My Chew Joo Chiat Story

Joo Chiat Road 1920s

2012-01-02T01:33:00.000-08:00

Joo Chiat Road in the early days was a dirt track stretching from Geylang Serai all the way to the east coast beach. It was then known as the Confederate Estate Road. The dirt track was owned and maitained by Chew Joo Chiat. It was made up into a metal road by the Municipality and named the road after Chew Joo Chiat as Joo Chiat Road. Motorised transport made access to the east coast and the beach more attractive. People from other parts of Singapore migrated to the east coast to be nearer the sea. Furthermore, development of the area from Katong to Joo Chiat was very rapid resulting in a land boom. Joo Chiat was not entirely coconut plantations. There was also a rubber estate off Joo Chiat Road. It had a factory with machines processing rubber from latex into rubber sheets. As land values increased, housing in Joo Chiat Road expanded rapidly. Large coconut plantations fragmented and about 53,000 square feet of rubber estates came under the hammer.

1920s saw Joo Chiat Road having colourful rows of Perankan terraced houses and bungalows with fanciful names like Noel Villa, Sandy Point Villa, Mafeking House and others. Most of the residential buildings were occupied by the Peranakans except the shophouses nearer the Joo Chiat Market. Some coconut trees and fruit trees by the roadside were untouched by housing development.

Gei Hin Kwan Hotel, Happy Hotel, Katong Hotel, Japanese Koyakan Hotel and a few others lined sporadically along Joo Chiat Road. They were popular with clubs, associations and other organisations that held their meetings, anniversary and celebrations there. In those days some hotels also operated illegaly as brothels. Some was caught by the law and fined at a Magistrate Court.

Besides prostitutions at the hotels there were triads and gangs in the area. They collected protection money from the shopkeepers and hawkers, and extorted money from the rich and wealthy. One extortion incident was reported in The Straits Times on 22 November 1923. The articles stated:

"The maximum sentence of six months' rigorous imprisonment was passed on a Chinese who was found guilty of attempting extortion in the second Police Court yesterday.

The complainant, a Hokien trader of No 246 Joo Chiat Road, stated that he discovered a letter in his house early on the morning of November 11 which was to the effect that he would have to pay a certain amount of money over at a shop, No 30 Joo Chiat Road and if within 3 days the money was not paid, he would meet with some trouble. Two days later a Chinese called at the shop and said that he was the man to collect the money deposited by the complainant. He was told to wait and in the meantime the complainant was informed. The latter went to the shop and conducted the accused to a coffee shop, where he was subsequently arrested by a police corporal who had already been informed."

The newspapers report did not mention the name of the Hokien trader. Chew Joo Chiat was a Hokien trader at that time and his obituary stated that he died at his residence No 246 Joo Chiat Road. The Hokien trader wth the same address as Chew could not be a coincidence. Therefore, could the person in the attempted extortion be Chew Joo Chiat himself?

新年进步

2012-01-01T18:43:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year for 2012

2011-12-31T00:31:00.000-08:00

Wishing You A Wonderful New Year 2012

Seasons' Greetings

2011-12-08T18:43:00.000-08:00

The Truth Must Be Revealed

2011-12-02T02:34:00.000-08:00

The Straits Times on 2 April 1999 published an article that Chew Joo Chiat's great grand-daughter, Irene Tan was interviewed for the book published by the Joo Chiat Citizens Consultative Committee.
I found 3 grave errors in the newspapers' article.

Error No 1: "He (Chew Joo Chiat) is believed to have died in 1950s".

Fact No. 1: He died on 5 February 1926 according to his tombstone and his obituary.

Error No. 2: "He (Chew Joo Chiat) had only one child, the late Chew Quee Neo".

Fact No. 2: "He had 2 sons, Chew Cheng Liam 周清廉 Chew Cheng Swee 周清水 and 3 daughters, Chew Quee Neo 周桂娘 Chew Siang Neo 周羡娘 and Chew Su Lan 周素蘭

Fact No. 1 and 2 can be found on Chew Joo Chiat's tombstone. Chew Quee Neo's name and Chew's two other daughters' names were also inscribed on it.

Error No 3: "In his heyday, Mr Chew was dubbed the King of Katong because of his wealth".

Fact No 3: Chew Joo Chiat was never dubbed the King of Katong during his life time. There was no evidence to substantiate the claim. The name King of Katong first appeared in the Straits Times article from the interview with her. Its second appearance was in the book "Joo Chiat a living legacy". Now you can see it in a poster, magazine and websites.

I shall feel elated if it is true that my great grand-father, Chew Joo Chiat had been dubbed the King of Katong.

Passing The Batton

2011-11-16T04:28:00.000-08:00

Chew Joo Chiat my great grand-father and also a Singapore pioneer was buried at Bukit Brown Cemetery on 11 February 1926. After his death his eldest son Chew Cheng Liam (my grandpa) and his brother Chew Cheng Swee observed the traditional Qing Ming Jie (情明节）or Tomb Sweeping Festival Day every year. They visited the tomb and paid the workers around there to sweep the tomb clean including removing the overgrown vegetations. Cooked food and cakes were offered on the alter fronting the tombstone, followed by burning of joss sticks and prayer. Lastly joss papers representing gold and silver were burned for the deceased to use in the other world.
After the death of his two sons, Qing Ming Jie Festival tradition for the family was continued annually by the descendants of his second son. I have no idea why his eldest son's family members did not carry on with the tradition.

I was very keen to visit my great grandpa's tomb but non of the descendants from my grandpa knew the site. The opportunity came in 2008 when I made contact with an uncle (Chew Cheng Swee's son). During the 2009 Qing Ming Festival my uncle and his son showed me the way to Chew Joo Chiat's tomb. On looking at the tomb, many thoughts passed through my mind. One was how he being a pauper had succeeded to become a millionaire. My final thought was how many of Chew Joo Chiat's descendants know of their roots especially their family tree in Singapore begins with him. I am building Chew Joo Chiat's family. There are now about 200 and is still adding.

In September 2011 I guided my two young cousins Ivan and Gregory to our great grandpa's tomb. It was not an easy task to search for the site based on my memory of two years ago. Luckily my memory was still good and I managed to find the route to the tomb. Our search was made easier by directional sign with arrow pointing. They were provided by courtesy of the Asia Paranormal Investigators to the tomb sites of most Singapore past pioneers. By following two more such directional signs, we found the tomb. There was a notice hanging at the side of the tomb that gave the name of the deceased, his date of death plus a brief of his family history.

Chew Joo Chiat's tomb was covered with overgrown vegetation and creepers, except for the tombstone and the cemented frontage. The main tombstone had only Chinese characters. The names of his children and grand children were carved on it. I saw my dad's name there. Two small side tablets, one on each side written in English with red paint showed his date of death. We took many pictures and video clips. They will become family teasures in future when the destruction of Bukit Brown Cememtery is completed. The authority had already planned to construct a dual four-lane road through Bukit Brown in 2013. Later on the cemetery would become a housing estate for the living.

I am now passing the baton to my two young cousins. My next visit will be with my immediate family members. My daughter has shown interest. I may get one of my sibblings to come along. I hope the authority will preserve Bukit Brown Cemetery as Singapore's heritage site so that my relay team as well as others can keep on running.

Bukit Brown Cemetery gate at Lorong Halwa

Narrow path leading to Chew Joo Chiat's tomb

Tracing Chew Joo Chiat Family Tree

2011-09-17T00:12:00.000-07:00

It is difficult to build a large family tree where there are many extended families. I know of many relatives when young but have lost contact with them over the years. It is easy to start a family tree beginning with your own family members. I know all their particulars and have all their photos too.

Bonding of cousins

Meeting of the cousins
Re-establishing contact with lost relatives was not easy. It was nearly 50 years ago that I last saw my 3 uncles and an aunt. In 2008 I discovered their whereabout on a sad occasion. My youngest uncle died and I saw his obituary in the newspapers. I attended his wake. My 2 older uncles recognised me and we had a chat. My surprise was to find so many young cousins whom I had never meet. They were about my children's age. In fact, we did not know that each other existed until that day. Fortunately they were keen on Chew Joo Chiat's family tree. Our grandpa died before they were born. So, they depended on me for feedback on family history. We met thrice at different restuarants for get together and bonding.

Chew Joo Chiat's tombstone

I had a hazy idea concerning the number of Chew Joo Chiat's children. An uncle from his maternal side recorded in National Archives oral history said that Chew Joo Chiat had 6 sons and 4 daughters. It was later published in the book 'Joo Chiat a living legacy'. My grandma when she was alive gave me a different figure. In 2009 I visited Chew's grave for the first time. I found from his tombstone he had only 2 sons and 3 daughters. Their names were also inscribed on it. So, tombstone is another avenue to trace and verify family members.

Blogging also helps to find lost relatives. A number of people with Chew surname who read my blog asked me whether we were related. From them I discovered relatives in Australia, Ireland and Malaysia besides US, UK and Singapore. I also found out that one of my grand aunt married the late Tan Siew Sin, former Finance Minister of Malaysia.

Family history could also be traced from newspapers, books, journals etc. My research was done at Lee Kong Chiang Reference Library.

Joo Chiat A Heritage Town

2011-02-20T01:16:00.001-08:00

Congratulations to Joo Chiat for becoming Singapore's first Heritage Town. The National Heritage Board is funding the area's plan to showcase more of its legacy. Thanks to Miss Sandra Helen Vatsaloo and her team's hard work and impressive submission that won the award. Three cheers to Joo Chiat!

