Hougang Village Residences is right in a typical Singapore public housing estate or heartland. The residences are surrounded by almost a dozen primary and secondary schools and a couple of minutes’ drive to many IT companies within the Ang Mo Kio Industrial Park 2.

The Hougang Festival Market right next door is a compulsory stop in your quest to see Singaporeans in their natural habitat and enjoying their favourite foods. A tour through Hougang Estate allows you to feel the pulse of the heartland.

With more than 80% of Singaporeans living in high-rise public housing blocks, each estate such as Hougang is like the DNA map of the local society. Each estate is self-sufficient and complete with schools, markets, shopping and sports facilities, transport links and green spaces. Characteristically, the laundry appears like “flags” on bamboo poles as soon as the sun shines and void decks on the ground floor serve as venues for weddings and funeral wakes.

Singapore’s greening efforts began in the 1960s and gathered momentum alongside its four-decade old public housing programme. Those with a tinge of green in their fingers will surely enjoy the wide variety of shrubs and trees. Look out for the Lipstick Palm with its crimson-red leaf sheath, heliconia, ixora and wide range of palms. Ponggol Park – about 25 minutes’ stroll away – is a perfect starting point early in the day as joggers share plot with those practising taiji, a traditional Chinese exercise that promises to unravel the binds from each day and restore ones inner energy in a series of fluid movements.

The precinct at the junction of Hougang Avenues 4 and 8 is about as local as it gets with its network of coffee shops – where the latest gossip and discussions take place – punctuated by the traditional Chinese medical halls, fruits and flower stalls and a shop that sells joss and incense products to be burnt and despatched to departed loved ones.

Chinese joss and incense shop
Block 683, Hougang Avenue 8

Chinese Taoists believe in the need for departed loved ones to enjoy all the material comforts that they had when they were alive. So filial relatives go through huge expense to despatch – through burning – everything from houses, cars, clothes, shoes, gold bars, television sets, computers and just about everything.

Pu Ti Buddhist Temple
121-C Ponggol Road
Opening hours – 0800 – 2130 hrs

Although this temple serves primarily the religious needs of Buddhists living nearby, it is also a depository for ancestral tablets and remains. As is common for Buddhist temples, free medical screening and services are extended to those in need.

Durian and fruit stall
Block 682, Hougang Avenue 8

You will know it is the “King of Fruits” when you see it – spiky and rather lethal looking – and probably smell it too. If you can get over its smell and venture to taste it, you might actually begin to acquire a taste for it. A Singaporean favourite, durian puree can be found in all manner of confectionaries.

Junction of Hougang Avenues 6 and 8

At an open space opposite blocks 431 and 432, you may chance upon boys enjoying a favourite village pastime – kite flying. At the nearby Ponggol Community Centre, residents gather in the evening and over weekends to enjoy all manners of games, courses and cultural activities.

A leisurely stroll
Blocks 661, 662, 665 and 667

The void deck on the ground floors typically is where elderly folks gather for chats and a game of Chinese chess. When the occasion calls for it, it could be decked out for Malay weddings and Chinese funeral wakes. The sides of these blocks sport colourful murals that reflect life in the village and Singapore’s national flower, the Vanda Miss Joaquim. And on sunny days, drying laundry on bamboo poles wave merrily like flags on patriotic holidays.

Ponggol Park
Corner of Hougang Avenues 8 and 10

An early morning visit is probably the best time to watch groups of people going through the fluid motion of taiji, a traditional Chinese exercise that is said to improve blood circulation and reduce stress. All around, shrubs and lush trees offer a calming vista and acts as the green lungs of Hougang. Take an elevator to the top floor of block 457 for an overview of the park.