- River Valley, Singapore
SG neighbourhood
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englishname=River Valley
chinesename=里峇峇利
pinyin=Lǐbābālì
malayname=Lembah Sungai
tamilname="fill in"River Valley is the name of an urban planning area within the
Central Area ,Singapore 'scentral business district .The River Valley Planning Area is defined by the region bounded by
Orchard Boulevard ,Devonshire Road andEber Road to the north,Oxley Rise andMohamed Sultan Road to the east,Martin Road and a section of theSingapore River to the south, andHoot Kiam Road andGrange Road to the west. Its namesakeRiver Valley Road cuts across River Valley near its southern end.Etymology and history
In the 1840s, there were two River Valley roads that ran on either side of the Singapore River. The Singapore River was seen as a
valley betweenFort Canning Hill , to the north side of the river, andPearl's Hill , to the south side of the river. The roads on either bank of the Singapore River were named River Valley Road — the current River Valley Road andHavelock Road . Both these River Valley roads were present inJohn Turnbull Thomson 's 1844 map.Adjoining the area around the Singapore River and on high ground, River Valley naturally attracted wealthy
Europe ans and Chinesemerchant s who wanted to move away from the crowded town centre and began building their homes in the countryside up river in the 1830s.One of the first residents to move into the River Valley district was Dr
Thomas Oxley , the newcolony 'ssurgeon . In 1827, he bought land here from the East India Company and established Killiney Estate as anutmeg plantation . He had Killiney House built as his residence. The road nearby was namedOxley Road after the surgeon. When the plantation closed, he sold the land in several lots. River Valley Road was once part of Dr Oxley's estate before being divided up in the 1860s.Killiney House was a grand
villa built on land behind the eventual site of theChesed-El Synagogue . This house was subsequently bought byManasseh Meyer who renamed it Belle Vue and lived in it with his family. It was demolished in 1982.River Valley was especially popular with the Straits Chinese who also built villas in the area. Among the wealthy who had homes here was
Tan Jiak Kim , the grandson ofTan Kim Seng , who built himself amansion in the 1860s and named it Panglima Prang. He also paid for the construction of the road that came to be named after him —Kim Seng Road .Another wealthy merchant who lived in the area was
Lee Cheng Yan , aMalacca -born Chinese merchant whose mansion built in the 1870s was named Magenta Cottage. The roadCheng Yan Place is named after him.Most of the big mansions along River Valley have since been demolished. The one surviving villa is the traditional Chinese house built by a weathy merchant,
Tan Yeok Nee , in 1885. This house,House of Tan Yeok Nee , is now a national monument."Kal alei", meaning "stone crusher", is the name given by the Tamils to River Valley Road, from the steam crusher which was once kept at the corner of
Tank Road and River Valley Road. The Chinese have two other interpretations — "ong ke sua kha" in Hokkien, meaning "foot of Fort Canning Hill", or "leng thau che", meaning "dragon 's head well" or "thefountain by the side of theice works". The latter interpretation could refer to the spring on the hill and thewaterfall from it. The ice works belonged toWhampoa Hoo Ah Kay ("circa" 1816-1881), which were demolished in 1981.Features
The residential areas within River Valley consist mainly of private property for the middle and high income sections of the population. River Valley is also a popular eating spot for
Singapore ans. A famous local eating place here is aHainanese chicken rice shop named "Boon Tong Kee".References
*Victor R Savage, Brenda S A Yeoh (2003), "Toponymics - A Study of Singapore Street Names", Eastern Universities Press, ISBN 981-210-205-1
*Lee Geok Boi (2002), "The Religious Monuments of Singapore", Landmark Books, ISBN 981-3065-62-1
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