A history of Dover Forest

Dover Forest has been in the news recently, because of the possibility of it being cleared for public housing.

I decided to go back to old maps and piece together its history, and see if there is anything more to it other than being a 33-hectare green lung in the southwest of the island.

***

In the early 20th century, there was a large area bounded by Ulu Pandan Road and Holland Road to the north, Reformatory Road to the west, Ayer Rajah Road to the south, and Buona Vista Road to the east. The northern part was part of the Mukim of Ulu Pandan; the southern part was part of the Mukim of Pasir Panjang.

The present Dover Forest is a small fragment of this larger, nameless area, and its story should begin from here.

This was the area in 1923, outlined in light blue:

The hills were mostly covered by rubber plantations, while the more low-lying areas around rivers and streams were used for coconut plantations.

The area in 1953:

Reformatory Road had been renamed Clementi Road.

The rubber and coconut plantations had largely been replaced by “unclassified and mixed tree cultivation”, and grass and brush.

From 1932, the Keretapi Tanah Melayu railway track crossed the area. There was a railway station called Tanglin Halt just east of Buona Vista Road, but was largely disused by 1953.

The kampungs of Tua Kang Lye and Holland Village covered the north of the area. In the south, there was a British presence in the form of a military cemetery, and the black and white bungalows of Rochester Park, housing military officers.

The area in 1972:

The Sungei Ulu Pandan had been realigned, cutting across the area.

North of the river, the private housing estates of Mount Sinai and Holland Grove had joined Tua Kang Lye. South of the river, Dover Road had been laid down to connect Clementi Road and North Buona Vista Road. Because of the British presence in the area, Dover Road took its name after Dover, the town in southeast England.

Singapore Polytechnic had just opened a campus at the former Princess Mary Barracks.

The curvy stretch of Ayer Rajah Road between Clementi Road and North Buona Vista Road had been straightened.

The area in 1984:

Decades of abandoned cultivation in the area had gradually given way to secondary forest and bush, but large swathes were cleared for public housing estates such as Ghim Moh to the east, and Ayer Rajah to the south.

Commonwealth Avenue in neighbouring Queenstown New Town had been extended west to Clementi New Town; the new road was Commonwealth Avenue West, which cut the area in half.

Meanwhile, the Sungei Ulu Pandan had been straightened and canalised.

By now, the rough boundaries of what is presently the Dover Forest were in existence (marked in light blue). However, at the time, the forest might have been called Commonwealth Avenue West Forest, or just Commonwealth Forest, as it lay next to Commonwealth Avenue West; Dover MRT Station, which gave the forest its present name, would open only in 2001.

The area in 2000:

The last pockets of empty land around the Commonwealth Forest (marked in light blue) had filled up - Pine Grove and other condominium developments to the north, Singapore Polytechnic and Warren Golf Course (presently University Town) to the south, Buona Vista MRT Station to the southeast.

The East West MRT Line had been laid down along a good part of Commonwealth Avenue West; Dover MRT Station was nearing completion atop the tracks. Curiously, even though Dover Road was some distance away from the station, the latter took its name from the former.

In the south, Ayer Rajah Road had been upgraded to Ayer Rajah Expressway.

Formerly the Commonwealth Forest (my name), now the Dover Forest, today:

Base picture credit: Google Maps.

In the last 20 years, the forest bounded by the Sungei Ulu Pandan, Clementi Road, and Commonwealth Avenue West saw further retreat all around. To the west, the School of Science and Technology moved into a new campus in 2012. To the east, Ghim Moh Valley was first completed in 2013, then Ghim Moh Edge in 2017. And in the middle, a covered walkway was built to connect Dover MRT Station to Holland Grove.

Now, I think it’s more accurate to see the Dover Forest as two parts - Dover Forest West and Dover Forest East.

And thus concludes a short, 100-year history of Dover Forest - a story of abandoned agriculture, urban redevelopment, the laying down of transport channels, and a gradual but relentless encroachment on natural heritage.

What will be the forest’s eventual fate? We’ll find out very soon.

A community dispersed

Good of Channel NewsAsia to do a follow-up on the fate of the Sungei Road Market vendors, who were dispersed when the authorities enforced the closure of the historic landmark in 2017.

As a street vendor, Jason Goh was known to sell some unusual wares. There were antiques, a collection of Burmese jade, and fossilised elephant sperm.

Four years after his stall had to close, he says those stones with elephant sperm inside are “still very saleable”.

As he used to claim, the stones serve a useful purpose: “If you work … your boss automatically would like you. You go anywhere — girls would like to make friends with you.”

This former Sungei Road market vendor is one of many who have struggled to find a new home after the demise of Singapore’s most famous flea market.

Where it used to be, with its 80 years of history — of people hustling for a better life — is now a barricaded grass patch.

But recently, some vendors like Goh have set up shop not far away. And they are trying to keep memories of the place alive.