Year of the Golden Rabbits

2011-01-27T06:29:00.000-08:00

http://timesofmylife.wordpress.com

Then & Now Joo Chiat (2)

2011-01-18T07:01:00.000-08:00

Many prewar buildings in Joo Chiat had been demolished and replaced by modern ones. Fortunately an old building built in 1916 situated at Joo Chiat Road/East Coast Road junction still stands. It is now under URA conservation.

Then

Now

In the 1950s Joo Chiat Road/Joo Chiat Lane junction was like a market place every morning. Unlicensed hawkers set up make shift stalls to sell fish, pork and vegetables. Housewives took the opportunity to meet and gossip while doing marketting. By midday all the hawker stalls simply disappeared into thin air. Such was the unwritten rule understood by the unlicensed hawkers.

Then - Photo credit: National Archives Singapore

Now

Joo Chiat Lane looks so much different now compared to the 1950s photo. The lane is very clean and uncluttered with hawker stalls. At the background a temple building has extended upwards and broader. It belongs to the well known Kwan Im Tng Temple at Tembeling Road

Then & Now Joo Chiat (1)

2011-01-17T08:06:00.000-08:00

In the early 20th century, the main thoroughfare between Geylang Serai and the East Coast was known as Confederate Estates Road. It was a dirt road suitable for bullock carts. Later it was taken over by the Municipality who constructed a proper road for motor vehicles. In 1917 the Confederate Estates Road was renamed as Joo Chiat Road
Below pictures show Joo Chiat Road's transformation from a coconut plantation to its present state.

Then

Now

Seasons Greetings

2010-12-28T01:47:00.001-08:00

Wishing All Bloggers and Viewers

A Happy New Year 2011!

Joo Chiat Road Past & Present

2010-11-16T06:21:00.000-08:00

Starting from last year, I noticed that many Singaporeans were interested in Joo Chiat. They were university and polytechnic students, IE trainee teachers, club members, company staff as well as new residents. They asked me for interviews and walk about Joo Chiat regarding their Joo Chiat projects. Their interests were Joo Chiat history, Peranakan culture and buildings conservation in the area. I was glad that Joo Chiat had generated so much interest and acceded to all their requests.

In February this year, the Rotary Club of Jurong Town invited Tony Tan of Betel Box Hostel and myself to give a presentation on Joo Chiat to their members at Tanglin Club. This was followed by a walking tour of Joo Chiat recently.

Joo Chiat Road has changed a lot over the years. I have many memories of Joo Chiat for I grew up there. Each time I passed the vacant land where my home once stood, my mind would flashed many years back recalling the sights and sounds of yester-years.

Pic 1 below shows my fomer house on the right with a trishaw parked there. Every morning before the cock crowed, house wives walked passed my house for their marketing at Joo Chiat market. The click clock sound from their wooden clogs was music to my ear. It also served as a natural alarm clock for me to get up for school and later for work at my office. Another sight and sound were from the itinerant hawkers setting up stalls on the recess fronting my house. House wives stopped over to have breakfast and gossip about friends and families. I could also hear some of them haggling with the roadside hawkers over their purchases. This part of Joo Chiat Road had charm and character as seen in the picture. There were cyclists and people walking on the road. A large tree by the roadside provided shade. The gable wall of the building had windows for lighting and ventilation and also for viewing. Not any more now since Joo Chiat market had been demolished and all roadside hawkers had been resited. Furthermore, Joo Chiat Road is now a one-way street. The block of houses where I lived before together with those fronting the big tree had been demolished and is now a vacant land (pic 2).

Pic 1. Joo Chiat Road between Joo Chiat Terrace and Geylang Serai in 1968

Pic 2. Same site and angle as in pic 1 above. Old buildings gone and now a vacant land

Pic 3 Policeman directing traffic in 1968 at Joo Chiat Road/Geylang Serai junction

Joo Chiat Road junction where the four roads (Joo Chiat Road/Changi Road/Geylang Serai/Geylang Road) converge, has changed. In the 1960s there was a policeman (picture above) to direct traffic at peak hours. Now traffic lights regulate the flow of traffic.

Pic 4. 1960 street map - credit to Singapore Survey Dept

There were also 2 wet markets at the corner of Joo Chiat Road and Changi Road. Changi market was facing Changi Road and Joo Chiat market was facing Joo Chiat Road. The 2 markets were separated by a narrow lane as in pic 4. Changi market was very popular with the people living in Geylang Serai, because things were cheaper there than in Joo Chiat market. In late 1970 the 2 wet markets were demolished for the construction of Joo Chiat Complex (pic 5) which is now the new icon at Joo Chiat Road and Changi Road junction.

Pic 5. Joo Chiat Complex facing Changi Road

Pic 6. Joo Chiat Road and Geylang Road corner

Above picture shows a 2 storey building at the junction of Joo Chiat Road and Geylang Road. The ground floor was a coffee shop with a few food stalls. One of them was the famous goreng pisang (banana fritters) stall and opened for business only for a few hours a day. Often there was a long queue of regulars. Behind the shop was a backlane. It was deserted during the day but at night both sides of the lane were lined with hawker stalls and crowded with people seeking yummy food, such as Indian rojak, soup kambing, mee rebus, soto ayam, satay and kueh kueh (Malay cakes) highly delightful to the taste. My favourite goreng pisang was pisang rajah. Its sweetness went very well with the slightly bitter taste of kopi O. At night the aroma of satay from the stalls made me yearned for them. Furthermore, it was very hard to resist the succulent taste of bbq beef, mutton and chicken.

Pic 7 Same site as in pic 6. Joo Chiat Road and Geylang Road corner

Picture 1, 3 & 6 credit to National Archives of Singapore.

Another Walk Down Memory Lane

2010-10-28T23:53:00.000-07:00

On Thursday 28 October 2010 I walked down Joo Chiat memory lane one more time. I acceded to a request for an interview by a seocnd year student in the Faculty of Real Estate, National University of Singapore. He is doing a project about building conservation and urban planning in Joo Chiat. We met at the junction of Joo Chiat Road/Dunman Road. After our conversations we walked along Joo Chiat Road towards Geylang Serai to view some of the conserved Peranakan shophouses and terraced houses. I also showed him the sites where some old buildings with archtectural significant and styles once stood but has now been replaced by modern buildings.

When we arrived at a block of 3 storey building bounded by Joo Chiat Road/a big drain and Onan Road, I pointed out to him that previously a bungalow with large compound occupied that entire block of building. The property was then own by a Chinese towday known as towkay kelong because he had many fishing stakes off Marine Parade beach. In 1959 a fish jetty was built for the fishermen to bring their catch for sale to the

fish mongers in Joo Chiat and Changi markets. The jetty was directly opposite the end part of Joo Chiat Road.

Fish Jetty

We continued our walk. When we came to the vacant land between Joo Chiat Terrace and Joo Chiat Complex, I was overwhelm with nostalgia. On this empty land once stood the house that I grew up. Behind my house was an attap kampong where some of my childhood friends lived. We played marbles, gasing and flied kites together in the open ground near an old school. Chew Joo Chiat also had his residence on the same plot of vacant land. His house was a 3 storey building with a front balcony at the top level facing Joo Chiat Road. Across the road directly opposite his house, he built a permanent wayang stage (Chinese opera house) and engaged Teochew hi (opera troupe) to perform shows during his birthday. He watched the shows from the balcony with his family and friends. In 1980s all the buildings on the vacant land were acquired by the authority for development. But todate it remains an empty land. Building conservation status in Singapore started in 1970. In 1993, more than 20 years later Joo Chiat area was granted the conservation status. Since the URA has no specific plan to develop the land for so long, why was it necessary to demolish Chew's residence then? The building could have been conserved to show case its historical significant. It is no use crying over spilt milk, but I am just thinking aloud.

Chew Joo Chiat's residence once stood on the empty land

Teochew opera

Elevation Plan of wayang stage

Foor Plan of Chew Joo Chiat's residence

A Malay Grandson

2010-09-06T19:09:00.000-07:00

My Grand Father

I am searching for one of Chew Joo Chiat's grandson. He is my father's half brother and also my uncle. The differnece is, his mother is a Malay. Nevertheless, he is still my uncle and a close relative. He has a Chinese name but later changed it to a Malay name. The last I saw him was when his father (my grandpa) passed away in 1947. He came to pay his last respect to his father. His last known address was at Jalan Eunos. It is more than half a century ago and I am sure he had moved to a new address. He and his family deserve a place in Chew Joo Chiat's family tree which I am still building. Any of his family members or anyone who knows this family can contact me.

The Peranakan Town

2010-08-23T08:29:00.000-07:00

In the recent issue of the Peranakan magazine I was surprised to learn that there was so much talk about making Joo Chiat a Peranakan Town. It is most appropriate to give Joo Chiat this honour for the Peranakan culture is very much alive here. Joo Chiat district has rich heritage of Peranakan buildings with mixed motifs of different cultures. There are Peranakan antique shops, tailors making sarong kebaya, many Nonya food restuarants and the Peranakan community. Now there is a forging of ties between the Peranakan Association and the Joo Chiat community club to take the Peranakan culture to a wider community and eventually making Joo Chiat a Singapore Peranakan hub.

