I've not been to Singapore in a long, long time. I can tell from Google Maps that the place has changed. To find the character evident in this series of photos from just 1989 I'm sure you have to travel further in-land. Maybe you can't find this in Singapore any more – maybe you have to cross over to malaysia, though malaysia too has gone through massive redevelopment in the same time frame.
From the high rise in the background I think this is somewhere around Boat Quay and South bridge road. It's all sanitized now. No more mildew, no more trees growing out of the gutters. You'll likely still see the laundry poles though.
There are two birds sitting in a cage outside one of the windows here – actually there's a second cage but I can't see how many birds are in that one. There's also an electric desk fan hung outside one of the windows to provide a drying breeze in case mother nature decides not to. The ragged tarpaulins and corrugated iron sheets enclose a produce/grocery store.
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