The provision shop at Dakota Crescent is manned by an old couple, toiling from dawn to dusk and serving the quiet estate well for more than 50 years.
Tucked in the corner of block 12, the provision shop’s antique signboard catches the eye easily. The rusty spring-loaded metal gates are also remnants of the past.
A variety of biscuits are sold in separate metal containers, while drinks, syrups, eggs, instant noodles, onions and potatoes are displayed in their respective shelves and baskets. Other goods are packed neatly in the old shop with limited space. To advance with time, the provision shop also sells ice-cream in a chiller nowadays.
Like the mama shops, old traditional provision shops face the challenge from minimarts and convenience stores. The number has dropped from 1,200 in the seventies to less than 200 islandwide now. Many younger generations have little desire to continue this struggling business which their forefathers had guarded religiously in the past decades.
In September 2011, National Heritage Board (NHB) included provision shops as part of the Singapore Memory Project, in an effort to record down this history that plays an important role in our local culture.
The picture above shows a typical provision shop in the eighties, displaying a large variety of dried food at the front of its shop. The shopowner would use a large milo can attached to the ceiling to deposit his daily income.
The Singapore Provision Shop Friendly Association (新加坡杂货店联谊会) is part of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SCCCI), representing the interest of the provision shops in Singapore.
The estate of Dakota Crescent, located off Old Airport Road, is a peaceful neighbourhood consists of 14 white blocks of flats of not more than 10 storeys tall. It was built in 1958 by the Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT) to deal with the increasing population at the Kallang Airport vicinity.
When it was completed a year later, Dakota Crescent estate had 2,936 units equipped with modern facilities in tap water, electricity and sanitary. Also the first housing estate to feature one-room unit, Dakota Crescent was named after American transport aircraft Dakota DC-3, which was massively produced during the World War II and a common plane to land at Kallang Airport, Singapore’s first civilian airport. Old Airport Road, the main road to access Dakota Crescent, was formerly the airport’s runway.
Another variation of the origin of the name was to commemorate the air disaster on 29 Jun 1946, when one of the Royal Air Force’s Dakota aircraft crashed at the Kallang Airport in a thunderstorm. All passengers on board were perished.
In July 2014, the Housing and Development Board (HDB) announced that site of Dakota Crescent would be embarked for future residential development. All residents of Dakota Crescent would have to move out by end-2016.
Also read Bidding Farewell to Dakota Crescent Flats.
Published: 08 September 2011
Updated: 02 December 2020
Remember Singapore 
Indeed this is a forgotten place! I used to cycle around when I was young and it has been years since I been to this place though staying a few blocks away at Cassia Crescent. I believe it is the rare few remaining 2-storey housing in Singapore!
This shop is not ‘old’ enough, expecially the shelving and layout, to be crowned a ‘nostalgia provision shop’. there are many older looking shops with old wooden shelves in old shophouses scattered all over in the old streets in Singapore.
Hi, I was wondering what happened to the people in Block 48 No 204a Dakota crescent, i use to know Some of the Teo family and was wondering where they are.They were Robert Teo and Nancy Teo and their Father worked in a Electrical shop i think. They use to Know me as JAMES. Any information would be great. This would have been in 1966 to 1976.
Many thanks
Any readers who happen to know this.. please help 😉
My family staying there at Block 46, 220 grd floor of the then 3-storey flat at Dakota Crescentard 1965 till 1970 during the cufew period. My family was known there as “Ten children” n remember Blk 48 gd floor ,there stay a family selling satay business and a fireman staying in Blk 46 grd floor corner.
This blog is amazing; thank you so much for your effort.
Actually there’re also a few places like this in places like Tanglin Halt and Tiong Bahru.
I believe this shop was use as a location shot for one of the children’s program in 2007 or 2008. Can’t recall the name of that program but think it was aired on Sundays around 10am or so. I wonder if such blocks may be selected for en-bloc in the future.
The shop is just opp my late grandma flat.. unfortunately my grandma died in a fire in her Dakota Cres flat. miss her,miss dakota,miss the shop..used to buy ciggies there every year on my Hari Raya visit to My Grandma place..
