The Hilltops

When Rajaratnam passed away, I was surprised by the number of Singaporean friends who did not know he penned the Singapore Pledge. There followed a lot of discussions in the Forum pages about how little we know of Singapore's post-colonial history, our founding fathers, etc.

The same could very much be said about Singapore's pioneer generation of architects, those from the 50s and 60s who were breaking the dominance of the ex-pat architects. Of this generation, I have been wanting to write something on Victor Chew, the founder of Kumpulan Akitek and co-founder of Singapore Institute of Architects, for some time now. I met him once, courtesy of his daughter, and he has a lot of stories to share. They were of a larger, social interest as well. He was one of the first to think about high-rise living for the tropics and the idea of a void deck was practically his invention. (He was also on the board of HDB for a while and I understand he used to give Liu Thai Ker a hard time as far as design was concerned.) One of his first large housing project was the Hilltops in Cairnhill, built in the early-60s, I think. It was a remarkable design for its time; practical, dense and yet arranged such that its density is minimised, spacious and orderly, and sculptural. Today this development is 40 years old and still looking handsome.

It is thus with a tinge of sadness that I read in the papers on 8 Mar that it will be offered up for en-bloc sale. Its plot ratio has been increased to 4.59 (why didn't they just round it up to 4.6?). The stretch of low-rise houses ringing it (also designed by Victor) will be developed for up to 2.8 plot ratio. Cairnhill has become too hot a location. As a matter of fact, I remember reading somewhere that the site of the Hilltops was the exact location where the original bungalow of the owner of the Cairnhill plantation had once stood. Undoubtedly it will be replaced by one of those soaring and senseless glass towers that litter the surrounding area today. It will be a pity. More so when another one of the invaluable works by a pioneer architect is set to be erased from the landscape of our collective memory.

Alfred Wong, who was once Victor Chew's colleague at Swan & McClaren (bet you didn't know that), once said that, "Only in Singapore does an architect outlast his buildings." By sheer coincidence, the Singapore Institute of Architects are currently holding a series of 3 talks over these 3 weeks given over to the old timers; Yang Soo Suan, Koh Seow Chuan, Ong Chin Bee, etc, and yes, including Alfred Wong. They ought to have these documented.

Victor Chew is today still in good health and spirits, despite a failing eye sight, and from the present reports, will seem destined to outlast the Hilltops.

Chup