Certain images are indelibly linked with places, linking the past with the present, weaving the threads of the future into the social and historical fabric. Such a place is Balestier. A treasure trove of cultural and architectural references, Balestier is a compelling blend of old and new. First settled in the 1840s, the area was developed between the 1920s and 1950s when expanded its city centre eastwards.

MA RTA BAN RO AD balestier/

GO CHOR TUA PEK KONG TEMPLE central 4 7

The main thoroughfare of flanked by spirals of incense and Balestier is the eponymous brightly-coloured altars, is Balestier Road, a long stretch that believed to house benign spirits winds its way around the base of and the temple medium will, for Balestier Hill from Thomson a small donation, cast her inner Road to Moulmein Road. Your eye to view your future. first stop should be Go Chor Tua Along the way, take in the Pek Kong Temple , an ornate, kaleidoscope of lighting shops, red-roofed temple built the Moshe Safdie-inspired in 1847. Its opera stage built in Balestier Point , pawnshops and 1906 is only one of two surviving bird-shops. Of particular interest stages in Singapore. The banyan is Martaban Road , a row of tree in the small courtyard, traditional shophouses which, SUN YAT SEN VILLA SASANARAMSI BURMESE TEMPLE while less ornate and built in the of Dr Sun Yat Sen and is now 1920s for the upper middle-class open to the public. looking for a quiet reprieve from It’s a lighting bonanza along the “busy” city life, still Balestier Road with the multiple mesmerises with its old world rows of shops selling all manner charm and pared-down elegance. of light fittings and chandeliers. Further afield at 14 Tai Gin Road There are tin-smiths who will is the sprawling Sasanaramsi custom-make household Burmese Temple while next door furniture as well as a dinky little at No. 12 is Sun Yat Sen Villa , a shop Lim Kay Khee Optical (330 grand stately mansion which used Balestier Road) that sells genuine to be the Nanyang headquarters retro spectacle frames from the ’70s.

BALESTIER RD

I’m glad that At the corner of Boon Teck and even with the Balestier roads is a small kiosk “modernisation of — run by the temple up the Singapore, there’ll road — that dispenses free still always be water: a legacy of days of yore places like this when itinerants and beggars to relive one’s would be given water at the childhood temple gates. memories…

– Amanda Lu, pupil of Nanyang Girls’ High School, on her grandma’s house Buses include nos 21, 124, 125, 130, in Balestier. ” 131, 139, 145, 186, 603 & 607 . Like any old district worth its salt, Balestier is famed for its cuisine. The long stretch of Balestier Road is a thriving haven of every kind of traditional chow ranging from oven-fresh cakes, heavenly tau sar piah (there are a few stalls to choose from) and scrumptious bak chang at Eastern Rice Dumplings (300 Balestier Road) to glistening chicken rice at Loy Kee Chicken Rice (342 Balestier Balestier roads) serves Lane) where 1,000 Road) and Hoover some delicious bak kut loaves of the Rojak (Blk 90 teh you can’t resist. traditional black- Whampoa Drive, #01- Kaya toast fans should crusted bread are 641) at Balestier visit Sweetlands baked daily. Market. Kai Juan Confectionery and (corner of Prome and Bakery (10 Kim Keat balestier/jalan besar 4 9

One of URA’s interim surface proposals in the carpark to ease Identity Plan is to parking congestion. conserve the Of particular interest shophouses in the is the Balestier area and spruce up Market, built in the the landscaping at 1920s and the only key Balestier Road remaining rural locations. On the market today. wish-list is an TEMPLE OF THOUSAND LIGHTS

Jalan Besar is an architectural buff’s dream come true. Its distinctively baroque street frontages and plasterwork — painted in a robust palette of baby pink, jade and apple green,

sky blue, beige and sun yellow —

¡ ¢ £ ¤ ¥ ¦ £ ¥ ¡ ¡ § ¡ ¨ © ¡ are still distinct, with many fine surviving examples of Singapore eclectic architecture. Each colour has a symbolic value, with green, for example, representing spring, rejuvenation and peace. The stretch of 18 shophouses along Petain Road is a must- PETAIN ROAD visit. Flanked by a broad tree- filigreed trees, flowers, cranes merchants as souped-up rims for lined avenue, the houses are a and mythical animals. your car. reminder of a more gracious era. Leading off Jalan Besar is a Terracotta finishes and glazed terrific template of historical sites ceramic tiles imported from including , Desker, The closest MRT station is France, England, Belgium, Petain and Syed Alwi Roads. Lavender. A large number of buses Spain and Japan frame one of Here, you can just as easily pass through including nos 23, 64, the most ornate facades in chance upon ancient Chinese 65, 66, 85, 106, 111, 130 & 139. Singapore, bursting with laundromats and charcoal

JALAN BESAR balestier/jalan besar

One of URA’s ground and upper proposals for Jalan floors of the Besar is to conserve shophouses to be the historical street used for commercial blocks along purposes, hence Serangoon and raising the vibrancy Lavender roads. and activity levels in Another plan the area. proposes to allow the