Everyday Secrets of Singapore Public Housing Private Tour

Singapore’s approach to urban ills

Our tour guide, PS, was well versed in a variety of related fields that gave us the socioeconomic background to appreciate this truly innovative approach to affordable housing. We visited several of these communities and even spoke with some residents. This is the most creative approach to solving some central challenges of contemporary urban life. This was a real insider’s view. One of the best tours we have taken, anywhere!

Awesome insight into Singapore housing

This is an incredible tour that’s a little off the beaten track for most tourists to Singapore, but it shouldn’t be! Our guide PS, showed us 3 different HBD estates and explained how public housing and housing policy has changed and evolved over time. As 80% of the population live in these complexes it’s a view into the life of local people. Well recommend.

Great and unique experience

If you’re interested in architecture, culture, history, or want a unique experience other than popular tourist spots, this tour is for you! P S is friendly and greatly knowledgeable guide. We just felt like visiting local Singaporean neighbors.

Public Housing Insights with Wonderful Local Guide

Our family appreciated seeing three examples of government housing and the purposefully designed community spaces. We valued PS's local perspective, good vibes, and the intentional way she took care of our family, especially when grandma needed to sit and rest. Bonus: We love the family photos that capture our special memories in Singapore! Mahalo (thank you) for a wonderful experience.

Singapore three hour tour

An excellent three hour tour which showed us both the old and the new of Singapore. Very informative tour.

Excellent Educational Tour

Had a fantastic tour of Singapore's public housing with PS. An excellent explanation of the need, layout, architecture, infrastructure of the the buildings. The importance of community and how regulations ensure a mixture of people of varying backgrounds coexist was very interesting.

PS, I love you again!

We did PS's food tour and were hooked - had to come back for more with this tour. She is an excellent and effortless guide, such a warm person, and incredibly thoughtful. Literally cannot recommend her enough! You'll regret not doing her tours.

Absolutely recommended!

The Public Housing Tour was incredibly insightful. Two hours full of stories about everyday life in Singapore, getting to know different residential compounds where the locals live and eat, learning about architecture and urban planning of the city, while having a lot of fun with P.S. Absolutely recommended!

Excellent Tour

This tour should be called “Singapore Life”! P.S. did an outstanding job describing how the public and private housing markets work in Singapore, and how people live, work, get around, eat, shop, socialize and play in Singapore. The urban planning is fascinating and so different from most other countries. We visited three public housing estates - one built in the 1970s, one in the 1990s, and one in 2008. This tour is unlike the usual touristy sight visits - you learn about the people and culture of Singapore today. Super interesting. And P.S. is very happy to answer any and all questions!

Super insightful tour

Highly recommend this tour to whoever is interested in Singapore's urban landscape. P.S gave us an in-depth walkthrough of the HBD history, giving us a new perspective on how the city was designed and built. Walking into the local complex, you would have a fully immersive 2 hours of learning how locals live here. It'd be extra fun if you brought your camera to your tour!

Highly recommended tour to learn more about local life

This was one of our favourite experiences in Singapore. We spent an afternoon (2 hours) with the lovely and informative PS. We were so curious about public housing in Singapore when we learned that it accommodates around 80% of the population! PS filled us in on lots of aspects of daily life of locals - while we had a relaxed stroll around several housing developments. It was fascinating and PS was charming and engaging! This tour is well worth doing - but I would confidently recommend any tour that PS and the Everyday Tour Company provide.

Something Really Different - Public Housing Tour

Ideal short walking tour for people who want to see something different from the standard tourist attractions and food tours - a look inside the HDB housing estates and a chance to see the public spaces that are just beyond the main thoroughfares and generally visible only to the people who call Singapore home. Well worth the time and money.

A great insight into living as a local in Singapore

Great experience. Learnt so much about living as a local in a housing estate ranging from the historical and cultural perspective, the lived experience, tasting local snacks and coffee and the evolution in architecture of public housing as it has changed to meet the changing demands of the population. Absolutely worth doing for a deeper understanding of Singapore, beyond the superficial glitz of Orchard Road, Marina Bay Sands etc

Highly recommended

I’m doing studies about Smart Cities and Singapore is renowned for being one of the top smart cities in the world. For that reason, I was dreaming of visiting it and wanted not so much to see the tourist attractions and glam part of Singapore, but to understand how this city really works, what is done differently here, what makes it more efficient, clean and safe. And, most importantly, how ordinary people live here. Statistics say that about 80% of the population here live in public housing. What facilities do they have? What state authorities are doing to make sure that people can enjoy peaceful environment despite living in a country with very high density of population? Therefore I was so lucky to find PS’s tour! It was exactly what I needed! She took us around several social housing complexes, explained why they were built the way they were, showed the difference between buildings constructed in different periods and took us into a real lived-in apartment. She was welcoming all our never-ending questions. We also happened to encounter a gentleman who is doing community gardening as a hobby. He invited us into his greenhouse and was very enthusiastic explaining and demonstrating hydroponics technology. It was an incredibly insightful tour that I would recommend to anyone who doesn’t want to be just a tourist , but wishes to learn more about this country and how people really live there. I would recommend to complement this tour with a visit to the City Gallery (PS would advise you on that as well at the end of the tour) and allocate a few hours to that (I had only 2.5 and it was not enough at all!).

