Kampong Bedok Laut's Jambatan Hitam

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In the days when the Sungei Bedok tributary still flowed beside our Bedok kampong house, long before it was filled with landfill around 1960, a handful of small bridges linked one bank to the other, carrying neighbours, bicycles, and the small routines of kampong life.

One of these crossings was this distinctive curved hump timber bridge, built for pedestrians and cyclists. Kampong folk fondly called it “Jambatan Hitam”, the Black Bridge, after its dark‑painted trusses and the structures that led toward the police quarters. For many, it was simply part of the daily route; for others, including our own family, it became a favourite spot to pause for a photograph.

Taken in 1959, this photo captures the bridge at a time when water still ran beneath it, the stream moving gently through a Bedok that has since vanished. With a little help from AI, we can now focus on the bridge itself, letting its shape and memory stand clearly once more.

Our thanks to our former kampong neighbours - Ron Ho of 6C Bedok Road and Abu Bakar Haji Ibrahim of 4E Bedok Road - for helping us piece together the story of this humble but well‑loved bridge.

From an original 1959 photo by the estate of Tan Kim Suan


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