Queentown cannot be forgotten

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Hello thegrumpymonk, If you can recognize this scene I am sure you will be glad to know Block 81 in Commonwealth Drive is still around after 31 years.

 

[dchow]

responding to viewtopic.php?f=18&t=110 related to this post

Block 81, 82 and 83 are all up on the slope in Commonwealth Drive. I do not know whether the New Town
Primary School is still there. The flats and the surroundings were upgraded some years ago.
These three blocks of flat are all 16 storey high.

Which of the flat are you referring to "used to be identified as 101-q as well"? Will be glad to post some images of Queentown in another thread. Queenstown and Toa Payoh are the two oldest town in Singapore. Fortunately the government got both of them slowly upgraded.

oh thank you!

you took the pictures from the building we used to lived in. flat 101-q is the flat, while you're facing out, to your right - there's the corner flat, the second, and then the third flat was 101-q. block 81 has one of the best views that will never be obstructed for a VERY, VERY long time.

it's amazing how much has changed. across from the pedestrian bridge and new town secondary school used to be a few low-rise buildings - maybe 6 storeys. the japanese garden was on the far left of these buildings and immediately to the left of block 81 - that is, you have to stick your head out the balcony a bit to be able to see the japanese garden.

in the lower left foreground and mostly hidden in the canopy of trees on the new town secondary school property, i notice a red roof. if it's the same building, i think this was the house of the care-taker and his family.

new town primary school was on the far right of the secondary school, or behind the right side of block 81. straight ahead used to be a traffic circle. i notice it's gone. is there a highway tunnel going under?

i remember those trees used to be, well, smaller. i wish all cities make as much effort planting trees and making green spaces as they would with planting buildings and making hard spaces.

 

[forward]

Re: Queens Town cannot be forgotten

A closer look at the underpass, where you will avoid the traffic jam between the junction of
Commonwealth Drive and Queensway. Did you find the New Town Primary School in this picture?

 

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Another view with more foreground.

 

[forward]

"you took the pictures from the building we used to lived in. flat 101-q is the flat, while you're facing out, to your right - there's the corner flat, the second, and then the third flat was 101-q. block 81 has one of the best views that will never be obstructed for a VERY, VERY long time."

Maybe I didn't notice the corner flat or did not face out enough, is the flats in the picture familiar to you?
I am not sure of these tall flats on the extreme right of the picture.

 

[dchow]

wow, the changes are very dramatic from what i remember.

it looks like a mix of forest and urban.

third picture- the picture where i thought was the roof of the school ground care taker's house turned out to be the roof of a sheltered walk-way leading up from the bus stop to commonwealth close (or drive?). if the care taker's house is still there it'd be hidden under the tree canopies to the right of the walk way, or perhaps where the tennis or badminton courts are now. looking closely, i think the care taker's house is gone.

fourth picture- the two massive buildings look out of place! they're tremendously massive! WOW. i think there used to be a school where this building sits. notice the football and track field in the middle right of the picture? new town primary school is to the right of this field.

i am presuming that these shots were taken from the corridor of block-81. the former 101-q unit would be to your right when you were taking these pictures. if you head right along the corridor to the corner apartment (or flat?), and then starting with the corner unit, count back 3, the 3rd unit was apartment 101-q. i still remember our ancient mailing address: commonwealth drive (close?), block-81, 101-q, singapore 3. ancient stuff.

back to the structure in the fourth picture- i am absolutely stunned by the MASSIVENESS of the structure in the fourth picture. is this a single structure? oh well, so much for that western part of the view.

by the way, forward, thanks for taking these pictures! i hope you got these because you so happen to be around town and not going out of your way to do this. it is a fun virtual tour of my old neighborhood. thanks so much

 

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A closer look at the massive structure. Look like modern high rise apartments built recently
right in the heart of Queenstown. Below the apartments you can see the train (MRT) stands for
Mass Rapid Transport heading towards the left.

Regarding the 101-Q flat. I actually went right up to the 16th floor of Blk 81 but did not go to
the corner of the corridor and so did not notice the flat number. I think instead of using A-Z, it has
been change to using numbers. Now the flats are numbered: #16-101, Block 81 Commonwealth Drive.

Coming back to the new blocks of apartment, one can tell that the town is more than 35 years old.
Those 4 to 12 storey buildings were built in the mid 1960s to 1970s if I am not wrong. There was a
school call the QueensWay Secondary School along Margaret Drive. It was a mixed school where the girl
student uniform was white and purple. The boys wore white shirt and pants.

 

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Taking a closer look, you can see the MRT station and more details of the track/football field.

 

[chanxj]

Queensway Secondary School is still surviving on margret drive at its original location it is on the fourth picture, 1st building on left side of road.
The site of the track and the basketball court is currently the holding site of clementi town sec school while its campus is renovated. Queensway, fairfield, rivervalley secondary school used to occupy it.

