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Jalan Eunos

Jalan Eunos marks the eastern boundary of the Geylang area located in the Central Region. It starts from Changi Road and is cut off at the expressway-flyover at Eunos Link, while the unconnected stretch of Jalan Eunos is linked with Bedok Reservoir Road, accessible from Eunos Link. Jalan Eunos and the other Eunos-named locations are named after Inche Muhammad Eunos bin Abdullah, chairman and co-founder of the Singapore Malay Union. Originally, a rural landscape with plantations and farmlands, the area evolved from a Malay settlement village in the late 1920s to becoming a modern high-rise private and public housing area mixed with terraced and bungalow houses, and many industrial estates.

History
Before its transformation, the area was originally quite hilly with many vegetable farms and coconut plantations. In the later part of the 19th century, many Malays congregated in the Geylang area along with wealthy Arabs like the Alkaff, who built a mosque, the Alsagoff and the Aljunied. The Alsagoffs were land-owners of the very large Perseverance Estate which stretched from Geylang Serai to Jalan Eunos. In the later half of the 19th century, Perseverance Estate cultivated serai or "lemon grass".

Jalan Eunos was also the custodian of one of the last Malay settlement on the island. The well-known Jalan Eunos Malay Settlement, originally called Kampong Melayu and renamed Kampong Eunos, was situated nearer to Changi Road, off Jalan Eunos. It started with Inche Muhammad Eunos Abdullah, chairman and co-founder of the Kesatuan Melayu Singapura (the Singapore Malay Union) and the first Malay representative of the Legislative Council.  Inspired by the Malay settlement of Kampung Baru in Kuala Lumpur, Inche Eunos appealed and was granted land reserved for a Malay kampong in 1927.  The government provided a S$700,000 grant and the Kesatuan Melayu Singapura purchased 240ha of land, which later became known as Kampong Melayu.  The settlers to Kampong Melayu had to clear the land themselves to construct their new homes. Towards the 1930s, development of the settlement intensified when the government decided to resettle Malays from Kallang Village to make way for the construction of Kallang Airport. In 1960, the Jalan Eunos Malay Settlement was extended to include the Kaki Bukit area. The register of settlers was closed in 1965 when it had some 1,300 houses. It was de-gazetted for urban renewal in 1981 to make way for the Pan Island Expressway.



Author
Vernon Cornelius



References
Eunos founded first Malay political body (1988, February 23) [Microfilm. NL16088]. The Straits Times, p. 4.

Geylang Serai: Down memory lane: Kenangan abadi (p. 48). (1986). Singapore: Heinemann Asia.
(Call no.: RSING 779.995957 GEY)

Turnbull, C. M. (1989). A history of Singapore: 1819-1988 (pp. 114,144). Singapore: Oxford University Press.
(Call no.: RSING 959.57 TUR)



The information in this article is valid as at 1999 and correct as far as we are 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
Street names--Singapore
Urbanization--Singapore
Arts>>Architecture>>Public and commercial buildings
People and communities>>Social groups and communities

Librarian Recommendations
>> Mohamed Eunos bin Abdullah


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