matilda house in ponggol




today, we had a pot-luck deeparaya lunch at mdm chia's work station. sabiah provided the bulk of the food which was prepared by her maid. masnie and rashida contributed one dish each. chan joo brought meiji yogurt, wee kiat bought some chocolates and bernice bought drinks from linda's stall. i only came to know about it at about 7.15 a.m.

wee kiat talked about his experience at siling primary school recording centre. he was regaling us with 'stories' about this very yakkity man from wellington primary. sabiah said that they told ghost stories at their centre . that was when someone mentioned this house in punggol which stood out like a sore thumb in punggol 21. i was so intrigued by the tales that they told that i decided to find out more about this place.

[if you have been to punggol by mrt, you would have noticed something really strange. a deserted bungalow standing all alone in an open field in a modern place where you can see lrt and lots of hdb flats. rumour has it that those who try to pull the house down would die. i heard rumours saying that two persons had died so far. one died of a heart attack, the other died of an unatural death in a freak car accident. both of them were contractors, and so no one dared to disturb the building.]

matilda house is a fine example of an early style tropical bungalow. the tropical style of the building is accentuated through its architectural features such as open verandahs, raised floors and the use of timber framed lattice and louvres to permit cross breezes. as the only remaining historical bungalow in punggol, the conservation of matilda house will serve as a significant landmark for the future punggol new town and as a reminder of "old punggol".

in the early 1970s, the government under the land acquisition act acquired maltida house aka punggol kampong house from mr howard cashin. mr cashin, an eminent lawyer and a epitome on the singapore rugby scene for decades, spent many happy holidays in and around it.

it is called matilda house, named after his paternal grandmother and built by his father, mr alexander cashin, as a present for his wife. the punggol seaside bungalow, built as a weekend retreat for the cashin family, will be restored and conserved as a landmark and put to community use in punggol new town.