My flat sits right across a future MRT station along the future Cross Island Line. From my bus stop, cranes and excavators are always visible. These construction vehicles, however, appear to be mostly stationary. Whenever we pass the site, my kids ask me why nothing seems to be moving and why they can’t build any faster.

So when I got the chance to meet Vivien Leong, the lead architect of Tavistock station, which is along Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3 and also on the Cross Island Line, that was one of the first questions I asked her.

She said: “Much of [the MRT station] is hidden from the public eye. What we see above the ground are just the exits777oreo, which comprise less than 10 per cent of the station.”

Tavistock MRT station is expected to be completed in 2030. (Photo: Scott Brownrigg)

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