Stories from Pineapple Hill

When we talk about colonial Black and White Houses in Singapore and their inhabitants, we tend to remember the British families that lived in them. In reality a colonial estate would house many others besides the tuans besar and their families, and they can be roughly divided into two categories: domestic staff and company workers. In this post I want to talk about that first group. You can imagine those large houses with all their timber, like the ones I describe in my previ

This is the next post in a series on the history of colonial Black and White Houses of Telok Blangah. The colonial houses in this area were built for expatriate staff working at Keppel Harbour, and the area was first developed by Chinese businessman Ang Seah Im, as we saw in this previous post. I want to show you another colonial estate on the foothills of Mount Faber, which is rather special as it was built as the first corporate estate in Singapore, and in fact predates mo

Black and White Houses were built by the colonial British to house expatriate staff. This article tells the story of those houses on Seah Im Road that were built by influential Chinese Hokkien business man Ang Seah Im. They were rented out to people working at nearby Keppel Harbour and the Singapore Harbour Board.

This post describes the history of the Telok Blangah area in Singapore. First described in the 14th century as inhabited by barbarians, it became a notorious pirate haunt before the British developed it into one of the biggest ports in the world.

This post unravels the true history of when and by whom the Istana Kampong Gelam is built.

In this post I explore who built the Istana Woodneuk, and which fascinating stories and why it is worth preserving

Explore the hidden area of Alexandra Forest in Singapore. Walk into the past with colonial houses and a Malay mosque

In this post I explain who the Temenggongs of Singapore were, and how they contributed to the development of the city

The steps on this photo lead to one of my favourite places in Singapore, one I love to visit when I need some peace and quiet. Any idea...