Eye on Buangkok: The simple life

Kampong Lorong Buangkok is the last surviving village on mainland Singapore. (Photo: Zarina Baguio, Wikimedia Commons)

Time seems to have stood still in parts of Buangkok and Upper Serangoon. Residents of the rustic Kampong Lorong Buangkok continue to live a quiet and peaceful life raising livestock. This has attracted home seekers who are drawn to the area’s natural beauty. Meanwhile, plans are underway to develop new infrastructure to make it more convenient for residents.

By Joanne Poh

Buangkok’s main claim to fame is Kampong Lorong Buangkok, Singapore’s last kampong (Malay for village) still in existence today. Older Singaporeans nostalgic for days gone by and millennials in search of a rustic backdrop for Instagram photos have flocked to the area in search of a storied past.

But there is more to the Buangkok and Upper Serangoon area than the kampong life.

Today, the Buangkok subzone and the neighbouring land flanking Upper Serangoon Road have become a lively residential area, though much more modern than Kampong Lorong Buangkok.

Primarily composed of housing estates, some of the biggest residential clusters in the area can be found on Compassvale Drive, Sengkang East Way and Buangkok Drive.

Blast from the past

The famous kampong continues to fascinate to this day. Formerly populated by people who worked in nearby factories or the former Woodbridge Hospital, now renamed the Institute of Mental Health, it is now home to numerous elderly residents amongst the 28 families who still reside there.

Homes in the kampong consist of wooden huts topped with zinc roofs, and many residents still rear animals such as chickens.

Visiting Buangkok is like taking a step back in time, not just because of the architecture and landscape, but also because the way of life there retains the slower pace and friendliness of a Singapore that is now lost to most.

It is not uncommon for residents to leave their doors open or to make house calls to see the other residents in their little neighbourhood, and the environment is pleasantly free of noise pollution from nearby crowds and shopping malls.

While no concrete plans have been announced to redevelop the area, Singaporeans wait with baited breath as it seems it is only a matter of time before the kampong is demolished to make way for new land use. For now, it remains one of the last vestiges of simpler times.

Outside of the kampong, the Upper Serangoon area is not short of nostalgia-generating sites, either, although many more have since been demolished.

For instance, the row of historic shophouses at Teck Chye Terrace marks the site of the famous and since-demolished Lim Tua Tow Market, which housed some of the city’s best hawkers in the fifties and sixties. The Tou Mu Kung Temple, which has been gazetted as a national monument since 2005, dates back to 1921.

Life in Buangkok and Upper Serangoon

This peace and tranquility of Kampong Lorong Buangkok extends to the rest of the Buangkok and Upper Serangoon area, which despite the proliferation of high-rise buildings remains a quiet, pleasant neighbourhood that is largely free from the crowds which residents of busier neighbourhoods battle.

According to property agent Edmund Ee of PropNex Realty, Upper Serangoon and Buangkok are attractive areas for parents who wish to live near established schools in the vicinity, including Holy Innocents Primary School and CHIJ Our Lady of the Nativity. There is also rental demand from aerospace sector employees working at the nearby Seletar Airport and Seletar Aerospace Park.

This is in spite of the area’s many amenities which are a testament to Singapore’s reputation for convenience and comfort.

On Seletar Road, Greenwich V redefines the mall experience by offering quaint outdoor spaces and alfresco dining options, and boasts stylish tenants such as Awfully Chocolate, Cold Stone Creamery and Wine Connection.

Another mall in the area, The Seletar Mall on Sengkang West Avenue, is home to popular F&B establishments like Din Tai Fung, Han’s Cafe and Sushi Express, as well as a FairPrice Finest and Shaw Theatres cinema.

While Buangkok and Upper Serangoon are located about 15km from the city centre, transport links provide residents with easy connections to town. The North-East Line provides direct access from the Buangkok and Hougang stations to the Dhoby Ghaut and Clarke Quay stations.

Residents also stand to benefit from the future Integrated Transport Hub in Hougang, which will enable commuters to make the seamless transition from bus interchange to MRT and vice versa, all the while remaining in air-conditioned comfort and enjoying a range of retail and F&B options.

The Cross Island Line, which is slated to open in 2030, will provide residents with easy connections to Changi Airport and western Singapore.

But perhaps the most exciting development is the North-Eastern Riverine Loop (NERL) park connector network, which is easily accessible from Buangkok and Upper Serangoon. The 26km-long loop, which includes cycling tracks, connects some of Singapore’s most stunning parks, including Punggol Waterway Park, Sengkang Riverside Park, Punggol Park and Lorong Halus Wetland.

In time to come, the NERL will join an island-wide Round Island Route spanning 150km. The park connector network will also be made denser to allow residents easier access to the cycling tracks on the loop.

Already, Singaporeans from other parts of the island are flocking to the area to take advantage of what is now one of Singapore’s greenest residential areas.

Many units at Kingsford Waterbay have riverfront views, making the project popular with home buyers.

The future of Buangkok

The area around Buangkok MRT station looks set to receive a facelift. The open field beside the station will be transformed into an integrated development that will see residential units, the MRT station and the bus interchange all integrated into one complex, in addition to a range of community and commercial facilities.

In late 2014, the HDB announced plans to develop a heritage corridor in the Upper Serangoon area at a cost of $9.5 million. The heritage corridor aims to educate residents about the historical and cultural aspects of their precinct, which include temples and traditional shophouses.

For those hoping to benefit from a residential development in the area, there is the upcoming Kingsford Waterbay, a 99-year leasehold condominium comprising three 16-storey blocks at Upper Serangoon View. The development is exciting from a lifestyle point of view due to its location right beside the scenic Punggol Park, which has very successfully transformed the area into a lifestyle and watersports destination.

Ee is optimistic about the potential of the condo development. He says, “Kingsford Waterbay is an iconic and affordable riverfront development going at an average of $1,160 psf. It will also give support to the prices of older developments in the area.”

More employment opportunities in the area will be created thanks to the redevelopment of Defu Industrial Park, which will be accessible via the cycling network, and the upcoming Lorong Halus Industrial Park, which will also enjoy a riverfront location on the banks of Sungei Serangoon.

Given that two plots (one at Fernvale and another at Anchorvale) were awarded in September 2016, it appears there’s more in store for the Buangkok and Upper Serangoon area.

Did you know

– The land on which Kampong Lorong Buangkok stands was acquired by a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) seller named Sng Teow Hoon and then inherited by his descendants, one of whom still lives in the kampong. The other residents pay a monthly rent which adds up to a very small token sum.

– There has been some controversy surrounding Buangkok MRT station. It was originally supposed to be opened in 2003, but the actual opening was delayed until 2006 and saw a far lower ridership than was expected. To highlight the issue, a resident put up white elephant-shaped paper cut-outs near the MRT station. This was later followed by the sale of T-shirts reading “Save the White Elephants” by Raffles Girls’ School students.

– Kampong Lorong Buangkok has gained a bit of a reputation as a tourist destination, and is even featured in Lonely Planet’s Singapore guidebook.

			This article was first published in the print version PropertyGuru News & Views. Download PDFs of full print issues or read more stories now!