Forgotten spaces

WESTLAKE PRIMARY AND BRADDELL-WESTLAKE SECONDARY SCHOOLS

Located in Braddell Road, across from Raffles Institution, these school buildings are waiting to be demolished. Due to declining student numbers, the schools were closed at the end of 2005 and have been vacant for more than 10 years.

When we stopped by, there were no signs of life and the surroundings were eerily quiet. Only the colours of a mosaic mural - done in 1979 and entitled The History Of Development In Singapore - remained as vibrant as the day it was completed.

KERAMAT BUKIT KASITA

Hidden among heavy foliage beside a block of HDB flats and a childcare centre in Bukit Purmei Ville, the Muslim burial ground Tanah Kubur Diraja and the compound, Keramat Bukit Kasita, are easily missed.

Not much is known about the 200 or so tombs there.

According to some accounts, the graveyard could have been opened as early as 1530 by Sultan Alaudin Riayat Shah II, the seventh descendant of Sang Nila Utama, who founded the kingdom of Singapura in 1299.

A narrow path leads through the shacks, which house the "guardians" of the compound. Just beyond the locked gates are the graves, many of which have their headstones covered in yellow cloth, a sign of royalty.

BUKIT TIMAH RAILWAY STATION

Originally constructed in 1932 to serve as one of the five stations along the Singapore-Kranji Railway line, the station acted as a crossing loop station in the late 1940s and a freight interchange for the now-defunct Jurong Railway line from 1965 to the early 1990s.

When the railway line between Woodlands and Tanjong Pagar closed in July 2011, the station was gazetted and reopened to the public in September that year without any refurbishment.

SUNSET WAY RAILWAY BRIDGE

This cast iron bridge, which spans a section of Sunset Way, was part of the old Jurong Railway line. Its track, which branched out from the former Bukit Timah Railway Station, was dismantled, but the bridge still exists.

The 14km Jurong Railway was completed in 1965 to carry cargo to the then newly constructed Jurong Industrial Estate, but because of inadequate traffic, it was made obsolete.

KEPPEL HILL RESERVOIR

The reservoir, which reportedly dates back to as early as 1905, vanished from Singapore maps in the 50s. Its location was not officially marked for 60 years until it was rediscovered by the National Heritage Board in 2014.

Located off Telok Blangah Road, this 2m-deep reservoir provided water for the Tanjong Pagar Dock Company before being turned into a swimming pool, according to pre-war and post-war maps. Remnants of a diving board and a bathing area can still be seen.

Though the reservoir is hidden by vegetation, people have been visiting it since it was rediscovered.

This article was first published on May 5, 2016.
Get The New Paper for more stories.