Great HDB and private tour !

PS did a wonderful tour of HDBs. I appreciated the time and effort she spent in organizing the visits. Her knowledge of HDBs and Singapore was very evident in her organization of the agenda and how she led the discussions. It was a logical progression that helped me learn the history, the current state, and where the HDBs were heading to in the future. I also had a separate private Singapore History tour with PS. She was able to custom design a tour to my interests. I highly recommend her.

Singapore Delights

Thank you PS for an incredible morning. The shop houses were stunning and it was fabulous to learn about their history and the reasons behind their architectural differences. The shops and eateries under the HDB flats were terrific - best coffee and local delights. It was a relief to finally have all my questions about HDBs answered and a real treat to get such a personal tour of the Everton Road estate. Your tours are always such an eye opener to the delights of Singapore and secret spaces.

A glimpse into the real Singapore

An amazing experience. Walked through centuries of architecture and art with our friendly guide. Tasted local delicacies and modern HDB living in Singapore. I admire how they preserve their history, culture, architecture and cuisines!

Knowledgeable tour guide

Recently PS gave a wonderful virtual tour and presentation of Singapore's HDB--about the nation's policies and giving us a slice of everyday Singapore life--for our event's participants. It was well-researched, personally prepared, and interesting. Thank you so much PS! :)

HIGHLY recommended private personalised tour

Excellent private tour of HDBS. PS was highly knowledgeable and very easing going. The highlight was definitely going up to the Pinnacle at Duxton and just the wonderful.vibe of the community. Thanks PS.

HDB in Singapore and everyday life

One of the best Singapore visit ever done! Very authentic, traditional but instructive with a a truly nice, fun and professional guide. A must do definitively!

would not recommend to join

PS is a passionate guide. The tour is well planned with progress and contrast and comparison; however the knowledge provided is limited and a bit dis-organised. Would be much better with history and geographical supplemental information. or stories I suppose? the tour did not disclose any 'secrets'... Rather than just seeing the estate, it could be better learnt with the context and development stages compared. The tour is also a bit short, roughly 2 hours; and a large part of it involves looking at the estate. the picture prepared to compare is also limited... certainly overpriced. the tour does not include any entrance fee to anything -- because public housing is open to public, you know.

Lovely way to get in touch with a more real Singapore

Loved PS's energy and she's really passionate about her community. Was really interested to hear more about how Singapore handles housing, and also see what day to day life for the locals is here. We got some great snacks, met some locals, and made us realise it's not a bad place to live really. Thanks you!

Want to learn about Singapore?

Singapore Public Housing Tour was the best activity we did in Singapore. The tour allowed us to experience how the people of Singapore live (who would have known that each apartment has an emergency shelter room). We spoke to the locals, ate their food and gained a real insight into the living conditions in these wonderful public spaces. A must do in Singapore.

Outstanding In-Depth Tour

This tour was one of the best I've ever taken: PS was an excellent guide, sharing in-depth knowledge and insight about architecture, planning, policy and lived experience. I learned a great deal about Singapore and its housing program--conversation was wide-ranging and visiting the estates with PS helped me understand what I'd been reading about for years. PS is a warm and gracious host--it was a pleasure to spend time with her.

Wonderful tour of the evolution of Singapore public housing

I've been intrigued by Singapore's public housing program for decades, and when I got the opportunity to visit the country in Sept 2019 I was thrilled to find this tour! PS was an excellent host before, during, and after the tour. She is very friendly and knowledgeable, kept us fed with tasty local snacks, and after the tour recommended the nearby Singapore City Gallery - another great stop I'd recommend for fellow urban planning nerds! Thanks for sharing your neighborhood with us, PS - highly recommended!

A unique tour to better understand Singapore!

My son wanted to show his friends from overseas how most Singaporeans live and we found this unique walking tour of Singapore's public housing estates. PS is an attentive and knowledgeable host and she shared much information about how Singapore has developed. It was an interesting tour even for locals. We also managed to visit a unit in one of the estates. An enjoyable tour especially for anyone who would like to see more of the real Singapore!