Co-organised with the National Archives of Singapore, in conjunction with irememberOrchard. Talk by Singapore Heritage Society with Karen Hoisington and Alex Tan DESCRIPTION Today, Orchard Road is the prime shopping belt of Singapore and a bustling street lined with megamalls. It is now unrecognisable from its earlier incarnation as a suburban residential and commercial street populated with shophouses for a large part of the 20th century. What was Orchard Road like in the late 40s and 50s, when colonial rule in Singapore was reflected in the physical and social landscape of Singapore? Where would expatriates and locals frequent in Orchard Road during this period? Join us as participants share their memories on colonial establishments such as the Pavilion Cinema, Mont D’or, motor car firms and more. This CAKAP HERITAGE session is organised by the Singapore Heritage Society and the National Archives of Singapore, in conjunction with the irememberOrchard exhibition held at library@Orchard. Join us in uncovering the layers of memories beneath this iconic street and share your memories of Orchard beyond its glitzy present. 31 October 2014 (Friday), 7.30pm-9pm library@Orchard, #03-12, orchardgateway, 218 Orchard Road

1. Cakap HERITAGE:
Colonial Days Of
Orchard Road
1940s
Presenters: Alex Tan & Karen Hoisington

2. Orchard Road
Variant Names
Chinese names:
Hokkien: Tang Leng Pa Sat Koi = "Tanglin Market Street”
Cantonese: Tang-leng.
Tamil names:
At the town limit location: Vaira Kimadam = "Fakir's Place".
From Koek's Market to Upper Tanglin: Mattu Than =
"It is High Ground".

3. wHAT?
Orchard Road, the world-famous road
and surely the most famous road in
Singapore. About 1.5 miles this 5 lane
one-way road is lined with hotels,
restaurants and luxury shopping malls.
Allegedly, this Champs-Élysees of
Singapore has the highest
concentration of shopping malls
worldwide.

4. BEGINNINGS
Orchard Road, a street that is located in the Central Region. It runs 2.5 km from
Tanglin Road/Orange Grove Road to Dhoby Ghaut. Orchard Road supposedly got its
name from the orchards and plantations that existed in the area until the turn of the
20th century. Mr. Orchard, a keen gardener who owned plantations which stood at the
corner of what is now Scotts Road and Orchard Road.

5. 1900

6. 1900
The Chinese burial ground where Mandarin Hotel and Cineleisure stands today. The
Malay burial ground would be where Hotel Grand Central is at Kramat Road. So the
next time you are catching a midnight show at Cineleisure... just remember you are
sitting (some six storeys high) on what was someone else's grave!

7. 1940s

8. 1940s

9. WAR YEARS

10. Low END
MANDARIN
HOTEL
AIR INDIA
ORCHARD
TOWERS

11. 1950-1960
LIDO
TROPICANA HOTEL
INTERCON
HILTON

12. 1950-1960
THAI
EMBASSY
ORCHARD
TOWERS
TODAY

13. 1950s
TANGS
LIDO
TROPICANA
POLICE
STATION

14. 1950-1960
LIDO

15. 1950–1960
Colour TV arrived in Singapore
just in time for the World Cup
Finals in 1974

16. 1960s
In 1958, Tang a 1,351-sqm piece of land at a cost of S$10,000. Although the site
faced the Tai San Ting Cemetery, he felt that it had commercial value as many British
housewives in the Tanglin area could stop by on their way to the city. Years later, the
land was designated as a prime shopping and tourist district, the price of land soared
from S$3 per m² to S$6,000 per m². C.K. Tang Department Store (now rebranded as
Tangs) cost S$50,000. The building's green-tiled roof and facade was modelled after
the Imperial Palace of the Forbidden City in Beijing.

17. 1960s
Beyond the Wisma was Ngee Ann Building. It was where
the once well-known Mont d’Or Cake Shop was located.
The site of Ngee Ann Building (and the then empty land
beyond it) is where Ngee Ann City (1993) stands today.
The canal one had to cross both to Ngee Ann Building
and the Wisma, was covered up in 1974 and its is on
top of this that the wide pedestrian walkway running
down that side of Orchard Road, now runs

18. 1960s
Embassy of the Republic of
Indonesia, and was very
recognisable for its
Minangkabau styled roof. In
its places stands Wisma
Atria (1986).

19. 1960s

20. 1960s
The Tivoli Coffee House, was
apparently also inspired by the
Tivoli Gardens and was located at
the left hand corner of The
Orchard, and had a sidewalk cafe
atmosphere as well as a
beautifully and elaborately
decorated interior.

21. 1960s
1905
The first consignment of frozen
meats, fresh butter and milk
arrived on the S.S.Guthrie.

22. 1960s
KOEK
LANE
There was a character who dressed as a
cowboy who wandered around there
every night.

23. 1960s

24. 1960s

25. 1960s
The shop house lined stretch of Orchard Road is seen between Specialist
Centre at the top of the picture and United Motor Works (building seen with
the AC Spark Plug Advertisement – with words “Hot Tip”).

26. 1960s
Jewish Cemetery

27. Bomb!
Two bombs went off in Orchard Road, the first on 10
March 1965 at MacDonald House during the
Indonesian Confrontation period on 10 March 1965,
killing three and wounding 33.

28. 1960s
ORCHARD
CIRCUS

29. 1960s
This is the only stretch of Orchard
Road that remains unchanged from
the 1960s. The red-bricked building
on the left is MacDonald House,
built in the 1930s.

30. Cathay

31. RECAP
Memorable landmarks around Orchard Road
Hotel Singapura's 24 hour Coffee house, the first of it's kind at that time.
The Orchard Circus, a traffic island roundabout, which fronted the Government House
where Clemenceau Avenue cuts through Orchard Road.
The Government House is now the Istana Negara.
Amber Mansions was demolished in 1984.
The Prince's Hotel Garni where the Crown Prince Hotel stands today.
In the 1970s through the 1980s, commercial and hotel development intensified
resulting in the Mandarin Hotel (1973) with the "Top of the M" revolving restaurant
that gives rare views of the road from the 39th Floor and the pagoda-styled Marriott
Hotel (formerly the Dynasty Hotel 1982) with links to C K Tang.

32. Cakap HERITAGE:
The Disco Era
1970s-1980s
Presenters: Alex Tan & Karen Hoisington