Tiong Bahru Estate

Tiong Bahru is the first public housing estate built in Singapore by the Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT) in the 1930s. The area was once a cemetery before its development. The buildings at Tiong Bahru, mostly not more than five storeys high, are designed with a mixture of Nanyang style and Art Moderne, a popular architectural design of the 1930s that emphasises on long horizontal lines with rounded ends. The estate initially catered to the wealthy but gradually became a mixed community of middle class and street hawkers. The area is known for its unique street names, named after prominent early Chinese pioneers, and features such as air raid shelters from WWII. Today, Tiong Bahru has been conserved and attracts younger Singaporeans with its nostalgic charm.