I remember there was a traffic circular near Kallang area where there were big neon lights billboards. Any idea what is the exact location?
Think the circus was at the exit of Nicoll Highway to Mountbatten Road and Guillemard Road. The neon billboard showed Knife Brand cooking oil, Labour Brand (a man wielding a hammer) bar soap, etc. .
U r right. the junction of Mountbatten Rd / Old Airport Rd / Kallang Park entrance was formerly a circle. The lighted neon signs are at the walls of Blk 2 & Blk 4. The displays were the watches brand “BULOVA & Accutron”. It was removed around mid-60s I think.
The circus was known as Guillemard Circus and located at the junction of Mountbatten Road, Nicoll Highway and Guillemard Road, not Old Airport Road….
http://pictures.nl.sg/SearchByTag.aspx?tag=Guillemard%20Circus
There are very few things on the internet that can bring so much nostalgia. Especially local websites. This is one of the few. Well done!
Ex president S R Nathan talks about our lack of established identity as a nation. I think he has not yet seen your blog. I reckon this is a great starting point.
I just chanced upon this blog today and I am amazed! I actually took a few photos of this unique shop, and I believe there’s actually a row of flats on the second floor. It’s a very simple and rustic place. Even the pavement and walkway along the canal looks so retro too! Shall bookmark this site and hopefully share some other amazing places with you too.
does anyone if this place still around? especially the provision shop. is it still in operation?
email me vincent.egh@gmail.com many thanks
Still around. Been there few months back.
Yep, it should be still around, although I haven’t gone back for a couple of months…
I still remember the kind old couple who chatted with me about their 50-plus-years old provision shop and allowed me to take some photos 🙂
I grew up in Block 2 dakota Close.Grandparents are still staying there:)
They were the first few families that move in during the 50s.
This Tian Kee provision store sure brings back memories. During my Kindergarden days. My Kindergarden is at the other end, along Dakota Crescent. The place is now demolished. Now, Dakota ressidences (condo) is now sittting on the Kindergarden site. The 2 storey building where the Kindergarden is share the same design as this provision shop.
Every morning My Aunt will fetch me to school, and this provision shop is the standard checkpoint. My Aunt will stop by and buy me sweets, titbits or soft drinks (the era of glass bottles and packets of ice.)
And of course not to mention the daughter of the provision shop. She was my kindergarden classmate.
Haven’t seen her and her family for a very long time. From my memories, they used to say at the 4 story flats along Dakota Crescent(1979). In 1990s, Did saw their family visited a clinic in Tampines 800+ Clinic.
That’s about it. Still go back to grandparents’ place for family tree celebration twice a year.
I do hope the place will stay as it is for the next decade.
Hello Wayne,
I used to stay in Block 2 as a child on the 5/F till the 80s…do I happen to know you? My parents were also one of the earliest residents there. I have this childhood family friend, Ho Wee Soon and he stayed on the 4/F. His family eventually moved to Eunos. Chan.sue8@gmail.com , sue chan
I stay on the 6th Floor. My Grandfather was the electrical repair man of the area. people will usually bring their electronic and electrical stuff for my Grandfather to repair. And also the standard practise. My Neighbours will come over and play majong (our place was one of the standard location). This other neighbour majong place is 4th and 5th floor also.
There’s another Ho family I know of was on the 5th floor corner. Facing the tanjong rhu side. Think they move out already.
oh yes…nostalgia at dakota crescent. the rest of the vicinity around it has been erased in the name of progress – jalan satu/dua cassia crescent etc as well as nearby kallang park. i stayed in old airport road from the late 60s to the late 80s and i used to play and cycle around dakota crescent as well as visit friends/relatives – the good old days.
but with the mrt station there, i think it is a matter of time again…haiz – when places like these are available only on post cards or a commemorative plaque…pity right?
