Latest refreshed heritage trail at Civic District showcases area’s lesser-known past
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Masjid Al-Burhani is one of four new sites added to the refreshed Civic District Heritage Trail.
ST PHOTO: GIN TAY
Koh Ming Lun
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SINGAPORE – On the fourth floor of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCCI), an impressive 60cm-by-45cm, three-dimensional model of the building sits proudly within a glass case display.
It may look like the work of a professional, but the model was actually built and hand-painted by a 14-year-old boy back in 1964. Despite having no prior experience in model-making, he completed the project in two years with just his imagination and no architectural drawings.
Now 75, Mr Teo Peng Hoe said he was inspired to create the model as he was fascinated by the reconstruction that SCCCI was undergoing at that time.
“I would observe the construction of the building every day. It was very unusual... the fusion of Western and Chinese elements was fascinating,” said Mr Teo, who used to live in Hill Street opposite SCCCI.
Mr Teo’s is one of several human stories featured in the companion guide to the National Heritage Board’s (NHB) latest reboot of its Civic District Heritage Trail.
Mr Teo Peng Hoe, 75, and his model of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry building on Sept 18 which he made by hand when he was young.
ST PHOTO: GIN TAY
The trail is Singapore’s first established heritage trail, introduced in 1999. This is the second update of the trail, after it was reintroduced as the Jubilee Walk in 2015 to commemorate Singapore’s 50th year of independence.
The new trail builds on its previous iterations, which focused on the history of the district from a national development and governance perspective, to instead highlight the stories of the diverse communities that lived here.
“This second refresh goes beyond the established civic functions of the area. It brings to light new narratives of the diverse communities that contributed to early Singapore from the city centre and delves further into a lesser-known side of the Civic District’s past as a leisure and entertainment hub,” said Mr Gerald Wee, director for education and community outreach at NHB.
The Civic District Heritage Trail features three thematic routes of varying distance, which trailgoers can navigate using the My Maps function on Google Maps.
Four new sites have been added to the trail: SCCCI, Masjid Al-Burhani, Armenian Street and Capitol Singapore, which comprises Capitol Theatre, the former Namazie Mansions and the former Stamford House.
The SCCCI, which was founded in 1906, is an institution for leaders of different Chinese groups to come together to represent the collective interests of the Chinese business community.
However, for Mr Teo, the SCCCI marked the start of his career as a model-maker. He learnt how to create models by directly observing the techniques used by construction workers and samsui women to construct the chamber.
Ms Shalini Lalwani near the former Stamford House (background), where her father used to have a department store, on Sept 18.
ST PHOTO: GIN TAY
For others, the Civic District is closely intertwined with their heritage and past. Ms Shalini Lalwani’s father, Mr Gobind Bherumal Lalwani, arrived in Singapore from Sindh (present-day Pakistan) following India’s Partition in 1947.
Ms Lalwani said her father described himself as “sort of like refugees”, who “came here to start afresh”.
Ms Lalwani’s grandfather bought a hotel in Stamford Road in 1963 and renamed it Stamford House (present-day The Capitol Kempinski Hotel Singapore). There, Mr Gobind Bherumal Lalwani ran a department store, Bobby-O, which sold a range of products from jewellery to tailored clothes.
Ms Lalwani said her father had a staff of around 30 at Bobby-O, including members of the Sindhi community. “He provided employment to people who were not so well-educated and had limited job prospects.”
He took particular care of the Sindhi community, including an elderly man who was employed as Bobby-O’s doorman.
The Bobby-O store in February 1971. The department store moved out in 1990 to Middle Road, when the Government acquired Stamford House for redevelopment, before closing it in 1997.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF SHALINI LALWANI
Tucked just off the main road in Hill Street and beside the SCCCI is Masjid Al-Burhani. The mosque holds great spiritual significance for the Dawoodi Bohra community in Singapore, a Muslim denomination hailing from Gujarat, India. Opened in 1897, it remains a key place of worship for the community.
In Armenian Street, across from Hill Street, the former Methodist Publishing House, known locally as “MPH Building”, was a key source of entertainment and information for many.
“The ground floor was stationery (goods) and the second floor was books, and I would spend (so much) time there that I became a member of the MPH club,” Ms Lalwani said.
Ms Peggy Evelyn Nicholas, 71, was a customer-turned-employee at MPH. Like Ms Lalwani, the MPH building was a hangout spot for her and her friends.
She came full circle when she was employed by MPH magazines to work in the subscriptions and promotions department. “When we came back here for meetings, it would not only be nostalgic, but we would bump into the old staff whom we revered when we were younger, and now we were sort of colleagues,” she said.
Ms Peggy Evelyn Nicholas at the former Methodist Publishing House (now Vanguard House), where she used to hang out with her friends and later worked at, on Sept 18.
ST PHOTO: GIN TAY
Mr Wee said NHB plans to refresh its heritage trails after every 10 years. For the latest update of the Civic District Heritage Trail, it conducted 26 interviews (11 oral and 15 archival interviews).
The new contents “humanise the Civic District a lot more”, said Mr Wee. “In particular, we want to highlight a little bit more how it was like to live here and also focus on the leisure and entertainment aspect of the Civic District”.
Guided tours of the trails will be offered at . They will be available on weekends from Sept 27 until end-December. There are limited slots and they cost $5 a person.
