Black and White

Pictures by Munshi Ahmed

I am in general not a big fan of Singapore architecture. But the black-and-white houses of the colonial era are my all time favorites. This afternoon, on the way to purchase some Lunar New Year plants in the Upper Thompson area, my cousin and I drove through the Mt. Pleasant neighborhood. I was captured by the view of one elegant black-and-white home after another. These black-and-whites thrived during the late 19th C to right before WWII in Singapore, built to house the British officials and their families. They are quite large and airy to accommodate the tropical climate, built on relatively large parcels of land, surrounded by lush greenery. They are such a pleasant contrast to the modern, cramp style of the majority of Singapore's contemporary homes.