I believe that the traffic roundabout was called Guillemard Circus where Guillemard road met the Nicoll Highway and Mountbatten road. I don”t think that there was a Mountbatten Circus because that was where the traffic lights were to stop traffic when planes were landing. Kallang was originally a circular grass airfield which allowed planes to always land and take off into the wind. The seaplanes landed on Kallang Basin. After the war the runway was made/extended so the traffic lights were a compromise to allow traffic to the east coast and also the planes
Dakota Crescent the place that i liked most especially at block 18 over looking the geylang river…gee i missed that place so much…
Thank you for the memory, I was born and brought up in Dakota Crescent, block 28. I am in my 50s now. I remember the shop very well, we used to buy our groceries from this shop. We could buy on credit with transactions recorded on a small 555 book. My dad would then settle the bills at the end of the month. I miss the place very much, I do return to the place with my children sometimes and show them what my childhood place was like.
Hi! My family still lives there at blk 28!
Me too! I used to live on the 5th floor!
Here’s a good article of an old provision shop at Joo Chiat which is closing for good at the end of September 2012….
Yesterday no more… one of the provision shops at Pulau Tekong (c. 1979) before the island was converted into a military base
If not wrong the structure still exist as fibua village to train recruits.
Am sure my in laws family remember this place. Its been their childhood stay thre. My mom in laws stay at Cassia Crescent too.
Ask your in law if they mengaji with Guru Besar Zen from Block 56. I have lots of photos of the students in black and white. s.pakri@yahoo.com.sg
Both Hakozaki and Old Resident of DC are right. There are actually 2 traffic circus. Guillemard/Nicoll Highway and Old Airport Rd/Mountbatten Rd. The Knife Brand etc.. are at Guillemard. These are big metal billboard type. The ones at Old Airport Rd are mounted on the DC flat’s wall. They uses neon lights. Bulova, Titoni and KDK are some of the brands featured at various period of time. The flats around the area were completed in around 1959. My family was amongst the first residents.
It’s now end Mar 2014 and yet today is the first time I have stumbled upon these lovely old memories (when searching the internet for Ong Toh’s signature tune – a really mesmerising story teller he was), even though they were shared some two yrs back.
I was another Kallang Airportian. Used to school at Kallang Government Chinese Primary School, behind where Mountbatten Square, which used to be my school field, now sits.
Yes, I can attest to the fact that there were two circuses along Mountbatten Rd there. The traffic movement around which Mountbatten Road, Old Airport Road and Kallang Park revolved was near Blk 2 Dakota Cres. There, one famous old brand that used to have a neon billboard, which made the place so distinctly unforgettable, was Lam Soon, whereas probably the most memorable neon billboard to have fronted Guillemard Circus was the Mido clock.
If my memory serves me correctly, the circus at Blk 2 Dakota Cres was converted into a signalised junction ahead of the one at Guillemard Circus, which was first replaced by two signalised junctions before being re-aligned into one.
One of the uniquely quaint aspects of a lot of the old blocks of flats at Kallang Airport, including those which are still standing on Dakota Cres today, must have been their red-brick facades. Sadly, and inexplicably to me, coats of paint of different colours have since erased this special antiquity into permanent memory. I am a little surprised that this point has not been re-lived in the above wonderful posts. Hope some of you may still have some colour photos to share with the rest of us.
Note also at the time these houses were built by SIT, the houses on one side of Old Airport Road all have odd block numbers (houses along Jln Satu, Dua, Tiga, etc..) while the houses on the opposite side of road have even block numbers (houses along Dakota Crescent side). Most of the odd number blocks have been demolished, leaving only some shop houses around the market and the 10 storey blocks. The even number blocks are more lucky, most of them are still around.
LEE, I knew a family who lived in Block 48 No204A called TEO can only remember Brother and sisters names Robert and Nancy but there were quite a few more. The Father worked in a Electical shop that sold radios etc. I think that Block has been demolished but would like some confirmation and if so where they were rehoused too. Many Thanks
We staying at Blk 46. Remebering playing outside when the “Red Car” Police Task Force came and shout at us thro th loud haier that its curfew time n we should be indoor. It was the racial riot period.. Remeber too that during hot night, we just sleep in the open outside with those canva foldable bed.
