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Balestier Road

Balestier Road is a road located in the urban planning areas of Novena and Kallang in the central part of Singapore. The road links Thomson Road to Serangoon Road and the road continues on as Lavender Street. The road is home to rows of shophouses, low-rise apartment and commercial buildings as well as a shopping mall known as Shaw Plaza. There are several lighting and electrical shops along the road and the road is home to the Celyon Sports Club. The area is known for its food such as bak kut teh, chicken rice and tau sar piah with budget hotels sprucing up in the area as well as prostitutes. In the area, there are several apartments and condominiums.

The road was named after Joseph Balestier, the then colony's first American consul from 1837 to 1852 and the owner of a 1,000 acre sugar plantation called Balestier Plain, which failed and was put up for sale. Balestier was in Singapore between 1834 and 1852 and was a botanist and agriculturist. The road was named after him as it was where his plantation was located. Balestier hired a number of immigrants on his estates. ^[1] The Chinese labourers settled in the area and built a temple which still exists known as Go Cho Tua Pek Kong, with the area having the last free-standing wayang stage in Singapore that was built in 1906. The rows of shophouses was constructed in the late 19th century has been since conserved, though some has made way for new development. These shophouses were to provide services to residents. In the 1880s, several bungalows were constructed, with one still remains at Tai Gin Road known as the Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall (formerly the Sun Yat Sen Villa or Wang Qing Yuan).

Other than shophouses and bungalows, there were industrial activities in the area as well. There were rattan plantations along the Whampoa River and sugarcane productions at Jalan Ampas. The Balestier Market (now Balestier Market and Food Centre) was where locals could sell their produce. It was used as a food rationing centre during the World War II. Later, the market was rebuilt and housed a hawker centre as well. The market has since underwent upgrading works in the 2000s. Developers went on to construct landed properties in the 1920s with bungalows and terrace housees. In the 1950s, there was a film studio run by Shaw Brothers for its Malay language films. Both the Singapore Improvement Trust and the Housing and Development Board built flats in the area known as St. Michael's Estate. Modern shophouses were erected in the 1960s as well including walk-up apartments. In the late 20th century, several buildings were made way for newer buildings for high-rise condominiums, shopping malls and new commercial buildings. ^[2]

The Hokkiens referred the road as o kio, meaning "black bridge", and as go cho tua peh kong, meaning "Rochor temple". The Tamils named the area thaneer kampong as water was drown from there by the bullock cart in the old days. ^[1]

1. ^ ^{a b} Victor R Savage, Brenda SA Yeoh (2004), Toponymics A Study of Singapore Street Names, Eastern University Press, ISBN 981-210-364-3
2. ^ Balestier, a mix of new and old. Urban Redevelopment Authority (Retrieved on 12 January 2007).