Beach Road

History
In Sir Stamford Raffles' 1822 "City Plan" Beach Road was set aside for the European community, and so the earliest buildings on this street were European dwelling houses, mostly bungalows. Beach Road was generally called Campong Glam (Kampong Glam) in those days. There was a row of twenty houses with large gardens, mostly inhabited by Europeans. Most of these houses had a seperate building in which a billiard table (the "in-thing" then!) was installed. The Singapore Club, an exclusive club reserved for expatriates of European companies, had its origins in the annex building of one of these fancy residences. At the corner of Beach Road and Bras Basah Road once stood a fine, 10-room "beach house" probably built in the 1830s by Robert Scott (descendant of Sir Walter Scott). Where the Raffles Institution (up to 1868, called Singapore Institution Free School) once stood, the land with a bungalow was occupied by Mr. Moor and his family, Mr. Dickenson, and Chaplain Padre Milton. In 1841-42 the row of old houses first built in the settlement were still standing, and among the Europeans residents here were Dr. Jose D'Almeida, Joseph and Maria Balestier, Mr. & Mrs. W. R. George, Dr. Alexander Martin, Mr. & Mrs. John Purvis, later Captain Stephens, Mr. & Mrs. D.S. Napier, Mr. Chevalier ran a hotel, the Telegraph Company's clerks lived here too, Miss Grant occupied a house as a missionary school, and Mr. & Mrs. J.H. Whitehead's house was at the corner of Middle Road. After his marriage in 1848, Mr. William H. Read moved here, too.

The original sea-shoreline came right by Beach Road until 1843. The entire beach stretch was sand, mud, and swamp, and when this was reclaimed, the road ceased to be a coastal road, but remains a boundary of Kampong Glam area. On the reclaimed land, later emerged the famous Beach Road market, actually called Clyde Terrace Market, the foundation stone of which was laid with Masonic honours, on 29 March 1873. Costing $37,889, the building was completed in 1874. It was demolished in 1983 to make way for the "The Gateway" twin towers which stands now on this site.

By the 1870s, the residential houses along Beach Road were increasingly being used as hostels, but was inadequate to meet rising demands. In 1878 Scott's 10-room Beach House, then owned by Arab Trader, Mohamed Alsagoff, was leased to Dr. Charles Emmerson who opened Emmerson's Hotel. When Dr. Emmerson died in 1883, the premises were leased to Raffles Institution as a boarding house. But the belle of Beach Road came in 1887, when the first house in the famous row was bought over by experienced hoteliers, the Armenian Sarkies Brothers. This was the beginning of Raffles Hotel as we know it today. They expanded the building, and made Raffles Hotel known throughout the world. After the area ceased to be a fashionable residential enclave in the 1880s, the Hainanese community settled in.

A 1894 Map published by F. A. Brockhans' Geogre, indicates a "Beach Hotel" next to Raffles Hotel, in Beach Road. The Straits Settlements Volunteer Force buildings (1907, 1931, also known as the Volunteer Drill Hall) is today the headquarters of the 2nd People's Defence Forces. Next to it, is the Singapore Armed Forces Warrant Officers & Specialist Club, which in colonial was the Navy, Army and Air Force Institution's "Britannia Club". Another old building landmark for a long time, is the Central Police Divisional Headquarters. The seven-storey Keng Chiu Building built in 1963 with Chinese influences in its architectural design, is the Kheng Chiu Hwee Clan Association.

Description
Beach Road has many fond memories for Singaporeans and foreigners too, who remember the New Alhambra Cinema (built in 1907 by motion picture industry pioneer Tan Cheng Kee, building later renamed Gala Theatre owned by Cathay Organisation), next to it was the Marlborough Cinema, and alongside it, the original "Satay Club" at Hoi How Road, which was also the bus depot for the No. 1, red and black colour bus of Tay Koh Yat Bus Company. We see Shaw Towers sited here today. Where Raffles Institution once stood, today stands the modern Raffles City Complex of Hotels, offices and shopping stores. Today the prevailing 2 and 3-storey shophouse add to the variety and flavour of Singapore's Central Region, Downtown Core.

The Royal Precinct
Entry to Istana Kampong Glam, the seat of Singapore's Malay Royal Family, and Bendahara House is by Sultan Gate, off Beach Road. This area was set aside for Sultan Hussain, family and followers by Sir Stamford Raffles, on 14 March 1823. The actual location, described then was, east of the European town and lying between Rochore River and the sea, amounting to a total of 56 acres was allotted to the Sultan.

The Original Satay Club (closed in 1995)
In the evenings at Hoi How Road, a cluster of mainly Javanese satay men provided barbequed meats on sticks at the "Satay Club", a favourite and world-famous open-air eating place until it moved to the Esplanade in 1972. A visit to the original Satay Club was a real treat after a nearby movie show. In 1995 it was closed to make way for the Esplanade Art Centre and Nicoll Highway expansion. Some of the stalls relocated to either Clarke Quay or Lau Pa Sat.

