\n<\/p>\n
Everyone has their own dealbreakers when it comes to buying a home. For some, it’s a west-facing unit; for others, it’s living too close to the MRT because of the noise.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But what if your living room looked out onto a cemetery?<\/p>\n
Some HDB flats in Commonwealth have become a talking point online after a property agent highlighted something rather unusual about the estate.<\/p>\n
The blocks sit right beside Shuang Long Shan, Singapore’s last remaining Hakka cemetery.<\/p>\n
“There’s no west-facing. There’s no east-facing. But there’s cemetery-facing,\u201d quipped Singapore realtor Fakhrul Haaziq in a video he posted.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Here’s the surprising part. Despite having rows of tombstones as neighbours, these flats are currently listed for sale\u00a0at more than S$1mil. In fact, a five-room flat here with 69 years left on the lease was sold in April for a whopping $1.3mil.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Standing between the HDB blocks and the cemetery, Fakhrul\u00a0pointed out in the video just how closely both spaces coexist, separated by little more than a fence in some areas.<\/p>\n
Established in 1887, Shuang Long Shan is one of the last urban cemeteries still standing in Singapore and the country’s only surviving Hakka cemetery.<\/p>\n
Part of the cemetery was acquired by the Government in the 1960s as the surrounding area was redeveloped, with HDB flats eventually built around what remained.<\/p>\n
Today, the cemetery has become such a familiar part of the neighbourhood that some residents reportedly use it as a shortcut to the main road and the nearby MRT station whenever its gates are open.<\/p>\n
In fact, this writer has done exactly that before. In broad daylight, at least. And truth be told, it’s surprisingly peaceful and is\u00a0probably one of the calmest shortcuts in Singapore.<\/p>\n
After dark, however, we will let you be the judge.<\/p>\n
The topic sparked plenty of discussion online, with netizens divided over whether they would ever buy a home next to a cemetery.<\/p>\n
“HDB prices are scarier than ghosts,” one person joked.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll the ghosts there [are] waiting for en bloc,\u201d another quipped.<\/p>\n
For context, the oldest flats in the estate were built in the 1970s, making them more than 50 years old today.<\/p>\n
Not everyone saw the cemetery as a negative, though.<\/p>\n
Some pointed out that living beside one could be a plus.<\/p>\n
One TikTok user even claimed cemeteries are associated with good feng shui, believing they can bring positive fortunes to descendants.<\/p>\n
What say you?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n