My Queenstown Heritage Trail: Discovering the many “firsts” of Queenstown

Queenstown has the honour of being a town of many firsts. It is the first satellite town in Singapore. It is also where you can find Singapore’s first HDB flats, the first branch library, the first neighbourhood shopping centre and the first sports complex.

We were invited to go on a preview of My Queenstown Heritage Trail recently. This trail documents the history and development of the estate since the 1960s and walked us through more than fifty years of Queenstown’s history through the personal stories of older residents and the buildings that still stand today.

We started the tour at Queenstown MRT, the starting point of the trail, bright and early at 9am on a Sunday. Here are some of the trail’s highlights…

Queenstown is a place close to our hearts. My husband was born here, and also spent many of his growing-up years in this neighbourhood.

I’ve always wondered what this old (but repainted) colourful building was. If you take the MRT (East-West line), you’d definitely have caught a glimpse of this “rainbow building” before. So I learnt from our knowledgable guide that this used to be Singapore first driving test centre.

In those days, there wasn’t any computerised test system yet, so people had to use toy cars and manually follow instructions such as slowing down when coming to a traffic light. So hard to imagine, right?

The dome-shaped building above is the former Commonwealth Avenue wet market. It bears an uncanny resemblance to a traditional Chinese coffin, thus its nickname “the coffin market.” This is one of the three buildings in the area gazetted for conservation in 2013 (along with the Queenstown Library and Alexandra Hospital), and word has it that it will be transformed into a community museum in the future.

Next stop, Singapore’s first branch library!

This is also our oldest library building that’s still standing today. (This is after the old National Library at Stamford Road was torn down in 2005.) We still visit this library quite often as it has a pretty extensive children’s books and DVDs section.

Photos of the library’s opening by then PM Lee in April 1970.

Photos of library cards, past and present.

Hear personal stories from residents

One of the best parts of the tour is the opportunity to hear stories from old-timers of the neighbourhood. Below is Mr Mahmood, who has lived in one of these rare HDB terraces along Stirling Road since he was a child. He used to rear chickens and grow vegetables in his front yard!

He also shared that when he was young he actually saw an elephant keeper (during one travelling circus tour) get killed by the elephant in the 1960s. He said that it was likely because the elephant got angry when the children threw stones at it.

Later on, we also heard from Alice Lee, a retiree who has been a resident here for 45 years. She distinctly recalls her fears when she first visited her new flat at Tanglin Halt - her first taste of high-rise living, and even shared that she stores the door keys of some 10 neighbours in a secret box in her home! (For when her neighbours forget their keys of course!)

After hearing her story, I realised how the kampong spirit still lives in some of these old neighbourhoods, where everyone knows everyone else, and trust and friendship abounds.

From the HDB terraces, we were a trot away from getting up close and personal with Singapore’s oldest HDB flats. Completed in the 1960s, these seven storey blocks house one, two, and three-bedroom units that are home to rental residents.

These chairs have seen better days…

Do you remember these old letterboxes?

Next stop, a hair-raising experience…

I must have been on one of these kiddy rides as a child before…

This Malay barber is another long-time resident of Tanglin Halt.

In the hot seat…

Just next to the barber, a really old-school hair salon.

It is sad to know that many of the shops and businesses will be soon gone, when the huge redevelopment project at Tanglin Halt kicks off in a few years’ time.

One of the last few stops of the trail is the Blessed Sacrament Church. The first Catholic church in Queenstown, its exterior looks like it was inspired by origami folds.

A church service was in progress so we could only peep in through the windows outside.

I thoroughly enjoyed getting my dose of nostalgia walking around and learning about Singapore’s first satellite town. (Have I mentioned before I love being a tourist in my own country?) This free walkabout tour is suitable for families with kids who are primary-school goers and above. And as usual, remember to come with your umbrellas, hats and comfortable walking shoes.

My Queenstown Heritage Trail takes place on the last Sunday of every month. The tours are conducted by volunteers from civic group, My Community, and they cover important landmarks from My Queenstown Heritage Trail. Each guided tour is about 2 hours long and starts punctually at 9am sharp from Queenstown MRT Station.

You can register yourself and your friends for the tours by leaving your name, NRIC or Passport number and contact details with [email protected]. Download the Mini Queenstown Trail brochure here.