A Splendid Little Colony: British Singapore 1819 - 1963

Seaside villa along Tanjong Katong Road, 1916

A seaside villa along Tanjong Katong, facing the sea, 1916. The Katong district would become very popular with the wealthy local Asians and many bungalows were built here as holiday homes. Some trappings of prosperity include the horse-drawn carriages and the walled and gated compounds. It was the habit of a number of the rich to sail into the east coast from their city homes for the weekend.
Cheah Jin Seng. Singapore: 500 early postcards
The huge villa had two hexagonal cupolas; on its garden gates were mounted a large pair of eagles with outstretched wings. Such mansions, and there were numerous, owned by local Asians, puts paid to the naïve notion that the whole local populace was an oppressed lot during colonial times.

A Splendid Little Colony: British Singapore 1819 - 1963 | Singapore