Sorry David James, I don’t know them. I stayed at Jln Lima, opposite Dakota Crescent.
Hi lee, Ok many thanks anyhow
Yes. I remember all these… I live here in the 1950s – those 3-storey Singapore Improvement Trust Flats facing the Geylang River. The site is occupied by Waterbank at Dakota condominium (now under construction).
Strange enough, or, to be honest, it is all planned – I moved back to live here after some fifty years. Everything is so familiar. I know exactly how to move around, the best paths to run, the best foods around, etc. I can tell you, it is fun!
Tian Kee (天记), of course I remember. Now the shop has become a prominent icon of this area. We used to be one of their customers. Tian Kee worker would come in a bicycle to “take order” and record it in a tiny note book. They gave credit of our purchases for one month. At the month end, the worker would come to collect payment based on his record. We all trusted each other and there is hardly any dispute. Before CNY, they would give a wooden case of Green Spot bottled drinks as a goodwill gesture for our whole year’s support.
The pillar under the staircase with a squared platform is also very special. We kids liked to climb up and sit there.
Thanks for sharing!
The 3-storey flats were demolished n we were relocated to Circuit Road. During Chinese New Year, we used to fired “rocket” at the 12-storey (I think its 12 or 10 storey) opposite from blk 46 which facing Old Airport road n with Dakota Crescent as side road. Hawkers in trisha (the front type) which go round the pavement around these 3-strey flat to hawk their food.
Hi, I wonder if you know whether Sungei Road was ever known for its row of bird shops? I guess it must be during the early 1960s? I remember my dad used to take me there to look at the birds and occasionally to buy a budgie or two. I am not sure whether it was the famous Sungei Road, but I vaguely remember the road being next to a canal and it was full of bird sounds because of the many bird shops there. My dad called it “Bird Street” but I think this could be just a name he coined himself. Love your blog, btw!
Grew up just a couple of blocks away. Went back a year ago to show my gf this exact shop. Never thought anyone else would find this place interesting enought to chronicle, but it has a special place in my memories. Thanks for this!
Passed by Dakota Crescent recently and decided to snap more photos of this little peaceful neighbourhood
No bustling crowds, unlike other estates
New condos have been popping up around Dakota
Beautiful facade
The vintage lift and its buttons
The nostalgic dove playground
Cozy little corner
Hope this old peaceful estate will not be disturbed by SERS or any sort of redevelopment plans
Hello, I stumbled upon your website and like it very much. I moved into the neighbourhood opposite Dakota Crescent in 2011. Understand this area is hot among property developers and I hear from my neighbour that this place will potentially be going under SERS. I am not sure how true it is, but perhaps any readers’ whose families stay here can shed some light.
Hi, REMEMBER SINGAPORE. Thanks for sharing these photos of Dakota Cresc flats. I stayed in Blk 26 (your 3rd photo – the last units at Level 2). We moved-in in mid-1958. Most of the flats on the opposite of Old Airport Rd were still under construction. There was no bus service during the 1st years. Most of the residents walked to Mountbatten Rd to take a bus to schools (STC 20) or to work. Later STC 20B plied into Old Airport Rd but made a U-turn at the junction of Jalan Satu. At that time, there was no road after this junction. The road (to Dunman Rd) was constructed much later.
I am quite disappointed to see the Flats are now painted white over the natural colour of the red bricks that is quite unique to this Kallang Estate (to me considered almost iconic). The white walls now we see in every Blocks look very “dead” to me.
Hope the Estate’s remaining Flats will last a few more years of the next generation to see their where their grand parents were brought up. Rgds.
Hi I stay in block 12, the provision shop just below my block, brought my parents there for last visit, good memories. The river behind with many stories
I nearly cried when I saw these photos. Used to live at blk 34. Everyone was so poor then. Our flat was exactly like Tian Kee’s. Moved to Tampines in 1993. My neighbour in blk 38 drowned in the river. I still remember his mum inconsolable at the water edge. He was called Tua Tau.
I stayed at 34 too, was at 68 when i was a baby.