 

[forward]

Hello chanxj, Thanks for the info, will try to visit the area to see the changes
Brings back memories when I was on a bus during the 70s and seeing students waiting at bus stops
after school hours. The purple colour of the girl's uniform was unique indeed.

 

[forward]

Hi thegrumpymonk,
"it is a fun virtual tour of my old neighborhood"
If you enjoy this virtual tour of your old neighborhood I will be too glad to give you more
pictures to bring back your memories. When I am doing it, going around and taking time to
see the things that were missing and refreshing my eyes with new structures it is also a joy for
me because I lived in this town in the 70s. To start of I will bring you right to the foot of the
building. Do you remember the few old trees around especially the two right below the block.
If you recognised the trees then wow... they are at least more than 40 years old.

 

[forward]

Frontal view of the trees.

 

[forward]

The two blocks behind are Block 82 and 83. You can see the Block 81 signboard on the lower
left corner of the picture.

 

[dchow]

Do you remember the few old trees around especially the two right below the block.
If you recognised the trees then wow... they are at least more than 40 years old.

WOW, yes!

the two trees looked big when i was a kid, they're even bigger now. it's amazing. if only trees could talk.

some how 16 storeys don't seem so tall anymore. it's amazing how big things look when you're a kid. i remember block 81 like a sky scrapper.

this is so amazing. so much has changed.

 

[forward]

Do you remember the few old trees around especially the two right below the block.
If you recognised the trees then wow... they are at least more than 40 years old.

WOW, yes!
the two trees looked big when i was a kid, they're even bigger now. it's amazing. if only trees could talk.
some how 16 storeys don't seem so tall anymore. it's amazing how big things look when you're a kid. i remember block 81 like a sky scrapper.
this is so amazing. so much has changed.

Though trees could not talk, they could show their age, and strength of life. In the late 60s a 16 storey building
is consider a sky scrapper. Moreover the block is built right up on a slope. I climbed up to the 16th floor and
got the corridor with the massive modern blocks of flats.

 

[dchow]

Though trees could not talk, they could show their age, and strength of life. In the late 60s a 16 storey building
is consider a sky scrapper. Moreover the block is built right up on a slope. I climbed up to the 16th floor and
got the corridor with the massive modern blocks of flats.

WOW, i hope you realize how exciting it is for me to see this! the unit where we used to live in until march 1976 is all the way down this corridor in front of your camera. when we were kids, this corridor seemed long and wide. we would race up and down this corridor with the other kids.

stray cats used to make the roof area their den, and we would chase them up and down the building between the first and sixteenth storey. we had a lot of energy then. mischievous kids and adults like to use the landing to the roof as well.

but i'm still so stunned by the size of the the structure across the football and track field! it's so huge!

thank you so much for this. i'm glad you're enjoying doing this. this is quite a treat to see these pictures. they're wonderful.

 

[forward]

Though trees could not talk, they could show their age, and strength of life. In the late 60s a 16 storey building
is consider a sky scrapper. Moreover the block is built right up on a slope. I climbed up to the 16th floor and
got the corridor with the massive modern blocks of flats.

WOW, i hope you realize how exciting it is for me to see this! the unit where we used to live in until march 1976 is all the way down this corridor in front of your camera. when we were kids, this corridor seemed long and wide. we would race up and down this corridor with the other kids.

stray cats used to make the roof area their den, and we would chase them up and down the building between the first and sixteenth storey. we had a lot of energy then. mischievous kids and adults like to use the landing to the roof as well.

but i'm still so stunned by the size of the the structure across the football and track field! it's so huge!

thank you so much for this. i'm glad you're enjoying doing this. this is quite a treat to see these pictures. they're wonderful.

To find that you are excited after seeing the same corridor you had been racing up and down with during
your kiddy days is really making me feel good and that visiting the block to get the pictures is worth all
the effort. The staircase to the landing to the roof is now locked. Is it locked like that during those days in 1976?

The climbing up to the 16th floor will be tough but with the lift, the effort is much easier. It seems the lift has
been given a new look as well. These two pictures will even bring back more memories for you.

 

[forward]

The lift was given a new look.

 

[dchow]

The staircase to the landing to the roof is now locked. Is it locked like that during those days in 1976?

The climbing up to the 16th floor will be tough but with the lift, the effort is much easier. It seems the lift has
been given a new look as well. These two pictures will even bring back more memories for you.

i think the landing to the roof was locked in 1976. it looks like there has been a lot of cosmetics done to the building. the lift wasn't as pretty as it's now. i remember the lift always looked intimidating to me. i never liked it. spooks me. it looks like a mouth ready to devour its passengers.

i can see our old flat in the last picture. can you believe a family of eight used to live in this tiny place? of course, to kids, what's tiny looking to adults may be big to the kids. if we had lived there any longer, we would've become mad.