Bukit Ho Swee - one room flat 1963 - 1969

Mr Lee Kuan Yew officiated in the opening ceremony of Bukit Ho Swee housing Estate in 1961. The block which I stayed is visible in these two photographs from NHB

When my father died in 1963, my widowed mother could not afford the 3-room Margaret Drive flat. With my three brothers, we moved into 281-C Jalan Bukit Ho Swee, which was single room flat. These flats were built for the victims of the Bukit Ho Swee fire.

The common corridor ran through two rows of units, like those found in the rental flats at Bukit Merah today. The common toilets were located in the middle of the block at every level. There were about 10 toilets at each level. The hygiene then was atrocious. There was no one to clean the toilets daily. I would usually bring my pail of water along to flush the floor of the toilet first before using it, not daring to breathe much.

Daily we could hear squabbles in adjacent units, usually over money matters. At times, there were suicides. The worst was when one of the resident hung himself in the toilet. You would never see me using that particular toilet or going there at night. I would rather use the poo container indoor.

My unit faced the more prosperous Tiong Bahru SIT flats and I used to envy them from my kitchen window (right)

There were some families who tried to make ends meet by selling cigarettes. There was a nice lady who operated a barber shop on the ground floor. Another family was selling ricksaw noodles from the ground level flat.

We stayed there for about three years before those blocks were demolished.