Come end of this month, the old provision shop will be pulling down its shutters for the last time 😦
http://wanbao.omy.sg/local/story20131006-13545
在加冷经营了54年，散发浓浓古早味的“天记”老杂货店，月底结束生意。杂货店外印有“天记公司”四字的标志性蓝色招牌，已被神秘人买下。
Shutters for 54-year-old provision shop
84-year-old owner of Tian Kee in Dakota Crescent calls it a day
The Straits Times
Published on Oct 19, 2013
FOR the past 54 years, Tian Kee provision shop at Block 12 Dakota Crescent has been a constant presence in the neighbourhood.
Kids bought tidbits, thirsty joggers stopped for cold drinks and residents purchased essentials such as oil and bread. But like many other traditional provision shops, Tian Kee, one of the oldest of its kind in Singapore, has shut its doors.
“I’m old and it is time to retire,” said 84-year-old shop owner Lim Tian Han, who wound up his business this week. “It’s time to take a step back and enjoy life.”
Business at the provision shop, where huge biscuit tins and rusty shelves of essentials adorned the storefront, fell after a supermarket opened across the street “a few years ago”, said Mr Lim, who ran the business with his 76-year-old wife.
Rising rents and fewer residents in Dakota, a quiet neighbourhood of mostly rental flats opposite the Old Airport Road hawker centre, also made it hard to cope.
“Supermarkets have so much to offer, and we have only a limited amount of goods, we simply can’t compete,” he said.
The Singapore Provision Shop Friendly Association has fewer than 200 members, down from the 1,262 members it had in the seventies, according to statistics from the National Heritage Board.
Yet, for Mr Lim who left Muar in 1958 to come to Singapore, his humble shop enabled him to raise four children. “It’s more than I can ask for,” he said. In the next few days, the iconic blue sign bearing Tian Kee’s name will be taken down from its shopfront. A heritage buff has bought it, said Mr Lim, declining to reveal the price, or the identity of the buyer.
MP for Dakota Crescent Lim Biow Chuan said that Tian Kee’s Mr Lim had approached him for help when the Housing Board increased shop rentals some time ago. He appealed to the board on Mr Lim’s behalf and managed to cap the increase, allowing it to be staggered over three years. The provision shop, located beside two traditional Chinese medicine clinics, has been a landmark in Dakota Crescent and residents “will miss its presence”, said the MP.
“Mr Lim always has time to chat,” said customer service officer Jessica Tan, 31, a resident who frequented Tian Kee. “You don’t get that at supermarkets these days, it’s just buy and go.”
Added 58-year-old retiree Choo Ming Yi, another Tian Kee regular: “I’ll miss my regular chats with Mr Lim when I buy things from him. This neighbourhood wouldn’t be the same without Tian Kee.”
As the above wanbao article requires paid subscription, could someone who can access it please post it or email it to me together with all the photos.
A last look at Tian Kee before its signboard is removed
The other two shops at the block (traditional Chinese medicine) are still around though
Haha! I came across this by accident! My husband and his friends were they physicians at People TCM. People TCM is new-ish. The older TCM is United Chinese Medicine. The two TCMs and the coffeeshop that replaced the provision shop were the last to leave. Love Dakota Crescent! They wanted to rent another shop around this area but it was difficult. There were so many hipsters taking taking pictures at the coffeeshop next door after the provision shop shuttered.
i miss dakota crescent, such a lovely place. used to live at blk 60 and i loved the long corridor that spans all the way to another side of blk 60. such a pity that econ minimart and the coffee shop closed down, as well as the other shop houses. there used to be a sand playground just outside the neighbourhood police post and an indoor playground at the void deck of a block (can’t recall). i rmb that among those shophouses the only one i was able to recall was a shop that sells only eggs. my mum and i will always buy eggs from there.
wow samantha, those were the same memories that i had of that place too! the coffeeshop that sells vegetarian noodle, mixed vegetable rice and fishball noodles…all nice food. the egg stall, cake shop and also econ minimart! then there was a clinic too..near blk 60 used to be a shop that prints cardboard or something like that too!
