Welcome to my busybody corner...: Outram Campus Heritage Trail - Rediscover Singapore's Medical History..

Outside Outram Park MRT Station, near the escalator to the overhead bridge, it is where the foundation stone for Singapore’s first civil prison was laid a short distance from this location on 6th February 1847. The prison was officially known as H.M. (Her Majesty’s) Prison, but was probably better known as 'Outram Prison' (1). This is the only large prison facility until Changi Prison was built in 1936. Outram Prison was also the first regular female prison located within the main wings of the prison and was also the first major prison facility to use single cells to enhance security in Singapore. The Prison was once the site for the public execution of prisoners.

The First Public Dental Clinic (2) in Singapore was established in 1929 as the Department of Dentistry within the King Edward VII College of Medicine. As the first dental school to be established in the British colony in the east, it was better known as the Dental Clinic and was originally located on the ground floor of Norris Block.

In 1938, the school moved to a new building, serving as teaching school in dentistry while providing service for inpatient dental treatment for the general public. Today the National Dental Centre stands on the former site of the school.

Still at the same location, the current site of Block 8 was where Stanley and Norris Block (3). Formerly the Middle Block of the General Hospital, Stanley Block first housed the 2nd & 3rd class female wards when it opened in 1926. In the 1950s, to meet the increasing number of outpatients and inpatients, the blocks was occupied by the Ear, Nose and Throat Unit and Outpatient Clinics, as well as the Physiotheraply, Occupational Therapy and Speech Theraphy Departments.

Norris Block, formerly known as the Lower Block, first accommodated the 3rd class male wards and sub-adminstration offices in its early days. In the 50s, it housed the wards and outpatients clinics for the medical and surgical units, as well as laboratories and clinics for Senior and Junior Officials.

Both block were demolished in the 1970s to make way for the construction of the new Singapore General Hospital. The current site of Block 8 was where Stanley Block once stood, while across the road, the Health Promotion Board now stands on the site of Norris Block.

School of Nursing & Vicker’s House (4). In the early years after the founding of Singapore, nursing duties were first performed by convicts. It was only until 1885, with the arrival of 11 convent sisters from England that female nurses made their presence at the hospital. The war had served as a catalyst for public recognition of nursing services.

In 1949, all nurses are to be registered for practice in Singapore. In 1951, the General Hospital saw its first batch of local nurses to be promoted to Ward Sister. To meet the increasing demand for more trained nurses, Vicker’s House, a new Nurses’ Hostel was declared opened on 29 Jul 1953, while a new Nurse training School and Nurses’ Hostel (PTS Hostel) were formally opened on 10 Sep 1956. With the increase intake of student nurses, a new School of Nursing, constructed on the site of the old Maternity Hospital was opened in Sep 1959.

^Vickers's House is currently under demolition to make way for new buildings.

Opened as part of the new General Hospital in 1926, the Bowyer Block was first known as the Upper Block and was the main administration block which accommodated the first and second class male wards, and the first class female wards. Together with the Middle and Lower blocks, it was renamed Bowyer Block (5) after 1946. Named after Dr John Herbert Bowyer, the Chief Medical Officer in the then Outram Road General Hospital. He died at Sime Road Interment Camp during the Japanese Occupation on 1 November 1944.

In the pre-war days, Bowyer Block accommodated the first and second class male wards and first class female wards. There were operating theatres on the ground floor and also Ear, Nose and Throat Department (1926-1951). Part of the Bowyer Block was demolished in the 1980s to make way for the construction of the new Singapore General hospital.

Today, the Bowyer Block is the only building that remained standing and its familar clock tower and tall columns have became an important icon of SGH.

^The Bowyer Block also house the SGH museum.

^In Memoriam Of Fallen Students (6). During WW2, shelling was intense at Tan Tock Seng Hospital and Yoong Tatt Sin, a medical student at King Edward VII College of Medicine, was seriously injured whilst on duty in one of the wards on 14 Feb 1942 and died on the same day. Tatt Sin’s colleagues, a group of 25 medical students congregated at the golf ground in front of the College of Medicine Building to give him a proper burial. Unfortunately, the same Japanese Gunners who hit Tatt Sin arrived at the General Hospital with a barrage of shelling and killed another 10 medical students. No burial could take place that day & it was on 16 Feb 1942 that the 10 students together with Tatt Sin were given a respectful burial.

^Tan Teck Guan Building (7) was built in 1911 by Tan Chay Yan, a successful rubber planter, in memory of his late father, Tan Teck Guan. The building was the site of the first medical school, known then as the Straits and Federal Malay States Government Medical School. The school was later renamed the King Edward VII College of medicine in 1920.

Singapore’s first medical school was founded in 1905, converted from an old Female Lunatic Asylum at Sepoy Lines. Known then as the Straits and Federated Malay States Government Medical School, it was renamed the King Edward VII Medical School in 1913 and then to King Edward VII College of Medicine in 1924. In 1920, a new College building was commissioned, and the College of Medicine Building (8) was officially opened on 15 Feb 1926. In 1949, it merged with the Raffles College to become the University of Malaya, and became its Faculty of Medicine. In May 1982, the faculty moved to Kent Ridge Campus. This building underwent renovations in 1985. Today, the College of Medicine is home to the Ministry of Health headquarter and the College of Family Physicians.

Harrower Hall (9) was originally used as a lounge and dining hall for medical students staying in the former Federated Malay States (FMS) hostel. It was renovated in 1959 and 1962 to house the Department of Pharmacology. It was not uncommon to see the undergraduates staying back in the evening to complete their practical. They would have their dinner at Ah Leng’s canteen located just next door, then proceeding on with their practical sessions. The Department of Pharmacology eventually moved to Kent Ridge Campus in 1982. In the same year, the University’s Department of Orthopaedic Surgery acquired Harrower Hall for the development of its research facilities. Since 2 Jan 2002, Harrower Hall has been occupied by the Singapore Pharmacy Board.

Officially opened in 1955 by Lady Black, the wife of the Governor, Mistri Wing (10) contained 2 complete paedistric units each with 150 bed complement, providing the most up-to-date facilities for the treatment of children at that time. The construction of the building was made possible by the donation from a generous benefactor, Mr Navroji Rusrormji Mistri. Today, the National Heart Centre stands at the site of the Mistri Wing.
.