Government Public Housing: Five 5 Room flats

[Cecil Lee]

Dear All,
1. Back down memory lane...
2. In the early 1970's the government public housing arm known as: Housing and Development Board (HDB), built many what is known as " Five-room flats ".
3. Generally, during this period, approximately 90 percent of the entire population either lived in " 1 room, 3 room, 4 room or 5 room flats".
4. The 5 room flats were at that time, meant for the `lower to middle income' earners. And typically is also called a point block flat.
Please see attached pictures of these 5-room flats.. They look nearly the same all scattered over the Singapore island such as older housing estates in Bedok, Telok Blangah, Holland Road, Bukit Merah etc...
5. The slightly higher middle income; who could not qualify for such public housing were given the opportunity to purchase/live in what was known as Housing and urban development flats or known as HUDC flats. These HUDC flats were generally between 1,300 sq feet to 1,500 sq feet. The earliest HUDC flats are: Braddel Heights, Laguna Park, Farrer Park.
Nowadays, these are often known as HDB Executive flat. But majority are much smaller. And HDB Executive flats are never found in `matured' estates.
6. Typically, these flats are 99 year lease. And many of them around 30 years old or generally have lease of approximately 65 years or less.
7. Please see a sample of the attached layout plan: HDBtypical5roomtype.jpg
Why is it called 5-room flat?
8. If you notice carefully, all bedrooms + study room is counted as a room each. And the last addition is the living/dining room.
9. A FIVE ROOM FLAT
Thus a typical 5 room flat consists of:-
ONE master bedroom
TWO additional bedrooms (bedroom 2 and 3)
ONE study room
ONE living cum dining room.
This makes a total of 1 + 2 + 1 + 1 = " 5 rooms ".
Note: the kitchen, toilets and service balcony are considered as NOT rooms.
10. Thus you can guess that a Four Room flat has:-
ONE master bedroom
ONE additional bedroom (bedroom 2)
ONE study room (or bedroom 3 either way)
ONE living cum dining room.
This makes a total of 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 = " 5 rooms ".
Attached please find the typical arrangement of a such a 5 room flat. Notice, the placement of bedroom cabinet(s), bed etc...
Warmest Regards,
Cecil

[Cecil Lee]

1. Additional points:-
2. At this time, if one use a Feng Shui ruler to measure any of the HDB flats, one will notice that they are all Feng Shui friendly ie. width and height.
3. The 5 room `point' block flats shown earlier are usually 25 storeys high.
4. In addition, many of these 5 room flats and 1 / 3 room flats are typical of earth element.
5. They are typically mass produced and the entire block consisting of 100 units x 25 floors are squarish = earth shape. Perhaps, signalling stability for both the people staying in them and for the country.
6. Under this attachment, you can generally view flats usually 14 storey high.
In this single block, one can find a mix of 1 room / 3 rooms and 4 room flats. The 4 room flat units are usually at the ends of each of the block.
7. Again, these flats are generally considered as `Earth element' because they are flat, rectangular.
8. Under the picture attachment: 3-room-70s-5.jpg, can you see laundery visible from the flats.
In many of such blocks, one can literally see cloths hung at the `back' of the house... Did you manage to see the clothes hung -- up and dry?