Anyone passing by Corporation Road some time between 2011 and 2012 would have noticed some derelict blocks of flats abandoned in a quiet neighbourhood. Those were the Yung Ping/Yung Kuang flats.
A total of six flats, Block 5 to 10, stood here at the residential district of Taman Jurong. Built in the early seventies by the Jurong Town Corporation (JTC), the blocks were grouped in pairs, serviced by common lifts, link bridges and corridors. From the top view, it looked as though the blocks were in the shape of the letter H.
It was a display of how rapid urban decay could occur to an abandoned estate. The blocks were en-bloc in 2006, under the Housing Development Board’s (HDB) Selective En-Bloc Redevelopment Scheme (SERS). With the last residents moved out in 2010, the blocks of flats fell into disrepair within a year. Nature soon took over the flats, with ferns growing out of the cracks on the walls and pipes and window grilles rapidly eroded by rust.
Before 1961, Jurong was a land of swamps, jungles, farms and small kampongs. The industrialisation of Jurong took place in the sixties, but in its early stage, it had trouble attracting workers as the vast area of rural lands had no electricity, telephone lines and running water. Accessibility was an issue too; it would take hours to travel to Jurong, mainly via Bukit Timah Road.
In order to provide convenience for the workers, JTC started to build housing estates within the Jurong vicinity, with the employers encouraging their workers to move into these estates subsidised by housing allowances. In 1964, Taman Jurong became the first estate established in Jurong to cater for the growing population. Boon Lay Gardens, Teban Gardens and Pandan Gardens followed in the next few years.
The 40-year-old abandoned Yung Ping/Yung Kuang Road flats were one of the few remaining groups of JTC flats today. Most of the other JTC flats were demolished in the past two decades. Like the Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT) flats, the management of the JTC flats were handed over to HDB in 1982.
Read about other en-bloc flats in Singapore.
Published: 03 October 2012
Updated: 07 August 2013
Remember Singapore 
Yeap they did. By the way, I was one of the residents living there.
Me too.. stayed at blk5, 3rd floor
I didn’t know these flats still remain! I used to grew up in these neighbourhood and attended my primary sch nearby, It really brings back so much memories of growing up. Is it completely seal up?
I don’t think so. Should be open till the end of this year at least….
only first floor.. went there today… quite errie… 😛
You can still find this type of H flat in Boon Lay.
Great memories! according to 1 of my old friend, Taman Jurong used to be lively with pasar malems in the 80s.
Btw, the diamond blks opposite these blks has been given a new life!
Are these block of flats still there? i want to visit!
Still around… and empty
Looks quite creepy at night
so far, I’ve been to the en-bloc vacated flats at
– Yung Kuang
– Dover Road (refurbished and rented out to foreign students)
– Ang Mo Kio Ave 1
– Teban Gardens
– Zion Road
– Upper Boon Keng Road
– Geylang Bahru
– Ghim Moh
– East Coast Road
and Henderson road too…. went there last mth and saw the red gates being put up… hope the upper floors are still accessible by now…
oops.. i mean you should try going there too.. 😛
By the red gates do you mean the stairwell gates? Do you mean they were being locked, already locked, or in the process of being assembled then? The flats in Henderson road were demolished in 2013.
definitely creepy at night … still see a few lighted flats though …
these blocks are filmed in a chinese movie in singapore “Kidnapped” on channel 8.
Nope you cant they got demolished a year ago and is being replace with new hdb
Stayed in one of the blocks here. They are now deserted and creepy. This H-style blocks can be found in Boon Lay (some upgrading done many years back) and Sembawang (probably gone now). Many fond memories of this place. The residents here now resettled in the Kang Ching / Tah Ching Roads area. When my late dad bought it in early 70’s, it cost less than 10K. The hall was big – much bigger than current 3 rm flats. The nearby 4-rm blks 103, 105, etc. have been demolished. So sad to see this place changing but still it is not as bad as other estates – crowded, noisy ….
i stayed here for almost 20 years before we have to move out. taman jurong may be isolated and neglected compared to other estates but i love this peaceful place.
there was one such block at sembawang. torn down in early 2000s. Now they are building a new BTO there.
Could you investigate? It was beside the sembawang CC
and if i’m not wrong, one of the horror local movies “the Maid” featured this block, or this kind of block
true….it’s Montreal Road….
