This aquarium was opened in September 1955 and was named after its Dutch benefactor, Karel Willem Benjamin van Kleef (1856-1930) who left a sum of $160,000 (now equivalent to $8.985 million) to Singapore. In 1931 the Municipal Government set up a committee to consider how to use the money. In 1933 it was decided that an aquarium will be built and named the Van Kleef Aquarium. Due to World War II, construction was delayed to after the War. The aquarium was a great success and attracted 166,000 visitors in the first four months of its opening. It was maintained by the Primary Production Department. During the 1960s and 1970s, it was one of the most popular tourist attractions. Visitor numbers annually reached a peak of 400,000. The Aquarium was closed in 1991 after the new underwater world in Sentosa opened. After a couple of attempts to revive it under different names (World of Aquarium and Fort Canning Aquarium) the Van Kleef Aquarium was finally closed in 1998 and the building was demolished.
SOURCE: Singapore Guide and Street Directory, 1972:38; Koh, 1912
This road is named after Singapore’s national flower the Vanda Miss Joaquim which was discovered by the Armenian Agnes Joaquim (1854-99) in 1893. Her gravestone lies in the compound of the Armenian Church.
Located off Bukit Arang Road, this road was named in 1934 after Jonas Daniel Vaughan (d.1890). He joined the Bengal Marine as a midshipman in 1842. Between 1861 and 1869 he was Assistant Magistrate and Resident Councillor in Singapore. In 1869, he was called to the Bar and was a leading member of the Singapore Bar till his death in 1890. Jonas Vaughan was the author of the popular book, Manners and Customs of the Chinese in the Straits Settlements. He also defended the ex-Sultan Abdullah for the murder of Mr J.W. Birch, the first British Resident of Perak. He had his office in a lane behind John Little & Company.
SOURCE: ARSM AED, 1934:4A; Raja-Singam, 1939:147
This road was re-named on two occasions. Formerly Inche Lane, it was renamed Jalan Tambah when the Kampong Kapur roads were taken over as public streets in 1910. It was speculated that the street was so-named because it stood above the level of the surrounding land (tambah means “increase” or “addition”). In 1927, Municipal Commissioner Dr K. Kiramathypathy moved that Jalan Tambah should be renamed Veerasamy Road in honour of a fellow leader of the Indian community, Dr N. Veerasamy (b.1864), on the grounds of his association with various public activities in Singapore for the last 35 years, his 11-year service on the Municipal Board and the “high esteem” accorded him by “the humble folk of the city, especially those living in Kampong Kapor”. He was also the president of the Hindu Advisory Board and a member of the Indian Association and the Straits Settlement Association.
SOURCE: SIT 451/27, 2 Jun 1927: Jalan Tambah to be re-named Veerasamy Road
This road is named after the fortified French town of Verdun, which was one of the great battle areas of the First World War. Several other roads in the Jalan Besar area commemorated World War I British and French generals and admirals, as well as battle places.
SOURCE: Raja-Singam, 1939:147
Located within the government area at Mount Vernon, this road was officially named in 1956.
SOURCE: LO 1362/47, 25 Nov 1947: Renumbering and naming of roads in the City Area (enclosure dated 3 Aug 1956)
See Empress Place
This building consists of two structures. The original building, built between 1856 and 1862, functioned as the Singapore Town Hall and later became the theatre. In 1905, another identical building, the Memorial Hall, was added in commemoration of Queen Victoria (1819-1901), and named after her. The Victoria Memorial Hall was officially opened on 18 October 1905. It was later renamed the Victoria Concert Hall and is currently best known as the home of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. The Hall was renovated in 1954 and 1979, and is again under renovation at time of writing.
Victoria Memorial Hall
The theatre and concert hall is named after England’s Queen Victoria
SOURCE: Edwards & Keys, 1988:378; Tyers, 1976:61, 66; The Straits Times, 1 Jun 1988; Preservation of Monuments Board, 2009: 81-85
See Queen Street
Both the street and bridge are named after Queen Victoria (1819-1901). The name of the street may have changed several times in the nineteenth century: on Lieutenant P. Jackson’s plan of the town of Singapore, drawn in 1822/23, this street appears as Rochor Street, but in an 1836 map of the town drawn from a survey by G.D. Coleman, the street was marked out as ‘“Marbro Street”.
The Chinese called the street au bei chia lo, or “the back of horse carriage street” (i.e., the back of North Bridge Road). The Tamil name for the street was kammangala puthu kuthu madei sadakku, which meant “Street of Kampong Glam and the new Hindu theatre”, a reference to Kampong Glam and the Tamil cinema. The Indians also called it boyan kampam or pal kampam. The Malays refer to the street as kampong boyan lama, a reference to the old Baweanese village that was located in the area towards Rochor Road.
Victoria Bridge was built in 1914 and took its name from Victoria Street.
SOURCE: Edwards & Keys, 1988:288; Ramachandran, 1969:71; Firmstone, 1905:140-41
This road is the sole survivor of a number of roads in the Alexandra Road (South) Singapore Improvement Trust estate named in 1952 after gods and goddesses in Scandinavian mythology, such as Bragi Road, Iduna Road, Thor Terrace, Vulcan Terrace and Odin Square. The original intention was to name some of the roads after Prince Edward (that is, Edward Square, Edward Walk and Edward Terrace). This was discarded in favour of Scandinavian names, as it was felt that similar sounding names would cause confusion among tenants and other users of the estate.
SOURCE: SIT 1065/51, 25 Dec 1951: Naming of roads within Alexandra Road (South) Estate