A while back, a reader asked for a tour of Namly Estate, which was quite well-received so, today, I thought I’d cross over to the other side of 6th Avenue and do a tour of Ming Teck Park! My first impression of the estate was that, although only separated by a (very busy) road, it feels much more peaceful than Namly. If I had to give a reason, perhaps because it’s linked to the Greenleaf enclave, which is a much quieter area than the Coronation estate (which Namly is connected to.)
Sixth Avenue generally sees a lot of traffic but, thankfully, you can also get to Ming Teck Park by way of Old Holland Road, which is much quieter. In fact, it’s only a 5-minute drive from Ming Teck Park to Methodist Girls’ School along Old Holland Road/Holland Road, although, alas, the school is not within the ever-so-important 1 km mark. On the note of schools, Ming Teck Park is also close to Henry Park Primary School (the only school within the 1km mark– although do check the specific house number to be sure, and around 11 minutes by foot!), Fairfield Primary School and Nanyang Primary School.
Anyway, let’s start with a tour of the estate so we can locate ourselves on the map!
The estate is very close to the top of Sixth Avenue, where it meets Holland Road. You can actually walk to Jelita Shopping Centre in 7 minutes, which is very handy as the parking situation there is quite challenging. (Small car park, although it’s free) Jelita has a sizeable 24 hour Cold Storage and some F&B units.
Standing at the entrance of the estate, looking to the right towards Holland Road.Looking to the left, towards Guthrie House. You can see that the bus stop is very close to the houses in Ming Teck Park. I also like how there are fun events in this neighbourhood such as the Cheese and Wine Evening advertised in the banner. From what I can see on Google Maps, 68 Greenleaf Drive appears to be a residential house, so this event may be organised by a friendly neighbour? If so, that would make it a lovely area to live in! (Friendly neighbours can make all the difference!)
3 buses stop here: 77, 157 and 970. Although people often advertise this area as “close to Sixth Avenue MRT”, I must point out that it’s about a 25 minute walk down so, on a hot day, you’d probably want to bus over!
Photo of the traffic on Sixth Avenue – this was during off-peak hours.
For people who drive, there are 3 turnings in and out of Ming Teck Park (from Sixth Avenue) and at least another one from the Greenleaf area, so I’d say the road planning for this estate is pretty good.
This is the entrance into Maryland Drive from Holland Road. Maryland Drive is connected to Ming Teck Park. In fact, I’m taking this photo from the junction of Ming Teck Park and Maryland Drive!
Note: the houses at Maryland Drive (and the rest of the Greenleaf area) look quite a bit larger than the ones at Ming Teck Park. Ming Teck Park is mostly terrace houses and semi-Ds, with the occasional detached unit. (Some of the detached units have already been sub-divided into terraces.)
Example of a sub-divided property.
Despite the fact that many of the houses here are terraced, there was no issue with parking when I visited.
View down one of the roads in Ming Teck Park – no dust bins in sight! (If you’re confused about that statement, dust bins are to parking what tissue paper is to dining seats in Singapore.)Close-up of the situation outside a row of terrace houses.View of some of the houses on the street. I like the way the shades are angled for privacy here! There was a 3,000+ sq ft corner terrace for sale. If my investigative work is correct, this is the unit that is being offered for $6m at auction. Not cheap but the PSF (about $1,900) is similar to some less central landed estates.There appear to be many original condition houses, with room for plot ratio maximisation. And there were also quite a few houses being rebuilt/renovated, a surprising number given that Ming Teck Park isn’t the largest landed enclave around.This modern house is very interesting – do you see that the facade is curved?As we get to the end of the row of houses, the driveways become much longer. It’s long enough to park 2 cars and perhaps even 3 if you keep the gate open.One thing to note is that the land here is a little sloping. Some houses have steps leading up to the front entrance and, if you squint, you can see that this particular unit actually has quite a long flight of stairs within its grounds, so it appears that the green space behind is on elevated land.
