In the long ago days of Singapore, before the days of GrabTaxi, taxi drivers would gather at special Taxi Services Huts around Singapore to chat away over a cup of kopi (local coffee) while waiting for passengers to call to book for their services.
One of the few remaining service huts lies in Sembawang Hill Estate, a small estate off Upper Thomson Road which was founded in the fifties by Bukit Sembawang Estates Limited.
For some forty-plus years, the Sembawang Hill Estate Taxi Service Stand was the focal point where the cab drivers of the past would gather here for a chat or drink kopi while waiting for commuters to call and book their services. You can find the Sembawang Hill Estate Taxi Services Hut located just behind the popular Sembawang Hills Food Centre along Upper Thomson Road.
Built in 1968, the simple hut holds many traditional building elements found throughout Singapore’s housing history. Grey wooden planks sit seamlessly above red mason bricks, while the glass louvers found traditionally along old common corridors, sit astutely with the mosaic tiles located at the entrance of the hut.
There are two original stone benches in front of the hut. The Chinese wordings on the left and right of each bench indicate that the taxi services station was established in the summer of 1968. Note that the phone number for booking (ie 59924) was only five digits during that era (compared to eight now). The Chinese name of Sembawang was also stated as 森峇旺instead of the current 三巴旺, and it refers to Sembawang Hill as a new estate.
Previously owned by Sembawang Hill Estates Limited, the hut is now maintained by a group of old cab drivers, who decorated it with colourful bulbs and lanterns. Bonded by friendship, some of the former drivers, probably in their sixties or seventies now, also gather here once in a while to catch up and chat about the old days even though their taxi-driving careers are over.
So if you are in the neighbourhood, check out this little piece of history.
