Many of the residents have already moved out of Blk 39A when we decide to kaypoh this place so as to dig out some more precious memories about the residents residing in this iconic structure in Queenstown. Blk 39A was built in 1969 together with the various amenities such as shophouses, the cinemas and cooked food centre. At the tallest level, you can have a breathtaking view of the city, the port and other districts of Queenstown. However, the bulldozer approach continues in Singapore as most of these iconic buildings and food centres will disappear next year.
Today, we are fortunate to meet Mdm Ng who has stayed in this block for more than 20 years and witnessed the rise and decline in fortunes about the estate.
Mdm Ng and her grandson
When Tah Chung Emporium was demolished in 2000, she felt uneasy. She recalled the days where there were rows of shops beneath and opposite her block. They were shops selling shirts, spectacles and clinics! Then, it was so convenient because she could get whatever she need in the shortest possible time. There were 4 schools opposite her flat, namely Strathmore Primary, Queenstown Primary, Huayi Primary and Margaret Drive Primary when she moved into her house. She would bring her children to the school and get the groceries after that. The canal linear park was not yet covered and it was a linear drain that leads to the Singapore river, she mentioned. She would return to Strathmore periodically to see her former flat at Blk 56!
Like most of the residents in Blk 39A, Blk 6C and Blk 27A, she would be receiving her keys to her Dawson apartment in the coming weeks. Though, she had to leave a familiar environment for a new and unexpected one, she felt she was lucky to be still in Queenstown. "All the memories and all the happiness," she commented, "cannot be erased with time." Living in Queenstown was a choice that she made in the past and a choice that she will never regret because Queenstown is in her heart and in her soul...
The Corridor where she planted bonsais
Blk 39A
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2 comments:
Thomas Chee
This is a great layout. Looking forward to your new posts
I Like Your New Design!
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