45, 48 and 49 Stirling Road are three residential flats on Stirling Road in Queenstown, Singapore. They were the first three blocks completed by the Housing and Development Board (HDB), having been previously left unfinished by its predecessor, the Singapore Improvement Trust.
45, 48 and 49 Stirling Road were initially to be completed by the Singapore Improvement Trust. However, while construction on the flats was ongoing, the trust was dissolved and replaced with the Housing and Development Board (HDB). The blocks were completed by the board in October 1960, becoming the first flats to have been completed by the HDB. Residents began moving into the buildings in early 1961. The three blocks are all 7-storeys tall and rental flats. [1] They include one, two and three-room units, [2] with fifteen units on every floor. [3] The buildings feature letterboxes with keyholes, pipe sockets for laundry poles, and rubbish chutes without step pedals at the end of corridors, all of which are no longer usual features of HDB blocks. Block 49 is the only block out of the three with shops on the ground floor. [4]
At the time of construction, the surrounding area was mainly undeveloped swampland. As such, residents began calling the flats qik lao, which is Hokkien for "seven storeys". In 1965, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, visited a local family living in the flats while being accompanied by then-President Yusof Ishak. [2] The blocks, which were previously orange in colour, were painted grey and beige in June 2016. In recent years, the toilets and the lifts have been upgraded. [4]
The three blocks are most commonly known as the first HDB blocks and were the first flats launched under the HDB's First Five-Year Programme, which aimed to reduce the number of squatters and provide low-cost housing. [5] However, the blocks were both planned and partially built by the Singapore Improvement Trust. The first blocks to have been entirely planned and built by the HDB are blocks 12, 13, and 14 on Merpati Road. [1] The Stirling Road blocks have been included in the My Queenstown Heritage Trail by the National Heritage Board. [5]
Ang Mo Kio is a planning area and residential town situated in the North-East region of Singapore. Located approximately 11 km (6.8 mi) north of the Downtown Core district, Ang Mo Kio is the 3rd most populated planning area in the North-East region and ranks 8th in terms of population in the country overall. The planning area is located at the south-western corner of the North-East region, bordered by the planning areas of Yishun to the north, Sengkang to the north-east, Serangoon to the east, Bishan to the south and the Central Water Catchment to the west.
The Housing & Development Board, is a statutory board under the Ministry of National Development responsible for the public housing in Singapore. Established in 1960 as a result of efforts in the late 1950s to set up an authority to take over the Singapore Improvement Trust's (SIT) public housing responsibilities, the HDB focused on the construction of emergency housing and the resettlement of kampong residents into public housing in the first few years of its existence.
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Bishan, also known as Peck San, Bishan New Town or Bishan Town, is a planning area and matured residential town located at the northernmost portion of the Central Region of Singapore. Statistically, the area is ranked the 38th biggest in terms of geographical size and the 22nd most populated planning area in the country. It is located at the most Central point of Singapore, and it comprises Upper Thomson, Marymount, Shunfu, Sin Ming, Bishan North and Bishan East. There are also many private residential properties in Bishan. Bishan is ranked 15th in terms of population density. Apart from its boundary with the Central Water Catchment in the west, Bishan borders three other planning areas: Ang Mo Kio to the north, Toa Payoh to the south, and Serangoon to the east.
Queenstown is a planning area and satellite residential town situated on the south-westernmost fringe of the Central Region of Singapore. It borders Bukit Timah to the north, Tanglin to the northeast, Bukit Merah to the east and southeast, as well as Clementi to the northwest and west. Its southern and southwesternmost limits are bounded by the Pandan Strait.
Toa Payoh is a planning area and mature residential town located in the northern part of the Central Region of Singapore. Toa Payoh planning area borders Bishan and Serangoon to the north, the Central Water Catchment to the northwest, Kallang to the south, Geylang to the southeast, Novena to the west and Hougang to the east. Toa Payoh New Town is situated in the western portion of the Toa Payoh planning area. The latter occupies a much larger area, encompassing estates such as Potong Pasir and Bidadari.
Tiong Bahru is a housing estate and subzone region located within Bukit Merah planning area, in the Central Region of Singapore. Tiong Bahru was constructed in the 1920s by the Singapore Improvement Trust, the predecessor to the Housing Development Board (HDB) and an entity of the British colonial authority providing mass public housing in Singapore and is the oldest housing estate in Singapore.
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