East-siders, your own neck of the woods is the star of the National Heritage Board’s (NHB) 17th heritage trail: Tampines. The well-loved neighborhood, formerly home to coconut plantation workers, sand miners and traveling hawkers, now has its own heritage trail featuring 18 iconic heritage sites of the area. These include Pasir Ris Park’s Mangrove Preserve, Tampines Central Park, Lorong Halus Wetland, Tampines Chinese Temple and the former Tampines Bike Park.
Tampines Chinese Temple. Photo: National Heritage Board
But before you strap on your walking shoes, pick up the trail booklet to read the stories of 25 members of the community from the likes of first-gen hawkers of Tampines Round Market & Food Centre and residents who’ve been around since the kampong days.
The row of shophouses at Hun Yeang Road that used to be part of the former Hun Yeang Village. Photo: National Heritage Board
In addition to that, NHB has also created three themed 6km routes for curious explorers — the 90-minute Tampines Town Trail takes you through the town planning innovations of the neighborhood; the Religious Institutions Trails brings you on a 90-minute walk through the various houses of faith; and the Green Spaces Trail is an hour-long cycling path that journeys across scenic locations, including a former landfill turned wetland.
Lorong Halus Wetland, formerly a landfill dumping ground and night soil disposal centre. Photo: National Heritage Board
For a little trip back in time, browse through these photos of Tampines in the olden days.
Watermelon playground at Tampines Central Park, 1993. Photo: Ministry of Information and the Arts Collection, courtesy of National Archives of SingaporeKampong Teban, located at the 8th milestone of Tampines Road, 1986. Photo: National Archives of SingaporeThe landfill at Lorong Halus, 1980s. This was one of the last night soil disposal stations, officially discontinued in 1987. Photo: National Environment AgencyA dragon dance performance during then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew’s tour of Tampines, 1963. Photo: Ministry of Information and the Arts Collection, courtesy of National Archives of SingaporeThe former Golden Palace Holiday Resort, which was built in 1967 and closed in 1971. Its only remnant is the fishing pond in Pasir Ris Town Park. Photo: National Museum of Singapore Collection, courtesy of National Heritage BoardA sand quarry in Tampines, 1970s. Much of the sand from sand quarries in the neighborhood was used for the East Coast Reclamation Scheme and in the construction of places like Toa Payoh Town and Changi Airport. Photo: Tampines GRC Community Sports Clubs
