SINGAPORE — Some 8,000 photographs, including rare images of old Singapore, have been donated to the National Heritage Board (NHB) from the personal collection of a retired civil servant who spent the last three decades documenting the changing landscapes on the island nation.

A photography enthusiast since he was in his 30s, Mr Quek Tiong Swee has been taking pictures of places in Singapore that were slated for redevelopment, as well as annual national events, since the 1980s.

The 67-year-old’s vast collection includes photographs of long-forgotten Malay kampungs in places like Pulau Tekong, Tanjong Rhu, Kampong Lorong Fatimah in Woodlands and Kampong Koh Sek Lim in Changi.

Now an upscale residential area in Tanjong Rhu, Kampong Kayu, located near the mouth of the Geylang River, was once a thriving port for firewood trading. During the 1980s, foreign workers could be seen unloading firewood from vessels that had sailed in from the region.

Such snippets of a forgotten past are among the images captured by Mr Quek, who recently approached the NHB to offer his entire collection after reading about its efforts to commemorate Singapore’s 50 years of independence in 2015. Speaking to the media yesterday, he said he had never expected his photographs to be of “heritage value”.

Group Director of Policy at the NHB, Mr Alvin Tan, said: “NHB regards the offer as a windfall as they are rare photographs featuring settlements in rural areas and offshore islands. We hope that more individuals will follow Mr Quek’s example so that we can grow our repository of heritage materials and make them available to the general public.”

According to the NHB, rare photographs of Kampong Kayu and the Malay Kampong on Pulau Tekong, in particular, have helped fill the gaps in its documentation of settlements in rural areas and other offshore islands before they were redeveloped during the 1970s and 1980s.

Mr Quek said his pastime was an “expensive hobby”. He attended photography night classes organised by the People’s Association three times a week while he was still working and would set aside a portion of his income to buy film and develop the photographs taken during his expeditions.

The NHB will catalogue and digitise the collection for research and commemorative purposes before depositing a copy with the National Archives of Singapore.

Instead of keeping the photographs at home, away from the public eye, Mr Quek said they would be of better use this way. “I contribute to NHB to give it away and you know, for young people to research (so that) they can know about our Singapore history. These (the photos) are all part of Singapore’s history.”