Our Bedok Kampong House Singapore

Bedok Rest House, probably the most famous landmark at Bedok corner and most familiar to so many of us. It frequently served as a reference point when we needed to let people know where to meet or to point out where we used to stay (yes just after this building, the 3 Storey Sa-chan-lau (or 2B Bedok Road), then Kak Min’s residence at 4E (the Indian Muslim family), and then us at 10J. Our family went back in October 1992 (we moved out of the kampong in October 1974) to have dinner there and celebrate our late father’s then 62 nd birthday before it closed in end 1992. And in March 1993 on a trip back to Singapore to trace her former residence at 2B, Mrs Jackie Munro and family visited her neighbour next door – before it was demolished completely. Thanks for this memorable photo, Mrs Munro - for a memory keepsake. It was funny to see this huge sign here! Celebrating our father's 62nd birthday then with the family, a few months before they closed for good

Thanks again to Mrs Jackie Munro, who took this early 1968 photo from her home at 2B Bedok Road (the 3-storey building or sa-chan-lau), we are now able to have a glimpse of our Bedok Kampong then with the Masjid Bedok Laut in the centre. On the right the metal railings that served as the moat bridge led up to the Sultan of Pahang’s holiday home, and on the left a tiny glimpse of our neighbour Kak Min’s house at 4E with a small attap structure within her compound. Our own house at 10J is on the left but out of range and not seen here. Also out of range but to the right are the police quarters, after the Sultan’s home (or Istana) The kampong gravel road you see here winds gently (from Bedok corner on its left, towards the Sungei Bedok bridge on its right) between the houses and coconut trees, dry and dusty when it was sunny but turning orangey when it rained with its shallow ruts filled with rainwater and the road sides turning into small torrential streams of water flowing through the...

Our mother reminded us recently that the current bus 10 plies the exact portion of the route taken by the old Katong-Bedok bus when it travelled past Simpang Bedok, down Bedok Road, and on to Upper East Coast and East Coast Road, passing Katong before going on to its final destinations. And the bus number for that same route in those days was also 10! This circa 1956 photo shows such a bus coming from the Bedok corner depot – a British AEC Regal III with its bus body most likely built by Hock Lee Coachbuilders, circa 1953-1956. And well into the early 70's we did take this same bus 10 from the bus stop (same location as Cold Storage now) to our school at St Patrick's and back again...

Quiet rowing in the sea off Bedok beach, early 1968 – taken from the reclaimed land just outside Bedok (army) Camp 2 and near Bedok corner. See the many kelongs in the distance! Thanks again to Jackie Munro for this. Perfect photo for a restful weekend for all followers! 

Our late father cut out this 1995 report of a Chinese-language book “Who’s Who In The Chinese Community” launched at that time by Acting Environment Minister Mr Teo Chee Hean - because he believed his father was mentioned within its pages. We have now been able, with the great assistance from the National Library Board staff, to procure a page that mentions our grandfather, Mr Tan Piah Eng, one of the 1,175 listed Chinese community leaders in Singapore then. With the aid of DeepSeek AI, and thanks to our cousin’s husband, we were able to have page 418 which mentions him, highlighting his contributions during World War I (1914 to 1918) translated and transposed into a tribute for him, on the 71 st anniversary of his death on 27 February 1955.  Tan Piah Eng and his legacy During the challenging years of the First World War which started in 1914, Tan Piah Eng, who was 36 years of age then, played a vital yet often unseen role in supporting the community through one of the most di...

This writer, the older of the boys am grateful to have caught up with Michael Hall and his wife when they visited Singapore last few weeks. Michael and I have been in contact since mid 2024, from his home in Devon, UK. Michael and his family stayed at Bedok (along Bedok Road nearer to Simpang Bedok, opposite Bedok Walk) in the late 1960’s when his RAF dad was posted here, and very familiar with Singapore! He just turned 13 (extreme right) when this photo was taken by his dad at Bedok beach (see left side fencing belonging to the holiday home of the Sultan of Pahang). And here we are posing by Sungei Bedok (now a concrete canal) when we visited Bedok corner just last week! Thank you, Michael, for all the support you have given our blog and Facebook page! Oct/Nov 1968 when Michael (extreme right) just turned 13, 58 years ago Inset box: posing by Sungei Bedok (Bedok River), Feb 2026