Century-old bungalow built by ‘King of Bedok’ Haji Kahar in Singapore put up for conservation

SINGAPORE: A two-storey bungalow once owned by a Malay businessman dubbed the “King of Bedok” is set to be conserved, in a move to safeguard one of the last surviving markers of the old Kampong Bedok.

The bungalow, known as Villa Haji Kahar, is named after Haji Kahar Abdul Ghani, who moved to Singapore from Palembang in Sumatra in 1882 to seek better opportunities outside his hometown.

According to The Malay Heritage Foundation, Haji Kahar – then aged 20 – first worked as a garbage collector.

He later built up a barter trading business and also became a local dealer for His Master’s Voice (HMV) gramophone records.

He later purchased 30 acres of land in Bedok and built Villa Haji Kahar – located at 1 Bedok Avenue – in the 1920s.

On June 5, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) published a proposal for the bungalow to be conserved in view of its historical and social significance, noting that it “showcases an architectural fusion of traditional and imported styles, serving as a reminder of Singapore’s early history as a melting pot of cultures”.

The conservation proposal, said the URA, had arisen from a development proposal the agency had received.

The bungalow is part of a 5963.2 sq m freehold site owned by a company called HR Property Development, which is wholly owned by Hong Realty, a company under Hong Leong Group.

Besides the villa, the site – which has been designated for landed homes with a maximum height of three storeys – also contains several single-storey buildings, such as a kampong-style house.

Other illustrious occupants over the years include Singapore’s first female doctor Lee Choo Neo and her husband Teo Koon Lim.

In 2017, The Straits Times reported that Villa Haji Kahar was held by Livet Company, a firm owned by the couple’s descendants.

The URA had in October 2024 rejected an application by Vera Teo, director and secretary at Livet Company, for landed houses at the site to be demolished, citing a study to gazette Villa Haji Kahar for conservation.

“The conservation of the bungalow would not only pay tribute to distinguished former residents Haji Kahar bin Abdul Ghani and Dr Lee Choo Neo, but also safeguard one of the last surviving markers of the old Kampong Bedok,” said URA in a letter to Teo’s appointed architect.

The letter stated if Villa Haji Kahar was conserved, the majority of the rest of the site could be developed for a strata landed residential project.

The URA said in its letter that communal use of Villa Haji Kahar as part of the new housing development was encouraged – such as using it as a clubhouse – and added that the bungalow could otherwise be used as a house, or strata-subdivided into two homes.

It is believed that Livet Company sold the Bedok Avenue site to HR Property Development in 2025. In response to queries from ST, a Hong Leong Group spokesperson said the site will be redeveloped into a “premium private landed housing”, adding that the project is still in its planning and development stages.

Imran Tajudeen, senior lecturer at the Department of Malay Studies and the Department of Architecture at the National University of Singapore, said Villa Haji Kahar is an example of a house type called the ‘compound house’ in building drawings from the late 19th to early 20th centuries.

He added that such houses are the two-storey equivalent of the raised-floor Rumah Limas form, where the undercroft is walled up to form ancillary spaces on the ground floor, while the upper floor retains its role as the house proper, “as befits a raised-floor Malay house”.

Imran noted that Haji Kahar was arguably the wealthiest Malay in this part of Bedok in his time, and that his “regular sojourn from country residence to town on horse carriage and later, Ford motor car, gave him prominence”.

Haji Kahar was also remembered as a Quran teacher at Bedok’s main mosque, Al-Taqua Mosque, which continues to stand today, said Imran.

He said that the decision to conserve Villa Haji Kahar “is a laudable step in the right direction in acknowledging socio-cultural diversity in Singapore heritage”.

“The house stands as a testimony to one of the remarkable stories of colonial Singapore’s trade ties and enterprise, since Haji Kahar hails from Palembang, a historic Malay port kingdom in Sumatra,” said Imran.

He added that the proposed conservation “also enhances our appreciation of overlooked histories, especially those situated away from typical or dominant sites”. – The Straits Times/ANN

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