old but charming hospital building

I sat in the car and sketched this old building which I wanted to take a close look at its charming architecture for a long time. It was built after a typical old Malay style that the building was raised by column stumps to prevent flood in the old days. The area beneath the building was also used for storage to rear livestock like pigs and chickens in the past. This old building which houses the Tuberculosis Control Unit, is part of a very big hospital complex with a mixture of new and old buildings.

Tan Tock Seng Hospital is today transformed from a village hospital to a state of the art medical institution. It is named after its founder who built it in 1844. He is also the donor of many other public buildings including this temple without nails I did earlier.

It was so quiet that I only noticed three old patients accompanied by their family members going in and out of the premises. Two gentlemen walked passed my car and gave me a nice smile when they saw what I did at my driver seat. "They can't be patients and must be researchers or doctors with that kind of smile on their face" I said to myself.