My Turf

Conserved shophouses filled with memories

My Turf is a fortnightly series that aims to share untold stories of our neighbourhoods. In this instalment, we take a look at the conservation of eight shophouses in Jalan Besar by the Urban Redevelopment Authority which will complete a cluster of heritage buildings in Serangoon Road, Race Course Road and Tessensohn Road.

Mr Teng Tieu Guan with the Sin Peng signboard on the ground floor of his shophouse. It was the name of a coffee shop that operated there in the 1950s. Singapore Institute of Science's chief executive Thomas Jacob was once a student of the school on t
The curved frontage of 593 Serangoon Road is a prominent landmark at the Serangoon Road and Balestier Road junction. The shophouse's second floor has been home to the Singapore Institute of Science since 1952. ST PHOTO: LEE JIA WEN
Mr Teng Tieu Guan with the Sin Peng signboard on the ground floor of his shophouse. It was the name of a coffee shop that operated there in the 1950s. Singapore Institute of Science's chief executive Thomas Jacob was once a student of the school on t
Singapore Institute of Science's chief executive Thomas Jacob was once a student of the school on the second floor of 593 Serangoon Road. ST PHOTO: LEE JIA WEN
Mr Teng Tieu Guan with the Sin Peng signboard on the ground floor of his shophouse. It was the name of a coffee shop that operated there in the 1950s. Singapore Institute of Science's chief executive Thomas Jacob was once a student of the school on t
Mr Ravi Menon at his home in Novena. His family lived at 458 Race Course Road, around the corner from 593 Serangoon Road, throughout the 1940s and 1950s. His father also ran a printing press there. ST PHOTO: LEE JIA WEN
Rachael Seow
Updated
Published
June 6, 2018 at 5:00 AM
New: Gift this subscriber-only story to your friends and family

A long bid for conservation has come to a happy end for Mr Teng Tieu Guan, a former resident of Jalan Besar whose relatives lived in the area for decades.

He is the owner of 593 Serangoon Road, one of the eight pre-war buildings to recently achieve conservation status in Jalan Besar, which itself was gazetted as a conservation area in October 1991.

Already a subscriber? 

Read the full story and more at $9.90/month

Get exclusive reports and insights with more than 500 subscriber-only articles every month

ST One Digital

 $9.90/month

No contract

ST app access on 1 mobile device

Subscribe now

Unlock these benefits

  • All subscriber-only content on ST app and straitstimes.com

  • Easy access any time via ST app on 1 mobile device

  • E-paper with 2-week archive so you won't miss out on content that matters to you

Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.

A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on June 06, 2018, with the headline Conserved shophouses filled with memories. Subscribe

Available for
iPhones and iPads
Available in
Google Play

MCI (P) 076/10/2022, MCI (P) 077/10/2022. Published by SPH Media Limited, Co. Regn. No. 202120748H. Copyright © 2023 SPH Media Limited. All rights reserved.

Back to the top