The story of

Dakota Crescent

1958 · 2016

1960s

The beginning

Imagine you are once again in Singapore in the 1960s, in the early days of independence.

People are moving out of their old kampungs, and the newly-established Housing Development Board (HDB) makes an attractive offer: pay less than $100 a month to move into Dakota Crescent, and have a place to call your own.

Drag the above image to explore Dakota Crescent

You consider this carefully.

Dakota is not as spacious as the kampung, but there are plenty of courtyards. Although the buildings are tall, there are lifts. The flats have electricity, the toilets can be flushed, and running water means you no longer have to depend on the communal well.

You decide to move. A food centre opens across the road. Neighbours become friends. At the playground, everyone’s children play together.

Dakota Crescent has become home.

Besides the iconic Dove Playground, the estate housed another playground, which is now a fitness corner. It holds many memories for the children who grew up in the estate.

The estate marked the beginnings of Singapore’s public housing history. It is a physical reminder of the challenges faced by the government to elevate its citizens from slums and squatter settlements into affordable public housing.

Before Dakota’s cream colour facade, the flats used to be brick red. The same bricks were also used to construct icons like the Old National Library Building. They were later painted over as the walls were porous and rain would seep in.

The estate was named after the transport aircraft Douglas DC-3 Dakota – a plane that commonly landed at the now-defunct Kallang airport.

Another significant feature of the estate was it’s wide balconies. Some painted their doors and balconies in striking colours as a way to identify their new homes.

Situated right next to the Kallang River, the estate was part of Singapore’s bigger plan to develop the Kallang Estate. In it’s heyday, it was even referred to as Singapore’s equivalent of London’s Hyde Park.

2000s

Singapore in the new millennium

Housing estates now dot the map of Singapore.

With the population crunch, newer estates were built higher and higher, with smaller common spaces. Dakota, with its large shared spaces, remained different –- and special.

Today, your children have grown up, started their own families, and moved out. Despite their visits, the estate is quieter. Most of the elderly live alone. You establish a comfortable routine around the shared space: going to the market opposite, watching TV, feeding the cats, saying hello to neighbours of old as they walk by.

SIT-designed Flats

These butterfly blocks are highly recognised and photographed. Unknown to most is how they are curved to break monotony and to maximise privacy – a unique architectural feature of the Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT) blocks.

The SIT was the precursor to the Housing Development Board (HDB), and was set up by the British colonial government during pre-independence.

The Dakota Crescent SIT flats, initially built to resettle squatters and kampung dwellers, now remain as one of the last physical reminders of SIT’s innovative development of residential housing.
The #Cats of Dakota

Cats are a common sight at Dakota. While they are strays, some residents take it upon themselves to feed the cats.

As a result, the cats have made this area home and have become a mainstay of the estate and a novelty for visitors, earning themselves viral, boss-like hashtags of their own.
Tung Ling Care & Friends Centre

Tung Ling Care & Friends Centre is an elderly activity centre that once served as an informal heartbeat to Dakota. Started in 2005, it was intended to address the needs of elderly residents.

Roger Neo - affectionately addressed as Ah Leong by the non-English-speaking elderly – is the centre manager, and the first person that they turn to when administrative help is required, or when they want to join in his karaoke, Rummikub, and exercise sessions.

The centre is part of Tung Ling Community Services, the community outreach arm of Church of Singapore.
Communal Living

The Dakota Crescent estate was built with open courtyards and common spaces, which is distinct from the HDB’s high-rise, void deck model.

Stone tables around the estate allowed for informal chats and interaction, a ubiquitous marker of communal living in Dakota.
Dove Playground

The Dove Playground was designed by HDB’s Mr Khor Ean Ghee in 1979, and was put in the national spotlight when another mosaic playground, the Toa Payoh Dragon playground, was celebrated as a uniquely Singaporean icon during the SG50 festivities.

It became a distinguishing landmark of Dakota Crescent and a popular spot for wedding photography.
Dakota Adventures

Cai Yinzhou first started walking tours around his hometown of Geylang to break perceptions people have of the neighbourhood.

He now does the same for Dakota Crescent, after learning the news of its redevelopment. This time, residents are invited as partners to share their personal stories – providing a window for Singaporeans to get to know this unique estate before it disappears.
Daily Routines

Across the road from Dakota Crescent is where residents go about everyday life. From the locally famous Old Airport Road Hawker Centre to the smaller Kallang Estate Food Centre and other coffeeshops, residents can often be found in within the area, eating their meals, having a cup of kopi, or picking up groceries at the supermarket or wet market.
Tian Kee & Co.

When the owner of Tian Kee & Co wanted to give up the provision shop after 54 years, C.K., an entrepreneur, decided to start a cafe that would pay a nostalgic tribute to the estate.

The name was kept, and the café attracted young Singaporeans who wanted to experience a sense of the old neighbourhood, while in the comfort of rainbow cakes and flat whites.

It is now permanently closed.

Explore Dakota Crescent by clicking on the points on the map

2014

The news

On 23 July 2014, you receive a letter from the HDB:

“All tenants will have to move out by the end of 2016.”

Read the letter by clicking on the above image

Dakota Crescent is up for redevelopment. HDB tells you they have set aside a new home for you – Block 52 Cassia Crescent, not far from Dakota Crescent, but seemingly a world away.

There are three choices

Continue to rent at Cassia Crescent

You have priority to continue renting at Cassia Crescent at the same rental rates.

Buy a flat at Cassia Crescent

If you have enough savings and can purchase a flat, a S$15,000 relocation grant is available as well.

Relocate elsewhere

You have priority to move into rental flats in other HDB estates.

You consider the pros and cons.

On one hand, Dakota Crescent is getting older. The lifts are breaking down, and house facilities are compromised. HDB is providing a removal allowance of S$1,000 to ease the transition.

On the other, wonderful memories exist here, and as an elderly resident, you had hoped to enjoy your days in a familiar and peaceful place. You don’t want to start all over again, and think about moving all the things you’ve accumulated after all this time.

2016

Aftermath of the news

As the move approaches, the estate has become livelier. People have begun visiting, their interest sparked by the news or nostalgia. Everyone is curious about Dakota, and what’s so special about this estate you’ve called home.

There are calls for the estate to be conserved. Groups of schoolchildren visit the estate in the name of heritage. Photographers troop in, snapping photos of your everyday life.

Some of them say hello when they pass you by, while some knock on your door. Some of them ask about your story, and about the stories of your neighbours, and this is what you tell them.

Stories from the residents

Read their stories