Our Bedok Kampong House Singapore

With most of us having moved to brightly lit HDB estates following the relocation and redevelopment years, it is almost overwhelming to remember just how dark our kampong nights once were. At our home at 10J Bedok Road, the rear of the house, where the main entrance door was actually located, faced a gravel road illuminated by only a handful of widely spaced incandescent street lamps. The front of the house, however, faced the sea and had no such lighting. Once dusk fell, a curtain of darkness would descend upon us. This photograph captures the front verandah of our house, with its distinctive criss-cross timber lattice panels. Seated on a rattan armchair is our mother, then in her mid-thirties, in 1973. What is remarkable is that beyond the reach of the camera's flash lay complete darkness. The photographer was looking directly out from the verandah, yet there was virtually nothing for the lens to capture. Looking at the image today, it is little wonder that kampong nights o...

Recently, we were contacted by reader Jelajah Ilmu Benar Insani, who, to our great delight, turned out to be one of the descendants of Haji Kahar, the famed "King of Bedok". Through his villa at Jalan Haji Salam and the legacy he left behind, Haji Kahar's presence remains an unmistakable and enduring part of Bedok's history. Our conversations on Messenger opened a fascinating window into the life of this remarkable pioneer, whose influence helped shape the Bedok of old. Villa Haji Kahar, named after businessman Haji Kahar bin Haji Abdul Ghani, was recently gazetted for conservation and was described by The Straits Times as "one of the last surviving markers of the old Kampong Bedok." Standing at No. 1 Bedok Avenue, just off Jalan Haji Salam, the two-storey bungalow occupies a generous 5,963.2 sq m site that also includes No. 3 Bedok Avenue, a beautifully crafted kampong house that once formed part of the family's estate. Based on public records, Ha...

 To everyone who reads this blog, thank you. We are truly glad you are part of this journey. Within these posts, and in our companion Facebook page, lies a living archive of a vanished Bedok that future generations might otherwise never know existed. These stories are more than simple histories. While many heritage articles tell us what once stood here, these recollections help us remember how it felt to live there. Through photographs, memories and personal accounts, we are transported back to the rhythms of everyday kampong life: the familiar faces, the well-trodden shortcuts, the bus rides, the neighbourhood shops, and the friendships that bound our community together. These ordinary moments may never appear in official records, yet they are often the memories we cherish most. This page has become more than a collection of stories. It is a shared community narrative, woven together by former residents, family members, neighbours and friends, all contributing their own thre...

This photograph, taken in 1985 by Jayne Krishna , captures a familiar scene along Bedok Road. It was photographed from the bus stop (notice the roof?) just outside her late grandfather's shop, belonging to our favourite barber, Uncle Velu. For many former kampong residents, this was a place rich with everyday memories. If you had been making your way to catch a bus here, you might have emerged from the wet market behind after taking the narrow shortcut that ran between Uncle Velu's shop and Fang Rong. Those cycling in from Padang Terbakar would often lock their bicycles along the fence of the Bedok Rest House before walking through the terrace shops to reach the bus stop. After checking whether your bus had arrived, chances were you would have stood for a while, letting your gaze wander across the row of interconnecting houses directly opposite. Looking further to the left, you would have seen the distinctive two-storey laundry building, followed by the Bedok Police Post. ...

We started this blog and Facebook page to share stories of life at our Bedok kampong home at 10J Bedok Road during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Many former residents began following our page and reaching out to us. It became our privilege not only to recount our own memories, but also to tell the stories of others who had lived in the same kampong community before the tide of relocation and redevelopment changed the landscape forever. What many may not know is that, in the early days of this page, we received an unexpected comment that took us completely by surprise. It came from our former next-door neighbours from the Rumah Bombay house at 4E Bedok Road. That remarkable discovery led to an initial reunion, and just last month, two former neighbours, both among the surviving residents of that bygone era, were reunited after fifty-two years apart. We were warmly welcomed by Abu Bakar Haji Ibrahim and his family into their lovely home, where we enjoyed their generous hospitality and ...

Today, we dedicate this Children’s Day post to all the little ones who once lived, played, and breathed in the old Bedok kampongs and their surrounding villages. There was truly something different - something magical - about being a child in our kampong from the 50's through the 70's. Childhood was not an age; it was an adventure. For Ron Ho , the kampong was freedom itself - roaming the beach, digging for shells, hunting for crabs and prawns at low tide, and “attacking” fruit trees that definitely belonged to someone else. Those were, as he often says, the best years of his growing‑up life. For Saadiah Ahmad , the memories still spark joy. She learnt to ride a bicycle along sandy lanes, caught banana‑tree worms to feed the family’s monkey, followed her mother to the beach to collect cockles, crabs and seaweed for homemade agar‑agar . She remembers catching tiny fish at the big drain near the army camp and watching mudskippers dance at the mouth of Sungei Bedok. For Marc...