Actually, from what I could observe, Ming Teck Park appears to be in a small depression, with the areas around it slightly elevated. When touring Teachers Estate, I was informed that the area gets very humid because of the fact that it’s located in a valley. I’m not sure if it was my imagination, but Ming Teck Park, despite being nowhere as sloping as Teacher’s Estate, did feel more stuffy and more humid than other estates I’ve visited. (I walked around my flat after touring Ming Teck Park to compare and the area around my flat felt a lot windier and cooler. Having said that, I didn’t do an in-depth analysis of the humidity so it could just be my subconscious prejudice!)
Zooming out a little, to let you see the houses better.
To the right, not captured in this shot, is a nice large open space which is one of the most attractive things about this estate. (The open space is just slightly below this road, so I guess at least one end of Ming Teck Park isn’t elevated land. i.e. not a full valley.)
Photo of the open space, with the backyard of a terrace house in sight, to give you a sense of the proportions of the space. Image of the master plan – the 2 large spaces in the top middle of the screenshot are the open spaces.
Sadly, as you can see, like most of Singapore, the open spaces aren’t here to stay as they’re zoned residential. But, for now, the residents of Ming Teck Park do enjoy a very nice environment.
I will take a walk over to the green space later to see where the path leads (the one the person is walking on, in my previous photo) but, for now, let’s finish our look at the houses at Ming Teck Park.
Looking out from another part of Ming Teck Park to Holland Road. As you can see, Holland Road is much higher than Ming Teck Park.Now looking in the direction of Sixth Avenue. I think that is a condo in the distance? So whilst technically the land is not elevated, the taller condo building does mimic the slope of the valley, if that makes sense. Basically, there’s something blocking the air flow.Another end of the estate. As you can see, the land to the left is also slightly higher than the road. (A friend noted that flooding may be an issue because of the low-lying land, but I googled and didn’t find any news of floods in this area.)Example of semi-Ds in the area: note the house on the left. As previously mentioned, lots of construction going on here!There’s also a preschool, Between Two Trees, within the estate and Pat’s Schoolhouse as well as Odyssey The Global Preschool further down Sixth Avenue. The plots for the semi-Ds are decent in size and here’s a picture to show you the potential increase in space after rebuilding!A photo to show you how nice it is to live next to open green spaces. Actually, this photo is probably a better illustration.Or this one?Another row of terrace houses (and more construction). The site in the photo was actually totally demolished so it’s a complete rebuilding project. I could see right through the plot over to the green space on the side.Oh one thing to note is though the estate is quite spacious, some of the pavements leave a lot to be desired. Some bits have no pavement at all so you have to share the road with the cars.This is another of the junctions between Ming Teck Park and Sixth Avenue. We’re exiting here, turning left and walking over to see what the green space is all about. It looked pretty undeveloped so not sure why there was someone walking out of it!To refresh your memory – certainly doesn’t look like there’s anything inside the green space, does it? Let’s head over to explore!More community events being advertised. This is one of the pricier estate events that I’ve seen – entrance tickets are usually under $10 but this one is $30! Maybe there’s catering involved? (I didn’t notice the price when I took the photo so I didn’t look to see what exactly the $30 was going towards.)Heading into the green space. Oh actually the area doesn’t look as wild as it did from Ming Teck Park!Looking to the left – those are the Ming Teck Park houses.Some of the houses are in clear sight of the path. I can see into the windows but not to the extent that the privacy of the residents is compromised.From this angle, this almost looks like we are in the countryside!Especially this house!Honestly if we weren’t in Singapore, I may not take this path! It was a little deserted.Thankfully, a few steps and I saw where the path led – the Greenleaf View Playground!
I don’t know about you but, to me, this is a seriously impressive playground. (It even has 44 reviews on Google, with an average of 4.4, at the time of writing.)
I mean, look at that! There’s even a mini basketball court! Maybe I’m just ignorant, but that’s a first for me. (And I think I’ve seen my fair share of public playgrounds on these landed tour walkabouts.)And a shaded pavilion on the other side!
This brings us to the end of today’s tour. What did you think about Ming Teck Park? As you already know, I was very impressed by this public space. I can see how it would be a great feature for families with young kids, and given the number of sought-after Primary Schools in the vicinity, seems to be the exact demographic that fits Ming Teck Park.
Before I go, I need to mention that most of the 999-year leases here start from 1 Sep 1876 so there’s lots of years left to house you and your future generations. (There are also a few freehold units but those are the ones along Sixth Avenue.)
TJ