There are organisations in Singapore that keep Peranakan culture and traditions alive. The most outstanding are the Peranakan Association and Gunong Sayang. Less known is a small group of Peranakan senior citizens in Marine Parade formed in 2009 to actively promote their culture and traditions. They are members of Good Life, an organisation sponsored by the Catholic Welfare Association for senior citizens in Marine Parade. The group consists of Peranakan women age from 70 to 80 plus. They dressed in sarong kebaya to sing and dance at functions such Christmas, Lunar New Year and recently Singapore National Day. All the 3 events were graced by Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong. During the Christmas party at Block 34, SM Goh went up the stage to dance rongeng with the elderly bibiks.

The group is now looking for volunteer musicians to accompany their singing and dance performance. Can anyone help?

Pictures and video of Lunar New Year 2010

Pictures and video of Christmas 2009

KING OF KATONG

2010-07-02T05:25:00.000-07:00

"Chew Joo Chiat came to be known as the undisputed King of Katong in the 1930s" said Chew's grandson Lee Beow Guan in the book JOO CHIAT a living legacy. The book was published in 2001 by the Joo Chiat Consultative Committee in association with the National Archives of Singapore.

The National Library of Singapore used the title The King of Katong in a poster to advertise my talk there on 30 August 2008. The topic of my talk was 'how I traced my family history' and not on the King of Katong in particular. The next organisation to use the phrase 'King of Katong' was the Joo Chiat Grassroots Organisations in its 5th issue Apr-Jun 2010 quarterly newsletters to Joo Chiat Constituency residents. Copy of the newsletter is shown below.

As Chew's great grandson, I am very proud of him being known as the King Katong. But my intuition told me it could not be true. I am a very close member of Chew's family and I have not heard of it mentioned by my parents or grand parents when they were still alive. In the case of how Joo Chiat Road got its name, the matter was talked about from one generation to another. My grand son was so proud of his heritage that he told his teacher about it. My conscience was pricking me without probing the matter further. Finally I decided to investigate and went to the Lee Kong Chian Reference Library to do my research. I browse throught the micro films, books and publications of Joo Chiat. The result was zero. Therefore, Chew Joo Chiat became the undisputed King of Katong was not substantiated.

Below are some of the articles about Chew Joo Chiat and the roads named after him, but there was no mention that he was known as the King of Katong.

My purpose of this post is tell the true story of Chew Joo Chiat. I noticed some websites still state that Chew Joo Chiat was a wealthy Peranakan land owner when he was a Chinaman.

Reminiscence

2010-02-04T04:11:00.001-08:00

Recently I met Ah Heng, an old Joo Chiat neighbour. We talked about the good old days of more than half a century ago. He was a teenager then living in a kampong behind my house at Joo Chiat Road. As a teenager he did many odd jobs for a living until he landed a job as an assistant cook to Ah Hong, a live-in Peranakan cook to Chew Joo Chiat's daughter who was also my grand aunt. I remembered Ah Hong for he catered 'toh panjang' ( a long table displayed with Peranakan cuisine) lunch at my wedding.

Ah Heng was lucky to be his assistant. Ater a few years he was very skillful at cooking Peranakan food that Guan Hoe Soon, a restaurant at Joo Chiat Road employed him as the chief cook. He left the restaurant's service soon after he got married. The newly wed couple started a Peranakan food catering business inside their house at Pennyfather Road. His food business was a success for the residents of Joo Chiat and Katong loved to eat his cookings. I was one of his regular customers. I remembered often seeing a long queue of people at his door steps waiting to collect the sumptious food in a tingkat (a tiffin carrier) home for dinner. Those who came in motor vehicles some time double parked on the road causing traffic jam at Pennyfather Road as well as the side roads resulting in complaints to the authority. His food catering business at his house was illegal. He closed shop and moved his business to a licensed premises at East Coast Road between Jago Close and Chapel Road. Business was good but age caught up with him. A few years later he retired from the business.

My wife comes from a Peranakan family. When we got married she had no cooking experience at all. Today Peranakan cuisine is her speciality. In the past Chinese New Year reunion dinner she produced a varity of Peranakan cuisine, such as buah kulak, kiam chye arh, itek sioh, babi pontay, sambal udang, bak wan kepentin, arti babi bungkus, ngo hiang, nonya noodle with pineapple salad, curry chicken etc. On new year's day visitors arriving at my place in an unending flow from morning to night. They were served with nonya mee siam, laksa and a few other items.

Years ago I remembered my wife's nephew was the life of the party. He gathered all his young cousins to play a game of dices called 'si gor luck'. He always played the banker while the others bet on the numbers. There was so much excitement and noises when he rolled the dices. All the people who crowded around him shouted in unison 'si gor luck!' which were the winning numbers.

This Tiger Year we shall miss all our guests who visited us annually as we shall be leaving home for a holiday. I am sure they too will miss us. We broke the tradition for the first time to be away from home on Chinese New Year's day. I felt sentimental when viewing past video clips that showed guests at my place on new year's day. I love the crowd, the noises they made as well as their laughters. Below are video clips showing guests during the past Chinese New Year and my wife's Peranakan food.

2009 Chinese New Year guests

My wife's Peranakan cuisine

Joo Chiat Walking Tour

2009-11-18T05:48:00.000-08:00

The Straits Times has a Special Travel page every Tuesday. On Tuesday November 10 2009 it published an article about The Best Travel Experience Award won by Betal Box Backpacker Hostel at Joo Chiat Road. I know the Company's director Tony Tan and sent him a congratulatory message. I was curious to know how a small hostel like Betel Box could outdo the big guys in town. According to him his walking tours of Joo Chiat and Katong took about 4 to 8 hours and could go on to 12 hours including night tour. My elderly foreign friends joined his youthful hostel guests for the Joo Chiat walking tour on Saturday 13 November 2009. For me the Joo Chiat walking tour was my walk down memory lane. The tour group had briefing at Tony's hostel about the three main ethnic groups in the area. He also talked about the Eurasains, the Peranakan in Katong and the holiday bungalows by the sea along the East coast before the WWII.

We left the Betel Box Hostel for our first destination, the Kuan Im Temple at Tembling Road/Joo Chiat Lane junction. I remember the railway lines at Joo Chiat Lane which was disused after the war. On my way to school I used to do balancing act by walking on the metal rail. Kuan Im Temple was another nostalgic place. My grandmother visited the temple quite often and I had to tag along. I had a phobia for the 4 large idols (door gods), 2 on each side of the prayer hall. I liked the wall paintings of the inner halls. The first inner hall paintings on the wall was about filial piety. One painting showed a woman breastfed the mother-in-law during famine while her baby waited by the side. Another showed a son bare his body for the mosquitoes to bite him so that his father lying by the side would be spared. There were altogether 24 filial piety paintings. The inner most hall had wall paintings of hell depicting the 18 types of punishment for sinners.

Our next stop was at Kim Choo Kueh Chang. While Tony was explaining to the group about the meat dumpling and the story behind it, my mind was focusing on an apartment block across the road opposite the shop. Thereat once stood a permanent wayang stage and a Chinese temple facing it. The two buildings were built by my granduncle. Whenever there was a wayang performance I would be there, not to see the show but to watch kids playing tikam tikam ( a game of chance) and hawker selling beh leh ko (malt sugar) by twisting the candy. Another type of beh leh ko could be made into the shape of a fish and frog by blowing the malt sugar into a mould. I liked to watch artist making figurines from dough of various colours. The most expensive and difficult to make was the Chinese warrior and the cheapest was the cockerel figurine.

Now

Before

On our way to Joo Chiat Road we stopped at a fruit shop and Tony bought some mangosteens for the group to eat and experienced our local fruit. We walked passed the vacant land next to Joo Chiat Hotel. Chew Joo Chiat's residence and my former house were on the same vacant land. The place reminded me of my childhood. The lane from the main road and the kampong behind my house was my playground. The two gable walls separated by a lane was my canvas. As a kid I like to draw. Even at my present home I continued to paint on the walls until some time ago.

At Joo Chiat Road Tony took us to the 17th level of an HDB block for a panoramic view of the area. The sky was bright and clear and we could recognise the landmarks far away. Looking downwards we saw the Malay Village, Geylang Serai Market and the former Singapura Theatre. We moved to the right corner of the common corridor to see the eastern part of Singapore. The sea was within view and I could see my point block home at Marine Parade. There was also many ocean going ships anchored near the coast.

It was already passed noon and we had our lunch at Geylang Serai Market food centre. We spent about half an hour there before proceeding to Malay Village. There was nothing of interest in the village. It was almost deserted. We took a few photographs at the main building for souviner. We crossed the road to Haig Road HDB housing estate and Tony bought some Peranakan cakes from Bengawan Solo cake shop. Sheng Siong Supermart was nearby. Tony led the group there to show our foreign guests the live seafood such as fish, crabs, frogs, cockles and others. He bought some mooncakes for the group.

We gathered at a semi-circular gallery to sample all the cakes bought by Tony. He had a story to tell with each type of cake including the moon cake festivals. At this point our walking tour ended. It started at 9.30 am and finished at about 3.30 pm. I have never come across a walking tour that lasted so long (6 hours). It covered only Joo Chiat area. What about Katong? Maybe another 6 hours. It is truely the best travelling experience for the tourists.

Map of Joo Chiat Walking Tour

Elderly group joining the youngster for the walk

Walking tour started from Betel Box Hostel

Kuan Im Temple

Kim Choo Kueh Chang shop

Level 17 panoramic view of the area

Panoramic view looking east and the sea

Geylang Serai Market

Geylang Serai Market food center

Front View of Geylang Serai Market

Malay Village

At Sheng Siong Supermart

End of Joo Chiat Walking Tour

Unique Crossed Road Junction

2009-06-27T02:45:00.000-07:00

Bird's eye view of the unique road junction

This unique crossed road junction refers to four roads of different names converging at the common traffic light junction. The roads are Geylang Serai, Changi Road, Joo Chiat Road and Geylang Road.

