http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v606/redstone/Villas/basbldg.jpg
Looks like a Chineses styled house...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v606/redstone/Villas/bassbldg2.jpg
What do the words mean?

Is Bassein Rd behind Moulmein Rise?

No... Beside Ren Ci Hosp...

i dunno..all these names are from Burma

anyway I only see a gate, not the actual house?

The entire compound is behind the wall...
Can see the rear of thebuilding in the first pic...

this is cool...
uh it looks like

chen2 zhi2? mian3 ___ tang2

tang - a hall or something

Hmmm... chen2 wei4 an1 fo2 tang2.

I it's not 'fo'...

'Fo' as in god does not have traditional version... ;)

hmm... after hyachinth mentioned it... it sure look likes fo leh...

I it's not 'fo'...

'Fo' as in god does not have traditional version... ;)

Should take a closer pic if you want us to read properly for you...

Can't to see clearly
Seem to that the Memorial Hall or residence for the person called CHEN/CHAN

Came across this ruin at Bassein Road - looks like it used to be something grand.

http://i10.tinypic.com/4kb93xd.jpg

Saw that in 2004. It's a ruin of a burnt Black & White bungalow :eek:

I spotted 2 other black-and-whites nearby, one is across the road.

Looks like this property is private. Hope the NEA checks it regularly...

How sad! :cry:

The burnt building at bassein road used to have a family staying there. A few years ago, a fire broke out at the house but even after the fire, i still saw the family residing in it though they moved out a few months after.

It's been empty since.

The old building next to the Bassein Court Apartment opens its doors only around Chinese New Year. Even then, i only see at most 5 - 6 carloads of people going to the temple. I believe it houses ancestral tablets. Other than CNY, rare to see the temple opening its doors. Even though i've lived near it for 2 decades, i don't see many people within its compounds either.

There is another small temple with the same name in one of the small roads off balestier.

Hi elainenwl, thanks for shedding light on these mysterious buildings!

I wonder if the authorities do regular inspections on the site of the burnt out building...it would be really awesome if the burnt building could be faithfully rebuilt.

I honestly doubt if it will be rebuilt, considering it is located on prime land. I'm just curious why the owners never sold the land since the building has already been burnt.

I will be uploading some pictures of the ancestral hall onto my blog. I took them when i went for my walk some time back.

http:www.schizospeech.blogspot.com

I honestly doubt if it will be rebuilt, considering it is located on prime land. I'm just curious why the owners never sold the land since the building has already been burnt.


Most often for such lands, the land belongs to a society, whose trustees cannot agree on what to do with the land. The moderate ones would want to sell / distribute and move on, the older sentimental ones want to preserve the heritage.
And depending on the constitution of the society, some may even require 100% consensus of its members, something almost impossible if there are many generations involved.

Can u imagine what is their annual value if the property has been untouched for 50+ yrs? Usually such properties degrade the value of surrounding properties, and I think extremely low annual values is almost like a govt subsidy. With no opportunity cost, this is a double whammy for the neighbourhood.

I honestly doubt if it will be rebuilt, considering it is located on prime land. I'm just curious why the owners never sold the land since the building has already been burnt.

I will be uploading some pictures of the ancestral hall onto my blog. I took them when i went for my walk some time back.

http:www.schizospeech.blogspot.com

Lovely pics on your blog. I have some similar pics of the abandoned buildings in that area that I'd post too.

I recently read that the old 'market' along Balestier Rd is coming back to life. Have you heard anything about it?

That area is very nice and quiet, although much construction is starting to take place nearby.

No, i didn't hear anything about the balestier market and neither do i see work being done. It's just been shuttered up ever since the last hawkers moved out, pity, some of the food was good and so cheap.

I think it was tendered out last year, but till now I notice it is still boarded up.

It would add more vibrance to the area.

Do you feel that the area around Mandalay/Bassein Rd seems a bit gloomy?

I wouldn't say it's gloomy but that's really just my opinion coz i've lived in the area for 2 decades. The area has changed a lot though.

When i moved in, the area was mostly walk-up apartments but now it's all glassed condos, big hospital and MHA. Though there are still some conserved shophouses around Pegu & Martaban Roads and thankfully, i kinda like the old 1 - 2 storey buildings formerly used by TTSH - now some are empty and some still used by the hospital.

I think the area has lost some of its charm actually, but that's the way it is here in Singapore, especially with prime land.

I actually find it gloomier now than before, partly because a lot of faces i once recognised have moved out of the area after the numerous en-blocs.

hmmm....my perceptions of the area I guess were influenced by the cluster of health and medical related institutions for the suffering, further down at Moulmein. Also, it is particularly dark at ight, but mysterious, in a way.

I think that Novena Square, and the recent malls have added some buzz and light to the area. Eventually, it would become a high-tech medical cluster.

But I have noticed some good examples of colonial buildings there. In particular, I came across this grand and abandoned building:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v427/rotpics03/contrast2409.jpg

Do you remember what it was used as?

The old building used to be part of TTSH, before TTSH built the new building on the current site and moved out.

As for which particular dept of TTSH was located in this building, i really have no idea.

Thanks. Hope it is conserved.

Very interesting. I love to explore old abandoned buildings and find out about its history. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks. Hope it is conserved.

Oh man, so do I! :angel1:

Thank you for that thought provoking photo, Raffi! :)

The contrast between the sleek, shiny new apartment building in the background and the desolate state of the shutters and woodwork of the old building in the foreground is striking and tells quite a story. :master:

Krisgage, welcome! :wave: It's always nice to see another fan of Singapore's historic buildings here.

SEAfan - thanks. i have went a few places. I got a new blog.

http://SGBeaver.blogspot.com

R&R / A&A Works have begun at Balestier Market about 1 - 2 weeks ago. Expected completion is June 2008. They seem to be keeping the market's structure but redoing the roof & interior.

RafflesCity - The photo you took of the ruined house along Bassein Road....well, i think the land may have been sold finally. The trees surrounding the plot have been chopped off and about 3 weeks back, the gates to the burnt out house was open and workers were inside clearing stuff. The structure still remains, but i dunno for how long more.

^^ How sad! :(

But thanks for the news anyway, elainenwl.


Earlier in this thread (first post on this page) yoongf brought up an interesting point, one that I hadn't really considered: neglected, abandoned and run-down properties have a negative effect on the surroundings.

taken early this year

http://www.ehome.com.sg/discuz/attachments/month_0901/20090101_03f48963f71d67aadd8a78WhgMWL2xJg.jpg

some old public toilets

It's a burnt house

The "burnt house" is going up for enbloc, together with the apartment next to it, Pastoral View. Not sure if there were any takers, i saw the ad in the papers some time back. I've moved out of the area so not too updated on the happenings, where i lived is now a WIP condo called Vutton.

Any case, i used to post under "elainenwl" but forgot my ID and PW so had to re-register. DUH.