Heritage Trail@Jalan Besar, a BIG road with old-world charm...

Jalan Besar has a rich history and has witnessed many changes to its landscape without losing its old-world charm. Jalan Besar, which literally means Big or Wide Road in Malay, was one of the first roads built in Singapore. It cut through the betel nut plantation and fruit orchard owned by the Norris Brothers.

^ Jalan Besar stretches from Sungei Road to Lavender Street
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If you have been to Jalan Besar, you will notice many of the roads located off Jalan Besar are named after famous World War I battle sites and personalities, eg. Flanders, an battle site in Belgium, and Foch, the French marshall who was the commander of the allied forces then, etc. Today, you can still find shophouses and buildings from the late 19th to the mid-20th century lining both sides of Jalan Besar.
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To most Singaporeans, Jalan Besar is synonymous with Jalan Besar Stadium, a landmark in the area for almost a century. It was here that many exciting soccer matches were played and a place that also bonded Singaporeans with sports.
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Thus to get a feel of the area, we set off to discover Jalan Besar from the Jalan Besar Stadium. Before we start, let's read "The Jalan Besar Story" (below) which was located around the Jalan Besar Stadium.
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Jalan Besar Stadium was built in 1932 and is considered as the birthplace of Singapore football. It was here that the Malaya Cup (1932-1966) and later, the Malaysia Cup (1967-1973), were held for 41 years before moving over to the National Stadium. This was also the site for international soccer games and many important events.
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During the Japanese Occupation (1942-1945), the stadium was one of the Sook Ching mass screening sites. Despite the war, the stadium remained opened and was used as a language centre to teach Japanese. After the war, the stadium continued to be an important part of the community and played host to several major events in Singapore's history: venue for 1st Singapore Youth Festival in 1955, the 1st Singapore Armed Forces Day in 1969 and the 1984 National Day Parade (NDP). Jalan Besar Stadium was closed in December 1999 for rebuilding and officially re-opened in June 2003. It now offers a seating capacity of 6,000.
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^ Left: front entrances to Jalan Besar Stadium and the Jalan Besar swimming complex.
^ Right: side view of the stadium
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^ Not far from the stadium stands The Holy Trinity Church which has a unique Chineses Art Deco architecture. The Foochow and Hokkien-speaking misssionary started in 1902 and services were held initially at the St Peter's Church at Stamford Road. The site was acquired by the government in 1937 for the building of the National Library. The church then moved to its current location at Horne/Hamilton Roads in 1941, where the Holy Trinity Church was established.
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^ Left: photograph of The New World, courtesy of National Archives of Singapore
^ Right: all that remain of The New World is this gateway
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The next prominent landmark in Jalan Besar should be The New World. It occupied a large area bounded by Serangoon Road and Kitchener Road. First opened in 1923, the New World attracted people from all walks of life from labourers to European merchants with its exciting entertainment programmes. They included boxing, wrestling matches and variety shows. There were Teochew and Hokkien operas, bangsawan or Malay opera shows, as well as a fair which sold eveything from trinkets to clothes to canned food. It was the source of popular entertainment in an era without televisions or even radios, all the way up till 1950s.
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The New World was originally owned by two Straits Chinese merchants, Ong Boon Tat and Ong Peng Hock. It was the first of the three amusement parks (the other two were Gay World & Great World) that coloured Singapore's night life from the 1920s to the 1960s. The park was sold to Shaw brothers which acquired a 50% interest. New World closed in the mid-1980s when the Shaw Organisation sold the freehold site to City Development. Now, on the site, is a condominium and a shopping mall (see below).

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Lavender Street
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In the early 19th century, this as yet unnamed street was a dirt-track, flanked by Chinese vegetable gardens and sugar plantations. The farmers used nightsoil (human excreta from latrines contained in buckets) as fertilisers. Thus the area was filled with unbearable smell. In 1858, the residents suggested to name this street as Lavender Street as an ironic tongue-in-cheek reference to the unbearable smell.
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^ 161 Lavender Street - This URA Architectural Heritage Awards winner for excellence in building restoration is a graceful Art Deco style shophouse with beautiful tiled facade and a 4-storey extension at the rear.
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Originally the premises of the Lee Rubber Company, this building was owned by the famous philanthropist Lee Kong Chian who was a support of Dr Sun Yat Sun's Nationalist cause. Try to spot the life-like soldiers carrying the Nationalist Flag of the Republic of China on the pediment of the building.
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^ Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital, founded in 1910 by a group of Cantonese merchants, started as a free hospital for newly-arrived Cantonese immigrants. In 1973, the constitution of the Hospital was amended and from 1974, the hospital admits in-patients from all ethnic groups. The current main Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital building dates from the 1950s. It stands on the site of the 2nd Tan Tock Seng Hospital before the latter moved to its current location.
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^ Built in 1912, the Central Sikh Temple was originally a bungalow located at 715 Queen Street. However, due to urban redevelopment, the temple was moved to its current location at Towner Road since 1986. The site was provided by the government and the temple built with donations from the Sikh community.
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^ Boon Keng Estate - Boon Keng Road was named in 1929 after Dr. Lim Boon Keng, a prominent medical doctor and philanthropist. In 1964, the swamplands around Kallang River were reclaimed and opened up for new developments such as housing and industries.
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Dr. Lim was heavily involved in socialist, charitable and educational causes. He started hospitals and also rasied funds for the new Amoy University (founded 1921) in Fujian, China and was its vice-chancellor from 1921 to 1937. In addition, he was a founding member of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce.
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The new housing estate, as well as the general area, including the new extension of Upper Boon Keng Road which connects the newly opened industries estate in the Kallang area were named after Lim Boon Keng.