Briefly, Geylang Serai was a Malay Settlements before. They lived in kampong houses as shown in the pictures below. After Singapore became independence in 1965, they were resettled to nearby HDB housing estates such as Eunos, Chai Chee and Marine Parade.

Photo credit to the book on Geylang Serai

Photo credit to the book on Geylang Serai

Photo credit to the book on Geylang Serai

Malay Village at Geylang Serai (now)

This was followed by landscape changes in the area. A Malay Village was built on one side of Geylang Serai to showcase the past kampong living of the Malays in the area. On the other side was the Geylang Serai wet market cum food centre. There was no permanent stall. The hawkers in the food centre had to provide their own stalls, tables and chairs. Around the market were 3 blocks of flats with shops on the ground floor.

Photo credit to the book on Geylang Serai

In 2006 due to the redevelopment of the area, the hawkers in Geylang Serai market cum food centre moved to a temporary shed at Sims Ave opposite the Malay Village (picture below).

They were given proper hawker stalls with fixed tables and chairs for customers to eat their food.

Geylang Serai temporary market cum food centre

The landscape at Geylang Serai will change further when the hawkers at the temporary market cum food centre move into their permanent home on 13 July 2009.

New Geylang Serai market cum food centre

Opposite Geylang Serai is Joo Chiat, a predominant Chinese area where most of the shops were Chinese owned. There were a few Indian muslims shops selling provision/spices and shops that ground cereals into flour but not a single Malay shop. There were two wet market adjacent to each other. One was facing Changi Road and the other was facing Joo Chiat Road. Both markets were demolished and is replaced by Joo Chiat Complex, a shopping centre. At Joo Chiat Road opposite Joo Chiat Complex were 2 blocks of pre-war shophouses (picture below) separated by a narrow side lane where Javanese food hawkers took up position every evening to sell satay, mee rebus, mee siam. soto ayam and others.

Photo credit to the book on Geylang Serai

The 2 blocks of shopshouses at Joo Chiat/Geylang Road junction were rebuilt into a 3 and 4 storey buildings with shops on the ground floor, thus completed the changes of the 4 corners at this unique road junction. This crossed roads is also unique not only there are landscape transformations but also changes in business community. The influx of Malay businessmen and entrepreneurs into Joo Chiat is sight never seen before. There are more Malay shops than the Chinese now. Maju lah, Geylang Serai!

Joo Chiat Complex and the new 4 storey shophouses

Business As Usual

2009-06-14T01:51:00.000-07:00

An old Chnese bakery at Joo Chiat
Credit to URAThere was a Chinese bakery at Joo Chiat when I was a school boy. It occupied two shop fronts. Besides the bungalows, it was the only single storey building along this stretch of road. The building was very plain and passers by would not want to have a second look. Whereas its neighbour on both sides were 2 storey peranakan shop houses with motifs and details symbolic of the Peranakan Culture. Curious to know whether the bakery is still there, I visited the place and was pleasantly surprised to find business as usaul for the bakery. Except for the front awning that had been removed, the frontage remained as it was before. The peranakan buildings on both sides had upgraded with new paint works and an extension of another storey at the rear. I went inside the bakery and it appeared that time had stood still. The breads were done maunually except for the electric bitter and the electric oven. Two men were seen working. One was preparing the dough for making breads. The second man was about to put the finished products into the electric oven for baking.

Bread shelves no longer in use
In Joo Chiat area, there were a few Chinese and Indian bakeries before. Today they had all gone except the one mentioned above which is still going strong. But how long more would it lasts I wonder.

Guess the exact location of this bakery

Baking trays, electric bitter and dough kneading table

Preparing dough for making bread

Putting finished products into the electric oven for baking

Joo Chiat Changing Scene 5

2009-05-29T06:51:00.000-07:00

Site map of the wayang (opera) stage and the Chinese temple at Joo Chiat Place

Last week I took a walk down memory lane to see the changing scenes. At Joo Chiat Place opposite Kim Choo Bak Chang shop there was a permanent wayang (opera) stage of timber and brick with tiled roofing. Its back was towards the road and the front was facing a Chinese temple. The original owner of the two builidings was Chew Joo Chiat's son, Chew Cheng Swee. The wayang or 'teochew hi' (Chinese opera) was performed during the birthday of the gods in the temple and also on certain Chinese festivals. The most popular opera troupes then were the 'lau sai toh' and the 'sar chiak soon'. I understand both had been disbanded some time ago due to poor patronage. The present generations prefer 'ker tai' (singing troupe).

Sugar Art Gold Fish
Photo from Samm's blog post

Dough Figurines Photo from Samm's blog post

During school days I went to the Chinese wayang not to see the performance but to mingle with other kids watching Chinese artists making sugar art figurines and dough art figurines. For sugar art figurines, moulds were used to make the required shapes like gold fish, rabbit etc. As for dough art figurines no mould was needed. The artist made characters from Chinese stories such as Journey To The West, The Three Kingdoms as well as animals. They were very colourful too. The cheapest one was the figurine of a cockerel because it was the easiest and fastest to make. The sugar figurines were edible. The usual way was to lick it like an ice cream. It could not be kept as it would melt or attract ants and insects. The dough figurine was not edible and also could not be kept too long. When the dough dried up the figurine became brittle and pieces of dough dropped off. It became mouldy very fast.

Actual architectural drawing of the wayang stage

Acual architectural drawing of the Chinese temple

The wayang stage has been replaced by an apartment building block with shops on the ground floor. Joo Chiat Gospel Hall has replaced the Chinese temple.

Apartments block with shops on the ground floor
The site was formerly occupied by a Chinese wayang stage

Joo Chiat Gospel Hall
The site was originally a Chinese temple

Another such wayang stage was opposite No 65 Joo Chiat Road where Chew Joo Chiat had his residence. The wayang stage was built by him so that he and his family members could watch the 'teochew hi' (Chinese opera) performance from the third level front balcony. His residence is now an empty field. The wayang stage site is now occupied by a block of shophouses as shown the picture below.

The green field was the site of Chew Joo Chiat's residence and across the road, the shophouses behind the street signboard was the site of the wayang (opera) stage

History of Mountbatten Road

2009-05-10T10:57:00.000-07:00

Pre-war map of Grove Estate

The above map shows clearly the railway line starting from Grove Road to Jalan Eunos. It cuts through Tanjong Katong Road, Haig Road, Joo Chiat Road, Joo Chiat Place and Changi Road.

In 1962 I lived at Tanjong Rhu HDB flats. I drove through Mountbatten Road daily without knowing its history. I became interested only lately when I posted Joo Chiat Railway Line in my blog. It was then that I discovered the railway line started from Kallang Basin at Grove Road (now Mountbatten Road).

Grove Road was renamed as Mountbatten Road after Lord Louis Mountbatten on 1 June 1946. He was in Singapore on 12 September 1945 to receive the surrender of the Japanese Imperial Forces at a ceremony in the Municipal Building (now City Hall).

Grove Road was the main thoroughfare of Grove Estate which was bounded by Tanjong Katong Road/Dunman Road/Geylang River/Grove Road/Fort Road and Katong Park. The estate was mainly a coconut plantation. There was a pineapple factory, a saw-mill and a few small cottage industries. Fronting the sea from Katong Park and Tanjong Katong were many seaside holiday houses owned by foreigners and local tycoons. Grove Hotel and Sanatorium were there too.

Grove Road was a pleasant thoroughfare with shaded trees on both sides. The road ended in a cul-de-sac before Tanjong Katong Road. As more rich people moved to live in Grove Estate, many unique architecural design bungalows were built, each with a large compound. There was no shortage of land as Singapore population then was less than a million. The only inconvenience living there was the constant flood as it was in a low lying area with very poor drainage. Grove Estate was known as the 'ponding area'.

During the Japanese occupation, Grove Road was also known as Japanese Street. After the war, the road was under the jurisdication of the British RAF. The road was closed a number of times which caused inconveniences to the residents who complained to the press. Even after the road was named Mountbatten Road on 1st June 1946 there was still no through road to East Coast Road. In September 1946 about half a mile of the road was opened. Finally in December 1946 it was fully open and vehicles could pass to and from East Coast Road.

Whenever I passed through Mountbatten Road, I like to admire at the old buildings which have distinctive architectural styles especially the early-style bungalows. The area was mainly residential and associated with the rich and wealthy. After 1970s the area has its share of landscape tranformation and lost some of its charm as old bungalows were demolished for modern style buildings. It is fortunate that URA took action in time to conserve some of the pre-war bungalows that are still standing.

Mountbatten Road and Tanjong Katong Road cross section

New style building replace old style bungalows

Old building refurbished

An old unique style bungalow

Another old unique style bungalow

Pre-war majestic building which still maintains its charm

Back To My Roots

2009-04-19T05:18:00.000-07:00

I visited Chew Joo Chiat's grave on Saturday 11 April 2009 morning. Together with me were my uncle and his son, and a female cousin from another Chew family. My uncle was familiar with the location of my great grand-father's grave for he visited the grave annually like a pilgrimage. Our visit that day was still within the Qing Ming Festival (Tomb Sweeping Festival). The burial ground is known as Bukit Brown Cemetery and it is more than one hundred years old. Many graves there have been neglected and in very bad shape. Some were completely covered by overgrown vegetations. I am very glad that my uncle and his family was the only Chew's descendants maintaining his grave. If not for him I was not able to see my great grandfather's grave.

