We may think that the concept of living with ‘foreign talent’ might be new, especially in this now-globalised society. But tales of clashing cultures aren’t all that new, as we see when Freddy Neo takes us back to the late 50s and early 60s, when the residents of Sembawang Hills Estate shared the neighbourhood with British military families.

I grew up in Sembawang Hills Estate. Our family moved there in 1958 when I was 6 years old and we moved out on Deepavali Day (sometime in October) in 1979. Our house was a one storey terrace house facing the Pierce Reservoir. The estate was developed by the Bukit Sembawang Group, parceled out from its vast rubber plantation in central Singapore. My father paid $11,000 for the house. Today after 51 years, a similar house (unrenovated and un-redeveloped) is going for about $900,000.

From 1958 to about 1969, about 25% of the houses in the estate were rented to British Servicemen and their families. They were mainly the lower ranking servicemen up to the rank of corporal, mainly from the Army and Royal Marine. Occasionally, you might see a sergeant and his family staying in one of the houses but they were mainly new arrivals on transit until they can find better accommodation.

What kind of cross-cultural were there between the British military families and the residents of Sembawang? Find out on Good Morning Yesterday.

Tags: Sembawang Hills Estate, British Military