Keong Saik Road

Keong Saik Road (or Keong Siak Road; Chinese: 恭锡路) is a one-way road located in Chinatown within the Outram Planning Area in Singapore. The road links New Bridge Road to Neil Road, and is intersected by Kreta Ayer Road.

Etymology and history

Keong Saik Road was named in 1926 after the Malacca-born Chinese businessman, Tan Keong Saik, the son of Tan Choon Tian. Keong Saik came to Singapore and worked for Lim Kong Wan and Sons and later the Borneo Company. He was a prominent merchant of his time, a director of numerous companies, and an educationalist. In 1886, he was elected to the Municipal Commission and on retirement was appointed a Justice of Peace. He was also a director of the Tanjong Pagar Dock Company and served on the Chinese Advisory Board. Keong Saik was the father-in-law of Lee Choon Guan, who also became a successful businessman and leader of the Chinese community.

During the 1960s, Keong Saik Road had become a red-light district in Chinatown, with a high concentration of brothels located in the three-storey high shophouses flanking either side of the street. In Cantonese, the road is known as "keong saik gai", which had a notorious reputation for its brothels.

Since the 1990s, however, the street is becoming the site of many "boutique hotels" like Royal Peacock Hotel, Hotel 1929, the Regal Inn and Keong Saik Hotel. Keong Saik Road now mainly houses coffee shops, art galleries and other shops for commercial use.

Keong Saik Road is located within a conservation area known as the Bukit Pasoh Conservation Area, which was given conservation status by the Urban Redevelopment Authority on 7 July 1989. The buildings in the area mainly consist of two and three storey shophouses in transitional, late and art deco architectural styles. [cite web
url=http://www.ura.gov.sg/conservation/pasoh.htm
title="Conservation of Built Heritage"
author=Urban Redevelopment Authority]

References

*Victor R Savage, Brenda S A Yeoh (2004), "Toponymics - A Study of Singapore Street Names", Eastern University Press, ISBN 981-210-364-3