The Golden Mile
A stretch of Beach Road called The Golden Mile includes building developments of the 1970s and 1980s; Golden Mile Complex (1973, former Woh Hup Complex), 36-storey Shaw Towers with cinemas, shopping and offices (1976), Plaza Hotel (1972, former Singapore Merlin Hotel which was completed in late 1973). Here too, there are buildings of world class architecture, "The Gateway" twin towers east and west (known by locals as the "two towering cardboard boxes"), designed by internationally renowned Chinese-American architect, I. M. Peh, was officially opened in April 1990; and "The Concourse" 41 storeys, designed by architect Paul Rudolph, officially opened on 13 January 1994. The Concourse, arguably Singapore's most unique building, had its architectural building model on an "architecture exhibition tour" around the world, as an example of its pleasant, outstanding and unconventional building design.

War Memorial Park
Right opposite the Westin Stamford Hotel, is a parkland of about 1.2 ha. (3 acres), centred around the tall 222 feet high "Memorial to Civilian Victims" monument, in remembrance of civillians killed during World War II. It has the remains of some unknown victims buried beneath, and was officially unveiled by Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew on 15 February 1967.

National Monuments
There are two National Monuments in Beach Road designated for preservation. 6 March 1987 Raffles Hotel (1887), 1-3 Beach Road; 6 July 1973 Hajjah Fatimah Mosque (1845-46), 4001 Beach Road.

Variant Names
Chinese names:
(1) In Hokkien, Sio Po Hai Ki meaning "Small Singapore's seaside".
(2) In Cantonese, Kampong Hoi-pin meaning "Kampong sea shore" (Kampong refers to Kampong Glam); Sha-tsui hung-mo thit-chong tui-min meaning "Opposite Tanjong Rhu European foundry"; and, Hoi-nam wui-kwun hoi-pin kai meaning "Street along the shore near the Hylam kongsi-house".
(3) In Hokkien, Thi Pa Sat Khauor, in Cantonese Thit Pa-sat hau meaning "Iron market" (the iron market used to be the demolished Clyde Terrace Market at Beach Road).
(4) In Hokkien, Ban Heng bi-kau or, in Cantonese Man Heng mai-kau meaning "Chop 'Ban Heng' rice-mill".
(5) In Hokkien, Ji-chap keng or, in Cantonese Yi-shap kan meaning "Twenty buildings" (name more generally given to Jalan Sultan, but the twenty houses in question were in Beach Road! This is only characteristic).

Tamil name: Kadal Karei Sadakku meaning "Road by the seaside".



Author
Vernon Cornelius-Takahama



References 
Buckley, C. B. (1984). An anecdotal history of old times in Singapore: 1819-1867 (p. 25). Singapore: Oxford University Press.
(Call no.: SING 959.57 BUC)

Lee, E. (1990). Historic buildings of Singapore (p. 3). Singapore: Preservation of Monuments Board.
(Call no.: RSING 720.95957 LEE)

Perkins, J. (1984). Kampong Glam: Spirit of a community (pp. 30-33). Singapore: Times.
(Call no.: RSEA 959.57 PER)

Singapore guide & street directory (pp. 20, 21, 43) (1972). Singapore: Survey Dept.
(Call no.: MR 959.57 SIN)

Tyers, R. K. (1993). Ray Tyers' Singapore: Then and now (pp. 82-84, 86-87, 203). Singapore: Landmark Books.
(Call no.: RSING 959.57 TYE)


Further Readings
Edwards, N., & Keys. (1996). Singapore: A guide to buildings, streets, places (pp. 255, 256, 267, 270, 279, 283, 284, 285, 356, 364, 504). Singapore: Times Books International.
(Call no.: RSING 959.57 EDW)

Tan, M. S. (Ed.). (1982). Singapore 150 years. Singapore: Times Books International.
(Call no.: SING 959.57 SIN)

Firmstone, H. W. (1905, February). Chinese names of streets and places in Singapore and the Malay Peninsula. Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 4, 62-65.
(Call no.: RSING 959.5 FIR-[IC])

Tan, F. (1972, January). The majestic Merlin. Singapore Trade and Industry, 32-33.
(Call no.: RCLOS 381.095957 SIN)



The information in this article is valid as at 2000 and correct as far as we can ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be 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
Geography>>Population>>Urban Planning
Architecture and Landscape>>Building Types>>Historic Buildings
Street names--Singapore
Historic sites--Singapore
Urbanization--Singapore
Arts>>Architecture>>Public and commercial buildings
People and communities>>Social groups and communities
Arts>>Architecture>>Architectural structure

Librarian Recommendations
>> Kampong Glam
>> Raffles Hotel
>> Civilian War Memorial
>> The Gateway buildings
>> Singapore Freemasonry


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