Clinic is still here at Jalan Tiga 🙂
Egg shop owner rented out Jalan Tiga unit. Now also a clinic.
Econ minimart owner rented out to 7-11 now.
The people who used to live at the current Dakota residences site shift to the current flats at jalan tiga. Just pop by the void deck at blk45 and You will find familiar faces.
Folks, the bad news have been confirmed 😦
Dakota Crescent set for redevelopment, residents to leave by end-2016
ChannelNewsAsia
24 Jul 2014
SINGAPORE: On Wednesday (July 23) evening, the Housing Development Board (HDB) issued notices stating that 17 blocks in Dakota Crescent, one of Singapore’s oldest neighbourhoods, have been earmarked for redevelopment. About 400 households there will have to vacate their homes by end-2016. Affected flat types range from one- to three-room units.
The area is planned for future residential development, according to HDB, and the date for development has not been confirmed.This estate was formed in 1958.
Two-thirds of the households have one or more elderly member who is at least 60 years old. The majority of the residents are living in rentals flats, paying between $60 and $75 a month. HDB says those who wish to continue renting will be given priority in the rental of flats in other parts of Singapore, subject to availability. Those who wish to remain in the area can opt for new or rental flats at nearby Cassia Crescent, which will be completed by the third quarter of 2016.
HDB said the tenancy agreement for these new rental flats will be for two years. For Dakota residents, rental flats in Cassia Crescent will start from $26 a month for a one-room flat and $59 for a two-room unit. For those who choose to buy a flat, first-timer households and singles may be granted a Central Provident Fund (CPF) relocation grant of $15,000 (for families and joint singles) or $7,500 (for singles), if eligible. Tenants who have already booked new flats will be allocated temporary rental flats, if their new flats are not ready before their move-out date. HDB says eligible tenants will also be given a removal allowance of S$1,000.
Dakota residents had mixed views about the estate’s demise. “I have been here for 51 years,” said Rahmat Bee. “It’s convenient to get around from here and it’s a great neighbourhood.”
Meanwhile, a newcomer to the area was surprised by the notice, having only opened his cafe a month ago. “It’s really a pity because a lot of customers and neighbours love this place,” said Vincent Foo, co-owner of Tian Kee & Co. “We will stay until the end of December 2016 and at the end of it, we’ll throw a party for all the customers and the residents here – past and present.”
In an emailed statement to Channel NewsAsia, Member of Parliament for Mountbatten Lim Biow Chuan said residents have been anticipating the move as they are aware of the old and hard-to-maintain nature of the buildings in the estate. “In fact when I did a house visit six weeks ago, some of them asked when they would be moving,” he said.
Asked if such estates with rich history should be conserved like Tiong Bahru, Mr Lim said while he personally felt the estate is “very quaint” and “unique”, it is conservation experts who should decide this.
“There should be some meritorious criteria to consider before deciding whether to conserve the place,” he said. “The state would have to strike a balance between conserving the place versus the need to provide more housing options to the residents in a prime area which is next to a MRT station.”
this is just so upsetting =(
I am a professional photographer looking to document Dakota Crescent for memories sake before it is redeveloped. If anyone could be so kind to put me in contact with some of the families still staying there, I would be very delighted! Please contact me at silaskhua@gmail.com. Some of my work can be found at https://www.facebook.com/pages/TILT-Photography/252211884909935?ref=br_tf
Thank you!
I stayed block 68 #06-612. One of the 3 14-stories 3-room flat from 1980 till 2003. Now I stay opposite Dakota Crescent in Jalan Tiga estate block 39. I wished I had taken more pictures of Dakota Crescent. During my time, Mountbatten Primary School, which I studied there, was just infront of our block. My mother would spot-check me if I was running around the school field after school.
Now, I will go to block 12 to have a cup of joe whenever I am free at Tiankee
is this the block with the shops and coffeeshop below? do you remember there was an accident once when one of your neighbour was playing football and he ran across the road and got hit by a van? i was this little indian boy always playing bmx around the neighbourhood
Yes, block 68 was the block with shops and coffeeshop. I still patronize the clinic and wanton mee stall which they had relocated in the opposite estate along Jalan Tiga and Pine Lane.
