Our West Coast Heritage

Our West Coast Heritage

©2020 Published by Centre for Advanced Studies in Architecture (CASA) Department of Architecture, School of Design and Environment, National University of Singapore 4 Architecture Drive, Singapore 117566 T: +65 6516 8862 E: akijw@nus.edu.sg W: www.arch.nus.edu.sg

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Printed in Singapore ISBN:

123-456-78-9012-3

Exhibition:

“Our West Coast Heritage” 27 July 2019 - 3 August 2019 Nan Hua Primary School

Organiser:

Editors: Writers: Researchers:

Book & Cover Design: Typesetting:

“Our West Coast Heritage” 24 January 2020 - 8 March 2020 West Coast Community Centre

West Coast Community Centre

Alfonse Chiu, Fauzy Ismail, Johannes Widodo Lee Kah Hui, Mohammad Iqbal bin Roslan Lee Kah Hui, Mohammad Iqbal bin Roslan, Denise Ho Xi Ning, Trikasemmart Panyaporn, Ahmad Osman, Alfonse Chiu

Alfonse Chiu Alfonse Chiu, Lee Kah Hui

Printer:

AD Imaging Solutions Pte Ltd

OUR WEST COAST HERITAGE

CONTENTS FOREWORD

i

PREFACE

ii

INTRODUCTION

1

Toponymics of West Coast Changing Boundaries of West Coast Overview of West Coast’s History

3 5 9

THE LAST STAND

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British Military Guard Post Pasir Panjang Pillbox Old Cannon at Pasir Panjang Park Battle of Pasir Panjang Colombo Camp Pasir Panjang Military Complex Sussex Estate Kampong O’Carrol Scott British Cemetery at Clementi Road Kampong Tulloch Reflections at Bukit Chandu

15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22

SUPPORTING OUR NATION

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Prawn Ponds Ulu Pandan Rubber Estate Opium Packing Plant Singapore Plywood Factory Pasir Panjang Power Station Pasir Panjang ‘A’ Power Station Pasir Panjang ‘B’ Power Station Jurong Railway Pasir Panjang Wharves Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre Pasir Panjang Terminal

27

FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFE

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Settlements in West Coast Pasir Panjang / Buona Vista Village Cherry Tree Mosque Kampong West Coast Road Village West Coast Road Malay Settlement Kampong Jawa Teban Kampong Tanjong Kling Pasir Panjang Power Station Quarters Clementi New Town Hong Leong Gardens Shopping Centre and Condominium

41 43

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29 30 31 32 33 34

44 45 46 47 48

Healthcare Female Lunatic Asylum and Beri Beri Hospital National University Hospital

49 51

Leisure & Community Pasir Panjang Beach Haw Par Villa Singapore Miniature Zoo Clementi Market / Clementi Road Market Empress Cinema Commonwealth Cinema Clementi Bus Interchange and Fountain Ginza Plaza / West Coast Plaza

52 54 55 58

Sports & Recreation Motocrossing The Gap Haw Par Swimming Pool Singapore International Kite Festival The Royal Singapore Yacht Club

60 62

Places of Worship Ang Chee Sia Ong Temple Poh Ern Shih Temple Masjid Tentera Diraja The Church of the Holy Cross Masjid Darussalam

64 66 67 68

Educational Institutions Pasir Panjang English School - Pasir Panjang Primary School Hau Kiau Chinese School - Jubilee School - Jubilee Malay School Jubilee Primary School Yusof Ishak Secondary School- The Japanese School Singapore- National University of Singapore- Jin Tai Primary School- Nan Hua Primary School- Nan Hua Secondary School Nan Hua High School Jin Tai Secondary School

71 73

AFTERWORD

79

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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59

63

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75 76

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FOREWORD It is without a doubt that West Coast is a very rich place in Singapore’s history: rich in natural resources, from which many of its residents and later visitors derived their living; rich in heritage, given its presence in so many facets of Singapore’s development, from being a site of settlement, then resettlement, to being one of the island’s key strategic military areas within its short but bloody modern war history, and further on to being a critical component to the successful industrialisation of Western Singapore. Above all, West Coast is an area rich in stories that can only stem from the residents’ deep love and engagement with the place.

Throughout this book, you will find many references to places long gone, soon to be gone, and those which are still with us. We hope this trip down memory lane, if you have your memories etched within this area, be it personal or not, is a pleasant one.

For those who would be learning about this for the very first time, we hope you can take away from it as much as we did while writing this book— that beyond every heartland design, every green traffic sign, there are stories which are waiting to be told, to be excavated where they lay.

These places have lived to tell their own tales and all you need to do is to look closer.

Dr. Johannes Widodo, Associate Professor, NUS Architecture

i

PREFACE “Our West Coast Heritage” project started in 2017 when we embarked on a research and engagement programme to investigate the history and heritage of West Coast.

West Coast is an area that has witnessed tremendous changes and movements of different groups of people throughout the years. “Our West Coast Heritage” seeks to engage members of both current and past communities across different generations through a lively conversation centred on West Coast, as well as by documenting its histories and development before it fades with time.

Coinciding with the Singapore Bicentennial, which marks the 200th anniversary of Sir Stamford Raffles’ arrival in Singapore and a milestone to celebrate Singapore’s rich history beyond 1819, the information gathered culminated in exhibitions and this publication.

We hope this publication will give the readers a brief yet comprehensive look at Pasir Panjang’s, West Coast's, and Clementi’s layered history and heritage, including lesser-known sites from the 1920s onwards, while bringing back fond memories for current and past residents.

The Editors

ii

INTRODUCTION Whenever the name “West Coast” is mentioned, “West Coast Park”, “Condominiums”, “Market and Food Centre” are invariably some of the common places the public would associate it with. These places sit on a piece of land that has been reclaimed through a long and extensive process, transforming the former swampy mangrove forests into the current industrial estate and residential area we see today.

West Coast is now largely recognised as an area bounded by Penjuru Road, Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE) and Clementi Road. This area is in fact, much smaller compared to what it was commonly referred to in the past.

This changing notion of place boundaries is typical of Singapore’s everchanging landscape.

In “Our West Coast Heritage”, we will be writing about West Coast by including areas known as Pasir Panjang and Clementi today in order to cover the history of West Coast comprehensively.

1

Area recognised as West Coast today (in red) compared to the area it was commonly referred to in the past.

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TOPONYMICS OF WEST COAST The naming of the places and roads in West Coast gives us valuable insights into the history and meaning of the different areas. The suffixes of the place names are also descriptive of each road’s geographical or morphological feature, for example. “Avenues” are roads that are only built and named along with the housing estate which primarily serve as the neighbourhood’s internal circulation pathways.

Similar to East Coast, West Coast was named to reflect the cardinal directions they represent relative to the city centre as denoted in the 1828 Raffles Plan area.

Pasir Panjang literally means “long sand” in Malay, a reference to the long, sandy beach that stretched along the coast to the south of Singapore. Pasir Panjang is also known as Hong Heng Sua in Hokkien, meaning “Hong Heng’s plantation”. Pasir Panjang Road, which once hugged the coastline, was extended as far as the Jurong River by 1850 by John Turnbull Thomson, the then Government Surveyor of Singapore.

Ayer Rajah Road and Expressway were named after the stream that ran alongside them: the name literally means “Rajah’s Water” or “King’s Water” in Malay. The stream was earliest documented in 1873 and since then there has been no clear record of it; there is also no historical evidence of a Malay royal settlement in the area.

Road, the main road and secondary road serving Sussex Estate respectively, are named after marketplaces that exist in Sussex, England. Goodwood Road, the secondary road serving the estate and previously named as Lewis Road, is named after the English Sussex Estate of the Duke of Richmond and Gordon.

Sungei Ulu Pandan was derived as such due to the presence of Pandan trees along the river bank. The area used to be a swamp before it was converted into prawn ponds and rubber plantations. This resulted in many of the Malay and Hokkien settlers moving in to make full use of this new land.

Many of the dead-end side roads in Pasir Panjang such as Yew Siang Road, Chwee Chian Road, Heng Mui Keng Terrace, Guok Avenue, and Neo Pee Teck Lane are named after the Chinese land and residential owners.

This is reflective of Pasir Panjang’s history as an affluent seaside town with rich Chinese landowners who moved into the area since the 1900s.

Vigilante Drive was named after the former basecamp of the Singapore Vigilante Corps, which disbanded in 1981, with its members reassigned to the Civil Defence Force.

At the end of the road, there is a memorial to the Battle of Pasir Panjang. ∎

Clementi Road, one of the main arterial roads of the neighbourhood since the 1940s, was previously named Reformatory Road due to the rehabilitative Boys’ Home built in the British era. It was later renamed Clementi Road in 1947. It is popularly believed that the name “Clementi” pays homage to Sir Cecil Clementi Smith, Governor of the Straits Settlement from 1887 to 1893, rather than his nephew, Cecil Clementi, who was the Governor from 1930 to 1934.

It is beyond coincidental that Clementi Road complements the two other streets previously named after him - Cecil and Smith Street in Kreta Ayer. The roads in Sussex Estate draw links to the historic Sussex county in England, while Horsham Road and Arundel 3

Location of the roads mentioned in this chapter.

4

CHANGING BOUNDARIES OF WEST COAST

Singapore Electoral Divisions, 1955-1959 (Source: National Archives of Singapore (NAS)) Singapore, including its smaller islands, is divided into 64 survey districts by the Survey Department set up in 1824 by the British colonial administration. There were 30 Town Subdivisions survey districts and 34 Mukim survey districts. A mukim, “area” or “precinct” in Malay, refers to a district in the areas outside of the city whereas a Town Subdivision refers to a district within the town area.

Pasir Panjang is a precinct sited within Mukim 3, Clementi within Mukim 4 under the “Ulu Pandan” label, and West Coast under Mukim 5, or “Pandan”. Within each survey district itself, the land is further divided into individual land lots with distinctive lot numbers. Pasir Panjang, Ulu Pandan, and Pandan were regarded as rural areas and came under the jurisdiction of the Singapore Rural Board in 1908. The board had administrative powers over parts of Singapore that lay outside the municipal limits, as well as the offshore islands of Pulau Ubin, Pulau Tekong, Pulau Brani, and Pulau Bukom Besar.

5

Mukim Boundaries in the 1970s

Singapore Parliament Electoral Division, 1968 (Source: NAS) In the 1948 Legislative Council General Election, West Coast, the west half of Singapore, and the Southern Islands were grouped as “Rural West”. In the 1951 elections, West Coast was still grouped together under the Bukit Timah division. In 1955, Pasir Panjang became and remained an electoral constituency until 1988, while other parts of West Coast came under Bukit Timah and Tanglin. In 1957, Pasir Panjang became a city division under the City Council.

In 1959, the Tanglin division which Clementi was grouped under was renamed as “Ulu Pandan”. The constituencies “Ayer Rajah”, “West Coast” and “Clementi” were first defined in the Parliamentary General Election in 1980. In 1988 the Pasir Panjang electoral constituency became the Pasir Panjang Group Representation Constituency (GRC), which included the Clementi and West Coast constituencies. For the 1991 general election, however, Pasir Panjang GRC was merged with Brickworks GRC.

Parliamentary Electoral Map, 1980 (Source: NAS) 6

Singapore Parliament Electoral Division, 1968 (Source: NAS)

The West Coast Group Representation Constituency (GRC) comprising of four divisions - Ayer Rajah, West Coast, Boon Lay and Telok Blangah, was first formed in 1997. The constituency was a four-member GRC in 1997 which included parts of Brickworks (Pasir Panjang) and Tanjong Pagar. It was later expanded to five members to include areas of the now-defunct Boon Lay Single Member Constituency and the Jurong area of Bukit Timah GRC. In 2006, West Coast again absorbed Ayer Rajah from its Single Member Constituency and merged with West Coast GRC under the helm of then Minister of State S. Iswaran to form the Ayer Rajah-West Coast division. In 2011, Cedric Foo's Pioneer ward was crafted out a single member constituency, while the Jurong Industrial, Jurong Island and Tuas area were absorbed into Ayer Rajah's constituency. In 2015, the GRC was downsized to four

Electoral Boundary Map (Ayer Rajah and Brickworks GRC), 1991 (Source: NAS)

7

Electoral Map for West Coast Group Representation Constituency (GRC), 1999 (Source: NAS) 8

OVERVIEW OF WEST COAST’S HISTORY

Geological Map of Singapore, 1851 (Source: NAS) From the geological map of Singapore dated 1851, West Coast, largely referred to as Pandan and Pasir Panjang at the time, comprised of alluvial soils and large stretches of shale and sandstone towards the south. Pandan, the area currently known as Clementi, had hilly terrains with swamps where some inland swamps were reclaimed in the 1800s. The area was occupied by Malay families who lived on subsistence farming, fishing, and prawning. In the early 1900s, West Coast witnessed influx of people moving in to capitalise on the opportunities presented.

and expansive coastal views, Pasir Panjang was developed into a seaside town with rich Chinese merchants as the major landowners in the early 1900s.

The plantations owned by these merchants attracted mainly Chinese labourers to the area as well. Factories supporting the production of opium were established, giving the area its unofficial name—Opium Hill, or Bukit Chandu. In 1930, the Government took over the opium industry and a state-owned factory, the government Opium Packing Plant, was established at Pasir Panjang.

