Thian Hock Keng Temple. . . . Picture 56

Continue along Telok Ayer St and you will see the Thian Hock Keng Temple. This is the oldest Chinese temple in Singapore and the most important for Hokkien worshippers. Also known as the Temple of Heavenly Happiness, it was notorious for the slave trade reputed to be carried out here in the 1850s. As early as 1821 there was also a joss house for the Goddess of the Sea due to the temple’s former proximity to the waterfront before succeeding reclamation projects left the street far inland. Chinese immigrants who had safely arrived would offer thanks to Ma Cho (also known as Ma Zu Po), the Taoist Goddess of Seafarers. A statue of the Goddess, imported from China in 1840, can still be seen in the Main Hall.

The construction of the temple complex was largely financed by a Malacca-born philanthropist called Tan Tock Seng. Built between 1839 and 1842 using materials imported from China, the temple’s layout follows the traditional pattern for temple design in China. The craftsmanship is breathtaking, with beautifully decorated roof details (reputed to contain parts of ships that brought immigrants to the island) as well as some rather remarkable structural elements, such as the columns which have been carved into entwined dragons from solid blocks of granite. The cast-iron railings came from Glasgow, and the decorative tiles from Delft in the Netherlands. Meticulously restored in 2000, it is one of the must-see sites of Singapore.

Thian Hock Keng Temple

Opening times: 7.30am to 5.30pm daily

Admission: Free

 

Did You Know?

Thian Hock Keng Temple was the centre of a thriving slave trade when, before land reclamation, Telok Ayer St used to be on the waterfront.

 

Nagore Durgha Shrine. . . . Picture 57

Slightly farther along Telok Ayer St is the Nagore Durgha Shrine. This shrine was built by chulias from the Coromandel Coast between 1828 and 1830 in memory of Shahul Hamid Durgha, a Muslim holy man who came from Durgha in Southern India, and whose tomb is located within the building. While its form is somewhat reminiscent of the nearby Jamae Mosque, it is regarded more as a keramat or holy place than an actual mosque. Because of its corner location, the building has plenty of scope for architectural decoration, freely mixing Western classical motifs, such as the arcade with its Doric-style engaged columns, and Muslim-Indian ones, like the decoratively perforated parapet.

Nagore Durgha Shrine

Opening times: 5.45am to 9.30pm daily

Admission: Free

Picture 58

Nagore Durgha Shrine

 

Lau Pa Sat Market. . . . Picture 59

Leave the Nagore Durgha Shrine and follow Boon Tat St until you see the Lau Pa Sat Market on your left at the junction with Robinson Rd. Formerly known as the Telok Ayer Market, this distinctive octagonal building was made of cast iron from Glasgow (provided by the firm of P. and W. MacLellan – the same firm that provided the iron for nearby Cavenagh Bridge). Originally a fish market, it was built in 1894 on reclaimed land. Designed by municipal engineer James MacRitchie, it replaced an earlier market (also octagonal shaped), by Singapore’s first colonial architect, George Drumgoole Coleman.

The market was converted by the government into a food centre in 1973; in the 1980s it was dismantled during the construction of the MRT before being meticulously reassembled to what it is today.

Facing the Lau Pa Sat Market across Boon Tat St is the Ogilvy Centre. Originally known as the Cable and Wireless Building, and then the TAS Building, it was designed in 1927 by F.G. Lundon of the firm of Swan and Maclaren. A robust neoclassical building, its large Ionic columns and recessed balconies elegantly hug the corner of this busy junction.

Lau Pa Sat Market

Opening times: Noon to 10pm daily

Admission: Free

 

Link to the Singapore River Walk: Follow Robinson Rd until you come to Raffles Place.

Picture 60

Ogilvy Centre