I cant recall any accident though. Hahaha.
Somewhere near Dakota estate about 60 years back, a plane had crashed somewhere near here. Most of the dead were buried at the Christina Bidadari Cemetery.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1954_BOAC_Lockheed_Constellation_crash
Tuesday Report
http://www.channel8news.sg/mobile8/ca/tuesdayreport/episodes/20141007-tr-tx/1403260.html
Hi! I’ve been following your blog for quite awhile and really love your feature about Dakota Crescent and the provision shop. Wondering if I could get in touch with you about using some of your photos as part of a video project. Please contact me via email if you can thanks!
I used to live in Block 41, across the other side of OAR (Old Airport Rd), near the hawker centre between 1960 to 1984. Used to school in Kallang Government Chinese Primary School for a few years before switching to English medium cos I could never master Chinese characters well (what a shame). Mountbatten Sq used to be my school field. Love the old estate a lot. And I still tell friends who think abt moving to Kallang Airport that it’s a lovely estate. Sadly, what remain of the old 3 and 7-storey blocks will be consigned to memory forever next year in the name of urban renewal. Also, some years ago, they decided to paint the unique brick façade of the 7-storey blocks. And that, to me, was a sad thing cos the façade was so unique and picturesque. Well, as we leave this world in time to make way for new generations, so will the buildings, homes and housing estate that we cherished so fondly.
My family moved to Blk 2, Dakota Close (the only block named close among crescent) in 1959, my parents paid about $70 rental fees as far as I can recalled. My old neighbour, Wayne Ho’s grandparents who are still living there have the options to move to a better location next year. Yes, I know the place too well. Anyone can remember the big and small fountains on the way into the Kallang park, I have some old photos, wondering who were these 4 boys having fun in the park, probably my late-brother’s good buddies . The National Stadium was built on the old Kallang Park, and now gave way to Sport Hub. The Katong Park which was closed to Tangong Rhu was one of the popular place to us. The neon lights on my block 2 advertised KDK fan and TITONI watch. I have never see any such beautiful neon light ever again compared to the two neon light advertisements way back in 60s.
i was born in old airport road .. stayed in blk 66 .. 3 stories high building .. 1 room rental flat .. moved to blk 87 in 1980 .. jalan satu .. after many years away .. I am back .. hehez ..
Hi Mickey, i was from jalan satu..Not sure about the block number. If my memory serves me right it was 89. I really missed the place. My childhood was there.
I used to stay at blk 68. I rem the wanton mee stall down my blk at the coffeeshop and there was a hardware store too. Awww memories. I also rem i used to play catching with some of the kids staying between 12th to 8th floor.
I also stayed at blk 68. I lived on 6th floor. We used to play catching too, literally from 2nd to 13th. The only floors that had elevators were 5th,9th,11th, I think. The top view of the canal was….captivating 😛
I stayed at the11th floor. The lift stopped at 9th and 13th i think. You could hv rem my brother, he played alot of catching with the boys from 6th to 12th floor. Our old blks last time had vast empty landings between staircases. I rem a few of them always climb down via the pipes, from outside in between the staircase landing onto the extended shelter and then jumped down.
I was born in 1972. My mother lived at Blk 64, I think. She was a single parent and my aunt at Block 56 babysat me. I used to have lots of Malay and Chinese friends. I was a small dark skin Indian boy and my aunt would teach Quran to the Malay students. She would also sell self-made chilli tapioca (kang tang), iced popsicle (seng pau) and Pepsi. Most of the neighbours would buy from her. I grew up riding BMX and would always cycle all over Dakota Close, the Old Airport Rd across the streets. I studied in Broadrick Primary School from 1979 to 1984 and my kindergarten was at Haig Road PAP Kindergarten.
I grew up in this area and stayed all my life from Dakota Crescent to Cassia Crescent and now, Jalan Batu.
