Racial Harmony Day 2026

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Some records describe Kampong Bedok Laut as a settlement for fishermen and farmers. Yet when our family arrived in the mid‑1950s - and through its life until the early 1990s - the kampong was already a living tapestry of multiculturalism.

Having called it home for twenty years, we still recall our neighbours vividly: Kak Min and her family at Rumah Bombay; Chew Nian and Sa Kor across the lane; the Ho’s and Soh’s nearby. Mdm Salmah, her large family, and other residents along Jalan Greja shaped the kampong’s architecture with their daily rhythms. M. S. Velu, our village barber, worked beside Ah Yam of Swee Aun Provision Shop - each eking out a livelihood with steadfast dignity, quiet industry and honest labour.

We remember too our friends Adrian Boudville , Mark Roch, and their families, and Daniel Koh. Aimida Haq and the households at Padang Terbakar who brought colour to our neighbourhood. Adding to this mosaic were Jackie Munro, Ann Froud our RAF residents, and their families living in and around the three‑storey sar‑chan‑lau building – and Michael Hall who lived further down towards Simpang Bedok. Truly, Bedok Kampong was a home for everyone - including the masjids, church, and temples that stood within our midst.

To visualise this spirit of oneness, we created these illustrations based on actual houses from our former kampong and its surroundings - homes that once sheltered our diverse community. At its heart stood Masjid Bedok Laut, a landmark that gave the area its distinctive identity.

The rhythm of kampong life here at Bedok - eventually snuffed out by redevelopment - had quietly modelled the very values that modern Singapore now upholds. As we recollect that spirit of oneness, where intermingling was second nature, we wish one and all a meaningful Racial Harmony Day 2026.

Image made with Copilot


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