The end of Lim Chu Kang

Today, we explored the northern end of Lim Chu Kang Road, from the Lim Chu Kang Lane 4 junction to the sea.

The northernmost part of the Lim Chu Kang area, facing northwest. Blue marks the roads we explored. Base picture credit: Google Maps.

This area is as rural as Singapore can be, and compared to much of the rest of the Republic, not much has radically changed since the trunk road was completed in the early 1930s. This area is still largely used for farming, many rural tracks branching off the trunk road still exist (but are unfortunately out of bounds, within the Mindef training area), and the trunk road itself remains a single-lane dual carriageway (albeit paved, painted with road markings, and lit).

We took the opportunity to check out Bahtera Track, which runs west from Lim Chu Kang Road to near the coast. The track is one of Singapore Island’s last unpaved, unlit roads - a great example of how the island’s rural roads were once like. The track is relatively new, though - I guess it was carved out around 20 years ago, to serve the adventure camps facing the sea. Bahtera Track took its name after Jalan Bahtera (“Ark Road”), which is far older; most of the latter has survived development, but lies inside the Mindef training grounds.

The junction of Bahtera Track and Lim Chu Kang Road.

The adventure camps served by Bahtera Track.

Bahtera Track.

The Singapore Scout Association Sarimbun Camp, served by the track. It was deserted.

Near the sea, there is a large bronze memorial marking the location where the Japanese stormed the beaches on the night of 8 February 1942 - the start of seven days of battle, culminating in the surrender of Singapore on 15 February. A quiet and solemn reminder that this remote, peaceful area was once the site of a bloody struggle between forces battling for the dominance of the Pacific.

The sea itself is not accessible today for security reasons.

From the Bahtera Track junction, we walked north along Lim Chu Kang Road to the sea.

This is Lim Chu Kang’s northernmost bus stop, B01.

It serves just one looping bus service, SMRT Bus Service 975. Buses halt at a bay just short of the stop for around five minutes, which allows the driver to take a pee break. They then make a three-point turn and return where they came from, all the way back to Bukit Panjang Integrated Transport Hub.

A short distance north of Bus Stop B01 is the end of Lim Chu Kang Road. A jetty lies beyond, but it is accessible only to the Coast Guard, and I guess inhabitants of the kelongs on the Straits of Johor.

And here’s a picture of me working hard, thanks to Tiak!

I hope the rural nature of Lim Chu Kang lives on indefinitely. Urban Singapore needs it.

The ghosts of Commercial Square

A sad, sad day for Singapore commercial history, as Robinsons - a department store founded in Singapore - is set to close after 162 years of existence.

Robinsons itself summed it up in a terse statement: “The overarching business model of department stores is outdated.”

The Straits Times put together a neat infographic summarising Robinsons’ history:

Credit: The Straits Times.

Actually, Robinsons is part of a bigger story which began in Raffles Place 178 years ago - in 1842.

At that time, Raffles Place was known as Commercial Square, because it was the commercial and mercantile heart of the Town of Singapore.

That year, John Martin Little, an 18-year-old Scot, and his uncle Francis S. Martin, set up a retail business there. Three years later, Martin sold his stock to Little and his new partner, Parsi businessman Cursetjee Frommurze; the company was renamed Little, Cursetjee & Co.

The company posted its first advertisement in The Straits Times on 2 September 1845, just one and a half months after the newspaper was founded on 15 July.

In 1853, Frommurze left the partnership and opened his own business, Cursetjee & Co., hiring an ambitious English businessman from Australia, Philip Robinson. Little replaced Frommurze with his brother Matthew, and renamed his firm John Little & Co.

Here’s an advertisement for John Little’s wares in the Singapore Free Press on 24 February 1854:

As for Robinson, he also decided to strike out on his own in 1858, setting up a firm with James Gaborian Spicer, a former keeper of the Singapore Jail. The firm’s name was a combination of theirs - Spicer & Robinson. It posted its first advertisement in The Straits Times on 25 February that year:

Like John Little, Spicer & Robinson was also located at Commercial Square, and it opened just two weeks before the area was renamed Raffles Place in honour of Sir Stamford Raffles, who had been credited as the founder of modern Singapore.

Just a year later, in 1859, Spicer left the business, so Spicer & Robinson became Robinson & Co.

By the early 20th century, John Little and Robinsons had become the shopping giants of Raffles Place, frequented by the European community. They occupied colonial-style buildings which faced each other in the august square.

The 1920s: Back when Raffles Place was beautiful. Robinsons was to the far left; John Little to the right.

During the Japanese Occupation, both department stores were closed; John Little’s premises were converted into a Japanese-only department store, Daimaru. However, Japanese rule was short-lived, and both reopened after the Occupation ended in 1945.

Their fates finally merged in 1955, when Robinsons acquired John Little.

Robinsons in 1955. Credit: The Straits Times.

John Little in 1960. Credit: The Straits Times.