The ones in Sembawang aren’t there any more. Empty land now. Probably reserved for community use later. Check this out
http://maps.google.com/maps/place?ftid=0x31da149dcc24b74f:0x3f5e1111901d4a44&q=Montreal+Drive+Singapore&hl=en&t=h&cd=1&cad=src:ppiwlink&ei=OoYgUYusGa6UiQfep4HoDg&dtab=0&ui=maps_mini
are these blocks still up? my grandma’s sis used to live there before passing on
Yes still there. Dont know for how long though. The nearby residents stil use the open car park there. Very quiet now with no residents.
it is now going through construction…… no longer accessible
now demolition
I am here now. Blks 9-10 are fully demolished. The lifts for blks 7-8 are demolished already and the blocks are about to begin demolition. Blks 5-6 are still not demolished yet
just passed into the old car park between blk 9-10 and 7-8. as mentioned blks 9-10 are just rubbles and debris now. my old blk still intact but should be gone soon. glad that they retain some of the angsana trees. drove around Taman Jurong – still has that atmosphere with places like the old cinema, jurong ice skating rink, the big field near market no 1 and behind mcdonalds drive-in, the rows of casuarinas along yuan ching rd, the old jurong town pr sch etc. but for how long before the spirit is gone …
Besides being more spacious & logically-planned in the interior, JTC’s flat designs are also more interesting & varied-looking on the exterior, as well as offer more residential privacy than HDB’s designs during the same period (1960s – 1970s).
For instance, even amongst 3-room flats, JTC’s designs tended to minimize or even totally avoid having common corridors. Examples of such corridor-free 3-room flats include Blk 2 – 11 (to be demolished very soon due to SERS) & Blk 33 – 38 of Teban Gardens.
In addition, unlike HDB-designed slab-blocks of the equivalent period, many of JTC’s designs also avoided having void decks. Instead, ground-floor flats (separate units on each facade of the slab-block) look out to grass verges.
As a result, most of these ground-floor residents like cultivating their own mini-garden (some including up to 3 tall trees such as Tamarind & Petai) right at their door-step. The latter is meant in the literal sense — in certain JTC designs, all of the ground-floor flats have kitchen doors that lead to the outdoors (eg. Blk 8 & 9 at Teban Gardens), such that one can walk from the kitchen straight into one’s garden.
What a pity it is that such creatively & thoughtfully-designed flats are no longer being built, but instead increasingly being demolished.
I don’t like the concept of JTC flats, like H flats, the unit is located in between stairs.
Confirm Blks 5-10 of Yung Kuang Rd have been demolished. Drove by the car park with my mum to see the remnants. Sad to see the place go . . . one of the last remaining JTC flats and a reminder of what Taman Jurong used to be. Luckily the old Jurong Town Pri Sch and the cinema are still around. Took some photos of Blk 8 . . . hope they keep some of the trees around here.
Jurong still have a H shape flat
Blks 167-172. Sadly, it is under SERS as well.
At Boon Lay Drive…
But the flats here look relatively newer with multi-storey carparks and sheltered walkways
they just completed repainting about end of 2012,Im one of the residents here which is going to be effected by the en-bloc
This provision shop’s old signboard certainly looks as old as the Boon Lay Drive housing estate itself, which was probably built in the mid-70s
In Feb 2010 Mailerdiablo flimed these elevators/lifts
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbBardqKly8
One of the first school there was Jurong Town Primary School, opened in 1968, which was the school of choice for those early settlers of Jurong Town around present Taman Jurong area… The school building is still there but the school closed down and merged with 2 other neighbouring pri school to form Lakeside Primary School in 2003. Too bad the name of Jurong Town Primary is no longer used.
I remember these flats when i was living in Blk 103, Tao Ching Road. had to deal with the aging lifts and remembering which block is the correct one to get home as there were usually at least 4 blocks with the same number, but different lift letters and unit numbers. Also at that time, they do not differentiate lift letters on the block numbers like the current new flats [158A, 158B etc]. Brings back memories…
When did you have to vacate by, and coulld you briefly describe what the lifts were like?
I can’t quite get the perspective of the 1st picture, that seems like the kitchen area (based on how the older hdb flats always have their kitchens jutting out), but yet there are corridors? And the corridors look open to the elements.
Those are the stair cases jutting out .. not kitchens. I know bec I stayed there for more that 10 years.
Erm not those staircases. If you see the 3rd picture, are those kitchens or living rooms?