The Chinese, predominantly Hokkien, moved to Pandan (Clementi) in the early 1900s before the Javanese followed suit, who were attracted by the economic opportunities offered by plantations. The area eventually became residence to a few hundred kampong houses and many rubber plantations and fruit orchards along Sungei Ulu Pandan. Due to its strategic location

The land that West Coast - and by extension Jurong - sits on today was reclaimed from Pandan Forest Reserves. In 1928, the Pandan Forest Reserve was reported to cover an area of 639 acres and 542 acres in 1966. Earliest records of the extensive land reclamation project of West Coast were found in 1938, when a scheme to reclaim the swamp along the West Coast Road was ann9

Changing coastlines of West Coast over the years

10

ounced at a Rural Board meeting. Following the announcement, a full survey of West Coast was carried out in 1954 by the Public Works Department. The reclamation scheme included an extension of West Coast Road and the reclamation of many square miles of swamp for food production.

land on the west bank of Jurong River. The Pandan Forest Reserve lost its protected status due to a further amendment to the ordinance in 1968 to support the rapid growth of the Jurong Industrial Estate. During the same period, the whole stretch of the coast, from the Singapore River to Jurong, was reclaimed for wharves, almost entirely devoted to containerisation. The coastal area at Pasir Panjang has also been extensively reclaimed for Port of Singapore Authority (PSA)’s Pasir Panjang Terminal as well as a warehouse complex that complemented the port activities. Today, mangrove forest remains only at the mouth of Sungai Pandan, between Tidal Gates and Sungai Pandan Bridge.

Industrial developments also dramatically changed the physical landscape of West Coast. One major milestones within Pasir Panjang was in 1948 when it was announced that a power plant would be built to meet the future needs of Singapore. The then-governor, Sir John Nicoll, expected the power station to serve as a catalyst for an increase in the number of new industries.

An 11-storey block of flats was built close to the station to house the station’s senior officers. A second station, the Pasir Panjang ‘B’ power station, was opened in 1965 and provided an additional 120,000 kw of electricitygenerating capacity to the island. With the subsequent construction of larger power plants in Jurong, Seraya and Senoko, the Pasir Panjang ‘A’ and ‘B’ stations were decommissioned in 1987.

In the late 1970s, the Housing Development Board (HDB) reclaimed a stretch along Singapore’s west coast using fill materials excavated from Clementi and created 89 hectares of land for the development of Clementi New Town. In the same project, 122 acres of swamp in Pasir Panjang Road and West Coast Road was also reclaimed, and a coastal road linking Pasir Panjang Road to Jurong and the West Coast Highway, which connected Jurong to the developed eastern part of the island, were constructed.

Right up to the early 1960s, the other end of West Coast were made of Malay settlements. This large increase in the number of Malay inhabitants in West Coast in the 1930s was not incidental, as a large-scale resettlement programme had been carried out to rehouse those affected by the construction of the thenKallang Civil Aerodrome. The name ‘West Coast Malay Settlement’ was formalised in 1957. Plans to develop West Coast was announced in 1960 under a project to create a 5000-acre industrial town in Jurong, estimated to cost $45.7 million. Industries were to be sited along the sea front with berths and piers for ships and prawn ponds adjoining the river, Sungai Pandan. The designation of West Coast as an industrial town was in tandem with the industrialisation of Jurong. However, the commercial agricultural industries threatened the interests of the local village community which relied on small-scale fishing and prawning activities for sustenance. Commercialised prawning activities encroached on local villagers’ means to provide for their families.

In 1966, the 1951 Nature Reserves Ordinance was amended to create land for the redevelopment of Jurong New Town, resulting in the loss of 186 acres of

By 1970, Pasir Panjang had grown in reputation as a middle-class residential area with about 70 percent of its residents belonging to the middle-class. Due to rising rent prices of the post-1947 houses not being covered under rent control, Pasir Panjang faced an outflow of its middle class population to other areas in Singapore. By the 1990s, Pasir Panjang became very popular among private housing developers due to its proximity to Jurong, easy access to the city and amenities such as shopping centres and markets. In the 1980s, Pasir Panjang was conferred yet another layer of identity – it became home to the National University of Singapore (NUS), completed in 1986. This led to a thriving property market which saw the construction of many private apartments and condominiums. In the 1990s, West Coast was highlighted as an up-and-coming residential town. An article that was featured in The Straits Times described the abundance of vacant land in West Coast slated for development within the next 10 to 15 years, and “in the next century, this will be the place to be.”

Today, West Coast is a strongly favoured residential area.

The West Coast we know of today and Clementi are 11

prime locations for HDB selections, and Pasir Panjang boasts many private housing favoured by both locals and expatriates as well.

The history of West Coast will be narrated in three themes: The Last Stand, Supporting Our Nation, and From All Walks of Life, with specific sites introduced.

Alongside its military history, West Coast also hosted a mix of agricultural facilities and other facilities which supported industrial developments in other parts of Singapore. In Supporting Our Nation, the focus will be on the diverse land use of West Coast, its relationship with the rest of Singapore, the industrialisation of the area as well as the commercial developments thereafter.

The Last Stand, which pays homage to The Battle of Pasir Panjang will cover the military presence in West Coast and sites which were significant to the history of World War II as it staged Singapore’s last battle against the Japanese.

Last but not least, From All Walks of Life narrates the different settlements in West Coast. From its evolution as a settlement for villages to HDB New Towns, West Coast has always been home to Singaporeans from different walks of life. ∎

Development plans for West Coast as an industrial town (Source: NewspaperSG)

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THE LAST STAND While the Battle of Pasir Panjang is familiar to most Singaporeans, some might not know that there was a strong British military presence in West Coast. There was a significant number of British Army personnel who resided in West Coast with comprehensive facilities built for their needs before the invasion of the Japanese army.

As a Crown Colony of the British Empire since 1867, Singapore served as the capital of the Straits Settlements and an influential trading post. After the end of World War I, Britain started devoting tremendous amounts of resources to build its defences due to the possibility of attacks from the Japanese. Since then, towards the start of World War II, there was an intensification of military compounds in Singapore. At its peak, the total area occupied by the British military in Singapore was estimated to be 64.7 square kilometres, which was more than 11% of Singapore’s total land area at the time.

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Locations of military related sites and WWII battle lines.

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1900s BRITISH MILITARY GUARD POST There is a British military guard post located along Kent Ridge Road in the compound of the National University of Singapore. The guard post is in a dilapidated state and inaccessible to the public but the following excerpt from a blog post by a local heritage enthusiast Jerome Lim gives us insight into how the guard post looks like:

Flat roof of the outpost (Source: Jerome Lim)

"[A] collection of four flat roofed buildings that served as a lookout point over the southward facing slopes of the ridge. The roofs made the cluster of buildings, which are set on three levels, easily camouflaged.

Much of the area is inaccessible to the public as the buildings are in [a] dilapidated state and it was a treat for me to see the buildings. Peeking into some of the rooms of the buildings, it was easy to identify the functions of the rooms as well as to recognise that the lookout would have been self-sufficient. There was one room that was obviously used as a kitchen and another with the remains of an old bathtub – but other than that, very little evidence of anything else remains.�

Exterior of military guard post (Source: Jerome Lim)

Stairs connecting the guard post built on three levels Remnants of the guard post (Source: Jerome Lim) 15

1900s PASIR PANJANG PILLBOX Concrete pillboxes were built by the British along the southern coastline as part of the island defence system.

Equipped with machine guns, they were positioned at intervals of 550m along the southern beach. Landmines and barbed wire fences used to reinforce these coastal defences. Unfortunately, many of the pillboxes have been destroyed either during or after the war. Pasir Panjang Pillbox, currently found along Pasir Panjang Road, is a concrete machine-gun pillbox built before the Japanese invasion of Malaya and Singapore and is conserved as a war relic under the National Heritage Board. A plaque providing information currently stands next to it.

Pasir Panjang Pillbox as of 2017

Barricaded pillbox

Despite conservation efforts, a portion of the pillbox is observed to be covered in concrete today. As compared to before, the pillbox is hidden from public view due to the elevated pavements around it.

Portion of pillbox modified by recent works

Pasir Panjang Pillbox before modifications were made (Source: Wikimedia Commons) 16

1900s OLD CANNON AT PASIR PANJANG PARK Within the compounds of Pasir Panjang Park, an old cannon from the war time can be found. Prior to the reclamation of the coast, the old cannon was sited parallel to the shore and pointed towards the sea to defend against coastal attacks. After alterations were made to the coastline, the cannon is now awkwardly pointing towards Pasir Panjang Wharves, where the coast used to be.

The cannon was presented by Hollupatherage James Calbera Kulasingha, OBE (1900-1982) who contested in Bukit Timah as a Progressive Party candidate in 1951 Legislative Council General Election against Valiya Purayil Abdullah of the Labour Party. He won, garnering 1,311 (57.1%) of the votes against Abdullah's 983 votes (42.9%). He also contested in Southern Islands in the 1955 General Election under the same party as well as in Pasir Panjang in the 1959 General Election as an independent candidate but lost both elections. He was also the Chairman of the Pasir Panjang Rural District

Old Cannon at Pasir Panjang Park (Source: Victor Koo)

Plaque embedded with the cannon (Source: Victor Koo)

Surroundings of the cannon today (Source: Victor Koo) 17

took on the Japanese in a hand-to-hand combat and did not give up even when they were down to their last few men.

1942 BATTLE OF PASIR PANJANG

The Japanese did everything they could to force a surrender, including creating a lethal oil fire in a drain that the soldiers had to cross to clear the ridge. Despite this, the brave Allied soldiers refused to abandon the ridge, preferring to die honourably than to surrender.

Two soldiers were burnt alive when they tried to cross the drain, while four others collapsed before they even got there.

Second Lieutenant Adnan bin Saidi was one of the last defenders on the ridge. He was captured by the Japanese and bayoneted to death. On 14 February 1942, the Japanese won Pasir Panjang Ridge, before the British surrendered the following day.

The story of the battle, as well as the Regiments’ bravery, is immortalised in the Reflections of Bukit Chandu museum at Pepys Road.

From 13 to 15 February 1942, a decisive battle for Singapore in World War II was fought on the slopes of Pasir Panjang, now known as Kent Ridge Park.

The Japanese 18th Division, well-armed and heavily supported from the air, descended upon the ridge, determined to capture it from the Allied forces.

Defending the ridge were the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the Malay Regiment, the British Second Loyals Regiment, the Australian Bren Gun Carriers and the 44th Indian Brigade. Although the Allied defences on Pasir Panjang Ridge outnumbered the Japanese, the attackers had more ammunition and were far more ruthless fighters.

The Allied forces fought the Japanese and defended the ridge to the bitter end. When ammunition ran out, they

Map of the Malay Regiment Movement 18

through religious and national celebrations held within the grounds of the Camp.

1946 COLOMBO CAMP

2 Ceylonese Royal Pioneer Corps camps preceded preceded Colombo: Kranji and Woodlands. By the time Colombo Camp was deployed, the Corps numbered about 10,000 men. The Pioneer Corps in Malaya was decommissioned in 1949, and the personnel from the Corp returned to Ceylon by mid-1950.

The Colombo Camp was set up in 1946 and comprised almost all of present-day Clementi New Town - spanning the northern half of today’s Clementi. The exact location of the Camp is located opposite the British Cemetery across Clementi Road - now partly redeveloped as School of Science and Technology.

There was, however, a sizeable civilian Sri Lankan community which remained in Singapore even after independence, and many continued to take up citizenship here. Although their presence is no longer felt, the Ceylon Section had contributed a great deal in establishing Sinhalese Buddhist communities in Singapore, such as raising funds for the construction of Sri Lankaramaya temple on St Michael’s road in 1948.

It first housed the Sri Lankan Royal Pioneer Corps, who were hired as military labourers from Sri Lanka serving Malaya and the Straits Settlement from 1946 to 1948.

The Ceylon Pioneer Corps first started out in the 1900s in Sri Lanka as volunteer forces working in the British colonies, including Singapore. They were recruited as officers in the internal security departments and workers for the Malayan railway expansion.

After the Colombo Camp was de-commissioned, it was taken over by the Royal Guard Unit in 1955. The Guards performed internal security duties and acted as an enforcement force to emergencies elsewhere in Malaya in the pre-independence days. After going through multiple reorganisation, the guard unit was dissolved in 1971, and thereafter the camp was left vacant.

British administration eventually recruited more Corps members in the post-war period to continue projects that were being worked on by repatriated Japanese POWs. The Ceylon section in Malaya was formally organised in 1947 and was almost entirely self-sufficient with their own residences, and staff.Their way of life was retained

SUPPORTING OUR NATION Since the 1900s, West Coast was home to a mix of agricultural facilities and supported the industrial developments in other parts of Singapore. On a

Photograph of Clementi Road Military Camp located at Clementi Road, which is likely to be Colombo Camp, circa 1995 (Source: Lee Kip Lin and National Library Board (NLB))

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At the time, the number of new villages and sizes of existing villages also increased tremendously. Pasir Panjang which formerly consisted of fishing villages, found a new life as shopping centres as many sundry shops, bars and restaurants mushroomed in response to the needs of the soldiers and residents living there.

