Queen Street

Queen Street is located in the Civic District and is a one-way street that connects Arab Street to the junction of Stamford Road and Armenian Street. Named after Queen Victoria, the street was part of the European enclave in Singapore's past and had several distinguished schools clustered around the area.

History
Beginning at Arab street, Queen Street forms major junctions with Ophir Road, Rochor Road, Middle Road and Bras Basah Road before ending at the junction of Stamford Road and Armenian Street. Queen Street along with Waterloo Street became Eurasian enclaves so much so that Queen Street was also called Eurasian Street. The first Catholic church was built here in 1846 and many schools of high regard came to be established here. The area around Stamford Canal, Dhoby Ghaut and Selegie Road also became known for the laundry services provided by the dhobies (laundrymen).

Description
A Catholic church, built on this street next to St. Joseph's institution in 1846, was consecrated as the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd in 1897. It was founded by Jean Marie Beurel, a French priest and is a national monument since 1973. French missionary, Pierre Paris, added another Catholic church to this street in 1870, the Church of Saint Peter and Paul. It has been gazetted a national monument since 2003. Francisco de Silva Pinto i Maria, a Portuguese missionary, built the church of St. Joseph in 1853 but it was demolished in 1906. A new building for the church in Gothic architecture was erected at the same site in 1912. Other churches on this street are the Kim Yan Cantonese Methodist Church and the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes. The Central Sikh temple, the oldest Sikh temple in Singapore, which was built on this street in the 1930s was pulled down in the 1980s to make way for new development. It was moved to Towner Road and flats and shops were built on the original land at the Queen Street site.

In early Singapore, schools along the street included Raffles Girls' Secondary School, St. Joseph's Institution, Catholic High School, St.Anthony's Boys School, St.Anthony's Secondary School, Waterloo Girls School and Stamford Girls' School. All these schools have moved to different locations and the only school building that stands is that of the St Joseph's Institution which is now transformed into the Singapore Arts Museum. The Raffles Girls' School site however, is marked as a historic site. On 15 October 1993, the area covering St. Joseph's Church, St. Anthony's convent, old St. Anthony's Boys school and old St. Anthony's Girls school has been designated a conservation area.

Other buildings on this street are the Oxford hotel, BOC Plaza, Midlink Plaza, Albert Centre Food Court and market, Fu Lu Shou Complex and some shophouses.

Variant names
Chinese name: Sek-a-ni koi. Sekani in Hokkien means Eurasian,reflecting the presence of Eurasians in the area. San ma lu, which means the third horseway,and Se zai nian jie, meaning Eurasian Street, refer to the fact that the street was a part of the Eurasian enclave.
Tamil name: Dhoby kampam and Vannan teruvu. Both the words mean street of dhobies.
Mlay name: Kampong dhobi, a reference to the laundrymen that dominated the area.



Author
Thulaja Naidu



References
Edwards, N., & Keys, P. (1988). Singapore: A guide to buildings, streets, places (p. 286). Singapore: Times Books International.
(Call no.: RSING 959.57 EDW)

Dunlop, P. K. G. (2000). Street names of Singapore (p. 256). Singapore: Who's Who Publications.
(Call no.: RSING 959.57 DUN)

Lee, E. (1990). Historic buildings of Singapore (p. 30). Singapore: Preservation of Monuments Board.
(Call no.: RSING 720.95957 LEE)

Samuel, D. S. (1991). Singapore's heritage: Through places of historical interest (pp. 149, 150, 152). Singapore: Elixir Consultancy Service.
(Call no.: RSING 959.57 SAM)

Survey Department. (1961). Singapore: Guide and street directory (p. 47). Singapore: Survey Department.
(Call no.: RSING 959.57 SSD)

Firmstone, H. W. (1905, January). Chinese names of streets and places in Singapore and the Malay Peninsula. Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 4, 122, 123.
(Call no.: RSING 959.5 FIR)

Conservation area in Queen Street designated. (1999, November 27). The Straits Times, p. 30.

Phang, L. T. (1998, November 27). Sites reflect diverse history. The Straits Times, Forum, p. 78.

Queen Street church to be preserved. (2003, February 11). The Straits Times, Prime News.

Singh, S. (1980, January 2). Oldest Sikh temple to make way for development. The Straits Times, Religion.


Further Readings
Savage, V. R., & Yeoh, B. S. A. (2003). Toponymics: A study of Singapore street names (pp. 321-322). Singapore: Eastern Universities Press.
(Call no.: RSING 915.9570014 SAV)

Our heartlands - Eurasian roots in Singapore. (2000, July). The Singapore Chronicles (Primary School Edition), 1, 4. Retrieved April 1, 2003, from www.knowledgenet.com.sg 



The information in this article is valid as at 2003 and correct as far as we able to 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.

Subject
Architecture and Landscape>>Streets and Places
Events>>Historical Periods>>Founding of Modern Singapore (1819-1941)
Street names--Singapore
church buildings--Singapore
Arts>>Architecture>>Public and commercial buildings
Arts>>Architecture>>Educational buildings
Arts>>Architecture>>Religious buildings

Librarian Recommendations
>> Waterloo Street
>> Cathedral of the Good Shepherd
>> Queen Street bus terminal : general view


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