Clans Association in Singapore (新加坡华人宗乡之情)

 Located in the heart of the present red-light district of Geylang at No:  1, Lorong Bachok, is a piece of a historical building with the Peranakan architecture is a clan association call Kang Ha Peng Sim Kok with the pinyin name of JiangxiaPingxinge one of the many clans association ones could find in Singapore. with the relation to the Chinese surname and the individual ethnic group found here such as the Tan, Teo, Ng, Ong, so on and so forth. and been governed by the Singapore Federation of Chinese Association. They played an active role in their respective ethnic group to promote the Chinese language, values and tradition to support educational, cultural activities and enhance social cohesion and harmony among all races and new immigrants in Singapore.

A Chinese Villa in Little India

Little India is an enclave for the Indian Community to congregate during their Festivals such as Deepavali, Pongal Harvest Festival, besides there  a couple of Indian Temples, Mosques and a Chinese Villa situated at Kerbau Road. The building was built in 1900 and own by a Chinese towkay Tan Teng Niah it is the last known Chinese Villa in the vicinity. Tan Teng Niah is the owner of confectionery factories and rubber smokehouse down in Serangoon Road and the villa said to have eight rooms specially built for his wife.

National Gallery Singapore

The National Gallery of Singapore is an art museum that consists of two national monuments one is the former Supreme Court and the other is our City Hall, one serve as court offices and courthouse and the other is our Municipal Building and is holds many interesting events where the Japanese surrender to the allied forces in 1945. It also serves as the office of the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew our very first Prime Minister. Both buildings are neoclassical of British architecture it was later gazetted as a national monument in 1992.

New Kid on the Block

The Apple store which was constructed at the Marina Bay Sands was the latest addition of Apple in Singapore, two of them are located at the Airport and the Orchard Road Shopping Belt. This is the first Apple Store in the world to have it on a floating unique building on water. When it will begin business are unknown but with the media highlighting in the press flock of peoples including myself went down to have a shot at it many comes armed with the hard-earned money camera equipment, tripod, and other accessories may it be filming or still our photography community is expanding no matter what the situation COVID 19 or not they come in droves but with proper safe distancing practice and mask on, I may be old but there are many photography masters around and glad that I have known most of them and one last parting shot keep on shooting and enjoy and one of them says passion never dies.

Queen Elizabeth Walk

Those who are old enough should remember Queen Elizabeth Walk (Ngo Chang Chew Kar) Under the 5 Tree, and the Malay community called it Jalan Tepi Laut the name comes in 1953 to commemorate the coronation of the Queen and declared open in 30th May 1953 by Lady McNiece. Through extensive reclamation, a new sea wall was built and the land becomes the Esplanade Park with a seafront hawker stalls and also the Satay Club was born. Today it is part of the Marina Bay and there you are able to find three prominent structure consisting The Cenopath, Tan Kim Seng Fountain and Lim Bo Seng Memorial. As a child, we had the opportunity to visit only during the Chinese Lunar Year.

Everything Golden

The word golden represent successful, prosperous, flourishing and to name a building or establishment which is believed by the older generation, but the European or rather Westerner also had it in Golden Village. Beach Road is full of golden opportunity that is where you can find such building Golden Mile Complex, Golden Mile Food Centre and also Golden Mile Tower and Golden Theatre these four building are within walking distance. 

Golden Mile Complex (黄金坊) formerly known as Woh Hup Complex it is a commercial and residential complex with more than 400 shops which was completed in 1972. together with the  Golden Mile Tower and Golden Theatre. In 1975 Golden Mile Food Centre was built to cater to the masses which also had an Army Market.

Selegie Road

Ellison Building got its name from Isacc Ellison a well-known figure from the Jewish community, he was a Romanian Jew and the building was built in 1924, it stood at the junction of Bukit Timah Road and Selegie Road which the local called 7th Horse Road. It is a beautiful colonial building and of historical values. Lately, the government had cordoned off the building in order to facilitate the construction of the North-South Expressway and after that, it will be restored to its former glory. Just behind the building stood Rex Cinema at Mackenzi Road while the famous Selegie HDB Flat is within the vicinity 

Dying Trade Culture Shock

Chinese Opera was part of my life growing up in those early years where we will tag along my late mother to visit street wayang show during any Taoist temple celebration and also the 7th-month Hungry Ghost Festival. Lau Sai Tho Guan is one of the leading Teochew Opera beside, Sin Yong Hua and Lau Chit Ki Hiang the later was based in my neighbour Joo Chiat. There are also the Hokkien Opera such as Sin Sai Hong, Sin Kee Ling which are the well-known opera troupe. Before the Hokkien Opera start, they will have a segment of Getai show about for half an hour, I think this is where our modern getai show got it started. Next on my list is the underdog favourite the puppet show together with the strings puppet. They required a smaller stage compared to the wayang stage nowadays we rarely see one of these.

