Punggol 21 Ghost Town

Punggol is perhaps one of the few remaining place in Singapore that remains largely undeveloped. The project Punggol 21 has been discreetly ongoing for years until PM Lee highlighted the subject at the National Day speech. Did he realise that the project has been left stagnant all this years therefore has to reassure the residents that they are not forgotten. All i see is newer HDB flats been constructed but the town is still quiet and lack of facilities. In contrary it's neighbouring town Sengkang has prosperous into a busy estate where there are people everywhere.



My shutterbug friend who accompanied me there complained that he wouldn't ever step into Punggol again. There are not as many Coffeeshop compared to Yishun, bus service is not comprehensive, vacant fields and not near to CBD. Despite all the cons, actually i quite like this quiet place. In years to come it will surely developed into a HDB attraction where nature and high rise flats integrated as one. It will be one of the choice to apply for HDB flat when i get married provided that my other half will not object against it.

The LRT
I have been asking friends around me if they had taken LRT ride before. That was because i never taken it before and was asking for their opinions/experience. Sounds a bit of "mountain turtle" right ? I wouldn't be surprise that many people out there haven't try before, don't even mention knowing the names of the station. Do you know that LRT only go one way ? It has 2 platforms but are used for different timing. If you overshot your station means going one round again to reach your destination, unlike MRT where you simply cross over the other platform to travel back. Imagine a friend calling you" Yo where are you ?", "ermm i'm at Riviera ..." excuse me are you even in Singapore ? ".



There are 2 LRT stations Punggol and Sengkang, each covering 10 awkwardly named sub stations. Rumbia, Bakau, Kangkar etc ... However that is one station called Cove, the flats over there are designed like condominium style, maybe your friends would mistaken as Sentosa Cove, only to find out it's Punggol Cove...chey ...


Landmark of Punggol
What was i doing in this ghost town ? Ever heard of a famous house that is situated right in the middle of a field, they called it the Matilda house. It's a white elephant in Punggol, government attempts to pull down made matters worse. 3 contractors were hired for the demolition project but somehow failed in the process. At least 1 person had died from unnatural death ( confirmed source from friend dad ) although rumours on internet forums suggested one death from each company. The government finally gave up so they preserve the house to serve it as a landmark of Punggol.

From Punggol Mrt

Shot in wide angle

it's ghost haunting and photography rolled into one. SPI did an investigation here but did not doesn't mean that it's dirty. I was here few years back to explore and found nothing, today i'm back again to preserve this unique house into digital format photos, because in the future it might not be there anymore. More history of the house is available at SPI, URA and Punggol.sg website for those who interest.

Me and my friend made our way into the dense bush to reach the house.

The earth cracked under the blazing sun

Nearly 200 shots were taken before my camera battery was flat. No special lens or filter were used as i'm not holding a DSLR, merely playing around with camera settings, more importantly techniques of taking from different angle. The format was set in a wide angle to achieve cinematic feel. Enjoy the story telling from the slide show or view it at your own pace here Punggol Matilda House

LOST
It was a wonderful experience although it was scorching hot, but we got our rewards. Hopefully the next time when i come to Punggol, it would be entirely new look, it's just doesn't look like a place in Singapore. It's big and "wu lu", we were lost in Punggol for 1.5hrs ... no people we can ask for directions.

PS
Felicia Chin came over to my nearby neighbourhood for filming. My mum saw lee nanxing and joanne peh but didn't mention the godness felica chin !!! Lucky northview girls, i also wanna take picture with my idol !!!