The fight for survival and revival

The number of clan associations in the area has dwindled from 108 in 1998 to 74 today

- Ryan Tan

For 78 years, the Huang Clan Association was housed in Jiangxia Tang, a two-storey bungalow with distinctive yellow shutters and red grille gates in Lorong 35 Geylang.

The clan was established in 1924 following a merger of several clans whose members had the surname "Huang" or its variants.

Today, its headquarters are spread over a two-storey space in Sixteen35 Residences, an eight-storey condominium that was completed three years ago on the 2,220 sq m site of the original clan house.

The association's name runs down a street-facing wall in seven silver Chinese characters beside a private entrance to the clan house, complete with its own private lift.

The association occupies three levels of a dedicated section of the building. On level 2 are air-conditioned rooms, a multi-purpose hall, library, meeting rooms and an office. A climate-controlled cultural and heritage exhibition room houses antique furniture and artworks from the original bungalow.

The transformation was three decades in the making.

"Since the 1990s, we were already discussing the deteriorating state of the building and ageing membership," says Mr Ng Poh Wah, 67, the clan's former chairman.

"But our plans to revamp the clan house never came to fruition, because the main issue then was, where will the money come from?" adds the businessman.

An opportunity emerged amid the condo development boom in Geylang in the 2010s. In 2013, Mr Ng — then the chairman — established a task force to bring about the building of a new clan house.

In 2018, the clan sold a 99-year leasehold estate to Oxley Holdings, while retaining ownership of the land. As part of the deal, the developer would transfer a portion of the units back to the Huang Clan to form part of the new clan house.

The old clan premises and an adjacent house made way for the new condominium, which now sits on a 23,800 sq ft plot of land.