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Temple chairman Chin Fook Siang, 71, said he is "gravely concerned". "The place has a history of man than 140 years and many of us grew up patronising the temple," he said in Mandarin. Mr Chin, who grew up in bygone Sar Kong villiage in the vicinity, said the temple had previously served more than a thousand villagers. "Mothers, too poor to afford medical services, would prayto the gods for their children's health, students would pray for good grades and men would pray for prosperity," he added.

Mr Chris Koh, director of Chris International, said: “There must be someone willing to pay. We’re talking about a premium because of (the size and location) of the sites — that could be one. Number two is there’s a lot of upkeeping of the place.” Mr Ku Swee Yong, CEO of Century 21 Singapore, said: “If we rent these out to private companies for marketing events, or as corporate training centres, then we could see more bids.” There are about 500 of these bungalows in Singapore, located in central areas like Nassim Road, Goodwood Hill and Bukit Timah, as well as in areas further from the city, like Alexandra Park, Sembawang and Seletar.

In this respect, the Nature Society also said in its criticism earlier, “Some parks are called nature parks but to what extent they are permanent in the sense of not being subjected to development in the future is not guaranteed nor clear.” And even if the government gives a ‘guarantee’ now for the current plan, it can still decide to change its mind some years down the road, as revealed by the Nature Society. For example, it noted that Mandai Mangrove, Khatib Bongsu, Pulau Semakau and the four Coral Zones were designated as “Nature Areas” in the original 1993 Singapore Green Plan. However, they were quietly removed from the 2012 revised Singapore Green Plan.

Built in 1956, Kampong Lorong Buangkok is the last surviving kampong (village) in Singapore. It is also known as Selak Kain in Malay, meaning ‘hitching up one’s sarong’ as people used to lifted their sarongs to wade through floods whenever the village experienced flash floods. Despite being surrounded by concrete housing, Kampong Lorong Buangkok fiercely retains its traditional roots, evident in the rustic wooden huts with zinc roofs, and strong “kampong spirit” reflected by the residents.