This month, we bring you stories behind familiar community spaces in the heartland. These spaces are unique to each estate yet embody the quintessential heartland living experience.
This month, we bring you stories behind familiar community spaces in the heartland. These spaces are unique to each estate yet embody the quintessential heartland living experience.
MacPherson resident Tian Kuo shares his love for the oft-forgotten linkways in our estates.
Hi Tian Kuo, tell us more about your neighbourhood!
The serenity of MacPherson is a contrast to the bustle of Tampines where I grew up. There is an old-world charm about this place – perhaps due to the design of the blocks with their long corridors, or the community of seniors who gather at the void decks to catch up on the latest happenings in the estate.
At Balam Road, where I now live, numerous linkways provide shelter from the sun and rain as residents go about their day; and at night, the linkways become lighted trails that guide them safely home.
What’s so special about this particular linkway?
It might seem odd to have a favourite linkway, but I’m particularly fond of the one that connects my block to the bus stop. Not only does it shelter me from the morning sun when I leave for work, it also leads to my wife’s favourite zi char restaurant and to the hawker centre located a few blocks away that sells one of the best Indian rojak.
We’re also fully sheltered all the way to the supermarket nearby – something I’m really grateful for, especially when we’re laden with groceries and the rain catches us unprepared.
For the past year, my morning routine has been to walk my daughter, Emma, to school before leaving for work. The walk along the linkway to the bus stop may be short, but I really cherish the time we spend together – whether it’s Emma filling me in on what she’s up to at school, or griping about the latest mischief her brother, Ethan, has gotten into.
Your kids seem to love this linkway too!
The linkway is long and Ethan and Emma love scooting along the pathway whenever they head to the neighbourhood park for their playtime – it’s almost like their personal racetrack.
These little moments watching them laugh, play and run, may seem ordinary, but bit by bit, they add to the memories that I’ll always cherish in my heart.
Got a linkway memory to share? Post it on the Housing & Development Board’s Facebook page from 25 November to 1 December, and you may just receive a cute doodle of your memory.
Catch a glimpse of the precious moments that occur right at our doorstep every day:
