Our Relatives over at Jalan Haji Salam

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Just a short walk from our Bedok kampong was Jalan Haji Salam, off Upper East Coast Road - where our peranakan cousin (same grandfather, different grandmother) and her family lived in the kampong there.

Jalan Haji Salam was best known as the place where the “King of Bedok” resided, in his Villa Haji Kahar, which still stands today. Theirs was a single‑storey wooden house with plank walls and an attap roof, located at No. 14. The family first moved in circa 1955 (about a year after we moved into our place) and were quite content living among the kampong folk. Our auntie made all sorts of kueh to sell, helping to supplement the family’s income – and never came home until her ‘bakul suda jual habis’ (basket of cakes all sold out).

Leaving Haji Salam kampong was not an easy decision. The older members of the family loved kampong life, but the heavy rains caused persistent leaking through the roof. Eventually, it became clear that it was time to move on. In June 1967, they relocated to the newly built HDB flats at Jalan Bukit Merah.

At the time, neighbours and relatives teased them, saying they were moving to a prison. Ironically, years later, everyone else in the kampong would be compelled to do the same.

This is a small photo tribute to that former home, including their neighbour’s daughter, Queenie (perhaps from an RAF family?) dated circa 1955 - reminding us that Kampong Haji Salam, like Bedok Laut, was a mixed‑race kampong.

Photos and story courtesy of our cousin’s daughter (niece / first cousin once removed), Winnie Goh.


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