A void deck altar

Spotted this interesting feature at the ground floor void deck of 1 Telok Blangah Crescent, an ageing block of flats which was completed in 1983.

It is a void deck altar, maintained by the residents of the block.

The altar has a good mix of Taoist and Buddhist deities, as expected of a ritual space for Chinese vernacular religion.

Standing on the left is a Laughing Buddha, a popular representation of Maitreya, the Future Buddha.

For the upper level of the altar, the chief deity looks like Guan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy in Buddhism.

To her left looks to be Sun Wukong, the Monkey God from Journey to the West, also known as The Great Sage, Heaven’s Equal (Qi Tian Da Sheng).

I have difficulty making out the other deities on the upper level, partly because they have been blackened by years, possibly decades of soot. But my guess for at least one of the bearded deities would be Guan Di, the deified form of Guan Yu, the famous general from Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

For the lower level, the central tablet is dedicated to the Earth Deity of the area. The figure on the left is the God of Fortune (Cai Shen), while the figure on the right is Ksitigarbha (Di Zang), the Buddhist figure of salvation and mercy for the netherworld.

It is possible that when villagers were resettled to this block after its completion in 1983, they moved their village deities to this altar.

I wonder how many more void deck altars exist in the heartlands of Singapore. They are a unique feature of vernacular culture and tradition in a highly-urbanised environment.

The highs and lows of Tanjong Pagar

Two types of architecture on display along historic Tanjong Pagar Road - conserved shophouses and Singapore’s tallest building, Guoco Tower, which stands above Tanjong Pagar MRT Station.

The alleys between blocks of shophouses - an important Channel of Movement in a built-up area.

Bus heritage in Woodlands

After five years, Woodlands Integrated Transport Hub (ITH) opened in June, replacing Woodlands Temporary Bus Interchange. The ITH offers seamless transfer to the North South and Thomson-East Coast MRT lines, and Causeway Point.

It also has a heritage gallery, which is a great addition as public exhibitions of transport history are few and far between.

As SMRT Buses is the anchor operator of the ITH as part of the Woodlands Bus Package until 2023, the heritage on display is that of SMRT’s.

SMRT’s lineage goes back to 1982, when its predecessor, Trans-Island Bus Services (TIBS), was formed. The Government allowed its birth to introduce competition in a public bus industry dominated by just one company, Singapore Bus Services (SBS).

TIBS took over Woodlands Regional Bus Interchange, a predecessor of Woodlands ITH, in 1996. In 2001, SMRT launched a successful takeover of TIBS, and the latter was rebranded SMRT Buses in 2004.

The heritage gallery displays different bus models, and artefacts and memorabilia, from this 39-year history. They include service plates, ticket machines, and even a dashboard and steering wheel. I was pleased to see the Bendy Bus - my favourite bus model - get pride of place in the exhibition.

One part of the gallery also shows, on a map, the bus terminals and interchanges that used to and presently serve the Woodlands area. Marsiling Bus Terminal was built first, then Woodlands Bus Interchange at the former Old Woodlands Town Centre (now demolished), Woodlands Regional Bus Interchange, Woodlands Temporary Bus Interchange, and finally the ITH.

This succession of transport infrastructure clearly follows the gradual eastward shift of the heart of Woodlands town - from Marsiling to Woodlands ITH.

There are currently 11 ITHs in Singapore - every one of them deserves its own heritage gallery.