1949 PASIR PANJANG MILITARY COMPLEX Spanning an area of 1,214.1 hectares, the largest single compound built for the British army was also located in Pasir Panjang. Known as Pasir Panjang Military Complex, it was the largest British military compounds - constructed for supplies, storage and repair of military supplies as a military inventory of sorts. This complex provided accommodation for military personnel working within the base.

There were also British Army barracks at the north side of West Coast Road comprising Clementi Army Barrack (Barek Army Clementi) at Clementi Road, Tulloch Barrack (Barek Kampong Tulloch), O’Carrol Scott Army Barracks (Kampong O’Carrol Scott), and Spencer Army Barrack (Barek Spencer) these barracks housed the Malay army families serving the British Army. Most of them were Malaysian and many returned to Malaysia after the British pulled out.

It was a well-structured establishment with extended basic healthcare, recreational, social and educational facilities for the soldiers and their families living incamp.

The complex included a military hospital along Alexandra Road, accommodation in the form of bungalows and barracks in Kent Ridge, Dover, Ulu Pandan and in estates such as Alexandra Park, Wessex Estate, Prince George’s Park, Prince Edward Park, Island View Estate, Rochester Park and Sussex Park. Also located within the compounds were warehouses, storage depots, and military grounds for training.

The construction of these military support also led to the growth of settlements in the vicinity. In the early 1940s, the decentralised locations of these military bases helped in aggregating population to the rural areas thus alleviating congestion in the town areas.

Pasir Panjang developed into a community that was not just exclusively for the British military personnel and their families but also included the civilians employed at the military complex.

In establishing military bases for the British forces, considerable numbers of civilians were hired for their construction and maintenance. Most of these workers eventually found accommodation in villages nearby, resulting in a significant increase of rural population in Singapore.

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1950s SUSSEX ESTATE Sussex Estate was built in the 1950s to house senior British non-commissioned officers of the army. The location of the Estate was rather convenient for residents to travel to town via Reformatory Road and Bukit Timah Road. The Estate was designed to comprise 2 types of living quarters: bungalows, which housed British residents, and the Servant’s Quarters housing the Malay and Javanese staffers who were often employed as maids. The servants’ quarter of each house is sandwiched in between the main bungalow, with the whole estate arranged as row-houses facing circular roads, with no fences to demarcate the ownership of open spaces.

Aerial view of Sussex Estate (Source: Lam Chun See)

After the British personnel left in the 1970s, the rowhouses served various functions for the next 30 to 40 years: there was an ambitious plan to redevelop the site into a major private animal hospital, though it the plan fell through and the row-houses continued to be used as affordable living quarters while HDB flats were being built in the Clementi area in the 1980s. Due to its close proximity to NUS and cheap rent, a number of staff from the university utilised the vacant houses as staff housing. In 2010, the estate was completely demolished to make way for a new ambitious HDB project, Casa Clementi.

Typical bungalow in Sussex Estate (Source: Lee Kip Lin and NLB)

Casa Clementi stands at the former site of Sussex Estate.

With 10 high-rise residential blocks consisting of 2,234 dwelling units, it is one of the largest public housing projects developed by HDB. Its main design features a large landscaped environmental deck, returning greenery back to an urban setting while concealing the basement car park.

The European community in Sussex Estate (Source: Tom O’Brien, Singas.co.uk)

Two types of living quarters in Sussex Estate (Source: Tom O’Brien, Singas.co.uk) 21

1954 KAMPONG O’CARROL SCOTT

1955 BRITISH CEMETERY AT CLEMENTI ROAD

Located at the present-day National University Hospital, the village was named after Major General A. G. O'Carrol Scott, who was the General Officer Commanding of Singapore from 1951 to 1954.

The British Cemetery was located at the intersection between Clementi Road and Ulu Pandan Road, directly opposite the site of Colombo Camp. It was built and put to use in 1955 for British servicemen, mainly the soldiers of the Commonwealth Nations. Soldiers from various Commonwealth Nations and services operating around Southeast Asia were buried here, amongst them are Australian Air Forces, Singapore Lieutenants and Majors. It is estimated that around 1800 people were eventually placed to rest here.

In 1954, the army was making greater efforts to increase the number of quarters to accommodate the families of the Malay troops. These Malay quarters, including those at Pasir Panjang and Blakang Mati, were called Kampong O’Carrol Scott and Kampong Salaman.

In 1972, a hundred terrace houses at Kampong O’Carrol Scott were offered for rent by HDB to companies as accommodation for their non-citizen employees. While they were still used as quarters for soldiers in the British war department, these one-bedroom terrace houses were also rented out.

Military burial, circa 1960 (Source: Lam Chun See)

A notable aspect of this cemetery was that it has separate burial grounds for different religions. For instance, there was a small Catholic church in the cemetery to facilitate Catholic rites.

In 1975, about 750 remains were exhumed and relocated to Kranji War Memorial as URA designated the site as ‘Reserved’ for future urban development. Plans to use the area as a park and tree nursery were announced in 1976.

The exhumation of graves to Kranji War Memorial follows a common trend of the reclamation of former war cemeteries, such as the one in Pasir Panjang, to free up land for redevelopment. The political significance of these exhumation remains contentious in its early days as cemetery grounds used to be under the administration of the British/ Commonwealth Forces. Its relocation in the post-independence era signals the change in the control of land at the hands of the new government.

Today, the southern part of the cemetery, closer to Commonwealth Avenue, has been redeveloped into the School of Science and Technology. The northern part, closer to Ulu Pandan Road has undergone road widening works. A part of the former cemetery facing the Ulu Pandan river remains untouched.

British cemetery, circa 1968 - 70 (Source: John C. Young) 22

A prominent resident of Kampong Tulloch would be Lieutenant Zainal Bin Muslim, who was the first member of the Singapore guard regiment ever to receive a direct commission in 1961. After spending the majority of the war as a resistance fighter in the jungle, he became the first Malay man in the Singapore Royal Artillery Regiment to attain the rank of battery sergeant major. In 1958, he joined the ranks of the Singapore Guards regiment, five years after attending a drill course at the Guards depot in England. In 1950, he was awarded the general service medal and six years later, the British Empire medal for his outstanding services in the jungle against communist terrorists.

1957 KAMPONG TULLOCH Kampong Tulloch was located at the site of the now National University of Singapore’s University Cultural Centre, and was named after Major General Derek D. C. Tulloch, who was the General Officer Commanding of Singapore Base District, from 1954 to 1957.

In 1955, 1000 SIT flats were built on a 50-acre war department plot between Clementi and West Coast Road for some 1000 Malay soldiers and their families.

These flats were complete with electricity, sanitation and modern furniture, a far cry from the “[u]nsanitary shacks they were living in” in squatter kampongs in the Henderson, Alexandra, and Keppel Road areas.

2002 REFLECTIONS AT BUKIT CHANDU

The resettlement was mooted by Major General DDC Tulloch with a rental rate of 15 to 60 cents a day, which included furniture, 5 units of electricity per week and fuel allowance. This kick-started a government funding for low-cost housing for soldiers who were living in kampongs throughout the island, leading to the construction of many two-storey flats. The military authorities also assumed responsibility for the medical welfare of the families living in Kampong Tulloch. 200 children from the estate were educated in army schools in 1956. In the same year, Mrs. Tulloch opened a new Malay families’ welfare centre which served about 1300 families of the six units stationed in Singapore.

In 2002, a bungalow along Pepys Road was converted into a Second World War interpretive centre and museum known as “Reflections at Bukit Chandu” to commemorate the battle of Pasir Panjang and the courage of the Malay Regiment. The bungalow was built as a living quarters for senior members of the colonial administration. Only one of such bungalow remains standing today along the road, compared to at least 3 to 4 similar ones lining the road. It had previously been used as an ammunition store, and it is believed that the Malay Regiment made their last stand nearby. The bungalow has since been gazetted for conservation in 2003.

Between 1969 and the end of 1971, more than 4000 locally enlisted men were demobilised from the British army as part of the British government’s policy to reduce its bases in Singapore. This came as a shock to most men, known as Malayan Other Ranks (MORs), who were mostly Malaysian citizens married with families in Singapore living in the quarters provided by the British army, who have stayed in Kampong Tulloch for 15 years since 1957. fter the MORs were disbanded, 1300 two storey-houses in Clementi Estate, Kampong Tulloch and Kampong O'Carroll Scott were left vacant and subsequently handed to the Singapore government.

The bungalow that is now Reflections at Bukit Chandu (Source: Roots.sg) 23

macro-scale, large-scale developments are concentrated mainly on reclaimed land, with some occurring further inland. Industrial developments were clustered towards the end of Pasir Panjang Road approaching Telok Blangah, and on the other end of West Coast bordering Jurong.

In the early 1900s, the economic activities in West Coast centred around plantations, especially rubber estates, which prompted the relocation of labourers into the area. By the 1930s, there was already a considerable number of factories in the more rural areas of Singapore. West Coast was slated for foreseeable industrial developments, with possibly more factories expected to be built.

Major private undertakings in 1932 included new warehouses and extensions for the Asiatic Petroleum Co. on West Coast Road. The government-operated Opium Packing Plant was a major industry as well, giving the name “Bukit Chandu,�or Opium Hill to a nearby landform.

There were also farms at West Coast in the 1950s. Prawn farming was a lucrative industry in the area due to the muddy river estuaries and mangrove swamps. These farms yielded ten-fold of prawn production compared to Pulau Ubin. The prawn bunds were owned by Chinese businessmen who relocated within the West Coast Road Malay Settlement and provided villagers with ad-hoc jobs as well as set up fishing location for sustenance. Power stations were built in Pasir Panjang in 1948 after recognising that St. James Power Station was not able to meet the future demands of electricity generated within the island.

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Parts of West Coast were designated to support the industrialisation of Jurong in the 1960s, including plans to develop Pasir Panjang as an industrial area. This sparked extensive land reclamation projects for industrial use.

Land use in the area began to diversify with the burgeoning industrial and commercial developments. Large-scale offices, research and education facilities were built thereafter.

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Mapping of some of the industries identified through historical maps

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was established at the current site of Clementi by Lee Choon Guan in 1909. The company generated considerable profits and became publicly-traded.

However, as demands for rubber plummeted from 1935 onwards, production slowed down and some plantations were sold off.

1900s PRAWN PONDS Stretching along the coastal area of these small villages in West Coast are numerous prawn ponds known as bendong owned by Chinese businessmen living within the Malay villages. An exact replica of the prawn ponds can be found today at Pulau Ubin and Sungei Buloh.

By 1942, the whole estate had ceased its rubber tapping operations.

1930 OPIUM PACKING PLANT

Mr. Abdullah Rahma, a resident, recalls the existence of a Bendong Ah Bin which was located at the 7th mile marker of West Coast Road, followed by Bendong Ah Lock at the 8th mile, Bendong Ah Kwee at the 8 ¼ mile, Bendong Ah Lip just before the 9th mile, and finally the Bendong Apek Bodik opposite Bendong Ah Lip.

In 1930, an opium-packing plant operated by the government was established at the foot of a hill in Pasir Panjang, not far from the village of Pasir Panjang. The plant was responsible for the packing and distribution of all opium consumed in Malaya. Raw opium was first brought to the government opium factory in Keppel Road for processing before being sent to the packing plant.

He shares that whenever the bendong owners wanted to get rid of fish and to cultivate only the prawns, they would engage in a practice called bendong tuba where the owners would sedate the fish—mainly black tilapia —by soaking the root of the tuba plant in the water. The Malay villagers would then collect the sedated fish, clean, and dry them. Whenever the process of bendong tuba was to be carried out, schooling children would skip class, lured by the chances of making some money by catching the sedated fish and selling them to grocers.

At the plant, the processed opium was would be packed into small sealed tubes to distinguish itself from illegal forms of opium. The hill came to be known as Bukit Chandu (Malay for “Opium Hill”) because of its proximity to the plant.

1909 ULU PANDAN RUBBER ESTATES

The Japanese continued manufacturing opium during the war and saturated the market just before the British re-occupation in 1945. During the British Military Administration, opium trading and smoking were banned, and the government withdrew from the import, manufacture and sale of opium. The buildings and plant were eventually sold or leased to private firms.

The original geography of the Clementi area was rather hilly and contained numerous inland swamps. While this provided rich resources for subsistence farming and fishing, it was not conducive for establishing large residential or plantation estates.

Factory workers boiling the partially refined opium in huge vats

In the 1900s, the Chinese, mainly of Hokkien descent, began to settle in the area in larger numbers and established fruit and rubber plantations following the continuous reclamation of swamps in the past century.

Rubber plantations was one of the most lucrative businesses back then. The Ulu Pandan Rubber Estate

(Source: manhhai)

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Factory workers at the Opium Packing Plant, circa April 1941 (Source: manhhai)

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1950 SINGAPORE PLYWOOD FACTORY In the 1960s, labour-intensive industries became the main driver of Singapore’s economy including the production of wood products, sawmills, plywood and veneer, textiles, garments, and plastics. Started in 1950, the Singapore Plywood Factory was one of the key players in the plywood industry.