Gone from Chinatown

The first to go is the Pearl Centre together with Yangtze theatre at the corner of Pearl Hill Terrace and Eu Tong Sen Street due to the construction of MRT Station and just behind in Outram Park along Pearl Bank Road stood the iconic horseshoe shape condominium known as Pearl Bank, the fate of the site is in question but definitely, the condominium will be replaced by another one identical one.

Street Name of the Past

Cross Street is one of the oldest streets in Singapore which start from  Robinson Road, Raffles Place down passed Telok Ayer Street, Amoy Street, China Street so on and so forth. the different ethnic group had their own interpretation by calling them Hoi San Kai, Hai Sun Koi, Kiat Leng Kia Koi which most of us have forgotten about it. Right at the corner of Cross Street and South Bridge Road stood a very popular shophouse which house the famous Crane Shoe Store sadly they are not there anymore and turning it into another hotel,  and further down the road are the most famous of it all (Yeow Kai Min) Soy Sauce Chicken Noodle and a famous restaurant called Spring Court and the newly renovated Budget Hotel 81 Chinatown. After that, there is the Chin Swee Estate with a Tim-sum treat restaurant Red Star.

Disappearing Building and Landmark

High rise flat only starts to emerge from the 1950s, Upper Pickering Street Flats was many of them built by SIT (Singapore Improvement Trust) and the flats later know as suicide flats cause many of them choose to end their life there, sadly by 2005 the blocks of flats were demolished and it being replaced by Hotel development for the Park Hotel Collection.

On the other hand, the Ellenborough Market was established during the 1800s, known as Pasar Baru or New Market and the Teochew community called them Teochew Market it also faced with the fate of being demolished and in its place with a Hotel too and a shopping mall and residences called The Central Singapore in downtown Clarke Quay. 

Speaker Corner

Speakers' Corner is an area located within Hong Lim Park where citizen and permanent resident of Singapore may demonstrate, hold exhibitions, performances and speak freely on topics with compulsory registration on the government website. Besides we have Hong Lim Complex and Hong Lim Market and Food Centre while the Upper Pickering Street Flats had been demolished and the site is allocated for Hotel Development.

The Old Thong Chai Medical Institution is found opposite Hong Lim Park it was constructed in 1892 and known locally as Tong Chay Ee and in 2017 the building is gazetted as a national monument. During the 1990s saw the building becoming a Night Club and later a number of restaurants and in 2000 the building was under new management as a restaurant and closed down due the Sars outbreak, the building is now owned by Forever Living Products. 

New Bridge Road/Eu Tong Sen Street

Chinatown Point is a mixed development consisting of a shopping mall and 25 storey office tower first opened in 1993 it is famous for countless of curio shops, pawnshop, jewellery shop. It was relaunch in 2012 under new management, a new 1000 sqft library was on the 4th floor which focuses mainly on Chinese culture and history and is privately funded and Singapore first public library staffed almost completely by volunteers.  

Further down the road is the Furama City Centre Hotel located in the heart of Chinatown and within the Central Business District.

 

The Great Southern Hotel

It was built in 1927 and consider the tallest building in the whole of Chinatown and it is known at the Great Southern Hotel (Nam Tin Building) translate as Southern Heaven. In 1993 it was sold to a  Hongkong multi-national corporation and turned into a flagship departmental store called Yue Hwa Chinese Products Emporium the rest is history. The next building on my list is People's Park Centre is a mixed-use Strata Titled development consisting of residential units, Offices, Shops especially travel agencies and F&B Outlet.

Eu Tong Sen Street

People's Park Complex or Zhenzhu Fang is a high rise commercial and residential building consist of 31 storeys completed in 1970.

This is People's Park Food Centre (珍珠百貨商) is a market place filled with food stand and groceries with large sitting area its is famous for its toiletries purchase.

Singapore Chinatown

Talk about Chinatown is within the business district in the core downtown where the ethnic enclave congregates annually during the Lunar New Year. it had been commonly called is as Gu chia chui, in Hokkien, Niucheshui, in mandarin and Ngaucheshui, in Cantonese with Cowcartwater a lingo used by local. There are interesting building or old and new such as the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and with a museum on Buddhism. The Majestic is a historic building along Eu Tong Sen Street is was an opera theatre in his heydays built by philanthropist a tin and rubber magnate Eu Tong Sen for his wife who was a fan of Cantonese opera and a street was named after him.

Hill Street

Before I venture into Chinatown, I decided to make a U-turn toward Hill Street because there are some interesting building worth mention. First, stop the Old Hill Street Police Station with its colourful windows says to be about 970 of them now a government ministry building, then next come to the Old Hill Street Fire Station, Armenian Church of St. Gregory, former US Embassy, Chinese Chamber of Commerce, Masjid Al-Burhani Shia, and Singapore Telephone House sadly is under demolition to make way for a new hotel. Although its a short street but lots of heritage buildings.

Big Horse Road - Boat Quay

Elgin Bridge runs over the Singapore River connect  North Bridge Road with South Bridge Road. one side we have High Street Centre and the other The Riverwalk Residence where Boat Quay had rows of Godown where the traditional wooden barges know as Twa Kor plies between the big steamers that bring cargoes into our port and goes upstream into godowns along Clarke Quay and Robertson Quay.