I stayed in Dakota Crescent Blk 42, ground floor for 20 years till 1980 (now occupied by a condominium, named Waterbank I think). My father paid $45 a month rental. The sky above is the direct air route to Paya Lebar Airport. Every wednesday around noon, the famous Concorde will fly pass. The sound is so roaring that the bathroom door shaked. I always ran out to see the airplane.
In 1977, the government built three 14th Storey blocks right in front of my house. The construction company went around to look for workers to build these blocks and my brother took it up.
But, in less than 10 years, all in these 3 blocks were asked to resettle. Rumours had it that a Japanese company was interested to develop the whole Dakota Crescent and the government took action to clear those owned flats. However, the deal fell through.
Opposite my home was Adult Education Board (AEB). I remembered attending some basic electronic courses there.
Block 32,34 and 36 are then known as ” Lo Ti Long” or Bread Factory. These are bread and noodle factories and King Army Boots were made there then.
Block 58,60,62 and 64 were 3 storey one room flats where many of my school friend lived.
We attended Kallang Integrated Primary School(English School). Talking about the school, there were 4 Kallang Integrated Primary Schools, ie one for English medium, one for Chinese medium (beside it), the other two (Malay and Indian) across the field ). Guillemard school was at the corner. The buildings still exists behind Mountbatten Square. The $10 note then also shows 4 hands which representing a different race like a hex sign.
When the Blk 51 Old Airport Road Market was opened in 1973, I still remembered paying 30 cents for a wanton noodle (soap) and 50 cents (dry). Tourist buses will come to the hawker centre for shopping.
These days, when I do my jogging, I will intentionally run back to where I was born once in a while. It brings back memories.
Ha ha, maybe we know each other. I used to live in Blk 44 ground floor. during that period.
I am Ah Kwong, stayed in unit no 166, BLK 42. Ben, what is your unit number?
Blk 44 #180
I reckon you are Ah Min, who has 2 brothers. Your eldest brother used to teach my sister mathematics tuition. Small world.
Dakota Crescent indeed brings back good old memories, care free, not like now living with tech targets and hectic pace.
I am Ah Min’s brother (2nd of the 3).
I remember there was a home tailor around there. There was also a Cantonese family.
Just when you think the dove playground at Dakota Crescent is the last of its kind in Singapore (after the demolition of the second last one at Bukit Batok), Zeitgeist Photos makes a startling discovery of a dove playground at our neighbouring country.
This sand-based one is located at Stulang Darat, Johor Bahru, and the surrounding flats have features that look remarkably like the Dakota Crescent flats.
(Photo Credit: Zeitgeist Photos)
My family stayed on the second floor of Block 10 from 1958 until 1962. Below my flat I could sometimes see an old woman with bound feet like during the olden China days. My siblings enjoyed playing on a swing in the playground even in the rain and nobody would get sick. I could not remember which year that a Christian church was opened on the ground floor of the shophouse building and named Calvary Assembly of God Church. It was an outreach of Bethel Assembly of God located off Serangoon Road. The essential reason why my mother decided to move out of the Dakota Crescent was because of the constant flooding of our flat when the pipe choked. My brothers liked to fly kites and run around the grass field next to the block. Before the merger of Singapore with Malaysia, I always used to hear the slogan on Rediffusion …..Malaysia as sure as the sun must rise!…..After I had a similar experience of filthy blackish water flooding my next home in Block 82 Bedok North Road, I vowed never to stay in any second floor HDB Flat ever again!! By the way as a matter of unpleasant interest, my mother used to ask us kids to go to the Mountbatten Road and use some containers to collect cow dung for her to use to grow potted plants in the balcony! Yaks! Those days in the 1950s there were cows walking along the road. I think during my time in this Estate, there were many stalls selling stuff along the Old Airport Road like sweets and iced coloured ball and the long hard brown bread and the barber chair etc. I am now aged 70. I attended the Kallang Primary School in 1958 and 1959. Thereafter I was transferred to Mountbatten Primary School from 1960 till 1962.
You may want to know that Blk 10 Dakota Crescent is one of the six blocks conserved by SLA. The other 6 blocks are already being demolished.