Tiong Bahru

Tiong Bahru is a housing estate and subzone region located within Bukit Merah planning area, in the Central Region of Singapore. Tiong Bahru was constructed in the 1920s by the Singapore Improvement Trust, the predecessor to the Housing Development Board (HDB) and an entity of the British colonial authority providing mass public housing in Singapore and is the oldest housing estate in Singapore. According to URA's definition, the area known as 'Tiong Bahru' is represented by three contiguous subzones of Bukit Merah, namely Tiong Bahru, Tiong Bahru Station and Kampong Tiong Bahru. The namesake subzone refers to the main estate which consists of 54 Walk-up flats with over 900 housing units built by SIT, as well as modern HDB flats and private condominiums along Boon Tiong Road, Kim Tian Road and Chay Yan Street. Tiong Bahru Station subzone refers to the locality that encompasses Tiong Bahru MRT station, Tiong Bahru Plaza and housing developments along Jalan Membina while Kampong Tiong Bahru which refers to the locality around Jalan Bukit Merah and Silat Road. Since the mid-2000s, Tiong Bahru has undergone rapid gentrification and the neighbourhood has become synonymous with trendy cafes and indie boutiques amid pre-war architecture. The name Tiong Bahru means "new cemetery" (thióng, 塚 (Traditional) / 冢 (Simplified) – Hokkien for "cemetery", bahru – Malay for "new"), which was a reference to a cemetery beside the Heng San Teng Burial Ground or the Old Chinese Burial Ground, located at the present site of the Singapore General Hospital. The junction of Seng Poh Road and Tiong Bahru Road housed a "bird corner" dating back to the early 1980s. The owners of song birds such as Prinias, Robins, and Shrikes would gather at the corner to meet and chat over tea and coffee. The corner was disrupted by the building of the Link Hotel in 2003.