The $1.5m factory which occupied nearly 15 acres in space was an enterprise under Singapore Plywood Company and jointly sponsored by Messrs Liddel Bros—a well-known British-China timber firm—, the Borneo Company and the Straits Trading Company. The factory was managed by Mr. B. A. Berkovits, who worked in the timber industry for 25 years in China and has opened 10 factories prior to Singapore Plywood Factory.

Workers at Singapore Plywood Factory (Source: NAS)

The timber used were sourced from British North Borneo, Sarawak, Siam and the Federation of Malaya for processing into plywood and plywood products. Mr. Berkovits had high hopes for the factory with seeing its potential in making plywood boats, furniture, household fittings and prefabricated houses. Besides key managerial posts, the manpower for the factory was sourced from neighbouring villages with promises of mechanisation and no heavy work.

Workers at Singapore Plywood Factory (Source: NAS)

Singapore Plywood Factory was no longer indicated on maps from 1975 onwards.

Workers at Singapore Plywood Factory (Source: NAS)

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1953 PASIR PANJANG POWER STATION The Pasir Panjang Power Station was the second power station built after St James Power Station.

Built at a cost of $38m, the power station was officially opened on 3 July 1953 by then-governor of Singapore, Sir John Nicoll. It was recognised as early as the 1940s that St. James Power Station was unable to meet the island’s future electricity needs.

Pasir Panjang Power Station, circa 1950s (Source: My Community)

In September 1948, the site for the new Pasir Panjang Power Station was approved. It covers 37 acres and is designed for an ultimate capacity of 150,000 kilowatts.

Construction of the new power station, awarded to George Wimpey and company, however, did not begin until January 1951. Some attributed the delay to the amendments in the design for the power station.

Pasir Panjang Power Station, circa 2017 (Source: Najeer Yusof, TODAY)

Pasir Panjang Power Station, circa 1960s-1980s (Source: Roots.sg) 30

PASIR PANJANG PASIR PANJANG ‘A’ POWER STATION ‘B’ POWER STATION Pasir Panjang ‘A’ station, completed between 1952 and 1953, acquired the designation ‘A’ when a second or ‘B’ station was added just adjacent to it in 1965.

At that time, 260 substations were built, some 230 kilometres of 22kV distribution cables were laid and 34,700 consumers were added.

Pasir Panjang ‘B’ station opened with an initial capacity of 120 MW in October 1965, half of its planned capacity of 240 MW. Despite the additional capacity to ‘A’ station, it was not sufficient to fuel the rapid growth in demand and a new 240 MW power station in Jurong Industrial Estate was in the pipeline while the ‘B’ station was under construction.

The power supplied by the station played a significant role in Singapore’s big industrial push in the 1960s. To cater to the increasing demand, the construction of a ‘B’ station, commenced soon after in 1963. ∎

The commissioning of ‘B’ Station also allowed electrical power supplied to the island of Pulau Bukom from November 1965. ∎

Inside the Turbine Hall of ‘A’ Station 1953 (Source: NAS)

Pasir Panjang ‘A’ station was decommissioned in mid-1980 followed by ‘B’ station in the late 1990s. The buildings were then repurposed and still stand today, albeit with the absence of their iconic chimneys. While ‘A’ station is now left vacant, ‘B’ station’s main building is currently used as the Pasir Panjang District Office of SP PowerGrid Ltd.

Former PM Lee Kuan Yew touring ‘B’ Station during its opening (Source: NAS)

collaboration with the Singapore Land Authority, was held at ‘A’ Power Station. Flea markets, food vendors, art exhibitions and music performances turned the disused place into an exciting space for the art-loving community.

Following the event, on 30 April 2019, a “Power-Up Pasir Panjang!” challenge was posted on the ideas!, a government-run website to gather ideas from Singaporean citizens. The challenge, jointly organised by URA and SLA, shows the recognition given to the power stations as industrial heritage sites and demonstrates a new approach by the government in involving both the general public and professionals to decide how to “give the Power District a new lease of life”.

The area is currently marked as a reserve site in the URA Master Plan 2014. SLA has confirmed in a joint response with the URA that plans are underway to “rejuvenate” the district. “As part of the plans, we’re also studying ways to retain key heritage elements of the old power district and how they can be sensitively integrated with the future developments,” they added.

Since the statement release, there has been several attempts to repurpose the power stations. On 22 August 2018, an art market, organised by The Local People, in

There were also apartments which were built for officers and labourers who worked at the power stations. ∎

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traffic volume within 2 years and continued to be underused since. The line was also utilised as public commute during some parts of the days even though this was not originally intended for. The underutilisation of the railway eventually led to its closure in the early 1990s.

1965 JURONG RAILWAY Jurong Railway was a branch line of the Singapore railway, branching from Bukit Timah station. The line ran for 19 km and it ended at Shipyard Road at Jurong Port as its terminal station. The project, initiated by Economic Development Board (EDB), was owned by KTMB (Malaysian Railway) to increase economic cooperation and improve logistics between the two countries in the post-colonial era.

While part of the railway along Sungei Ulu Pandan has been incorporated into the Ulu Pandan Park Connector scheme, there is no plans to gazette prominent structures such as bridges and tunnels. The steel truss bridge which stands across the Ulu Pandan River near Clementi Avenue 4 serves as a reminder of the railway line in Clementi.

It was opened for use in 1965 after a 6-month delay due to the need to adjust terrain and remove squatters along the projected railway. It was the last railway constructed in Singapore. The line’s main function was to carry raw materials from Malaysia to Jurong’s industrial estates as well as manufactured goods back to the mainland. Due to the lack of good roads, the railway was expected to serve the estate in a more efficient manner.

Most of the railway have been turfed and built over, and extensive parts of the railway has already been redeveloped for industrial and residential areas, hence making the old railway line difficult to trace.

In recent years, residents in Clementi Avenue 4 and 6 have been capitalising on the abandoned space around the old railway for community farm plots. In 2012, negotiations to allow residents to use the land was initiated between residents and authorities.

The original plan was for the line to branch out into 3 in the Jurong area, for the wharf, the heavy industries, and the light industries. At least 400 to 600 tonnes of goods were expected to be transported along the line annually, bringing in a revenue of $3m to $4m.

In 2013, one of the two unofficial plots had been converted to a temporary community garden. Proper pathways have also been built to link the park connector to the housing estate via the community garden. Despite officially being restricted state land, the track paths are a popular spot for recreation and exercise.

Tin and iron ores as well as timber were the main goods to be imported to the heavy industries in Jurong for manufacture. However it did not achieve the desired

Railway bridge crossing Sungei Ulu Pandan, circa 1965 (Source: Lee Kip Lin and NLB) 32

goods from the trucks, packing and reserving for preorders before loading back for delivery to the buyers.

The hive of activities would peak between 2am and 4am where the wholesalers and wet market hawkers transact the freshest greens in the wee hours.

1977 PASIR PANJANG WHARVES

In 1977, Othman Wok, the then Member of Parliament for Pasir Panjang, announced a plan to establish a central wholesale market for fruit and vegetables in the area, the first in Singapore. This market, later known as the Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre, was built by HDB on 14 hectares of reclaimed land in Pasir Panjang. Opened in phases between 1983 and 1984, the market quickly attracted many bargain hunters as prices were significantly cheaper than many of the wet markets and chain supermarkets.

In 1977, the first phase of the Pasir Panjang Wharves was completed. In 1978, The Port of Singapore Authority announced that by 1981, Pasir Panjang Wharves would have a huge covered storage space, purported to to be the largest in Southeast Asia. Lighter cargo operations at Telok Ayer Basin, Rochor River and Kallang River were relocated to the wharves in 1982.

1983 PASIR PANJANG WHOLESALE CENTRE

However, sales began to decline from 2003 when the SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) outbreak occurred in Singapore. The market was closed for two weeks after some sellers contracted the virus.

Subsequently, a number of businesses began to order goods directly from Malaysian suppliers instead of purchasing from the wholesale centre. In 2015, HDB announced that the market would be undergoing improvement works. In 2016, Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre faced an ammonia leakage in one of its cold rooms. No one was injured from that incident besides delays in moving their produce when the area around the leakage was cordoned off. From 2018 onwards, AVA took over the management of Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre from HDB.

The Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre is made up of 26 blocks consisting of more than 1,400 stalls, cold rooms and offices, and is open 24 hours a day. In the day, the market scene at the auction hall exudes the quaintness of a Singaporean style farmers’ market. Foam boxes and carts of fresh vegetables are laid out in repeated rows for customers. The wholesale centre bustles with activities 24 hours a day. In the day, dialect-speaking workers are seen pushing trolleys packed with greens down the aisles and at night by around 11pm, vendors would arrive to prepare for the next-day delivery work.

They await the arrival of their produce, unloading the

Vendors transporting their produce in Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre (Source: Toggle Lifestyle)

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March 2000. This formed the first and second phases of the Pasir Panjang project.

2000 PASIR PANJANG TERMINAL

Phases 3 and 4 were officially launched in June 2015 and fully operational by the end of 2017. The expansion was expected to help increase Singapore's overall containerhandling capacity to 50 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) per year. The Port of Singapore has been named the best seaport in Asia for the 29th time on June 29, 2017.

In 1993, the Port of Singapore Authority (PSA), now incorporated as PSA International, started constructing a new container terminal at Pasir Panjang, known as the Pasir Panjang Terminal. It is located approximately 7 km west of the company's other container terminals at Keppel Harbour.

All port activities are expected to move to Tuas South by 2027, freeing up prime land in Tanjong Pagar and Pasir Panjang for residential and mixed-use developments.

Greater Southern Waterfront, a development three times the size of Marina Bay, will be built on land freed up by the relocation.

This new S$7 billion terminal represents an immense expansion of PSA's container port. After it was fully completed in 2009, it raised PSA's container handling capacity by a further 18 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) per year.

The development presents an opportunity to create a new waterfront city that is seamlessly integrated with our downtown and surrounding housing and businesses near the city.

The terminal's first four berths of the planned 26 opened in 1998, with two more berths becoming operational prior to the terminal's official opening in

Expansion of Pasir Panjang Terminal (Source: ST Graphics)

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FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFE Since the 1800s, West Coast was called home by Singaporeans from all walks of life. The Pandan area was made up of primarily Malay families who were involved in agricultural activities in the 1800s. By 1851, it is established that there was a Malay and Chinese settlement in Jurong, a Malay settlement in Ayer Trujun and a Chinese community in Pandan near West Coast.

In the early 1900s, the communities in West Coast expanded to include the Chinese and Javanese who moved to Pandan to work in plantations as well as the rich Chinese merchants and Chinese workers in Pasir Panjang. The influx of residents into Pasir Panjang started in the beginning of the 1920s when wealthy merchants, attracted to the coast, began to build holiday and residential bungalows along the coast, some of which are still still stand today.

In 1927, the Kesatuan Melayu Singapura, or, the Singapore Malay Union, requested for a plot of land for a ‘Malay Kampong’ where Malays could lead a ‘Malay way of life’. Several years later, in the early 1930s, Malay residents of Kallang Village in Kampong Melayu were resettled into West Coast to make way for Kallang Civil Airport. This Malay Kampong at West Coast later became known as the ‘West Coast Malay Settlement’ in 1957, established to protect these Malay areas from being overpopulated by other races. At that time, there was a general increase in villages like Pasir Panjang Village, which had a predominantly Chinese population.

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Along with the increased industrialisation of the area, West Coast also welcomed a fresh group of residents to the area. One of which would be the Pasir Panjang Power Station Quarters where the senior officers, junior officers and labourers who worked at the power station stayed. Newer and taller blocks of flats were subsequently erected to accommodate the families of these power station workers. The residents formed a tight-knitted community as they went through and overcame many difficult situations together.

In 1964, it was reported that a private estate development company, Garden Estates Ltd, planned to embark on a multi-million dollar housing scheme to transform the area between 8th and 9th mile Pasir Panjang into a satellite town. It would be the biggest private housing estate in the area, comprising of 2000 units of detached, semi-detached, and two-storey terrace houses, schools, markets and cinemas. The scheme was designed after a careful study of the housing needs of the middle income class. The close proximity of the site from the Jurong Industrial Estate was also a factor driving the development of the scheme.

Land previously occupied by military facilities in West Coast are now designated mainly for residential, institutional and industrial developments.

Clementi New Town, designed to be high density and self-sufficient, was built upon the site of British Army Barracks after their withdrawal in the late 1960s. Masjid Tentera Diraja, which was built for Muslims serving the British Army in 1962, remains today after its reconstruction in 1969. In the early 1970s,

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residents displaced from Pulau Brani also moved in to the Clementi housing estate. Kampongs at that time were seen as messy slums inappropriate for living, and detrimental towards the image of our country. Hence, Housing Development Board flats were constructed for the residents that promised of better living conditions.

The late 1970s witnessed the decline of kampongs in West Coast as residential developments began to intensify in the area. Pasir Panjang Village was no longer documented in the 1975 map while Sungei Pandan Village and West Coast Malay Settlement were both removed from the same map. Most land previously owned by wealthy families were sold to developers for redevelopment into apartments and hotels. The mansions nearer to the eastern end, along the coastal side of Pasir Panjang Road were the first subjected to land reclamation for port and warehousing support facilities. Private estates with minor roads catering to the needs of the residents started to emerge. The private estates were concentrated at the junction of Clementi Road and Pasir Panjang Road as well as the junction of South Buona Vista Road and Pasir Panjang Road. Identifying land plots with lot numbers ending between 2001-3000 built from 1989 to 1995, reveals intensified construction of landed properties, with development moving further inland in the direction perpendicular to Pasir Panjang Road.

