Kampong Amber existed as early as the 20th century. It was a Malay fishing village (kampong) that used to exist in the area between East Coast Road and Amber Road. It was located right before the coastal area of Katong. The inhabitants were mainly Peranakans and Malay fishermen. Like any kampongs in Singapore, a kampong is normally named after the main road it is adjacent to, hence this was how Kampong Amber’s name came to be. Amber road was named after the family clan name of Joseph Aaron Elias, a prominent property owner in early-20th-century Singapore. During the industrialisation phase of Singapore in the 1970s and 1980s, Kampong Amber was not spared when kampongs were eradicated to open up land for economic developments. Kampong Amber occupants were subsequently relocated to newly built, government subsidised flats. High-rise flats and privatised developments were later constructed at the site. Sir Winston Churchill once famously remarked, “We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us”. As the architecture and urban landscape (physical environment) morphed and developed drastically over the years, from Kampong Amber to the modern-day Amber road developments – the same level of change could be observed of the social activities it hosts, the occupants it invites and the genius loci of the place.