are also required to put back the wall and remove whatever shelters they might have put up to prevent rain from coming in.

Illegal gates are also another thing to look out for. Most gates should be right in front of the main door. But the building design here at Tiong Bahru basically allows owners to cordon off certain segment of the stairs and use it as a personal space. These owners could get away with no complaints because such units are located on the top most floor. No one uses the stairways except the owners themselves. Anyway, most new owners will promptly reinstall these illegal gates. People are basically territorial creatures.

I can only speculate on why there are so many unauthorised renovations around here. It could be because these flats are really old. The enforcement was probably very lax in the past. Monkey see monkey do. If everyone else is doing it, it is probably right. So the owners just keep trying to test the limits. Some unfortunately owners were not even aware that the flat they purchased many years ago contained unauthorised renovations and gets a rude shock only when they try to sell the property.

There was also a period in time where these flats were actually slated for demolition. It may be also be part of the reason why some officials closed one eye when inspecting the place. They never expect the demolition plan to change but it did and the place actually got gazetted as a conservation area in 2003!

Now URA and HDB are managing this area and there are some grey area where both of them cannot decide on who should be responsible. You will definitely have a lot of fun interacting with them when you are renovating your abode.

Types of HDB floorplan layout (88 sqm)

The floor plan above is a typical one for a CORNER 3 room unit. The main difference are the windows found on the side of the units. These windows allow more light and air to come into the flat. Also, if you need more rooms, it is also possible to configure a 3 bedroom layout as opposed to the INTERMEDIATE units.

So the obvious units to go for are the CORNER units. But then again, you must have the patience, determination and a bit of luck to get to buy one of these CORNER units.

The reality is that it is already hard enough to wait for someone here to sell, let alone a CORNER unit. So most of time, buyers eventually compromise.

Where to buy the floor plans?

You can purchase the floor plans with HDB. It will cost you $5 per floor plan.

You can also go to Toa Payoh HDB Hub Level 3 to buy if you need it urgently.

Alternatively, you can go online and purchase it at http://www.hdb.gov.sg/

Checking the Unit's Built in Area

To check the size of the flat you intend to buy, you can call the HDB branch office hotline at 1800-2255432 during office hours to find out.

BUT PLEASE TAKE NOTE THAT THE SIZE QUOTED MIGHT DEFER FROM YOUR BANK VALUATION REPORT.

Who is right and who is wrong? I wonder too.

'50s flats in Tiong Bahru a big draw

Click on the article for enlarged verison (Easier on your eyes)