By the 1980s, there were only two kampong settlements left in Pasir Panjang.

In 1984, the article "The West Coast Blues: Pasir Panjang Lures Only The Expatriates" published in Singapore Monitor pointed out West Coast’s strong affinity with expatriates, especially in the Pasir Panjang area. Due to the

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association with port facilities, warehouses, pollution, heavy vehicular traffic, little recreational activities and Haw Par Villa, it claimed West Coast does not lure locals in. 40% of residences were owner-occupied while the remaining 60% were tenanted with the residents either

working in the

Jurong vicinity or having family ties to the area. The demands for apartments were from an existing expatriate community who have been in the area for some time. Investment return seems to be the only reason locals chose to buy property at West Coast, which could be one of the driving factors for the concentrated private apartments in Pasir Panjang.

By the 1990s, there were no kampongs left and Pasir Panjang had become very popular among private housing developers due to its proximity to Jurong, easy access to the city and amenities such as shopping centres and markets. Abundant townhouses and condominium apartments were increasingly being constructed. The urban density of Pasir Panjang witnessed an evolution in the usage of space where previously available open spaces were transformed into closely built low-rise apartments, at times alternating with landed properties and shophouses

With different housing types gathered in one place, West Coast has been homes to many people from different strata of society. There is an unspoken synergy between the two groups of people, the less privileged who lived in kampongs and the highly affluent merchants who lived in bungalows, contributing to West Coast’s growth as a residential area in general. Both groups of residents had a somewhat symbiotic working relationship where the villagers were given livelihoods by serving the needs of the relatively

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affluent residents. The villagers made a living through all sorts of jobs fishermen, boatmen, wood cutters in the nearby plantations, many of which belonged to the businessmen living in the area. Years later, it is now home to both affordable public housing and private residences.

Presently, the residential areas in West Coast and Clementi consist mainly of public housing while Pasir Panjang has become a residential area for the affluent individuals. The announcement made in August 2016 by HDB signalled new developments for West Coast under the Selective En-Bloc Redevelopment Scheme (SERS). Blocks 513 to 520 at West Coast Road, built since 1979, were selected as the 80th site for redevelopment. The replacement flats were to be built at two sites along Clementi Avenue 1 and West Coast Link by the third quarter of 2022. In future years, under the influence of the Greater Southern Waterfront development project, it is likely that Pasir Panjang will once again be welcoming another group of residents from different social backgrounds demanding for different housing needs.

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Mapping of settlements and amenities in West Coast through the years

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Settlements in West Coast Throughout the history of West Coast, there have also been several settlements distributed across the area that serve the residential needs of many of Singapore’s citizens and visitors alike, with population shifts mirroring the industrial development of the land.

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Mapping of settlements in West Coast through the years

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villagers have started moving into the area since the 1930s. Cherry Tree Mosque Kampong and its mosque were no longer indicated on maps from 1988 onwards.

1930s PASIR PANJANG; BUONA VISTA VILLAGE

1940s WEST COAST ROAD VILLAGE

Founded in the 1930s by displaced Malay residents from Sungei Kallang due to the construction of Kallang Airport, Pasir Panjang Village was ostensibly a small shanty town with 40 to 50 huts occupied by Malay fishermen that was part of the West Coast Malay Settlement until it was redeveloped by the Singapore Improvement Trust later on. The village remained until the 1960s when land was acquired for reclamation and the construction of new port terminals. By the end of the 1970s residents of Pasir Panjang Village had to be relocated.

The West Coast Road Village—not to be confused with the West Coast Road Malay Settlement—was mentioned in a report by The Singapore Free Press in 1949 as a model example in its provision of education amongst the kampongs in the Pasir Panjang District.

Only a few villagers in the kampongs could afford to send their children to school, on the presumption that there were more affordable schools they could send their children to. All of the inhabitants at West Coast Road Village were Chinese and the village committee, comprised of the villagers themselves, built a school and employed three teachers.

CHERRY TREE MOSQUE KAMPONG Little is known about this kampong located along Pepys Road. According to the description given by Ronni Pinsler, who lived at 31J Pepys Road from 1980 to 1988, it was an Orang Laut kampong which settled near a stream that ran along Pepys Road. The founding of the kampong is unclear, however, through the information gathered through historical maps, it is believed that

It is not known how many households in the village had direct access to piped water as it would have cost $90 per household, a hefty price to pay at the time.

However, there was a standpipe at the 10th milestone where most of the villagers could access.

Worshippers at the five am prayers at the mosque in Cherry Tree Mosque Kampong, circa 1980 (Source: NAS)

Women washing clothes and children bathing using underground water from ‘well’, circa 1980 (Source: NAS) 43

“

1950s WEST COAST ROAD MALAY SETTLEMENT

The community centre was located at the 8th milestone and was opened by the late MP for Southern Islands, Dr. Yaacob Mohammed. There were kindergarten, cooking and sewing classes, board games, badminton and basketball court as well as a playground for kids. The only Malay basketball player representing the constituency was known as Amin Tonjol as other Malay boys were playing and representing the constituency in other sports such as football and badminton.

In 1930, some of the Malay families from the Kallang River Basin area were resettled here when Kallang Airport was constructed. In 1957, the Malay settlement here became formally known as the West Coast Malay Settlement. It comprised a few villages along West Coast Road from the 7th milestone to the 10th milestone, covering an area of 70 acres of land and included 127 households.

The government clinic, located at the 10th milestone, treated patients of minor injuries while major illnesses and injuries were treated at Alexandra Hospital.

All of them were Malay except for three Chinese families. There were also some Malay villages beyond the 10th milestone, located at Tanjong Penjuru near the Caltex Oil Terminal and Tebing Terjun.

A bus terminal was located at the junction of Pasir Panjang Road/West Coast Road and Old Clementi Road.

With the following account by Abdullah Rahman, who was born in West Coast village at the 8¼ milestone in 1956, we get a small glimpse into life at the Malay settlement:

Keppel Bus No. 1, blue in colour, serviced the stretch along Pasir Panjang Road to Tanjong Pagar Terminal while No. 4 serviced the area along the West Coast Road to the 10th milestone. The Easy Bus, yellow in colour, serviced the area from Old Clementi Road to the 7th milestone of Bukit Timah.

An open air theatre situated beside south entrants of Jubilee Road was the only theatre along West Coast Road that showed the Malay, Chinese, Indonesian and English movies. Children were charged ten cents per head and thirty cents for adults. The wall of the theatre was made of zinc (roofless). Most of us who cannot afford the ten cents ticket had no choice but to peel off the zinc sheet to peep at the movies.

Many shops and stalls surround the theatre area: Most notable were the Warong Mak Nami which sold mee goreng and hot drinks; Warong Wak Rojak, which sold fruit rojaks; Warong Wak Sarjo, which sold mee rebus and tahu goreng; Kedai Samy, which sold cold drinks, tidbits and cigarettes; and Mama Kacang Puteh, which sold peanuts. As these shops and warongs provide tables and stools, the village youngsters used to hang out there.

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kampong to Jurong had been by sampan—a trip made hazardous by the presence of crocodiles.

KAMPONG JAWA TEBAN

Traditionally a fishing village, prawn ponds were introduced in the north of the kampong in the late 1950s by the government. This directly impacted the livelihood of the residents, as their last major prawning area was now closed. Owing to the nature of the environment, keeping livestock and poultry was not feasible, and the village was well noted for its poverty and unsanitary conditions.

In the 1950s, the major stream of Jurong River - also known as Sungei Bajau Kanan - was home to many Malay fishing villages These villages were formed by wooden houses that were built on stilts stretching out onto the water while fishing boats were parked on the sides. Residents made a living predominantly from fish netting and prawn rearing.

KAMPONG TANJONG KLING

Located between Jurong River and Sungei Pandan Besar within the swamps of Pandan Mangrove that surrounded the latter river, Kampong Jawa Teban was mentioned to be a village of 135 people living in 27 cottages, with several structures noted to have been built on the river bank over unsteady ground.

Located at the southeastern edge of Tanjong Kling Road, the kampong was a small fishing village of 2000 residents. The village was demolished in 1964 to facilitate the development of the Jurong Industrial Estate. Apocryphally, the area where the kampong was located was also rumoured to be the site where the legendary hero Badang won a challenge against a strongman sent forth by the Rajah of the Kling kingdom.

The area was prone to flooding during high tides, and despite the proximity to a large body of water, potable water could only be obtained from wells on firmer land on the other side of the hillock. Before a bridge was built over Jurong River, the only way to travel from the

Ground conditions of Kampong Jawa Teban (Source: The Singapore Free Press)

Kampong Jawa Teban, 1958 (Source: Life in Singapore by Dr. Koeferli, NHB) 45

units were rented out for some $10 to $16 per month to the families. Residents of the quarters viewed their neighbourhood fondly as a ‘flatted kampong’.

Neighbours also had an open-door policy, where anybody could walk in to anyone’s flat and sit in the hall, while children often slept at the homes of the friends they played and studied with.

The quarters were vacated at the end of the 1980s when larger power plants in Jurong, Seraya and Senoko were built. Many were encouraged to apply for HDB flats. The Pasir Panjang Power Station was eventually decommissioned in 1987. Three of the blocks, containing mainly one-room flats for bachelors, were later demolished to make way for SP Group’s Pasir Panjang Depot Office. The seven remaining blocks were leased out to be used as residences and a student hostel between 1995 and 2013 under Singapore PowerAssets Limited. The site was returned to the state in 2015. In 2019, URA and SLA jointly launched an open call for proposals from the public to transform the Pasir Panjang Power District into a waterfront lifestyle destination, while still retaining the area’s industrial heritage.

1950s PASIR PANJANG STATION QUARTERS Multi-million dollar apartments were built in the early 1950s at 5 Pasir Panjang Road for senior officers, junior officers and labourers who worked at the power station.

The quarters comprised of five high-rise blocks, meant for the usage of officers, and another five 3-storey blocks for the labourers. Due to increasing demand for labour, workers were brought in from India and Malaya and needed to be accommodated.

The erection of new and taller blocks in the 1960s allowed the families of the workers to live comfortably.

These had larger two-room, one-hall units, compared to single bedroom units in the older blocks. The larger units were then allocated to those with families and smaller ones were allotted in the three-storey blocks to newly married workers and those who were single. The

Power Panjang Power Station Quarters depicted in the foreground of the image, circa 1960s (Source: Chua Ai Lin, NLB) 46

way for the construction of the New Town, including Colombo Camp, kampongs, and the remaining plantation estates.

1979 CLEMENTI NEW TOWN

In addition, swamps near rivers and south of the site was reclaimed with earth from existing hillocks to level the land and facilitate construction. The comparison of terrain changes pre- and post- New Town construction shows a significant change in topography. Like HDB’s other new town projects, Clementi New Town was designed to be self-sufficient. Spaces were planned for a town centre, neighbourhood centres, transport nodes, schools and recreational facilities to serve the residents’ diverse needs.

Clementi New Town, the eighth new town by the HDB, was developed between 1975 and 1979. It resulted in the resettlement of more than 800 villagers, alongside the retention of some private residential estates such as the Clementi Housing Estate. In addition, swamps where the town now borders West Coast Park were reclaimed using earth taken from the town’s northern hills.

While military estates such as Sussex Estate and Clementi Housing estate were retained for another 30 to 40 years, many other structures were cleared to make

New Housing in Clementi Town, circa late 1970s (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

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1982 HONG LEONG GARDENS SHOPPING CENTRE AND CONDOMINIUM Completed in 1982, the now-defunct Hong Leong Gardens Shopping Centre was part of Hong Leong Group’s effort to redevelop the West Coast belt and to add an interesting dimension to the visual landscape to the West Coast community. As noted by architect Eugene Tan, the shopping centre “was an exemplar of the architectural geometric explorations of that time, employing hexagons in almost all facets of the building.”

In 2007, City Development Limited (CDL) acquired the property for S$131.5 million at $363 psf for redevelopment.

In the late 2000s, the Hong Leong Gardens Shopping Centre was renamed NEWest @ Hong Leong Garden.

Interior spaces of Hong Leong Gardens (Source: State of Buildings)

Exterior view of Hong Leong Gardens (Source: State of Buildings)

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Healthcare All communities require healthcare, and West Coast is no different.

Serving every member of the community are these public health institutions.

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Mapping of public health institutions in West Coast through the years

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1898 FEMALE LUNATIC ASYLUM AND BERI BERI HOSPITAL

1985 NATIONAL UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL Established in 1985, National University Hospital (NUH) is a tertiary hospital and a major referral centre for a comprehensive range of medical, surgical and dental conditions. It also serves as the main teaching hospital for the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine and the NUS Faculty of Dentistry students.

A disease caused by thiamine (Vitamin B1) deficiency due to imbalanced diet, beri-beri was endemic in Singapore from the late 19th century to the early 20th century, and was particularly potent amongst the patients of the Sepoy Lines Lunatic Asylum, with a high incidence of death.

