60 years of Our Singapore Housing

Four blocks of flats standing at 5 storeys high are located at East Coast Road near the bungalows at Frankel Estate in Siglap. The flats consisting of all 2-room units were built in 1963 to rehouse the Kampong Siglap residents who were homeless during a fire sparked by firecrackers during the Chinese New Year celebrations the year before. As a result of the fire which damaged about 50 attap houses, the HDB moved in quickly to build these blocks at the site of the destroyed kampong to house the victims. The flats used to be standing near the coastline facing the sea and the beach. However, these features disappeared when East Coast was being reclaimed in the late 1960s to build Marine Parade Estate. However, in this small ageing neighborhood with mostly elderly residents in a prime area made up of condominiums and landed properties, these flats were selected for the Selective En-Bloc Redevelopment Scheme(SERS) and the last residents moved out to their replacement units by 2015.

The first HDB flats built in the East of Singapore were located at Tanjong Rhu which were completed in 1962. These flats are surrounded by bungalows in the vicinity of Tanjong Katong. Some of the 2-room and 3-room flats in Jalan Batu and Kampong Arang Road are still standing as of today.