It would be quite a task to find Chew Joo Chiat's grave without the direction of my uncle and his son. The ground was wet, soggy and slippery due to the heavy downpour the day before. Following the well trodden track was easy except to watch out for the muddy water while meandering our way carefully to the site. From the open track we turned right towards the overgrown vegetations and made our way the site. It reminded me of my school days as a boy scout when I had to depend on a compass to hike through thick bushes and overgrowth to reach my destination. Once through the barrier of overgrown vegetations Chew Joo Chiat's grave appeared before us. It was a double tomb grave. One tomb contained the body of Chew Joo Chiat and the other which is still empty was for his peranakan wife. I was told that she was buried at another cemetery.

I examined my great grandfather's tombstone and found the Chinese characters inscribed on it were still legible. It had the names of his 2 sons, 3 daughters and 8 grandchildren. In the book 'Joo Chiat a living legacy' Chew's grandson Lee Beow Guan stated that he had 6 sons and 4 daughters. The number of Chew's children with their names on the tombstone showed that Lee's memory had failed him.
I looked at my great grand-father's tomb and wandered how he came from China to Singapore as a pauper and died a millionaire. My imagination went back to the year 1877 when he arrived here as a 20 year old young man without a penny to his name. But later he became very wealthy owning property, coconut and rubber plantations in various parts of Singapore. According to records, he was also a major share holder of 2 banks (Pacific Bank & Batu Pahat Bank) and two tin mining companies in Malaya (now Malaysia) and presided at their meetings. He died on 5th February 1926.

Dirt track to Chew Joo Chiat's grave

Going through the overgrown vegetations

Offering prayer and burning joss papers

A photo for souvenir

A double tomb grave

Empty tomb of Chew Joo Chiat's peranakan wife

Joo Chiat Railway Line

2009-04-01T13:35:00.000-07:00

Map provided by Mok Ly Yng. Railway line from Kallang Aerodrome site to Kampong Batak (Kaki Bukit) quarry

Joo Chiat Railway Line

As a school boy I like to play at the disused railway track between Joo Chiat Place and Joo Chiat Terrace. I balanced myself on the metal rail and walked as far as I could to test my ability. Sometimes I competed with my friends for fun. The railway line came from Tanjong Katong and cut through Joo Chiat. I remember there were road crossings gates at Joo Chiat Road, Tembeling Road and Joo Chiat Place. After the war all the road crossings together with most of the railway tracks were removed. Today not a single trace is left.

The history of Joo Chiat railway line is connected to the construction of Kallang Aerodrome in 1932. Kallang basin then was a huge tidal swamp and needed to be reclaimed. A railway line for a light train was constructed from the proposed aerodrome to Jalan Eunos earth quarry. Earth was transported in rectangular buckets from the earth quarry to Kallang Basin swamp. Level crossing gates were put up at all the roads where the train crossed. In Joo Chiat there were 3 road crossings. They were at Joo Chiat Road, Tembeling Road and Joo Chiat Place. The land reclamation at Kallang Basin took about 4 years (1932 to 1936) to complete. For the railway line that crossed Joo Chiat, it was mission accomplished.

The Straits Times 8 March 1933 reported: His Excellency (Sir Shenton Thomas Governor of Singapore) boarded one of the ordinary locomotives and rode on the footplate to Jalan Eunos quarry.

Accidents at railway line level crossings
The newspapers had regular advertisements cautioning the public on the level crossings. Inspite of the warnings there were accidents thereat and some were quite serious including death.

The Straits Times 18 October 1933 An Indian contractor Mariappan Ombris was knocked down by a light railway train at the level crossing in Joo Chiat Road. Both his legs were severed and he had severe head injuries. He was taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital where he died a few hours later.

The Straits Times 3 May 1934 OnTuesday morning a lorry laden with bricks crashed into the gates of Grove Road level crossings as they were being lowered ..............

The Straits Times 16 June 1934 The fatal level crossing smashed on the Tanjong Katong Road on the night of May 22 had a sequel yesterday when the driver of a lorry which was said to have gone through the gates at 'terrible speed' was brought up in the Fourth Magistrate Court.

During the Second World War, a bungalow and the railway track behind the shophouses at Joo Chiat Place nearby Everitt Road was destroyed by a Japanese bomb. The bombed site is now part of Legenda JC condominium

Background building facing Joo Chiat Road was a vacant land where the railway line came to Joo Chiat from Tanjong Katong.

At Joo Chiat Lane above the railway line was on the left side of the road.

The line cut across Tembling Road to the opposite side of Joo Chiat Lane. About 100 meters from the junction it turned left towards Joo Chiat Place/Everitt Road juntion.

Behind the yellow building was the bombed site of a bungalow and the railway line.

The railway line cut across Joo Chiat Place to the opposite side of Everitt Road which was then a vacant land.

History of Joo Chiat Road

2009-03-12T05:19:00.000-07:00

Above pictures added on 27 Dec 2010 to show the 'Then, Then & Now' Joo Chiat Road.
Top picture - Joo Chiat Road when it was known as Confederate Estate Road.
Middle picture - Joo Chiat Road in the early days
Bottom picture - Joo Chiat Road now

Joo Chiat Road
The background building on the left is the former Joo Chiat Police Station

Joo Chiat area is well known to those living in the eastern part of Singapore. Its Peranakan houses have motifs not only depicting Chinese and Malay cultures but also European influences. Its rich peranakan culture and yummy food such as nonya bak chang, tua kua pau, laksa and many others have brought people from other parts of the island to shop and to enjoy the delicious food. It has also become a tourist attraction.
But, how many people knows that Joo Chiat Road was originally called Confederate Estates Road. Most of Joo Chiat area was then known as Confederate Estates, owned by the Little Family (see map below).

Map of Singapore in 1898
In the early 20th century Chew Joo Chiat already owned a vast piece of land in the area for his coconut plantations. The Little Family was then dividing their lands and sold them away in small freehold lots for building houses. Chew increased his land banks by purchasing some of them and later owned the dirt road as well. In 1916 the Municipality wanted to build a proper road from Geylang Serai all the way to the beach where many wealthy people had their holidays houses by the sea. The Municipality wanted to acquire the land from the land owner, Chew Joo Chiat for the purpose. Chew saw the benefit of a road infra structure going through his coconut estates. He bequeathed the land to the authority. In 1917 the dirt road was made up and renamed Joo Chiat Road after Chew Joo Chiat for his generosity.
First Objection To The Naming of Joo Chiat Road Most residents who had been living in the area for a long time was unhappy that Confederate Estates Road had been changed to Joo Chiat Road. A resident then wrote to the press (ST 29 March 1917).

Second Objection To The Naming of Joo Chiat Road
On 6 October 1948 a person using a pseodonym 'New Gap' wrote to the press as shown below.

Comparing the two complaints, the first appeared sincere but the second had an axe to grind. His remark " who or what was Joo Chiat anyway" showed his true colour.

Reply to New Gap (ST 8 October 1948) from Chew Joo Chiat's grandson

Some years ago an old resident in Joo Chiat was so sad that there was no Katong constituency. He said "Actually Joo Chiat is part of Katong. In the old days, no Joo Chiat is only a road, not a constituency". His statement was not substantiated. Actually the reverse is true. Joo Chiat had been a single ward constituency before and after the PAP came into power. Katong was not even on the map of Singapore. It was only referred to by words of mouth. Joo Chiat/Katong common boundary was at Tanjong Katong Road. The book 'The Singapore House 1819 - 1942' by Lee Kip Lin mentioned in page 119 that by 1928 Katong had grown to the extend that the Inspector-General of Police, H Fairburn, remarked: "The development of the area from Katong to Joo Chiat, which had been so rapid in the past two years, promise to continue, and from every point of view one sees the necessity of providing of a sub divisional station in that suburb. The suburb at present possess no police station."
It is obvious that Katong was then encroaching into Joo Chiat. We can now say that Katong is part of Joo Chiat.

JOO CHIAT IS A LIVING LEGACY. WILL THERE BE ANOTHER OBJECTION TO JOO CHIAT ROAD ?

Peranakan

2009-01-28T07:11:00.000-08:00

Who is a Peranakan or what is the definition of a Peranakan? Chew Joo Chiat was born in China and came to Singapore to seek his fortune. He became wealthy and married a Peranakan lady. I read a number of websites which stated that Chew was a wealthy Peranakan land owner. I am a first generation local born and married a nonya's daughter. Does it make me a baba? I am proud to be associated with the Peranakan and its culture. In fact, the Peranakan adhered more to the Chinese tradition than the Chinese. I love Peranakan cuisine and on pre Chinese New Year's eve, we had 'toh panjang'.

More Singaporeans came to know the Peranakan culture through the TV series of "Little Nonya". Sarong Kebaya business has also improved. I managed to get one suit for my grand daughter to put on Chinese New Year day. Below are family photos showing my connection with the nonyas and babas.