NUH was opened to the public and received its first patients on 24 June 1985. The hospital was officially opened on 17 June 1986 by then First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Goh Chok Tong.

Designed by YRM & MSJ Architects in association with Singapore Associate Architects and Indeco, the hospital was intended to be a general hospital with proper areas for clinical teaching. It is the first government-owned hospital to be run autonomously.

To combat this, a ward was constructed in 1898 on the Pasir Panjang beach, sharing a site with a female lunatic asylum, with the assumption that the change in environment would aid in the patient’s recovery.

Fortunately, the conditions of the patients did improve, and two more wards were constructed in the following years.

Both hospitals were relocated in 1931 and the site that they formerly occupied was set aside to be converted into a public park.

NUH Kent Ridge Wing, circa 2000s (Source: Wikimedia Commons) 51

Leisure and Community Beyond just work, leisure and recreational spaces are also vital for a community to thrive. This is no different for West Coast, which had many such nodes which brought family and friends together. For many, these simple pleasures now exist only as a recollection of memories to reminisce, while others indulge in the emergence of new forms of entertainment.

In the 1970s, the West Coast area was a bustling music scene due to the influence of Indonesian bands who came to play at the West Point Garden Nightclub. Every mile marker had their own bands; 7th Mile had Irkadesa, 8th mile had GG Band, The Expected, Rotten Apples etc. and 9th mile had Saroja. Irkadesa and Saroja went on to produce records of their own.

Singapore’s very own Rosli Mualim and Ramli Sarip of Sweet Charity would have jamming sessions along Jubilee Road.

Besides its lively music scene, another rallying point for West Coast residents was soccer. There were teams like the Western Rovers, Jubilee Sports Association and West Carlos. Players from the area were part of the team from Bukit Timah Constituency—before the formation of West Coast GRC—that lifted the 1980 Prime Minister's Cup at the National Stadium.

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Leisure and recreational spaces in West Coast through the years

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Life back then was a lot more carefree, and we don’t really worry about danger. The area that NUS was located in wasn’t very developed yet at that time, so we would run back there, catch spiders, and let them fight. This was one of our past times then besides running to the beach.”

PASIR PANJANG BEACH Pasir Panjang Beach was located between the 4½ milestone and the 7th milestone. It was a place which held many fond memories of leisure time for the residents in West Coast. The first motor boat race in Singapore was held at Pasir Panjang in 1952, where hundreds of Singaporeans turned up to watch. The boats in the race were owned by fishermen and fitted with outboard motors.

Ben Low, a long-time resident of West Coast provides a vivid account of his childhood by the sea: “In the evenings after dinner, my father would prepare his pressure lamp and wear a pair of gloves to catch the fish sleeping in the indents on the beach when the tide is low. We would catch fish, crabs, and prawns with a homemade net.

My sister and I also had fishing competitions. Usually on the weekends, my younger sister and I will bring a tin can and go to the sea wall to dig for sea worms and put them in there. We will then hang the tin cans around our neck with a string and carry our bamboo fishing rod to fish. We would usually catch sandfish, and we would often fish from the morning till the evening. From December to January, the tides are much higher, and the drains along Pasir Panjang Road will be filled with seawater.

When I was 12 years old, my dad bought me a 4 meter long sampan for my birthday and I remember painting it black with white polka dots. On weekends, I would carry this sampan and a paddle all by myself to the sea and enjoy myself.”

Margaret Wheatley, a former resident, recalls life at Boon Leat Terrace in 1980s: “The beach was just a walking distance away from our house. My father took us there a couple of times, but then he realised that the sea wasn't very safe because you could be walking in the water in a gradual slope and then suddenly drop into a deeper trench. We tried fishing and catching crabs; we learned to walk on stilts because the neighbouring children were also doing it, and we ran to the shops barefoot! We could visit our neighbours without notice and be fed in the process, this is the same was when the other children would come to our home.”

Another former resident at West Coast, Peter Khoo, describes his childhood: “On days when we have no school, we will run to the beach and catch tiny crabs, as well as swim in the sea.

Sketch of Pasir Panjang Beach, 1879. (Source: NAS) 54

which was reserved for the Science Park and bidded for the 2.2 acres of sea-front land across the road from Haw Par Villa. This would expand Haw Par Villa to three times its original size. ITP also worked with American consultants Battalagia Associates to build a model for the park to attract foreign and local sponsors.

1937 HAW PAR VILLA TIGER BALM GARDENS A wealthy Chinese businessman Aw Boon Haw built a house known as Haw Par Villa in the area for his brother, Boon Par, and it was completed in 1937. It stood on the highest point in the premise. Over the years, Aw added sculptures and tableaux based on Chinese myths and legends to the villa’s gardens, which came to be known as the Tiger Balm Gardens.

The revamp of Haw Par Villa into a high-tech Chinese mythological theme park started in May 1988 and it reopened in October 1990 rejuvenated and expanded to five times its original size. The transformation of Haw Par Villa into a theme park was initially intended to be completed by the middle of 1988 but was delayed due to issues such as squatters-clearing from the site. In 1991, the park started rolling out various forms of technologies to enhance the park experience such as water mist systems to cool outdoor areas. It was also the first in the region to connect turnstiles to an online counting and tracking system, giving the management real-time information on the visitor numbers. This was successfully put in place by Siemens Nixdorf in a project which cost $1 million in 1991.

Haw Par Villa Dragon World was teeming with activities and guest performances. On weekends and public holidays, there were four in-house trained artistes performing stunts on stilts such as kicking melons and leaping over fire. From time to time, there were troupes from China showcasing their talents as part of the entertainment lineup at the park. This included the youth opera troupe from Beijing’s Chinese Opera Institute who performed for two weeks in celebration of the Lunar New Year in 1991 and the Hangzhou Acrobatics Troupe in 1992.

Haw Par Villa, circa 1937 - 1940s (Source: Raymond Goh) In 1986, the International Theme Parks (S) Pte Ltd (ITP) announced an investment of $30 million to modernise Haw Par Villa as a theme park. This company was a joint venture formed by Fraser & Neave and Times Publishing and had invested in the latest animatronics and technology to enhance the attractions in hope to create an 'Oriental Disneyland', a theme park meeting Western technology with Eastern mythology.

In 1988, the management of the gardens was transferred to the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board which leased the site of 3.2 acres to ITP. The conditions of the lease limited Haw Par Villa to the development as a of a theme park, Haw Par Villa Dragon World. In the same year, ITP was planning for an expanded park, costing more than $50 million as compared to the initial estimate of $30 million. ITP had requested from the government for an additional 4.5 acres of adjoining land

Aerial view of Haw Par Villa Oriental Disneyland (Source: Peter D. Huggett and Colin Philips) 55

Master classes were also conducted at Haw Par Villa.

This included the master classes by Peking Opera at Haw Par Villa’s South China Sea Amphitheatre in 1992 and the Chinese opera classes by four masters from the Beijing Opera Institute who taught some basic hand movements to a class of about 40 people.

In 1995, the Ten Courts of Hell at Haw Par Villa was expected to get a $6 million renovation which included removing the boat ride into the belly of the 60m long dragon as visitors prefer a walk into “hell” instead of the boat ride. It was later reported by The Business Times that the Ten Courts of Hell reopened in December 1995 after a $1.2 million renovation. In an attempt to boost crowds, five unused leasehold lots of 20,000 square metres each were tendered in a major revamp of the theme park. In 1996, the 2,000-seat amphitheatre in Haw Par Villa had a weather-proof roof erected— covering 3,500 square metres and built at a cost of $4 million, transforming it into the largest covered amphitheatre in Asia.

Haw Par Villa Dragon World (Source: Swee Meng) closed down later in 2012 due to its commercial unsustainability.

In recent years, there has been efforts put in place to revitalise Haw Par Villa. In response to increasing concerns about the future of Haw Par Villa, STB announced at the end of 2011 that it is studying ways to give Haw Par Villa “a new lifeline”. This sentiment was re-emphasised in 2013 when STB expressed its appreciation towards the significant heritage value Haw Par Villa holds and how it serves as a place of fond memories for many Singaporeans and tourists. STB then sought for ways to maintain its unique heritage and relevance. STB has engaged artisans to restore the statues in Haw Par Villa by hand and has consulted with stakeholders and government agencies on the future direction of the park.

However, in the same year, the finances of the theme park was in the red. The senior management team at Fraser & Neave was placed in charge of reducing losses incurred. By June 1996, in an attempt to cut costs, the number of staff at Haw Par Villa dropped to just over 100 from the original 170 in 1990 without replacing their headcount.

By the late 1990s, the exorbitant entrance fees caused visitor numbers to plummet and the attraction incurred over S$30 million in losses from 1992 to 1997. In January 1997, Haw Par Villa announced its decision to lower its entry charges drastically from $16.50 to $5 starting March 1997 in order to draw the crowds.

Shortly after in February 1997, Haw Par Villa reported it made a $7.5 million loss in 1996 alone, forcing the owners to cut down its operations and search for a new operator. In 1998, newspaper reports were speculating the possibility of the closure of the theme park due to recurring losses despite attempts to cut costs. ITP eventually relinquished its management rights in 2001.

In March 2014, STB organised the “Reliving Haw Par Villa” festival which drew more than 12,000 people over two weekends as part of STB’s 50th anniversary celebrations. The festival included free guided tours and puppet shows. Haw Par Villa was subsequently used as a venue for art shows, exhibitions and workshops. The first art exhibition was held in April 2014, showcasing an esoteric mix of pieces such as a chain made of kitten teeth and a silent video of old cupboards In 2015, STB appointed tour operator Journeys to run tours in the park on a three-year contract. STB has also partnered with NHB to study its built structures, statues, and other heritage features. Conservation specialist consultancy Studio Lapis was also appointed to develop

Following ITP’s decision, STB later hired Orient Management to run Haw Par Villa as a free park. In 2005, the Hua Song Museum, dedicated to the Chinese diaspora, opened at a cost of $7.5 million. The museum 56

a management plan to guide efforts in maintaining Haw Par Villa's heritage. The tour operator, which organised guided tours in the 2014 festival, has plans to increase the number of in-park tours and to introduce learning journeys for students. A redevelopment of the Hua Song Museum was also in progress. Named Hell's Museum, it will feature Asia's death rituals, funerary practices and various religious beliefs on the afterlife. It was initiated slated to launch in mid-2018, but has since faced delays.

This comes at a time when topics of death are no longer seen as taboo in Singapore. In recent years, social groups have organised talks and activities on death, including ongoing effort Both Sides, Now which uses the arts to get heartlanders to talk openly about death. The museum is divided into three sections - West Asia, South Asia and East Asia - and features practices and beliefs from these regions. It also zooms in on the Singapore landscape and how burials which used to be commonplace have since evolved to cremation because of land scarcity. Director of the Hell's Museum, Journeys director Jeya Ayadurai told The Straits Times: "We wanted to take people's visit to another level so that they don't just come here to be horrified but to learn about Asian concepts of death and the afterlife, and contemplate their own lives."

View of Haw Par Villa/ Tiger Balms Garden in 1945 (Source: NAS)

Accommodating to the preferences of locals for night parties and hangouts, Haw Par Villa hosted an underworld-themed party on June 8 2019, a collaboration between Singapore-based party collective Ice Cream Sundays and DJ crew Mugic. Besides live music performances, a pop-up bar and street food vendors, there were also art installations and a social mural for visitors to participate in. The opening hours of Haw Par Villa has been extended from 7pm to 10pm in order to attract the night crowd and as a follow-up to the success of the party, Journeys has announced that it is working with event organisers to plan for regular events starting in July 2019. Weekly twilight tour is also lined up for visitors at night, which includes a preview of the Hell’s Museum.

A crowd enjoying a performance at the Haw Par Villa Dragon World Ampitheatre.

(Source: Ministry of Information and the Arts) 57

1957 SINGAPORE MINIATURE ZOO

1959 CLEMENTI ROAD MARKET

Singapore Miniature Zoo was opened on January 25th of 1957 at 189 West Coast Road by animal dealer, Mr Tong Seng Mun. Back then, Singapore was a thriving wildlife hub; animals were imported from Malaysia and Indonesia and exported to Europe, America and Japan.

189 West Coast Road served as a showroom for Mr Tong's wildlife trade but it was also opened to the public, making it a zoo. The enforcement of international wildlife trade regulations and trade sanctions caused the zoo to close in the early 1960s. Mr Tong eventually became a consultant for Van Kleef Aquarium, Jurong Bird Park, and Singapore Zoo.

Built at the juncture of Pasir Panjang Road and Clementi Road in 1959, the Clementi Market was a short-lived market that was in operation for only three months, after vendors moved out en mass, citing the inaccessible location being a hindrance to their business. While records indicate that local community organisations such as the West Coast Road Community Centre had petitioned for the conversion of the unused structure into facilities that can be used by the community, there is no evidence that it happened, and it remained until its eventual demolition.

1970s EMPRESS CINEMA Empress was one of the most affordable cinemas in Singapore and its 3 theatres screened a variety of Chinese, Indonesian, and English movies. While Empress had the reputation of being one of the cheapest places to watch movies, its patrons often complained of uncomfortable seats, stuffiness, and poor maintenance.

