My dad is a Jurong kia
My father was born in 1948 in Jurong Road 12 milestones,an area now cleared and ready for pending development.
My father's daughter was born in 1981 in Boon Lay, just a short walk from where he was born.
Within 60 years, the change that has taken place in the vast area that was called Jurong is almost unimaginable. Previously of mangroves, farms, plantations and kampongs, today it is industrialized and see almost no ramnants of its rural past.
In fact, even the estate which I was born, a previously HUDC (JTC) built and owned workers' quarters has since been bought over by HDB and currently in the last phases of upgrading which will surely erase the unique qualities it has beared in Singapore's public housing architecture for the last 30 years. In the whole of Singapore, there are only no more than 5 estates that has buildings with this "point block" design where each level only has 4 units and each unit has 2 entrance/exits. Yet where these estates could be found, their layout are almost definitely identical and possibly evident of JTC's development.
Schools, cemeteries, temples and an exciting history of chinese diaspora in singapore could be found here in Jurong. All of which are also in danger of being forgotten. Most of which has already been exhumed, like the graves in the cemetery hill at Jurong Road 12 milestone.
As such, I decided to embark on a quest to attempt to record, document and archive as many of the stories and photographs as possible in my family's history and also in the history of Jurong. I thus decided to create a sister site of Pulau Ubin Stories and the Jurong Stories is born.
My father's daughter was born in 1981 in Boon Lay, just a short walk from where he was born.
Within 60 years, the change that has taken place in the vast area that was called Jurong is almost unimaginable. Previously of mangroves, farms, plantations and kampongs, today it is industrialized and see almost no ramnants of its rural past.
In fact, even the estate which I was born, a previously HUDC (JTC) built and owned workers' quarters has since been bought over by HDB and currently in the last phases of upgrading which will surely erase the unique qualities it has beared in Singapore's public housing architecture for the last 30 years. In the whole of Singapore, there are only no more than 5 estates that has buildings with this "point block" design where each level only has 4 units and each unit has 2 entrance/exits. Yet where these estates could be found, their layout are almost definitely identical and possibly evident of JTC's development.
Schools, cemeteries, temples and an exciting history of chinese diaspora in singapore could be found here in Jurong. All of which are also in danger of being forgotten. Most of which has already been exhumed, like the graves in the cemetery hill at Jurong Road 12 milestone.
As such, I decided to embark on a quest to attempt to record, document and archive as many of the stories and photographs as possible in my family's history and also in the history of Jurong. I thus decided to create a sister site of Pulau Ubin Stories and the Jurong Stories is born.
posted by Monkey at 9:34 AM
4 Comments:
I was also born and bred in zhap-jee-koh (12 miles) and some of the most memorable childhood moments included sweeping my grandparents' tombs at Bulim cemetry (a highly anticipated annual affair), studying at the PA kindergarden and participating in festive activities at the village community centre. I also remembered the time when I cycled on the fresh tarmac of the newly constructed PIE, before it was opened to traffic. Till today, whenever I travel on the PIE, I will keep a conscious lookout for the site that used to be my childhood home. To me, it looks impossibly small to accomodate the many families that used to live together.
Noble effort. Very interesting too. More please, with photos if possible. :D
Hi! im 11 years old and this is very interesting. I really want to know more with photos if possible please! thank you!
I m too once stayed at Jurong Road 12 miles for the first 20 years of my life, a village called Hong Kah and studied at the Sin Nan Primary School then. Indeed a place full of my childhood fond memories.
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