Chew Joo Chiat's daughter, my grand aunt

My wife when she was a teenager

My wife's uncle and aunt in Melaka

My mother-in-law sitting in the centre with relatives around her

My wife and I are on the right

My grand daughter, the little nonya

Trophy won by wife for the best dressed nonya

Reflection

2008-12-04T06:06:00.000-08:00

Recently I walked down memory lane along Joo Chiat Road where I once lived. I stared hard at the vacant field and visualised the scene as it was before. My thought went to second half of 1940. I was living at No 73 Joo Chiat Road then. No 71 was a coffee powder shop with a large grinding machine that was very noisy when the shop opened for business in the morning. Then came the Indian grinding mill that ground spices and rice into flour. The 2 grinding machines were equally noisy. Peace finally came when it changed to Chinses medical shop. The last trade was a mixture of charcoal, fancy fishes and song birds.

The shop front of my house was let out to a dentist. Between the road and the shop front was a vacant space that could park 3 cars. Every morning the area was occupied by illegal hawers selling vegetables, eggs and food for breakfast. My house was a refuge for them when the Hawkers Department raiding squad arrived.

No 75 was a tyre shop as well as a petrol kiosk with a single Mobil petrol pump by the roadside, marked X in the picture. At that time there was only one grade of petrol. Later the owner changed the trade to selling and repairing of bicycles. The last business was an electrical shop. No 77 was a textile shop. In those days, very few Malays came to Joo Chiat for shopping. So the hard working owner took bales of textile on his shoulder and a measuring ruler in his hand to Geylang Serai to service his Malay customers.

Before

After

Between the No 67 and No 71 was a lane that led to a kampong behind the shophouses. The lane was my playground and the sandy ground was my drawing board. The kampong had about 2 dozens attap huts with a mixed population of Chinese, Malay and Indian. There was a public standpipe for the people to draw water for drinking, cooking and washing. At the edge of the kampong were 3 communal bucket latrines. I went to the kampong quite often to play dum (a game of a chess board) with my Malay friends. I also learned to speak Malay from them.

I was still staring at the vacant land and there was no buildings, no hawkers and no kampong. The landscape has been transformed.

Joo Chiat Road

2008-11-01T07:09:00.000-07:00

In the 60s at Joo Chiat Road and Changi Road junction, the roadsides were always congested with illegal hawkers stalls as shown in the picture below. People crowding around the hawker stalls also contributed to traffic obstructions. As a result there were a number of minor accidents involving motor vehicles and pedestrians. When that happened, it was better for the motorist not to stop the car to assist the injured but to drive straight to the police station to make a report or returned to the place of accident with the police. There were instances where motorists were beaten up by hooligans who loitered around the area.

Joo Chiat Road and Changi Road junction.

My favourite gorent pisang (banana fritters) stall was in the coffee shop at the corner of Joo Chiat Road and Geylang Road. It was within walking distance from my house. The hawker's operating hours were very short. Customers who went there late were disappointed. There was no queque like we see today. People just crowded round his stall.

The sidelane between the 2 blocks of buildings were selling only muslim cooked food. A variety of Malay food were sold there such as satay, mee rebus, soto ayam, lonton and other cooked food. There was no piped water supply and no washing area. The hygiene was very poor and yet nobody complained.

Joo Chiat Road looking towards east coast.

Source: National Archives of Singapore

No 71 Joo Chiat Road shophouse with illegal extension.

The shop was originally selling charcoal. Due to poor business, an illegal shed was constructed in front of the shop to sell fancy fish and birds. The owner also had a similar stall at the side wall of Hollywood Theatre.

Joo Chiat Road towards Changi Road

No 73 Joo Chiat Road

Old timers living in Joo Chiat should remember that fronting this house was a hawker stall selling Hainanese satay and porridge at night till very late. It was an icon in Joo Chiat Road at night in those bygone days.

Joo Chiat Road shophouses before

The same site now without the shophouses

The background shows the Joo Chiat Complex multi-storey carpark. The open air Lily Cinema was located there. Movie goers had to sit on hard wooden benches. It was free sitting and seats were reserved by tying handkerchiefs to the benches. I had a friend living behind the cinema. His father had erected a timber platform high enough to watch the show. It was meant for his family members but friends and neighbours also went there to see the movie. As a result, it was always crowded. I went there only when I could not get a ticket to the cinema. They are all but a memory now.

Chew Joo Beng aka Chew Koh Beng

2008-10-09T19:45:00.000-07:00

Chew Koh Beng and Chew Joo Chiat are brothers. Koh Beng was a wealthfy land and coconut plantation owner not only in Singapore but also in Indonesia. His family home was a bungalow at the junction of Joo Chiat Place and Everitt Road. It was bombed by a Japanese plane in WWII. During the Japanese occupation the land was used as a factory producing metal nails and screws. Now it is part of the Lengenda condominium. After the war some of the family members continued to live at Joo Chiat Place in one of the shophouses. Now they are not there anymore.

Site plan showing the location of Chew Koh Beng's bungalow

The two Chew brothers' family form a very large family tree which I am now building. Chew Koh Beng had 7 sons and many grandchildren and great grandchildren. I have many names of the family members but am unable to place them accordingly. Currently, I am communicating with one of his great grandson. I hope by this post, more of Chew Koh Beng's family members would contact me and help me to put up the tree in order. I shall share the family tree with them so that they can pass it on to their children and downwards as a heritage.

Roads to Chew Joo Chiat

2008-09-14T05:29:00.000-07:00

Chew Joo Chiat

The audience

I traced my family history from the following sources:

1. Family members

My grandmother

My grandma brought me up at Joo Chiat family house. Living togther and being close to her, I had the opportunity to hear from her about her father-in-law, Chew Joo Chiat. She said Chew came to Singapore at age 20 years. By then he had four children (2 male and 2 female) in China. She said that after 30 years in Singapore he sent for his 2 sons and their families to join him in Singapore. By then his eldest son (my grand-father) was married and had a daughter and a son. She only knew of Chew's properties in Joo Chiat, Kg Eunos, a rubber estate in Changi and a bank at Batu Pahat. She believed he had other businesses. In those days, kids were supposed to listen and not asked questions. Even when I was an adult, it did not occur to me find out more about my great grand-father. A few years ago I got interested in the story of my great grand-father and did some research.

2. Family documents

Batu Pahat Bank Pte Ltd noticeof meeting

I found 2 personal documents of Chew Joo Chiat. One was his personal cheque book and the other Batu Pahat Bank Pte Ltd notice of meeting to the shareholders dated 27 March 1925. The documents showed that his was one of the banks' Board of Directors. Therefore, he was a banker and a major shareholder of the bank. His cheque book was with a French bank.

3. Chew Joo Chiat's grave

From the grave of the deceased, his tombstone would show the names of his children and grand-children as in the case of Chew Joo Chiat. The tombstone also indicated the date of death as well as the place his home place in China.

4. Books, Publications and Webpages

A book 'Joo Chiat a living legacy' was published by the Joo Chiat Citizen Consultative Committee in association with the National Archives of Singapore. It is about Joo Chiat area in the early 19th century to the present time. There is also a section onl the story of Chew Joo Chiat.

5 Lee Kong Chiang Referene Library

My final research was at Lee Kong Chiang Reference Library. There from the micro films I found that in 1898/9 Chew Joo Chiat built 3 shophouses and 3 attap houses at Geylang Road 3 1/2 ms. They were his earliest properties on record. He achieved this after 21 years in Singapore. There is no record of what business he was doing then. But in 1908, he was a ship chandler at No 5 Philip Street as well as a timber trader at Beach Road. There is also no record when he first owned property in Joo Chiat. But, by 1913 he already owned a large portion of land in Joo Chiat area. In 1916 he had 10 acres of land in Thomson Road and a shophouse at No 19 Weld Road.

You can read Chew Joo Chiat's story at:

http://www.mychewjoochiat.blogspot.com/

My First Experience

2008-09-02T06:19:00.001-07:00

In May 2008, I was invited by the National Library Board to give a talk on 'how I traced my family history'. It was organised to coincide with the launch of the National Library's Singapore Information Research (SIR)- Local History Service. It was scheduled to be held on 30th August 2008 at the National Library. I accepted the invitation without much thought. Then, I realised that it was a mistake. First, I never give a public talk before and therefore, had no experience. Second, I had not enough materials to go on. Third, I need slides to make my presentations. My family members got excited. They were afraid that I'd stammer and tongue tied. I was very calm and started preparing my talk from the middle of July 2008.

For additional materials for the talk, I went to the Lee Kong Chian Reference Library for my research. It has a collection of Singapore newspapers dating from early 1800s and available on microfilm. I spent many days collecting facts and informations about my great-grandfather, Chew Joo Chiat. With the data collected I was able to put my presentation with 22 slides.

In early August 2008, I got a second invitation from the National Library. It was a life talk show with the Media Corp DJ on radio 93.8 FM. The topic was 'Joo Chiat' and was to go 'life' on the morning of 28th August 2008. I gave an affirmative answer and went on the air at the scheduled date and time. Many friends and relatives heard my conversation with the Media Corp DJ over radio 93.8 FM. They congratulated me for talking so clearly and calmly. The success over the radio morning talk show was an encouragement. I also treat it as a trial run for my talk at the National Library two days later.

As I remember

2008-06-12T22:56:00.000-07:00

Picture from Joo Chiat a living legacy

I am blogging the history of the area between Joo Chiat Road and Tembling Road for misterpo who moved in to Joo Chiat about 4 years ago and wanted to know its history. The area is a rectangular piece of land is bounded by Tembling Road/Joo Chiat Terrace/Joo Chiat Road/Joo Chiat Place. It is divided into 4 plots by Joo Chiat Place, Joo Chiat Lane and Koon Seng Road which cut across the area.