Some patrons also recall a small game arcade and fast food establishment. Renovation works to the cinema started in 2013 and it was reopened in 2015 as WE Cinemas by Eng Wah. The new 321 Clementi now has 10 cinema halls, and also houses many eateries and a fitness centre.

Entrance of Singapore Miniature Zoo (Source: NAS)

Camels in the Singapore Miniature Zoo (Source: NAS) Empress cinema, circa 1980 (Source: 321 Clementi, via Facebook) 58

sculptures. The sculptures first served as seats, but since it was too hot to sit on, it was repurposed to its current use instead.

1970s COMMONWEALTH CINEMA

At present, the location has ceased to be a point of congregation due to a lack of seating area. Additionally with new facilities, the water feature no longer serves as a prominent gathering point. Instead, the sheltered passageway connecting the town centre to Clementi Mall’s bus stop has become a prominent spot where people gather and meet thanks to its proximity to major amenities in Clementi. The space also serves as a ‘void deck’ for residents living in the residential tower above.

There is a preference among residents to occupy this space for social meetings due to better connections to neighbouring blocks and amenities.

Built in the late 1970s, the Commonwealth Cinema operated 2 theatres, namely Commonwealth & Clementi theatre. The cinema was owned by Overseas Cinema, which also owned cinemas in Ang Mo Kio, Cuppage and Bedok amongst others. A few years after its building, McDonald’s expressed it interest to purchase the cinema in the late 1980s, but failed to do so. The cinema continued its operation until the late 1990s, with tenants such as a large KTV establishment and numerous LAN game shops stepping in after it ceased its operations. It was later renovated into City-Vibe, owned

by Wing Thai, until it was sold to a Chinese family in November 2016. Recent renovations have introduced other variety of tenants such as food, fitness, and salons.

1993 GINZA PLAZA; WEST COAST PLAZA

1980 CLEMENTI BUS INTERCHANGE AND FOUNTAIN

Originally conceived to be an upscale shopping centre servicing West Coast’s upper-middle class Japanese residents (hence its name, which was also the name of one of Japan’s top shopping districts), Ginza Plaza faced a delay in its completion due an explosion during construction. It later opened in 1993, and featured an expansive playground on the top floor. It was closed for renovation from March 2007 and reopened in November 2008 as West Coast Plaza to reflect its new role to serve all of the West Coast residents.

Clementi Bus Interchange was located at the present site of Clementi Mall in 1980, before it was integrated into the mall itself in 2011. Clementi Mall was the first public development to integrate housing, commercial and mass transit into a single development. Residents of former blocks 436 - 438, 444 and 445 were moved into the residential towers of Clementi Mall in order to free the site of their original apartments for redevelopment into higher density blocks.

The stepped fountain located beside the former Commonwealth cinema was a landmark for the Town centre. It was a popular congregation and meeting point especially for students, due to its proximity to KTV, town centre, and the bus interchange. The fountain was demolished in 2008 with the development of Clementi Mall and replaced by a water feature with metal

The old stepped fountain at Clementi in the 1980s (Source: HDB) 59

Sports and Recreation Communities need some form of sports to complement the recreational landscape beyond watching movies and visiting shopping malls. From various motor sports to kite-flying competitions, the athletic spaces of West Coast is just as vibrant as other pursuits.

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Sports and athletic spaces in West Coast through the years 61

MOTOCROSSING As the site of the former Colombo Camp was emptied out by emigrating Ceylonese personnels and later the Royal Guards Unit, motocross riders found an ideal location for activities in the hills of Clementi. Weekly motorbike scrambles were held at the former Colombo Camp and these were advertised fairly frequently.

The hilly terrain was also a popular spot for testing new motocross bikes. Small tournaments were held here and prominent riders such as Gerry Looi would regularly attend practices, test rides and compete in competitions here as well. Today, the hills of Clementi had been flattened following the reclamation of West Coast, and the traces of this sport is nowhere in sight from this area.

1920s THE GAP

Off-road race at Colombo Camp in 1971.

(Source: NewspaperSG)

South Buona Vista Road was once referred to as The Gap, which served as a popular spot for motorsports and illegal racing in the 1920s. Nicknamed the ‘99 turns’, the curvy road, which passed through hilly terrains, witnessed many deaths due to traffic-related accidents over the years.

1940 HAW PAR SWIMMING POOL Built in the late 1930s and opened in late 1940, the HawPar Swimming Pool, also known as the Pasir Panjang Swimming Pool, was considered a modern facility during that era. It had an electric pump to empty and refill the 36.6m by 12.2m pool within a few hours, thus allowing the pool to be fully utilised every day of the year.

The premises of the swimming pool included accommodation for the swimmers, shower baths, changing rooms, and a restaurant and bar to fill the visitors’ stomachs after their swim. The admission prices to the swimming pool was just 10 cents in its initial years of operation.

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Gap Hill Climb programme booklets from 1951 and 1952. (Source: Pasir Panjang Heritage)

Haw Par Swimming Pool in the 1940s.

(Source: Remember Singapore)

1980s SINGAPORE INTERNATIONAL KITE FESTIVAL Billed as the Olympics of the kite-flying world, the Singapore International Kite Festival brought together kiteflying professionals from around the world to compete and was held in West Coast Park from 1982 to 1984.

Participants of the Singapore International Kite Festival. (Source: NAS)

The event was later held at Marina South in 1986 before being discontinued.

1999 THE ROYAL SINGAPORE YACHT CLUB

Yachting and rowing display at RSYC, Tanjong Penjuru, circa 1966 (Source: NAS)

Yachting and rowing display at RSYC, Tanjong Penjuru, circa 1966 (Source: NAS)

The Royal Singapore Yacht Club was first established in 1826 as the Singapore Yacht Club, and was renamed as the Republic of Singapore Yacht Club in 1967, following Singapore's independence. The Club have had many prominent members, such as W.H. Read, a Scottish merchant who was also the president of The Tanglin Club and founded the Singapore Turf Club.

The Club had to relinquish its Trafalgar Street premises to the Singapore Harbour Board after independence to make way for the new PSA container terminal. Following this, the Club was able to claim five acres of mangrove swamp along Tanjong Penjuru to build a new clubhouse, with some help from the British Army. The Club relocated for the third time in 1999 to its current premises at 52 West Coast Ferry Road.

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Places of Worship A number of religious institutions were built over time in West Coast. From mosques to temples and churches, a variety of spaces exists to serve the spiritual needs of the residents.

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Religious spaces and places of worship in West Coast through the years

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Rumour has it that before the temple was erected, Pasir Panjang was plagued by many accidents and drowning incidents, which were greatly reduced after the temple was built.

1920s ANG CHEE SIA ONG TEMPLE

After the area was slated for redevelopment in the late 1970s, the temple partnered with the displaced Fu Lian Gong temple in Kanji Road to lease its current location at West Coast Drive, opening eventually in mid-1997.

Having being established for over 90 years, the temple is likely to be amongst the oldest Chinese temples in Singapore.

Built in the 1920s by an immigrant from the Guangdong Province in China, Ang Chee Sia Ong Temple (安济圣王 庙, or An Ji Sheng Wang Temple) was located at Tao Yuan village before relocating to a much bigger and ornate temple built at the 7th milestone in Pasir Panjang in the 1930s.

Entrance of Ang Chee Sia Ong Temple. (Source: Ang Chee Sia Ong Facebook)

Celebration proceedings of the Green Dragon Emperor God’s Birthday on June 7, 2019.

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the first westerner to be appointed as an abbot of a Buddhist temple in Singapore.

1954 POH ERN SHIH TEMPLE

With the Buddhist Fellowship, Poh Ern Shih temple conducts programmes, such as Dharma talks, Sutta discussions and meditation courses, in Chinese and English for the Buddhist community.

Poh Ern Shih Temple (九華⼭报恩寺, Jiu Hua Shan Bao En Si, or the Jiu Hua Shan Temple of Thanksgiving) is one of the few Mahayana temples dedicated to the Ksitigarbha (Dizang) Bodhisattva, one of the four principal bodhisattvas in East Asian Mahayana Buddhism who is believed to liberates the souls of the deceased, in Singapore.

The temple was demolished in 2003 for expansion and rebuilt in April 2007, sitting on a 4,360 square metre site. Poh Ern Shih Temple became one of the first few religious buildings in Singapore to incorporate both ecofriendly and elderly-friendly features in its design.

Designed by Lee Coo who aims to make Poh Ern Shih temple a green temple, the rooftop is fitted with solar panels and wind turbines have been installed to tap on the temple’s windy location to generate electricity. A pagoda, built entirely of steel, glass and photovoltaic panels, allows natural lighting into its prayer hall through its translucent shell.

The modest single-storey temple was built on a small hilltop at Chwee Chian Road in 1954 by Lee Choon Seng, the first managing director of Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC), to guide the souls of those who lost their lives during the Battle of Pasir Panjang in World War II. The temple’s first abbot, the Venerable Sumangalo who was an American Theravadin monk, was

Official opening of Poh Ern Shih Temple in September 2011. (Source: Poh Ern Shih Temple Facebook) 67

1961 MASJID TENTERA DIRAJA

On 27th April 1980, the Church of the Holy Cross was officially opened. It was also the first to be built under Archbishop Gregory Yong’s term. The Church was named after the Holy Cross on which Jesus died and the cross was also the design concept around which the entire church was built. The congregation sat within a gigantic cross, sheltered by a cross-shaped roof.

Masjid Tentera Diraja, or the Tentera Diraja Mosque, could traces its roots all the way back to the Muslims who served in the British Army before Singapore’s independence, an origin that could be seen in the name "Tentera Diraja" itself, which means the King's Army in Malay.

From 1988 to 1996, expansion and renovations of the church was made to cater to the increase in activities and in the number of parishioners. The original cross sculptured by Joseph McNally using tyres was replaced by a simple wooden cross in 1990 when it was seen to be too controversial and frightening. Plans to renovate the Church were made due to the increasing needs of the population in Clementi and the tertiary institutions nearby. In December 2006, under the direction of Richards Ambrose, a parish priest, renovations began in the main church. A new 4-storey building was built for the pastoral needs of the church. New stained glass windows and a newly designed translucent cross were some of the new changes made. On 14th September 2008, coinciding with its feast day, the church was blessed by Archbishop Emeritus Nicholas Chia, the church’s longest-service parish priest.

The single-storey mosque with a signature gold-painted dome on top of its minaret has been situated on top of Clementi Hill since 1961, and its opening in 1962 was officiated by Tun Haji Yusof Bin Ishak, the first president of Singapore. Unique to this mosque, Tun Yusof reviewed a Guard of Honour contingent made up of Muslim servicemen during the mosque’s opening ceremony

1961 CHURCH OF THE HOLY CROSS

1961 MASJID DARUSSALAM

The site of the Church of the Holy Cross was initially part of the Clementi New Town development. However due to the leaking pipe buried more than 20 feet underground, it created a huge layer of mud in the soil and was not suitable for high-rise buildings development. It was later classified as an institutional site and was tendered in religious purposes in August 1977.

Masjid Darussalam was likely the first mosque in Singapore to be independently-designed and built by an independent team as opposed to being designed by HDB. The Mosque-building Committee was established in 1980, with funds raised by residents of Clementi and West Coast areas, and contributions from Mendaki Mosque Building Fund.

The Archdiocese submitted a successful bid and entrusted the construction of the church to Paul Munier.

He received subsidies from the Holy See, overseas charities and funding from future parishioners of the church to build the church. In February 1978, Munier formed a building fund committee of Catholics who had moved to Clementi. In 1979, the first Christmas mass was celebrated in the basement of the still uncompleted church. There were no chairs nor Christmas decorations and the congregation then only numbered 150.

A building and design team of 14 people was formed.

Fundraising continued until 1985, when construction started, and was completed in 1988. The drive for the building of the mosque arose from the lack of a mosque in the neighbourhood. The mosque has a qaryah volunteer group which predates the construction of the 68

mosque that organises community services and lectures.

Apart from the official committee of the mosque, the group is quite an informal one. Volunteers and regular members inform each other of events and programmes at the mosque, creating an informal network within the neighbourhood.

better including IT and language classes. The mosque is also active in youth initiatives such as offering school shuttle services.

During Ramadan, shuttle bus services are organised by the mosque to transport people around the Clementi neighbourhood to the mosque for prayers before breaking fast. This convenience have further reduced the need for praying spaces outside the mosque, bringing the Muslim community closer during the Holy Month. However in further areas such as Clementi West Street 2, musollahs are set up during Ramadan at the HDB void decks when the Darussalam and Tentera Diraja mosque to reduce inconvenience in traveling.

Like many other mosques, there are Sunday schools for religious studies and adult classes are on weekdays.

Apart from religious studies, the mosque holds nonreligious enrichment programmes for the Muslim community in Clementi as well and has increased collaborations with the CC and RC to provide nonreligious social services to serve the neighbourhood

Masjid Tentera Diraja facade (Source: Tentera Diraja Mosque Facebook)

Entrance of the Church of the Holy Cross (Source: The Church of the Holy Cross) 69

Masjid Darussalam building in its early days. The facade walls are now painted white.

