Old neighbours reunited as they share stories of Woodlands kampung days

SINGAPORE – She remembered him as the chatty boy next door, while he looked up to her as the one who got into a good school when she entered Bukit Panjang Government High School.

Retired industrial engineer Jessica Bong and sales and production manager John Toh were old neighbours in Kampong Hock Choon, but lost touch after moving into their Housing Board flats in Woodlands in the 1980s. 

Their paths crossed again unexpectedly while they were separately sharing stories of their kampung days at the launch of the National Heritage Board’s (NHB) Woodlands Heritage Trail at Hong Tho Bilw Temple on Oct 27.

Ms Bong, 70, is a community contributor for the heritage trail, while Mr Toh, 59, is a committee member of the temple.

“He looks the same, just taller and bigger, but he still talks a lot,” she told The Straits Times. 

Mr Toh recalled that as neighbours in the kampung, which is in the present Woodlands Avenue 3 area, the two families frequently exchanged food.

Her family grew vegetables while his reared chickens, ducks and fish. 

Kampong Hock Choon was a rural community established before the war. There were about 15 to 20 families residing in the village, all farming for a living. 

The main road through the village, which was originally a side road branching off Marsiling Road, was named Hock Choon Road in 1955. 

In 1962, then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew opened Hock Choon Community Centre at Lorong Chikar, which became the first rural community centre to provide veterinary and agricultural services in addition to social and recreational facilities. 

The children attended Nan Chiau Public School nearby, which had a zinc roof and wooden plank walls.

The Hong Tho Bilw Temple, which is dedicated to Guan Di Gong, a Taoist god of war and wealth, was originally located in the village. It moved to its current site in Marsiling Industrial Estate in the 1980s when the village had to be cleared.  

The villagers were offered resettlement compensation and allocation of flats by HDB. 

“What pained me most were the two or three dogs we had to leave behind at the kampung when we moved,” said Ms Bong. “We would visit them with food whenever we could.”