[2] Bukit Ho Swee had a prominent Chinese community dating back to the days when Singapore was under British rule.

Built over with wood frame huts with thatched roofs, it was an unplanned self-built township of about 20,000; although, like favelas everywhere, no census was ever taken.

Its rabbit warren of narrow lanes, passable only to pedestrians, made it an ideal base for gangs who could escape police pursuit which was too dangerous.

Unlike previous kampong fires, the inferno managed to spread across two roads, and destroying the homes of nearly 16,000 people.

As part of the HDB's plan to move locals out of squatters into "estates", a school was opened to serve the residents.

[5] Citizens often squeezed their entire families in these tiny flats – studies have shown that at one time there could be up to 10 people living in the small space.