History
Yan Kit Swimming Complex was built by the City Council for $513,000 and was officially opened by then Governor of Singapore, John Nicoll and City Council president, T.P.F. McNeice on 29 December 1952. It was named after a Canton-born dentist Mr Look Yan Kit who came to Singapore in 1877 and was involved in the founding of the Kwong Wai Shiu Free Hospital in 1910.
The complex, which occupies a 14,859-sq-m plot of land was built on an old railway site off Cantonment Road and contains three pools, a single-storey clubhouse and three other buildings which house toilets and showers. The pools were lined up in a row with diving platforms at one end and a lifeguard watchtower cum slide between two of the pools.
In 1994, the National Trades Union Congress Club announced plans to lease the pool and redevelop it part of its new clubhouse at a cost of $6 million, but it never materialised.
In April 2001, Singapore Sports Council (SSC) decided to close the pool and return it to the state because attendance had dwindled to an average of 120 daily and it was becoming too expensive to maintain. The foundation of the pools had deteriorated, making spot repairs ineffective. SSC estimated that it would cost S$400,000 to maintain and operate the complex annually and S$4 million to upgrade the entire complex.
In a move to give new life to old sports facilities, the SSC announced in 2005 that the complex was opened for possible development by private developers.
Significance
When it first opened, pool users had to pay 15 cents per entry. According to a former pool supervisor, the complex was so popular that there was only standing room and a two-hour limit was imposed on swimmers. On Tuesdays, the pool was opened only to women and girls who were too shy to appear in their bathing suits in front of men.
Before Yan Kit Swimming Complex, Singapore only had one other public swimming facility at the Mount Emily Swimming Complex that was built in the 1930s.
People
The pools first supervisor was Lee Hong Ming, who was a founding member of the Singapore Life Guard Corps and had served as pool supervisor at the Mount Emily Swimming Complex.
Author
Justin Zhuang
References
Chua, C.J. (1998). A Nation At Play. Singapore Sports Council. Singapore: Times Editions.
(Call no.: English 796.095957 NAT)
Koh, T. (2006). Singapore: The Encyclopaedia. Singapore: Didier Millet.
Singapore Life Guard Corps. (1990). 40 Years Of Lifeguarding: 1950-1990. Singapore: Singapore Life Guard Corps.
(Call no.: English 797.200289 FOR)
Yeo, A. (2002, April 2). Yan Kit pool to reopen but not for swimming. The Straits Times. Retrieved on January 28, 2011, from NewspaperSG.
(1994, November 29). Yan Kit to be part of club. The Straits Times. Retrieved on January 28, 2011, from NewspaperSG.
(2001, May 3). Pool of memories. The Straits Times, H4. Retrieved October 25, 2008 from NewsBank.
Council Changes Not Easy Nicoll [Microfilm: NL 2633]. (1952, December 30). The Straits Times, p.7.
New Swimming Pools Opened [Microfilm: NL 2284]. (1952, December 30). Singapore Standard, p.2.
Further reading
Troubled waters: Yan Kit & River Valley Swimming Complexes. (2006, August-September). The Singapore architect, 142-149.
(Call no.: RSING 720.5 SA issue #234)
The information in this article is valid as at 2008 and correct as far as we can ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the library for further reading materials on the topic.
