If you remember last week’s Heritage Trails post on my Jalan Besar expedition, here’s part two! Heritage Trails is a five-part series where I’ll be going on little expeditions to the heartlands as well as to some pretty unexpected heritage sites in Singapore, based on the heritage trail brochures I have collected, which you can get from the MICA building at Clarke Quay or from community centres around the areas.

161 Lavender Street

This building had won the Urban Redevelopment Authority Architectural Heritage Awards (AHA) for excellence in building restoration. It’s built in an Art Deco style which is a style in architecture developed in the 1920s-1930s in Europe and the United States. The Art Deco shophouse has a beautiful tiled facade and a new four-storey extension right behind it. This place was originally owned by Lee Kong Chian, a famous philanthropist.

Jalan Besar Plaza

Right across the street from Jalan Besar Plaza is Sam Leong Road, named after Ong Sam Leong (1857-1918), a prominent businessman who was born in Singapore. He was buried in Bukit Brown Cemetery off Lornie Road and his tomb area covered the size of 10 3-room HDB flats!

Founded in 1910, originally a free hospital for newly arrived Cantonese immigrants, Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital now admits patients from all ethnic groups. I remember doing some community service at this hospital as part of being a Brownie (Girl Scout) about 10 years ago.

This is the Central Sikh Temple which is currently undergoing renovation. The heritage trail brochures were originally published five years ago in 2006, so some places may not be around anymore and some would have been redeveloped.

The Sikhs have been quite a vibrant part of Singapore since their first arrival here with Sir Stamford Raffles in 1819 as Sepoys (meaning ‘soldiers’ in Persian). There are currently more than 12,000 Sikhs in Singapore serving in various professions and businesses.

Boon Keng Road was named after Dr. Lim Boon Keng (1896-1957), one of the most prominent Straits Chinese in Singapore. The Boon Keng area is generally a residential estate.

Situated at the side of the Kallang River, this is the Chwee Kang Beo Temple in Hokkien, also known as the Shui Jiang Miao in Mandarin. There are many deities worshiped in this temple, but the maindeity was originally the Tua Pek Kong (Grand Old Man), who is believed to be the guardian saint of overseasChinese in Southeast Asia.

Just in time for the sunset, a beautiful skyline welcomed us when we reachedKallang River. The name ‘Kallang’ is an old Malay name originating from a term that referred to a group of sea gypsies called ‘Orang Biduanda Kallang’. They were the indigenous inhabitants of Singapore who lived around the swamps at the mouth of Kallang River, they lived on boats but avoided the open sea.

Kallang River was very badly polluted before the Government’s Clean Rivers Project in 1987, due to the extensive industrial and agricultural activities in the Kallang Basin, but older residents still remember people used to swim and fish in the river despite the pollution.

Proceeding further along Kallang Road, I found the last site marked on the trail. The Sri Manmatha Karuneshvarar Temple, or better known to its devotees as the Kallang Gasworks Sivan Temple, was established on 1 January 1888 on a lease from the Governor of the Straits Settlements for the Tamil community as a place of worship.

It was actually led by the chief foreman of the Kallang Gasworks, A.V. Irullappa Pillay. It is known as the Sivan Temple because the main deity here is Sri Manmatha Karuneshvarar Sivan. Lord Siva represents destruction in the Hindu culture, having five jobs – creator, preserver, destroyer, hiding of sins, and blessings.

This picture of the Kallang Gasworks was scanned from the Heritage Trails brochure, belonging to the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts Collection, courtesy of the National Archives of Singapore.

First owned by the Singapore Gas Company, it was completed in 1862, and Singapore had piped gas supply for the first time. It became a landmark of the area, which had soon undergone extensive reclamation and development. Eventually the Kallang Gasworks had to be demolished in order to facilitate other more compatible land use in the surrounding city environment.

This is also the end of my Heritage Trails exploration, but stay tuned next week for a two-part series called Tides of Change, The Singapore River Trail, where I will explore the rich heritage behind our bustling civic district, and sites of historical value along the banks of the Singapore River!

If you would like to go on a heritage trail or with a few friends, feel free to pick up the heritage trails brochures at community centres or the MICA building near Clarke Quay, or simply visit the office of Education and Outreach of NHB to get the brochures. , located at 61 Stamford Road, #02-08, Stamford Court.