The area bounded by Tembling Road/Joo Chiat Terrace/Joo Chiat Road/Joo Chiat Place has a very interesting history as the famous Katong laksa and the ever popular 'poh piah' skins came from there. My grand aunt lived at No 3 Tembling Road. It was a bungalow house with a large compound. One side faced Joo Chiat Terrace. The architectural design is similar to the picture above. Adjoining the other side wall was a row of 5 single storey attap huts. The huts and the land behind them belonged to my grand father. Diagonally opposite the huts was a roadside public standpipe where the people living nearby collected water for drinking, cooking and washing. In the morning it was very crowded with housewives, queue up for water. Empty pails and empty kerosine tins lining up from the standpipe and snaking about 10 metres long was a common sight. Within the row of attap huts was a dwelling cum joss sticks manufacturing business. The joss sticks were all hand made. The finished products were dried on the vacant land across the road opposite the hut. The famous Katong laksa hawker lived in one of the huts. He started as an itinerant hawker. He carried his pot of laksa gravy over a stove and the paraphernalia on each side of a pole across his shoulder. He moved from place to place in Joo Chiat area and finally settled on the five foot way of an eating house at East Coast Road/Ceylon Road junction. The Peranakan in Katong called him 'jangok' whereas the Hokkien referred to him as 'goh ki chiew' because he had a few strands of long hair growing downwards on his chin. When the Hawkers Department took action against unlicensed hawkers in 1970s, he moved inside the eating house to continue his business because the people in Katong loved to eat his laksa. After his demise, his family members branched out along East Coast Road, competing with each other. Now we have a few Katong laksa stalls, all claiming to be the original. Indeed, they are as they came from the same family.

Another well known eatery is the popular 'ang moh' koloh mee. His stall was located at an eating house between Joo Chiat Place and Tembling Road corner. The shop's eating area was small and with a long queue, one must have the patience to wait. At the corner of Joo Chiat Place and Joo Chiat Road was the Chop Ban Seng Wine Merchant. Besides liquor and beer, soft drinks and provisions were also available in the shop. The owner's family lived in the upper floor. I remembered a mama stall behind the wine shop. At Joo Chiat Place there was a Chinese barber shop that cleaned your ears and gave you haircut as well. There were 3 furniture shops. One was owned by a man nick named 'panjang' (meaning long or tall in Malay).

At Joo Chiat Road, opposite the mosque was a timber yard selling building materials. Beside it a narrow lane provided access to the Chinses temple. Next to the timber yard and moving towards Joo Chiat Terrace was a row of 2 storey shophouses. There was an electrical/plumbing shop that also made duplicate keys too. The well known 'poh piah' skins business occupied one of the shops. Next was a shop that provided clothes dyeing services. The clothes were dyed either black or blue for mourners. A carpentary shop that provided carpentary works was also there. The last building was a small coffee shop at the junction of Joo Chiat Road and Joo Chiat Terrace.

The public standpipe at Tembling Road was the first to disappear when piped water was provided in the area. Then the bungalow and the attap huts made way for new buildings.
History of other areas between Joo Chiat and Tembling Road are covered by blog 'Joo Chiat Changing Scene 1 & 2'.

Joo Chiat Changing Scene 4 - The Jetty

2008-05-31T19:39:00.000-07:00

Joo Chiat Jetty was similar to the above picture

Photo from PICAS - Night Scene At Joo Chiat Jetty

How many of us today can still remember the Joo Chiat Jetty? Before the land reclamation at the east coast in 1966, there was no Marine Parade Road. The beach was right in front of the Church of Singapore. I swam in the sea there during my school days. When I was in the upper secondary school, I went to the beach to study under the shade. I enjoyed the ambience which was quiet and breezy during the day. An Indian 'kachang puteh' man named Ah Pao was selling 'kachang puteh' in front of Tung Ling School (now Church of Singapore). I patronised his stall so often that we became friends. Most school children in Katong knew him too. He was an icon to those who frequented the beach.

Joo Chiat jetty was built in late 1950s. It started from the end of Joo Chiat Road and extended into the sea up to where the former Republic Theatre building now stands. The end of the jetty was a square with railings and lightings. In fact, it was a jetty cum restaurant. It functioned as a jetty during the day and seafood business at night. The seafood restuarant was very popular with the people who lived in the area. They, not only enjoyed a good dinner but also the sea breeze, and the waves providing music to their ears. It holds fond memories to those who partied there, especially the night revellers. Unfortunately, the jetty had to be domolished owing to the land reclamation scheme at the east coast in 1966.

Joo Chiat Changing Scene 3 - Story Teller

2008-05-06T06:32:00.000-07:00

Story Teller picture from PICAS

Joo Chiat Square

Joo Chiat Square is located at the junction of Joo Chiat Road and Joo Chiat Place. It is a cemented vacant land as shown in the above photo. On 23 Decembeer 2006, Joo Chiat MP Chan Soo Sen launched Joo Chiat Square that will be a gathering point for the community for weekend activities every Saturday for the next several years.

Before the place becomes Joo Chiat Square, there was a Shell Petrol Station which was one of Joo Chiat Road's landmark since 1950s. Illegal car rental was very popular then, especially in the eastern part of the island. They were also called Pa Ong Chia in Hokkien. Unlike the pirate taxis, they did not cruise on the roads to pick up passengers. The cars were parked at the petrol station waiting for hirer. When business was at its peak, there were about 40 cars for hire. Car rental rates were $1.50 per hour or $15.00 per day on week days and $2.00 per hour or $20.00 per day for Saturday and Sunday. Car models were Morris Minor, Morris Oxford, Hillman Minx and Vaxhual. They were all British made cars as there was no Japanese car then.

To hire a car was easy. You only had to show your identity card or a driving licence for record purposes in case the hirer absconded. The cars were usually hired out for social uses. But there were instances that such cars were used for robbery. A friend of mine who had a 'pah ong chia' business there, had the unfortunate experience. He was not aware that a robber had hired his car to rob until detectives from the Criminal Investigation Department called on him. Pa Ong Chia business stopped a few years before Shell Petrol Station ceased operation.

Before the second world war, Joo Chiat Square was a vacant field. Every evening men gathered there to listen to story telling. They sat on improvised benches around the story teller just like the top photo. My grand uncle was an avid listener of Chinese stories. I was about 4 years old then, and every evenings I would ride on his shoulders to the story telling site which was within walking distance from my home. When the story telling started, there was complete silence and the audience were captivated. I was bored sitting beside my grand uncle with nothing to play. Anyway, I enjoyed the two way trip riding on his broad shoulders.

Joo Chiat Changing Scene 2 - Post Office

2008-04-21T04:53:00.000-07:00

(Before)
Photo from Joo Chiat A Living Legacy

(now)
An access road to Tembling Road Carpark

Joo Chiat Post Office was the only stand by itself 2 storey building at Joo Chiat Road. It was situated between No 159 and No 169, and was one of the landmarks in Joo Chiat Road for many years. The building's life span ended when it was demolished to make way for an access road to the carpark at Tembling Road and Joo Chiat Place junction as show in the above photo.

The building itself has an interesting history. It was built before WWII and was first used as a licensed retail opium shop. Joo Chiat at that time had migrant Chinese workers and many were opium addicts. Opium could be bought by individual to smoke at home, as my grand uncle did or by opium den operators to cater for poorer opium addicts. Smoking paraphernalia consisted of a long pipe with a small bowl fitted near the end of the pipe. An oil lamp is needed to heat and melt the opium as the addict inhaled the smoke from the pipe. The shop ceased selling opium when Singapore was occupied by Japan.

After WWII trading of opium was banned in Singapore and the building was converted into a toddy (palm wine) retail shop. Toddy is an alcoholic beverage obtained from the saps of coconut trees. The saps collected were allowed to ferment for a day to turn it into toddy. It catered mainly to the Indian daily rated workers. A municipal labourer quarters was just behind the toddy shop. Majority of the occupiers were Indians who worked for the Municipality. The toddy shop opened in the afternoon, usually after the labourers working hours. Drinking toddy was a way of life for them, especially after a hard day's work in the hot sun as road sweepers, trench diggers, pipes layers and as mason. It was a common sight to see some of them falling to the ground, lying on the roadside and five foot ways, dead drunk.

The final occupant of the building was the Joo Chiat Post Office. The ground floor was used for postal services and the upper floor was supposed to be living quarters for the Post Master. I am not sure if he and his family ever live there. The above photo of Joo Chiat Post Office was taken in 1970.

Joo Chiat Changing Scene 1 - Old Railway Line

2008-04-01T01:08:00.000-07:00

Railway line in Joo Chiat

I was brought up at Joo Chiat Road near Geylang Serai. In 1957 I moved to live at Kg. Eunos. Since then, many landmarks in the area had changed. The house where I grew up had been acquired by HDB and is now a vacant land. Joo Chiat Market was replaced by Joo Chiat Complex. Nearby was an open air Lily cinema. In its place, now stands a multi-storey car parks for the shopping complex. Nam Wah coffee shop where I used to have beer with friends is now Joo Chiat Hotel.

Some very old land marks in the area had been lost completely. Before WWII there was a railway line in the area. Guillemard Road was then unknown. The whole stretch was a railway track. It cut through a few roads before joining the railway track at Joo Chiat Lane. After passing Tembling Road (opposite the temple) it made a turn behing a two storey house and continued towards Everitt Road/Joo Chiat Place junction. From there it went all the way to Jalan Eunos quarry.

During the Japanese occupation there was no train service as some of the railway tracks damaged by bomb was not repaired. After the war the disused railway land was replaced by housing developments. The railway line in Joo Chiat is now history.