The programme On The Red Dot finds out how what has happened to them since 2017 and how they are picking up the pieces, in a series on places Singaporeans will miss.

A PIECE OF HISTORY, NOW REBRANDED

Singapore’s oldest and largest flea market began in the 1930s as a trading spot by the banks of Rochor River. From the 1940s onwards, it became popular for its cheap goods.

The vendors used to start operating in the late afternoon, offering an array of items, some of which were considered a steal while others were literally stolen or smuggled, leading to the market’s moniker, the Thieves’ Market.

At its height, there were more than 300 vendors. In July 2017, when it had to make way for an MRT station as well as future residential and commercial developments, there were 200 vendors. Some had worked there for decades.

Many of the vendors have since retired, while others took their business to night markets or took on odd jobs. Many still missed their former lives.

“My heart ached,” ex-vendor David Sein says about how he felt when the market closed.

So when the 58-year-old saw two vacant Housing and Development Board shop units near the old market last March, he asked The Saturday Movement, a charity, to help rent the units for a group of vendors.

Six months later, the Sungei Road Green Hub was born at Kelantan Road. “They (the charity) know all these people have got no place to go. Most are already old,” says Goh, one of around 20 vendors there.

Helping them out brings back memories for Raymond Khoo, the restaurateur behind The Saturday Movement, which paid for the renovations and rental deposit.

“I remember going to Sungei Road, the original Thieves’ Market, in my primary school days. My brother said, ‘I’ll bring you somewhere that you’ve never been.’ So I was very excited,” recalls the 57-year-old.

“I remember this Ultraman figurine — it was so interesting. We didn’t manage to buy anything. My brother said, ‘It’s just for you to have a look-see, to know that you can look for some treasures.’”

It was Khoo’s idea to “rebrand” the new place as a green hub.

“Reuse, recycle and upcycle,” he cites. “It’s more current, especially (for) the millennials. (If) you tell them karang guni (rag-and-bone man), they’d have no idea what it’s about.”

He helps to manage the rental of about S$6,000 for both units, which is S$10 a day from each vendor. And their old customers are starting to return. But because of the COVID-19 pandemic, he has promised to make up any shortfall in the first year.

For former Sungei Road market vendor Lee Tien Seng, just having his own stall makes him “a bit happier”.

“The night markets are closed now, so we can’t do business there. Without this shop, we’d be in dire straits,” he says. “If we (had to) look for jobs, would they even call us back?”

It is important that they have a place of their own, Khoo notes. “Their internal being is elevated because ‘hey, I’ve something to look forward to instead of I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow’.”

It is also “very important” to preserve the “heritage of where these people came from”, he adds.

***

I last visited the Sungei Road Market in June 2017, just a few weeks before it closed.

I had a memorable time browsing the stalls and their myriad wares, helmed by cheerful uncles game for banter or snapshots:

One of the cheerful uncles managed to persuade me to part with some of my hard-earned money for this lovely old-school typewriter:

I wish them well.

Singapore’s public buses

The Straits Times put together an infographic of Singapore’s current public bus models:

This range of models is set to be transformed in the next 20 years, because of two factors: Buses must be replaced after 17 years of service, and the long-term clean-energy goal of converting the fleet to hybrid-electric or electric.

About 2 per cent of Singapore’s public bus fleet now run on cleaner energy, and it is on track to phase out diesel buses in 20 years.

The goal to have all 5,800 public buses run fully on electricity or be at least hybrid-electric was set in late 2019, in line with Singapore’s push to do its part to reverse the effects of global warming.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) told The Straits Times last week that it is on track to meet this target by 2040.

Since buses must be replaced after being in service for 17 years, shorter than LTA’s 20-year timeframe to fulfil its goal, the authority said it can renew its fleet as long as all bus purchases from now are for cleaner-energy buses only.

On Jan 11, the last batch of diesel buses was rolled out. The buses were bought before the LTA made its 2040 commitment.

Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Transport Chee Hong Tat has given assurances that these vehicles, bought from Alexander Dennis Services and ST Engineering, will be replaced by buses that run on cleaner energy after their 17-year statutory lifespan.

As each bus model is scrapped after its 17-year service lifespan, it would be great if a handful of vehicles were retrofitted with electric engines, and put back onto the roads as “heritage buses”. They would continue serving the public and plying normal bus routes as before, but would henceforth be part of a “moving bus museum”.

One type of bus I'd love to see as a heritage bus is the Bendy Bus, Singapore's longest public bus. This was TIB838H, Singapore's first Bendy Bus, which plied the roads from 1996 to 2013. Credit: Prince Leyland's YouTube account.

This would be similar to Hiroshima City’s “moving streetcar museum”, with streetcar models from different decades. It would be an attraction in itself, not just to bus otakus, but to tourists from all over the world. It would become a significant source of soft power for the Land Transport Authority and whichever bus operators who maintained the buses. And it would be much easier for me to tell a story of Singapore transport history!

Hiroshima City's "moving streetcar museum".