Oh the third pic shows the bathroom and the sink area. The kitchen is just besides it. Even the bathroom is partitioned. In a way, this 3-room is much bigger and better designed than the 3-room HDB flats of the same era. The hall is damned big and so are the 2 rooms. I lived on uppermost floor thus have a bit of space in front of the gate. No long common corridors here.
So the corridors face the kitchen area??? Would be hard to take the lift on a rainy day huh…
I used to stay in Blk 5 Yung Ping Road. I felt relieved that I made a trip down before the flats were demolished 3 months ago. My childhood memories were at Yung Ping Road and its sad to see these flat gone.
Nice to hear that… Do you have any old photos of the flats to share? 🙂
If I find anything, I will send it to you.
planning to visit vacated en-bloc flats for photography…..any idea which aren’t demolished yet?
all gone now. only left is a flat grassy patch … at least a few of trees are preserved … sad … i used to live there …
Memories….I lived in Blk 6 and courted my wife there when I was just 18 :). Now my kids are already 15 years old.
Thanks for rekindling the memories.
The unique but demolished drive in cinema was a key feature of Taman Jurong.
The early ‘settlers’ there are the pioneers of Singapore’s industrialisation.
i used to go to Jurong Town Primary School from 1972-1974. Used to live just five minutes away. Our block, the ground floor had a centre for disabled people, I believe polio. Anyone remember? It was right next to the market
I believe it was Blk 19. The `low’ flats with a court in front. I left JTPS in 1971. Fond memories of the sch and the no 1 market besides it. There was the kids fav pineapple water with real pineapple there.
I use to play block catching there. Omg those memories. I’m going back there again. Bought a BTO being built over it. Miss those moments there when I was a kid.
I thought the BTO is further south, where the old market and hawker centre used to be? Lake Life condo is the one building over 103/105.
Oh wait, my bad. *bangs head on wall*. The BTO is on 5-10, Lake Vista (DBSS) is where the old market used to be, Lake Life is being built on the OTHER H-shaped flats 103/105.
Used to go for piano lessons there under one Lena tay lady….life was simpler then….1983.
demolished already and new flat built
These are the very last photos before my Mom moved out. She was the very last few to leave.
Nice. I used to stay in blk 5
Thanks. Yes very sad to see the place go. Whenever I visit her at her new place at Kang Ching Road, I will always drive by this part. Hope Taman Jurong Pri Sch is retained and not demolished. Same goes to the old cinema and swimming pool.
Are you staying in blk 5 as well? Jurong town primary school is my school and it’s closed but building still there I think. We shifted in 1999. How about you? Sometimes I purposely drive past too. Maybe we might seen each other last time. I used to play with neighbour kids as a kid.
@Aliogoi, I think the swimming pool was renovated into football field. 😦
Around what time did she move out by though?
My parents bought the flat when it was first put on sale. Haha I think I am way older than you! I graduated from JTPS in 1971!! I remember fondly the old market next to the sch and the grassy play ground beyond (now just opposite the Drive-in Mac). Just next to the then Jurong Hospital were a few rows of low flats (maybe one room or 2 rooms). One of them was Blk 19. BTW I lived in Blk 8.
i think i graduated 18 years later than you. Blk 19 I remember, I remember some of my classmates had tuition classes there.
Yup. There was an RC or Community Club there. FYI behind JTPS was a dirt road before the drive-in cinema was built or even Japanese Garden. Jurong Sec Sch site was an empty land. The original site was at Jurong Road / Jalan Lama area – now I think is Jurong East / Bt Batok boundary.
I didn’t know that. I remember last time after school (jtps), I will go to the nearby provision shop and book shop (down hill of the hawker centre, hawker centre was uphill) to buy candy, toys or tikam.
Does anyone know if this building is still around? I went to Siglap Flats recently, it is still around and no one is staying/working there anymore
Went to Siglap flats to take photos early 2017. In a suspended state of animation awaiting demolition. I was surprised that they used the Indian cherry trees as part of the landscape on the play ground. Plenty of fruits too.
Some photos to share
Was pull down 2 years ago and now new flats took over.
Just passed by the area with my mom 2 days ago. New flats up. Of course designed to pack in more people. Now West Point Hospital looked out of place there. I guess it wont be long too. The old ice skating rink, the cinema and the pri sch seemed to the only old buildings left standing. The old church at Tah Ching Rd has been totally rebuild now. Gone is the pretty brick structure.
There used to be H-shapedblocks at Margatet Drive.
Where was block 5-10 and what blocks replaced them,and does block 143A,B and C count as H houses