18
JALAN BESAR
MANGROVE
SWAMPLAND
CHARMING
DISTRICT
FROM
TO
02
by Woo Pui Leng
01
01
02
SHOPHOUSES
ON HAMILTON
ROAD, 1995
LOW LYING
FIELDS (c.1920)
03
04
JALAN BESAR IN
1846. SOURCE:
NATIONAL
MUSEUM OF
SINGAPORE
FARM HOUSE
(c.1900)
19
MAY ⁄ JUN 2011
03
Jalan Besar is much loved for its casual charm, striking
shophouses, eclectic style and famous landmarks. In a recent short
book, Associate Professor Woo Pui Leng presents an in-depth
study of Jalan Besar’s physical transformation. Skyline brings you
a three-part insight of this study. In this first article, Professor Woo
traces the transformation of the land in Jalan Besar.
04
Jalan Besar was where I lived between
the 1950s and 1980s, in a shophouse
built by my grandfather (Figure 01).
In 1991, the district was identified as
one of the secondary settlements for
conservation. My mother moved out
in 1995 so that the buildings could be
restored, and that was when I began
this study.
My study explains the urban history
of Jalan Besar through its physical
transformation. The Jalan Besar
today is very different from the rural
landscape of more than one and a
half century ago. But it is the land,
buildings, and spaces that give the
area its identity. These are the physical
elements that connect us with the past,
enrich our present experiences, and
hopefully guide us in the planning and
development of the area.
JUST A MANGROVE MARSH
Picture a time when Singapore was
an island of jungles and plantations.
When Rochor Canal was the edge of
the city and when Jalan Besar was
just a mangrove marsh with snipes
and snakes (Figure 02). Today, it is
an urban area with shopping malls
and skyscrapers. But it still gives the
impression of an old mixed district that
conveys a feeling of casual urban life.
Two rivers – Rochor and Kallang
rivers – determined the landform of
the Jalan Besar district. Where they
converged is the vast area from Little
India to Kallang Bahru. For a longest
time in history, Jalan Besar was a
swampland. The northern part of the
district with drier land was the first to
be transformed through agriculture
(Figure 03).
Jungles on the edge of town were cut
down for the development of estatetype plantation. When land was sold
in 1841, the plantation was subdivided
into oblique farm lots and evolved
into streets and blocks. The area near
Lavender Street was developed as
Chinese vegetable gardens in the 1830s
(Figure 04). The southern part had
remained swampy with mangroves,
low-lying fields, and waterways.
20
05
06
BRICK KILNS
ON LAVENDER
STREET, 1899.
SOURCE:
SINGAPORE
NATIONAL
ARCHIVES
KAMPONG
BOYAN (c.1909).
SOURCE:
NATIONAL
ARCHIVES OF
SINGAPORE
07
08
JALAN BESAR
(c.1900)
DRAIN NEXT
TO THE JALAN
BESAR STADIUM,
1995
09
PLANNED OPEN
SPACE IN THE
1930S. SOURCE:
BASED ON MAP
REPRINT FROM
MAPS OF THE
ORIENT
05
The swamps contained valuable raw
materials and fuel. Industrialisation
of Singapore began in Jalan Besar
with the construction of the earliest
brick kilns in 1830s (Figure 05). The
kilns disappeared in the 1920s as the
mangrove was being depleted. But
other industries like the sawmills, and
oil mills continued into the 1950s. The
fields attracted animal grazing with the
growth of cattle trade in the 1880s.
The waterways attracted two villages.
Kampong Kapur, named after lime
used in betel nut chewing, was a 19th
century Malay village in the vicinity
of present day Desker Road and
Veerasamy Road. Kampong Boyan, at
the juncture of Rochor Canal and Syed
Alwi Road, was an early 20th century
Boyanese community that continued
into the 1920s (Figure 06).
06
ONE CANAL, FOUR STREETS
One canal and four streets were
critical in the urbanisation of Jalan
Besar. Rochor Canal was a waterway
constructed in 1821 for drainage and
transportation. Serangoon Road was
the first arterial road built across the
island in the 1820s. Lavender Street
already existed in the 1830s. Named
as 'Rochor Road' in an 1846 map
by early surveyor John Turnbull
Thomson, it was renamed in 1858 as
a cynical suggestion to the stench
of urine and nightsoil used in nearby
farms. Syed Alwi Road, built in the
1850s, was the street that connected
Kampong Glam with Little India across
the Rochor Canal.
07
21
MAY ⁄ JUN 2011
The city, however,
does not tell its past,
but contains it like
the lines of a hand.
ITALO CALVINO, INVISIBLE CITIES, 1972
08
The construction of Jalan Besar
(the street) was completed in the
1880s. The street made a bent to the
north near Lavender Street because
of the presence of a large property at
the time of construction. The end of
Jalan Besar was lined with Kapor Trees
(Ceiba pentandra) in the 1900s. Also
known as Silk-cotton Trees, they were
planted for their commercial value
including stuffing for pillows. They gave
this stretch of the street a distinctive
appearance. The trees survived the
Second World War, but were cut down
with the building of shophouses after
the war (Figure 07).
Within the armature of early routes,
the swamp was reclaimed with dumping
refuse between 1840s and 1920s. The
impact of land reclamation is clearly
visible in the construction of drains and
streets. Two open drains – a large one
next to the Jalan Besar Stadium, and a
smaller one in Kelantan Road – still exist
(Figure 08). Older streets like Cuff and
Veerasamy Roads, evolved from farm
lots, were oblique in layout. The ones
built after land reclamation, like Desker
and Rowell Roads, were laid out in
orthogonal manner.
With the completion of land reclamation
in the 1920s, three areas were planned
for housing and development with
different open space designs in the
1930s. The area of Kampong Kapur
included municipal housing and two
open squares. Jalan Besar Stadium and
the adjacent playing field were at the
centre of shophouse development and
municipal housing. The area between
Petain Road and Lavender Street was
designed with four linear open spaces
(Figure 09).
09
NOT JUST NOSTALGIA
Jalan Besar has come a long way
from its days as a mangrove swamp.
This study is not about nostalgic
recollection. The aim is to discover
something new about a place that we
all know so well. This article presents
the underlying landform and early
transformation of Jalan Besar. The next
article will discuss the development
and design of shophouses in
Jalan Besar.
This research, the subject matter in
being so close to my own experience,
has not been easy in its closure. I am
indebted to my family, and grateful to
my friends and students. This research
is made possible with the support of
URA’s Architecture and Urban Design
Excellence Promotion Programme,
which offers funding for different
and creative initiatives that
promote architecture and urban
design excellence in Singapore. The
National Museum and the National
Archives have also provided
invaluable assistance.
THE AUTHOR
Woo Pui Leng, a Singapore
registered architect, is Associate
Professor at the School of
Architecture, the Chinese
University of Hong Kong,
where she teaches courses in
architectural design and urban
theory. Jalan Besar was where
she lived between the 1950s
and 1980s. This work forms
part of her research in urban
morphology and architectural
typology. In addition to this
recent short book, “The Urban
History of Jalan Besar”, Prof Woo
has also shared her study insights
at URA’s speaker series in April
2011, attended by 110 heritage
enthusiasts, professionals and
tour guides.