My Chew Joo Chiat Story Part II

2008-03-10T04:06:00.000-07:00

Chew Joo Chiat's Other Businesses

In 1904 he had a shop Chop Seng Chiong at Beach Road. In 1908 he was a ship chandler with an office at Philip Street. He supplied provisions and spare parts to ships that called at Singapore. In the same year he had a timber trading business with a saw mill at Beach Road. He imported logs from the mainland and Indonesia and exported them to the west.

In 1919 he started the Pacific Bank in mainland Malaya. He was the bank's first chairman and presided at the meeting. The following year he and his friends opened the Batu Pahat bank in Johore. He was one of the Board of Directors and a major shareholder. In 1920 he was the chairman of two tin mines in Trengganu. They were the Trengganu Corporation and the Ulu Pacca Corporation. He presided in all their meetings. They were incorporated in Singapore and their office was at 96 Market Street Singapore.

Above document is a page from a publication on The Developing Economies of Malaysia. It showed that in 1919 Chew Joo Chiat was the first Board Chairman of the Pacific Bank

My great-grand father, Chew Joo Chiat became a very wealthy land and property owner, not only in Joo Chiat but also in Eunos, Changi, Thomson Road and Weld Road. He also owned a rubber estate (64 acres) at Bukit Timah Road and another at Changi Road. Inspite of his wealth he never own a car. He rather walked to his estates and back daily.

Chew Joo Chiat's Family
Chew Joo Chiat lived in the countryside in China with his parents who worked in the farm. He married young and by the age of 20 years old, he had 2 sons and 2 daughters. Towards the end of the Qing's Dynasty life in China was very difficult due to war and corruption by the local goverment. Many in the provinces of south China left the country for south east asia. Chew Joo Chiat was among the migrant workers and landed in Singapore in 1877. He was penniless but worked very hard to fulfill his dream of making a fortune and to better the life of his family back home. He was thrifty and saved money to start a small business. With his business acumen and good foresight he became very a successful businessman. In the 1890s he married a Peranakan woman. They lived at No 475 Geylang Road. She bore him an only child, a daughter.

After the turn of the century he had his residence at No 246 Joo Chiat Road (later renumbered as No 65) to be near his plantations. His house was a unique three storey building with a front balcony overlooking the road. It had an air-well in the centre portion of the building for natural lighting and ventialation. He also built a permanent opera stage across the road so that he could engage the Teochew opera troupe to stage shows during his birthdays and at festivals. The opera show was his only entertainment. During his birthdays he invited his business associates for dinner and a few chosen friends to view with him the opera show from the balcony.

His family in China enjoyed his prosperity as he sent regularly funds to them. Their lives had been upgraded to the upper class. Thus enabled his eldest son Chew Cheng Liam to marry a well to do family's daughter. She had bounded feet and a maid (slave girl) to attend to all her needs. In 1915 Chew Joo Chiat sent for his two sons Chew Cheng Liam and Chew Cheng Swee and Cheng Liam's family (his wife, 2 children and a maid) to join him in Singapore. They lived with Chew Joo Chiat in his three storey house. Later the two sons built their own home along Joo Chiat Road and moved out. Like most Chinaman of his era, he was addicted to the persuit of wealth but never enjoy the luxury of life inspite of his wealth. He died on 5th February 1926 leaving behind 2 sons, Cheng Liam 请廉 and Cheng Swee 请水, 3 daughters Gui Neo桂娘，Xian Neo羡娘，Su Lan素蘭 and 8 grand-children.

Chew Joo Chiat never return to his homeland at Her San 和山, Fujian福建 Province in China since he came to Singapore. His root in China had been cut off permanently. On the other hand, he left a living legacy in his adopted land, Singapore. In Joo Chiat area many roads are named after him, such as Joo Chiat Road, Joo Chiat Place, Joo Chiat Terrace, Joo Chiat Lane, Joo Chiat Avenue and Joo Chiat Walk, Joo Chiat Square and Joo Chiat Complex. Today Joo Chiat is a living legacy.

My Chew Joo Chiat Story Part I

2008-03-01T00:36:00.001-08:00

My name is Philip Chew and Chew Joo Chiat was my great grand-father. His eldest son, Chew Cheng Liam and his family were living at No. 73 Joo Chiat Road. I was brought up there. In the house, there was an ancestral worship altar with a copper urn containing a few burned joss sticks. Chew Joo Chiat's photo was hung against the wall, above the altar. Each morning my uncle (my father's half brother) paid the family's respects by offering 2 small cups of Chinese tea on the altar and prayed with 2 lighted joss sticks. But to commemorate his death anniversary each year, there would be an array of food, fruits and kuey kuey (nonya cakes) for him to 'eat'. The altar was extended with a table to accommodate the articles displayed for offering. I was too young to understand the ritual and my relationship to this man. I came to know my ancestry when I was older.

Today there are websites, books and articles published about Chew Joo Chiat. Quite rightly the authors based their research on archival records, memories of old residents, but scan informations could be gleaned about my great grand-father from these writings. Futhermore, I discovered inaccuracies or gaps in these publications. I thought then that I should find out as much as I can for my children and grand children. Thus began the journey 'My road to Chew Joo Chiat'.

Chew Joo Chiat was born in 1857 at a place called Her Shan (和山) in Fujian Province, China. His father was a peasant and he married very young. At age 20 he already had 2 sons and 2 daughters. In those days, farmer's children married young in order to have many children so that they could help out in the farm later. In fact, all the farm works were done manually from seedling to harvesting. At that time the Qing Dynasty government was corrupted and the people faced great hardship. A large number of them from the coastal provinces of south China risked themselves and left for South East Asia countries now known as ASEAN. Many crossed over the borders to Thailand and Myamar. Others sailed overseas to Philippines, Indonesia and Malaya (now Singapore and Malaysia).

In 1877 at the age of 20 years, Chew Joo Chiat left his family in China and sailed to Singapore which took about 10 days by sailing boat. The boat was overcrowded and the people was badly treated. He landed in Singapore as a young man penniless. He experienced poverty and aimed to make a fortune for himself and also to better the lives of his family back home. He worked very hard to achieve his dream. Starting from a small business and endowed with resourcefulness and business acumen he became a successful businessman.

Before the turn of the 20th century he became a housing developer submitting plans to the authority to build shophouses and residential houses at Geylang Road 3 1/2 ms. opposite Paya Lebar Road. Further east towards Changi Road was a large piece of land owned by the Alsagoff family. Chew bought a piece of land which was forested from the Alsagoff family to grow spices such as gambier, nutmeg and pepper. Spices were in great demand by the Europeans then. He cleared the area of trees, short brushwood and lallang. The fallen trees were used as firewood to boil the gambier leaves in order to extract its commercial product. About 1900 he purchased the Confederate estate from the families of Dr Robert Little and others. His final foray of land for his spice plantation was in 1903. He bought big piece of land for $35,000.00 from Henry William Crane located at Joo Chiat Place and Crane Road area. It is believed that Crane Road is named after HW Crane. When copra became the cash crop he turned his land into coconut plantations. In 1913 he bought many freehold building allotments fronting the Confederate Estate Road to increase his land bank for housing development.

The east coast beach then was very popular with foreign expatriats as well as the rich and wealthy locals. Some of them had houses for their mistresses or concubines. As a result the shore line was dotted with seaside houses and holiday bungalows. There were sea pavalions with living quarters along the coast. Chew Joo Chiat owned one of them. Access to them was through a dirt track consisting of Joo Chiat Road, a short stretch of dirt track from Geylang Serai to Joo Chiat Terrace and Confedrate Estate Road from Joo Chiat Terrace all the way to the sea. It was owned and maintained by Chew Joo Chiat. In 1916 the Municipality wanted to buy from Chew the dirt track for the construction of a motor roadway. Initially he refused to sell it but on hindsight he saw the benefits of a road infra structure going through his coconut plantations. He not only could transport his copra to town faster for export but also increase the value of his land and properties. So, he bequeathed it to the Municipality without a compensation. In 1917 after the road had been paved, the Confederate Estate Road was renamed as Joo Chiat Road after Chew Joo Chiat for his generosity.

Construction of the new road to the east coast beach also coincided with the population growth in Singapore. The town area had become ovecrowded. The increased in population and the subsequent demand for housing resulted in the gradual fragmentation of the coconut plantations. Chew foresaw a housing boom and divided his land into building plots for the development of shophouses, terraced houses and bungalows. He also laid roads there. Many people moved to live in the east especially near the east coast. The Peranakans and the Eurasians form their enclave in Joo Chiat. The area became the best residential suburbs for the middle class, and is second only to Tanglin area.

By 1920, Chew was a well known landed property, coconut and rubber estates owner, principally in the districts of Siglap and Changi. The district of Siglap, was bounded by Joo Chiat Road/Marine Parade Road/Telok Kurau Road/Changi Road thus making one square area of his land.

References
The Singapore house, 1819-1942 by Lee Kip Lin
Notice (NL microfilm) 16 June 1908 Straits Times p.10
Property Sales (NL microfilm) 7 November 1913 Straits Times p.10
Property Sales (NL microfilm) 15 March 1916 Straits Times p.10
Joo Chiat Road (NL microfilm) 27 March 1917 Straits Times
Joo Chiat A Singapore name (NL microfilm) 8 October1948 p.4
History of Joo Chiat - June/July 1998 Contact p.18
Bukit Timah Rubber Estate (NL 1761)