A lot has changed in Singapore in the past 60 years with regards to housing. In just one generation they went from two-story shophouses to ultra-modern skyscraper condos. You can still find the shophouses in certain sections of Singapore. The ones below are in Chinatown.
These are downtown on Telok Ayer St - which is the street Ping-Ping works on. I like shutters on these.
What's nice about the shophouse setup is the built-in covered sidewalks underneath the second floors. This comes in handy when you are trying to avoid the sun or the rain.
Around 1960 or so, the government started building high-rise apartments due to land scarcity. I can say, without hesitation, that the great majority of these are extremely ugly cement block monstrosities. They are fine on the inside - I am referring to their exterior. This government housing is referred to "HDB flats", which stands for Housing and Development Board. About 80-90% of Singaporeans live in HDB flats. These are owned, not rented, leading to a home ownership of close to 90%. There are rules however - you have to be married to own one or if single, you cannot own one until you reach 35 years of age. Foreigners cannot own HDB flats.
As the economy started to hum, the government began to auction off land to private developers who built much nicer looking high-rise condos. These are available for purchase by anyone, including foreigners, so they tend to be pricier.
Here's a high-rise condo that is next-door to Ping-Ping's mom's building. Many of the recent condos have large balconies and are painted in watercolors. I think these are what gave me the first impression of Singapore being a greener, hotter Miami.
What's nice about the shophouse setup is the built-in covered sidewalks underneath the second floors. This comes in handy when you are trying to avoid the sun or the rain.
Around 1960 or so, the government started building high-rise apartments due to land scarcity. I can say, without hesitation, that the great majority of these are extremely ugly cement block monstrosities. They are fine on the inside - I am referring to their exterior. This government housing is referred to "HDB flats", which stands for Housing and Development Board. About 80-90% of Singaporeans live in HDB flats. These are owned, not rented, leading to a home ownership of close to 90%. There are rules however - you have to be married to own one or if single, you cannot own one until you reach 35 years of age. Foreigners cannot own HDB flats.
As the economy started to hum, the government began to auction off land to private developers who built much nicer looking high-rise condos. These are available for purchase by anyone, including foreigners, so they tend to be pricier.
Here's a high-rise condo that is next-door to Ping-Ping's mom's building. Many of the recent condos have large balconies and are painted in watercolors. I think these are what gave me the first impression of Singapore being a greener, hotter Miami.
In some neighborhoods, you get the juxtaposition of old and new which can be jarring. A good example is Chinatown. In the foreground are colorful shophouses, with an HDB flat peeking above them and on the horizon are some towering private condos under construction.
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