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^ Situated at the side of the Kallang River, it is known in the Chinese Hokkien dialect as Chwee Kang Beo or Shui Jiang Maio in Mandarin. The main deity of the temple was originally the Tua Pek Kong (Grand Old Man) who is believed to be the guardian saint of overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia.

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^ Sri Manmatha Karuneshvavar Temple was established on 1st January 1888 on a lease from the Governor of the Straits Settlements for the Tamil community as a place of worship., this temple is known to its devotees as the Kallang Gasworks Sivan Temple.

This 118+ years old temple was orignally led by the chief foreman of the Kallang Gasworks, A.V. Irullappa Pillay. Although the lease was renewed in 1909 for another 99 years, the plan to build a concrete mandapam (main hall) ran into financial difficulties. In 1934, the sons of A.V. Irullappa Pillay funded the reconstruction of the temple in memory of their late father. The temple was finally consecrated in 19 August 1937. The temple is known as the Sivan Temple because the presiding deity is Sri Manmatha Karuneshvara Sivan.
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In and Around Jalan Besar...

^ The remains of the Former Kallang Gasworks. Kallang Gasworks was completed in 1862 and piped gas supply was turned on in Singapore for the first time. It was first owned by the Singapore Gas Company which was formed in 1816 to provide gas for street lightings.

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Later in 1901, the Municipal Commissioners acquired the gasworks and expanded its capacity, When the Public Utilities Board (PUB) was formed in May 1963, it took over Kallang Gasworks and the supply of pipped gas and electricity. In October 1995, Kallang Gasworks was transferred from PUB to the newly corporatised company, Singapore Power, under its subsidiary PowerGas Ltd. Two years later, the Kallang Gasworks ceased gas production in 1997 after having served Singapore faithfully for 135 years.

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As the Kallang Basin went through extensive reclamation and development, the Kallang Gasworks had to be demolished in order to facilitate the more compatible land use in the surrounding city environment.

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^ The People's Association Headquarters, 9 King George's Avenue, was formerly the school site of Victoria School.

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These are some of the 'old' builings along Jalan Besar. Now you see them, maybe later you don't...

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^ left: The Singapore Futsing Association Building. Set up in 1910 with 1200 members, their members comprise of mainly Chinese Singaporeans from the Hockchia dialect group. There are approximately 30,000 Chinese Singaporeans who are Hockchia.

^ right: Hoe Nam Building, one of the 'pioneer' buildings along Lavender Road.

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and these shophouses...

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There are a few backpacker hostel here too - good location, near Little India, Sim Lim Square and more important near places where you can find cheap and nice food...

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So, what's good to eat here?

^ Swee Choon Dim Sum, 191 Jalan Besar. It was famous for its fresh and handmade bao as well as back lane dining experience. However, over the years, the restaurant has expanded to become an air-conditioned dining establishment.
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^ Sungei Road Laksa, Blk 27 Jalan Berseh Kopitiam. This is probaby the only stall where you can eat charcoal-cooked laksa, topped with generous number of fresh cockles and only at $2 per bowl.

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^ If you get hungry while walking, try a piece of this Fuzhou oyster cake (deep-fried batter filled with oyster, coriander and meat). Ooophs, forgot to note down the location! Anyway, the shop is along Jalan Besar, find it by your nose.
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Uniquely Petain Road...
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This row of beautifully-restored shophouses was possibly built in the 1920s at the height of the Singapore's eclectic architecture era, which occurred at a time when commodities such as rubber and tin were fetching high prices fuelling the boom years of the decade.

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This probably led to a building boom as the newly-rich competed to build houses that were more ornate, more richly-decorated than their neighbours. This row of beautiful shophouses with imported European and Japanese tiles of flower motifs in relief life-like plasters of birds, flowers and other motifs have since been immaculately restored and conserved.

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During the restoration, a lot of the facade tiles on the five foot ways were stolen, but fortunately, the developer was able to commission similar replacement tiles from Vietnam. He also kept many of the original old floor tiles, to retain the vintage look of the walkway.

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This area is also known colloquially as 'Keen Chio Kar', meaning "the foot of the banana plantation" in English. This area has long been known to be a red-light district, even before World War II, and remains so today.

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Old Charming Syed Alwi Road...

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Formerly known as Syed Allie Road, the road was named after Syed Allie bin Mohammed Al Junied (1814-1858), the son of Syed Mohammed Bin Harun Al Junied, and nephew of the famous Yemeni Arab leader Syed Omar bin Ali Al Junied.
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Syed Allie carried on his father's business and also contributed generously to the community. This road dissecting Jalan Besar was named after Syed Allie because in the 19th century, he bought 70 acres of swampland in Kampong Kapor. It soon became known as Syed Allie's land and the road was named after him.

Today, some of the shophouses along Syed Alwi Road have been designated as a conservation area by the URA, in consultation with the local stakeholders and the support of the LTA.

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And yes, don't miss out Sam Leong Road...

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