Gradually, the shopping nexus of Singapore shifted from Raffles Place to Orchard Road. John Little moved out first, in 1960; then Robinsons in 1972, after that terrible fire which gutted its historic quarters. Both ended up in Specialists’ Shopping Centre at Orchard Road - and in numerous branches around the island.

The aftermath of the 1972 Robinsons fire. Credit: The Straits Times.

Specialists' Shopping Centre in 2006. John Little was the anchor tenant. Credit: Terence Ong, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Their original homes in Raffles Place eventually made way for skyscrapers - One Raffles Place (63 storeys) and the Singapore Land Tower (48 storeys) occupy the sites today.

The beginning of the end came in 2008, when Dubai’s Al-Futtaim Group took over Robinsons. From a peak of eight outlets in 2003, John Little closed its final outlet in Plaza Singapura on 2 January 2017, ending 163 years of history. And now, at 162 years old, Robinsons looks set to follow its former Commercial Square neighbour into the night.

Robinsons at The Heeren. "Everything Must Go" - including the brand itself.

The only physical reminder of these two institutions in Raffles Place today: The facade of Raffles Place MRT Interchange, which was modelled after the facade of the John Little building.

Credit: Land Transport Guru.

40 years of Siglap

A 40-year-old mixed-use building in Siglap might be demolished very soon.

Siglap Shopping Centre. Credit: OrangeTee Advisory.

Siglap Shopping Centre will be put up for collective sale by public tender on Tuesday (Oct 27), with the reserve price for the freehold mixed-use site on East Coast Road set at S$120 million, marketing agent OrangeTee Advisory said on Monday.

Completed in around 1980, the three-storey development at 883 to 903A East Coast Road is made up of eight residential units and eight commercial units sitting on about 39,635 sq ft of land.

An adjoining plot (roughly 5,005 sq ft) of state land can be amalgamated with the site, subject to approval from authorities, to form a site with a combined area of about 44,640 sq ft.

Siglap Shopping Centre, not to be confused with the nearby Siglap Centre, is currently occupied by a variety of tenants including eateries and a pre-school.

The tender will close at 3pm on Dec 9.

“With its freehold tenure and location in popular District 15, the site is likely to see good interest from developers,” said Mr Edmund Lee, executive director of OrangeTee Advisory.

“The optimal site area, coupled with a frontage of about 60 metres onto East Coast Road, offer developers the opportunity to build a prominent mixed-use development to cater to the lifestyle demands of buyers.”

Based on the reserve price, the land rate works out to S$1,235 per square foot per plot ratio, after accounting for an additional 7 per cent bonus residential gross floor area for private outdoor spaces.

The figure of S$120 million includes an estimated development charge of S$47.47 million and an estimated alienation cost of S$7.2 million for the plot of state land.

According to the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s 2019 Master Plan, the site is zoned as residential with commercial on the first storey.

The gross plot ratio is 3.0, and the building height control is four storeys.

The site is close to several schools and malls, as well as Parkway East Hospital, and will be served by the upcoming Siglap MRT station on the Thomson-East Coast Line.

OrangeTee Advisory director Mr Tay Liam Hiap said that new projects in the area have been a popular choice for home buyers.

“New project sales in the East Coast area have been trending well, and attest to the continued appeal of the Siglap/Katong district with its plethora of dining, shopping and recreational amenities,” he said.

“The proximity to beaches, parks and Changi Airport further amplifies the attractiveness and draw of the area to home buyers.”

***

I looked up Siglap Shopping Centre on Google Maps and found something resembling more a row of shophouses than a conventional shopping centre. Going through Google Street View’s history reveals a little slice of the building’s history.

In 2008, its tenants included Pizza Hut, Video Ezy, a United Overseas Bank (UOB) branch, a Thai restaurant named Lemongrass, KFC, and another restaurant, Le Viet. The building also had a smaller cousin to the left, possibly constructed at the same time.

2008. Credit: Google Maps.

By 2012, the building’s smaller cousin had been torn down for a new condominium (what else?), Siglap V. Video Ezy and Le Viet had departed; Video Ezy’s space was taken by Feet Press, a foot reflexology centre.

2012. Credit: Google Maps.

By 2015, UOB had moved out; a Chinese restaurant and a sales gallery had set up shop on either side of the KFC outlet.

2015. Credit: Google Maps.

And by 2019, Pizza Hut had been replaced by two restaurants, UOB’s space had been taken by a preschool, and the two tenants on either side of KFC had been replaced by a bar and a bike distributor.

2019. Credit: Google Maps.

This meant that of all the commercial tenants that were around in 2008, only KFC had stuck around by 2019.

And a search of the newspaper archives reveals that KFC was one of Siglap Shopping Centre’s first tenants when it opened in 1980! Below is a Straits Times advertisement from 12 December 1980, announcing the outlet’s official opening.

The KFC outlet is still open presently:

40 years of fried chicken in Siglap!

Unfortunately, it might have to move out, along with its neighbours, very soon. And the history of this little stretch along Upper East Coast Road will roll on, relentlessly.