Victoria Street, Singapore

Victoria Street (Chinese: 维多利亚街) is a street located in the Central Area of Singapore. The street starts at Victoria Bridge at the end of Kallang Road, after the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority building, in the north and continues as Hill Street at its junction with Stamford Road in the south. The street largely forms the boundary between the Downtown Core and the Rochor and Museum Planning Areas.

Etymology and history

Both Victoria Street and Victoria Bridge were named after Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom (1819-1901). Victoria Bridge over Rochor River was built in 1914 and took its name from Victoria Street.

The name of Victoria Street may have changed several times in the nineteenth century. On Lieutenant Philip Jackson's plan of the town of Singapore, drawn in 1822, the street appears as "Rochor Street". However, in an 1836 map of the town drawn from a survey by George Drumgoole 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", referring to 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.

Landmarks

Victoria Street passes through the historic districts of Kampong Glam, Bugis and Bras Basah. Notable landmarks along the road include (from north to south):

• Masjid Malabar
• Victoria Street Wholesale Centre near Ophir Road and Arab Street
• Bugis Street
• Bugis Junction
• National Library building
• Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Middle Road campus
• Saint Joseph's Church, a national monument
• Bras Basah Complex
• Singapore Management University, Administration building and Lee Kong Chian School of Business
• Cathedral of the Good Shepherd, a national monument
• Former CHIJ which has been turned into a popular entertainment venue called CHIJMES, now a national monument

References

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