Legal House

As I proceed from North Bridge Road going into South Bridge Road known as Toa Po Big Horse Road, there stood our New Supreme Court back to back with the colonial one. This site belongs to the Old Colombo Court and besides is our very own new and Old Parliament House.

 

Some Buildings to be remember

Next to Capitol Piazza stood Peninsula Plaza is an old school high rise building know for its shop services and restaurant catering to Burmese people who are here to earn a living 

Next, we have the newly developed Funan Sg from the old Funan, the name been translated from Hock Lam Street and opposite we have the Adelphi from the old Adelphi Hotel.

Heritage Building

Capitol Theatre is at the crossroad between North Bridge Road and Stamford with its 4 storey building known as Capitol building since 1930 now it is known as The Capitol Kempinski Hotel.

Next door to the Capitol Theatre is Capitol Piazza built from the former Capitol Shopping Centre, the 2 storey building had an open Plaza and an arcade with F&B outlets.

The Raffles Brand

As I walk  further towards Bras Basah Road I came across Purvis Street and Seah Street which was known as Hylam Ji Kuay and Hylam Sar Kuay with the famous family feud Chicken Rice Stall, here I found the Raffles Shopping Arcade back to back to the famous Raffles Hotel famous for the Singapore Sling and further cross the road our Raffles City built on our former site of our famous Raffles Institution 

Happy 55th Birthday Singapore

We have come from this far since our independence day in 1965 when our nation was ejected from the Merger with Malaysia and at the stroke, at midnight we are celebrating our 55th Birthday without our founding father of this nation who has left us for a better place but we are still in safe hands with our 3rd and 4th generation leaders who will lead us into the near future for our future generation to come. THANK YOU,  MAJULAH SINGAPURA

Walk on by

Our new National Library was built when the old Red Brick Library gave way for the construction of the vehicles tunnel toward Penang Road onward to our Orchard Shopping Belt, immediately next to it at Bain Street our famous Bras Basah Complex which I had already mentioned in my blog. Next comes an old building was known as Ho Bee Building where we can find a Mcdonald Outlet and next to it is the old Odeon Cinema site been built into Odeon Tower and follow by Carlton Hotel.

Visiting another Sultan

As I turn left from Jalan Sultan and now approaching Arab Street there another Sultan this time is the Sultan Mosque situated at Kampong Gelam and also passed the Golden Landmark now known as Village Hotel. The Arab Street area is full old shophouses especially at Haji Lane, you can find all sorts of goods been retail there cater to the younger crowds and as I cross into Fraser Street at one time was full of old shophouse and residences and Garden Street which had totally disappeared which now stand Parkview Tower and Duo Building (a joint venture between the Malaysian and Singapore Government)

An date with the Sultan

Jalan Sultan had been referred to as (Tian Chia Wan) Trolley Bus Turn operated by the Singapore Traction Company (STC), there a couple of interesting building there Textile Centre, Sultan Plaza, Alsagoff Arab School, Sultan, Citygate, and at the end of it at Victoria Street is the Crawford HDB.

Venturing into Xiao Po Big Horse Road

From Fire City (火城) going passed Crawford Bridge and proceed into North Bridge Road (Big Horse Road) first stop is the North Bridge Road Market and Hawker Centre serving the resident for the HDB dwellers from Beach Road and also Crawford Court and also a very old school coffee shop in the vicinity

Crawford Court 

North Bridge Road Market & Hawker Centre

End of a chapter for Sungei Road

Freeze Ice Bridge (Kek Sng Kio) or Sungei Road literally started in 1930 it is a rent-free hawking area and the largest and oldest in Singapore. It makes its name in the early days as a place to trade stolen or smuggled of illegal or pirated goods hence the name Thieves Market they deal in all kinds of stuff which old, used or new household items and some even deal in power tools. I used to visit those shop dealing in motorcycle decals and accessories which was a hit during the 70s illegal for all hell-riding activities. The markets come alive during the weekend and public holiday and attracted local and tourists alike to explore one of Singapore pastime attraction. Everything comes to an end when the Government announced the site acquired for building the Downtown Line MRT Station called Jalan Besar instead of Sungei Road or Thieves Market.

Arab Street toward Lavender Street

Lies at the corner of Arab Street and Victoria Street is the new location of the Stamford Primary School whose original site is at Waterloo Street, next to is the Madrasah Aljunied Islamiah, Jalan Kubor Muslim cemetery which next to the Malabar Mosque. Hotel Boss is another new addition to Victoria Street along with the Immigration & Checkpoint Authority Building with ELD Training Centre as its neighbour.

Still galloping at Two Horse Road

This is St. Joseph Church is a Roman Church at 143, Victoria Street standing next to Victoria Hotel and Grand Pacific Hotel and was built in 1906 till 1912.

This is the Bugis Village Building from the Victoria Street runs through Rochor Road now manage by Capitaland.

This building was once the Queen Street Community Centre sitting behind the Bugis MRT Exit now incorporate with the Downtown Line.