About
Despite being located near the haphazard Geylang and Joo Chiat, Telok Kurau is an almost obsessively organized estate. The roads are all neatly parallel or perpendicular to each other, cutting straight across the shop houses and landed properties that line the streets of Telok Kurau. Such neatness in town-planning is uncharacteristic of old estates like Telok Kurau, but some fluke must have bestowed upon this district such perfection. Like its streets, the rest of Telok Kurau also reeks of domestic bliss. Comprised mostly of old, spacious terraced houses and bungalows, life in Telok Kurau is laidback and comparatively slow. The district has not developed very much over the years, letting it remain Singapore 's Pleasantville.

History
As most tales of Singapore go, Telok Kurau was once a pleasant fishing village called Telok Kurau. The pleasantness was, however, interrupted during the Japanese Occupation, when Telok Kurau became one of the major sites for Chinese persecution. During this period, the Japanese made it compulsory for Chinese males to be screened in order to identify whether they were anti-Japanese. The screening took place in centres that were scattered around Singapore, Telok Kurau being one of them. Those suspected of anti-Japanese activities were put into lorries and subsequently massacred at Singapore 's remote beaches.

Residential Areas
The streets of Telok Kurau are as neatly labeled as they are organized. The lorongs, or streets, of Telok Kurau are labeled in alphabetical order: Lorong J, Lorong K, Lorong L, Lorong M and so on. Old and narrow, they resemble a typical middle-class estate in Singapore during the 1960s. Recently, condominiums and apartments have started to spring up along the streets of Telok Kurau, such as Telok Mansion and Pine Court.

Aside from houses, there are many schools and boarding houses in Telok Kurau. These schools are mostly montessories and pre-schools, such as Raffles Montessori and Little Learners Pre-school. Telok Kurau Primary and Secondary are also located in this district. Foreign students studying in and around the area live in boarding houses such as East Lodge Student Hostel and Presbyterian Girls' Hostel.

East Shore Hospital, the former American Hospital, is located in Telok Kurau. Other hospice services include the MKAC (Muslim Kidney Action Association), Thian Leng Old Folks Home and Paean Nursing Home. There are also mosques and temples such as Masjid Kassim, Thian Leng Temple, Masjid Abdul Aleem Siddique and Tai Kak Seah Temple.