(Source: Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS))

Handing over of building upon completion to the mosque committee.

(Source: Masjid Darussalam Management Committee) 70

Educational Institutions To improve the quality of lives of the residents of the area, schools and various institutions of learning were set up by both private and public parties.

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Educational and tertiary institutions in West Coast

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1930s PASIR PANJANG ENGLISH SCHOOL; PASIR PANJANG PRIMARY SCHOOL

1931 HUA KIAU CHINESE SCHOOL Hua Kiau Chinese School first opened in 1931 on the first floor of a shophouse at the 8th milestone of Pasir Panjang Road with only 17 pupils. In 1940, the school later relocated to an attap building near the nowdefunct Bakau Lane within Pasir Panjang and subsequently in a more sturdy double-storey structure half a mile away.

Built in the 1930s as part of a British experiment on coeducational models, the Pasir Panjang English School remained active well into the 1980s. The school premise itself was heavily damaged by the Japanese during the war, leading to the destruction of records and documents from Outram Secondary School. These records were actually sent to Pasir Panjang by the latter’s principal to be safeguarded against the forecasted Japanese occupation.

In 1960, Hua Kiau Chinese School made its final relocation to a building situated on two-and-a-half acres of land on Pasir Panjang Hill, 5½th milestone Pasir Panjang Road, near Haw Par Villa. The location had a commanding view of the sea and the southern islands.

Hua Kiau Chinese School eventually closed in 1981.

Prominent alumni of the school from the 1950s and 1960s period include Goh Chok Tong, the second Prime Minister of Singapore (1990-2004); Dr Tan Eng Liang, the Senior Minister of State for National Development (1975-1978); and Dr Cham Tao Soon, the founding President of Nanyang Technological Institute (NTI) (1981-1990) and subsequent President of Nanyang Technological University (NTU) (1991-2002).

Speech and Prize-giving day at Pasir Panjang English School, circa November 1972 (Source: NAS) 73

1960s JUBILEE SCHOOL; MALAY SCHOOL; PRIMARY SCHOOL

1965 YUSOF ISHAK SECONDARY SCHOOL Yusof Ishak Secondary School was established in 1965 as Jubilee Integrated Secondary School which offered secondary education in English and Malay to an enrolment of 984 pupils and 37 teachers. On 29 July 1966, the then Prime Minister, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew declared Yusof Ishak Secondary School open at Jubilee Road. In 1984, the Malay stream was phased out and English became the only medium of instruction in school. The school remains to be the only school named after the First President of Singapore.

There were multiple mentions of a school located along Jubilee Road named the Jubilee School in historical documents though precise details remain sketchy— further news reports indicate that the school moved to a new premises in the early 1960s, while the old premises was converted into a Jubilee Malay School. The two schools would merge eventually, creating the Jubilee Primary School in 1967.

Yusof Ishak Secondary School performed well in the introduction of the school ranking system in 1992. It was the first school to top the value-added ranking in both the Express and Normal streams in 1992. The school often participated in community activities such as providing area cleaning services at West Coast HDB flats, interaction sessions at Old-Folks Corner and more to give back to the community in West Coast.

Jubilee Primary School would eventually be merged into Qifa Primary School in the mid-1990s, a fate shared by the neighbouring Jin Tai Primary School in the late 2000s.

By the end of 1998, the school moved to its current location at Bukit Batok Avenue 3.

Opening of Jubilee Malay School by Yaacob bin Mohammed, circa 1963 (Source: NAS)

Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew speaking at the opening of Yusof Ishak Secondary School, circa 1966 (Source: NAS)

Opening of Jubilee Primary School at 8½th milestone West Coast Road, circa 1967 (Source: NAS) 74

recommendation and announced in April 1980 that the University of Singapore and Nanyang University would be merged to form NUS. On 29 July 1980, the Parliament passed the National University of Singapore Bill and the new university was officially inaugurated on 8 August 1980 with about 9,000 students and 800 academic staff.

1971 THE JAPANESE SCHOOL SINGAPORE The original Japanese School was founded in 1912, with one teacher and 28 students, at 131 Middle Road. In 1920 The Japan Club (now The Japanese Association) built a new school at 155 Waterloo Street, where Stamford Arts Centre is presently located. In 1941 the School was closed down by the British Army at the beginning of World War ll.

After the split which saw the formation University of Malaya and University of Singapore, the University of Singapore ran classes from four separate campuses: arts and social sciences at Bukit Timah, architecture at Ladyhill, engineering at Prince Edward Road, and medicine and dentistry at Sepoy Lines. In the late 1960s, prime land previously occupied by the British military was returned to the government.

The School was re-established as “The Shonan First People’s School” under the Japanese Occupation. This ended in 1945 and the School was closed down again. It did not reopen until 1966.

Toh Chin Chye, then-minister for science and technology, envisioned the relocation of the University of Singapore from the various campuses to a single location. A site at Kent Ridge was secured in 1968 for the university to establish a new campus for its expansion. Kent Ridge campus was designed by S. J. van Embden and construction work started in 1973.

By 1971, the School was relocated to West Coast Road for 5 years when there was a marked increase in the number of students was witnessed. The Japanese School constructed its own school premises in 1976 and has since expanded many times. In 1984 the Japanese School building was completed at West Coast Road. By this time, the school had more than 2,000 students in both the primary and secondary section.

1980 NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE

The Japanese School’s West Coast campus, circa 1971 (Source: The Japanese School Singapore)

The National University of Singapore (NUS) was officially established on 8 August 1980 through the merger of Nanyang University and the University of Singapore.

However, the university’s origins can be traced to the founding of a medical school, The Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States Government Medical School, in 1905.

The resultant report, done by Frederick Dainton to conduct a preliminary study of university education in Singapore in 1979, recommended the establishment of a single, strong university covering a wide range of academic disciplines. The government accepted the

Dr Benjamin Sheares, University of Singapore Chancellor, being briefed by Minister for Science and Technology Dr Toh Chin Chye on developments at Kent Ridge. (Source: NAS) 75

1982 JIN TAI PRIMARY SCHOOL

The main school campus reopened in October 1945 after the return of the Allied forces. With financial support from the public, secondary school classes were set up and the enrolment reached 700. The school’s name was officially changed to Nan Hwa Girls’ High School by the School Management Committee in 1956.

Jin Tai Primary School, located at 145 West Coast Road, first began with seven primary one classes housed in the former Jubilee Malay School in 1982. Lee Chin Ghee was the school’s first principal, and was assisted by Lai Yaw Ping who took over after Lee retired in July 1985. Low Kiat Ming was subsequently appointed to head the school from December 1997. In 1989, Jin Tai Primary School had its largest enrolment of 1905 students in 48 classes.

In 1961, with the appointment of a new principal, the administration of the branch school was separated from the main school. In 1962, a new 5-storey building replaced the school building at Bencoolen Street. It was renamed as Nan Hua Primary School in 1964 while Nan Hwa Girls’ High School terminated the intake of primary students. It Nan Hua Primary School became co-ed in the same year. English became the medium of instruction for Mathematics and Science subjects in 1972. In 1978, Nan Hua Primary School offered both English and Chinese stream classes, and started preprimary classes in the following year.

Jin Tai Primary School was closed and merged with Qifa Primary School in January 2008.

1983 NAN HUA PRIMARY SCHOOL; SECONDARY SCHOOL; HIGH SCHOOL

In 1983, both the main and branch schools moved into the compound at Clementi Avenue 1. English became the main medium of instruction while Malay, Tamil and Chinese were offered as mother tongue languages. Nan Hwa Girls’ High School started to admit boys at the secondary level in 1984 and changed the school name to Nan Hua Secondary School. In 1989, Nan Hua Primary School was selected as one of the ten “Primary Special Assistance Plan (SAP) Schools” to create an environment conducive for the teaching of Chinese and English languages alongside the inculcation of core values. In November 1998, Nan Hua Primary School was relocated to 30 Jalan Lempeng and started Gifted Education (GE) classes. In 2000, the primary school underwent renovation works under the Programme for Improving Existing Schools (PRIME) while Nan Hua Secondary School was relocated to its current location at 41 Clementi Avenue 1 on 20 December 2003.

The history of Nan Hua Primary School can be traced back to 1917 when a group of overseas Chinese businessmen established the Nan Hua Primary School for girls at Coleman Street. The school moved to Bencoolen Street in 1918 to accommodate to the increasing number of students. The school was closed in 1924 due to a lack of funds before re-opening in 1928. A branch school was set up at Middle Road in 1939. Two years later, a new school campus was built at Adis Road and was called Nan Hua Girls' High. It served as the main campus while the campus at Bencoolen Street was named Nan Hua Girls' High (Branch). The main campus offered classes for primary school students as well as training classes for teachers while the branch school had only primary classes. Due to World War II, the main school campus at Adis Road was turned into the headquarters for the Japanese Imperial Army and forced to close again in 1941.

The new school building for the primary school was officially opened in the same year. The new school building for the secondary school was officially declared open by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in 2005 who announced the school would be given Autonomous Status in 2006. The name for the secondary school then changed to Nan Hua High School with effect from 1 January 2006.

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As the school campus at Jalan Lempeng is undergoing upgrading works to support the delivery of holistic education at the time of publication, Nan Hua Primary School moved temporarily to the former site of Clementi Woods Secondary School at 170 West Coast Road from December 2017 to December 2019.

1985 JIN TAI SECONDARY SCHOOL

Nan Hua Primary School campus at Clementi Avenue 1, circa 1983 (Source: Nan Hua Primary School)

Jin Tai Secondary School was formed in 1982 at 147 West Coast Road. It was officially opened by the then Minister of State Dr Wan Soon Bee on 31st August 1985. Costing $8.4 million, it was the 189th school to be built in the country since 1959.

It was later renamed as Clementi Woods Secondary School in 2007 after the merger with Ghim Moh Secondary School. Due to declining number of students, the school was further merged and renamed as Tanglin Secondary School, located at 301 West Coast Road, in 2016.

Nan Hua Primary School campus at Jalan Lempeng, circa 1998. (Source: Nan Hua Primary School)

Jin Tai Secondary School, circa 1996. (Source: NAS)

Completion of new school building, circa 2002.

(Source: Nan Hua Primary School)

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AFTERWORD As a site that has undergone so many changes over the years, restructuring the social, cultural and economic aspects of life in the area, West Coast holds different meanings for different people. Through our engagement sessions at West Coast Drive Market and Ayer Rajah Food Centre, we realised that there is a limit as to how much could actually be uncovered from the sole usage of historical documents such as written documents, newspapers dating from the 1890s, and maps. The interactions with current and former residents of West Coast have enlightened us about the rich history and heritage layered within this area, which are at times insufficiently captured by official documentation.

While this publication is a culmination of our research thus far, we would like to emphasise that there is still a lot more stories left to be unearthed in West Coast. To encourage information sharing and the growth of knowledge we have of West Coast, our research team has been running a Facebook page and an Instagram page (@OurWestCoastSG) and will be using it as means to expand the content covered in this publication. If this publication has managed to spark your interest and memories of West Coast, we would greatly appreciate it if you could share some of your stories with us and other members of the public via the aforementioned social platforms.

The Editors

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West Coast GRC

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British Cemetery

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SUPPORTING OUR NATION

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Singapore: World Scientific Publishing, 2014.

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Jurong Railway

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FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFE

Pasir Panjang Terminal

Pasir Panjang / Buona Vista Village

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Cherry Tree Mosque Kampong Pinsler, Ronni. LIFE AT THE KAMPONG AT BUKIT CHANDU. THE KAMPONG WAS AT PASIR PANJANG, PEPYS ROAD. THE KAMPONG WAS KNOWN AS THE CHERRY TREE MOSQUE KAMPONG - WORSHIPPERS AT THE FIVE AM PRAYERS. 1980. Ronni Pinsler Collection, courtesy of National Archives of Singapore. Accessed July 19, 2019. http://www.nas.gov.sg/archivesonline/ phot ographs/record-details/ a3fdfa67-1162-11e3-83d5-0050568939ad.

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Interview by author (Mohammad Iqbal bin Roslan).

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Kampong Jawa Teban

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Clementi New Town

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Kampong Tanjong Kling

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Commonwealth Cinema

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Hong Leong Gardens Shopping Centre

Pasir Panjang Power Station Quarters

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Healthcare

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Pasir Panjang Beach

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ABOUT 170 VIGILANTE CORPS NATIONAL SERVICEMEN FROM PASIR PANJANG, QUEENSTOWN, BUKIT MERAH AND OTHER NEARBY AREAS TOOK PART IN THE BEACHCLEANING CAMPAIGN. THEY WADED THROUGH SLIME AND MUD TO CLEAR PIECES OF GLASS, RUSTY TINS AND BROKEN BRICKS FROM THE QUARTER-MILE STRETCH OF BEACH OFF PASIR PANJANG PARK. October 26, 1971.

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Haw Par Villa

"HAZE LOSSES." The New Paper (Singapore), March 23, 1998.

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88

"'Hell' to get a face-lift." The New Paper (Singapore), April 26, 1995.

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Cheong, Kash. "‘Odd’ items form first art show at Haw Par Villa." The Straits Times (Singapore), April 8, 2014.

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Clementi Market

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