Hillview Avenue to Jurong Road

The development of Hillview Avenue

Hillview Avenue and Hillview Road were built in 1947 to provide access to the two new post-war factories that was being built at Hillview Ridge. These were the Union Carbide and Malayan Guttas factories.
It was extended in 1951 when the small SIT estate of Princess Elizabeth Park was constructed for housing, at the same time that it was extended another kilometre to service the new factories that were being built in the 'Colonial Industrial Estate in Bukit Timah' after 1951.
It was still a cul-de-sac that started as Hillview Road at the junction with Upper Bukit Timah Road. 

(A parallel narration of the development of Jurong Road at this stretch follows in the captions for the street directory maps) 

The original Jurong Road started from Bukit Timah Village (7-1/2 ms Bukit Timah Road)

Hillview Ave was further extended in 1965 during the construction of Popular Estate and ended at the Cycle & Carriage new car assembly plant. Beyond this laid the kampongs and farms of Jurong. 

Jurong Road was diverted in the early 1960s to connect to Upper Bukit Timah at 8ms near Lorong Sesuai
The original stretch of Jurong Road from Bukit Timah Village to the 'new'
diverted Jurong Road was renamed Jalan Jurong Kechil

In post 1965 independence period, Jurong Industrial Estate was the major focus of economic development. As a result, critical access to Jurong Industrial Estate were necessary and Jurong Road was widened, re-aligned and improved.

In 1967, Jurong Road was widened and re-aligned and a section
became the 'Old Jurong Road' (coloured orange above map)

By the early 1970s, Hillview Avenue was extended to join Jurong Road by connecting it to Jalan Perang. It became an alternative bypass between Jurong and Woodlands, provided you were able to get under the girder bridge at Hillview Road.

Hillview Ave connected to Jurong Road by joining it to Jalan Perang

In the early 1980s, HDB built the Hillview Estate to the north of P.E.Estate.
While to the southern end of Hillview, Bukit Batok New Town was beginning to be developed by the mid 1980s.

In the  late 1980s, with the construction of the Bukit Batok New Town, 

a section of Hillview Ave was renamed Bukit Batok East Ave 2, 

while the part of Jurong Road that ran through the new Bukit Batok Town was renamed 

Bukit Batok East Ave 6 and Bukit Batok West Ave 6.

The stretch between Upper Bukit Timah Rd and Jalan Jurong Kechil
was renamed 'Old Jurong Road' (in orange).
The original Old Jurong Road was expunged with the re-development of Bukit Batok Nature Park

By early 2000, factories along Hillview Ave were replaced by condominiums

Old Jurong Road was like this in the 1960s.

The only remnant of Jurong Road today now lies parallel  to the PIE from Bukit Batok Road to the PIE ramp at Jurong West Ave 2. The stretch that was previously known as Jurong Lama. It is still functioning as a minor roadway today.

Princess Elizabeth Estate at Clementi? Almost!

In 1947, the news of the upcoming marriage of Princess Elizabeth to Prince Philip was the most uplifting event given that the region was just recovering from the pains of World War II.

In keeping with the joyous momentum, the colonials decided to make it a big do and to raise funds for the planned celebrations "by subscriptions", as donations were then known as. The Princess Elizabeth Wedding Fund Celebration Committee was formed.

To make it more meaningful for the Princess (no mention of the Prince), they decided to use the fund  partially to commission jewelry as wedding gifts for the royal couple, and that the balance was to be used for social benefits that the Princess would approve of, such as building a tuberculosis hospital. In the end, it was decided that about 200 flats be built to provide housing for the locals as these were in critical need.

It was further decided that the flats would be built in two lots; one in the Municipal, i.e. in the city, and the other in the rural area. Both these housing estates were to be known as Princess Elizabeth Estates. The first of the two lots was settled at Farrer Park, along the old race course road.

The location of the second 'rural' estate was more difficult to determine. Initially, the Municipal Commissioners offered 4.6 acres in the Halesworth Park area for sale to the Celebration Committee. This was initially accepted but objections were raised by nearby residents and the offer was rescinded.

The objections were raised by nearby residents who felt that the presence of low rental homes and low income residents would be out of character for the place where the prestigious Singapore Turf Club laid. The objections came from the other colonials themselves.

The football field at Dunearn Road/Swiss Club Road.
The rejected initial location for Princess Elizabeth Estate.

Halesworth Park was in the Dunearn Road area. Its location is currently where Swiss Club Road joins Dunearn Road and where a football field now lies. In time, a car park was built instead for the old Singapore Turf Club on this site.

The next consideration was at Clementi Road. This was to be beside the Reformatory Boys Home.

The Reformatory Boys Home at Clementi Road, later renamed Gimson Boys Home.
This was the tentative site for the new Princess Elizabeth Estate.
( Gimson Boys Home was renamed Singapore Boys Home after Independence.)
The current SIM University is built on the same location.

However, in 1948, the French Belgian bank, Credit Foncier, donated 12 acres of land at 9-1/4 milestone Bukit Timah to the Wedding Fund. This land was to be used for building the new estate. The following year, the bank donated a further 5 acres for a school to be built on an adjacent site. 

This new location was to be named Princess Elizabeth Park Estate.

Factories around P.E.Estate (1)

The Hillview/ Upper Bukit Timah Road district had a few prominent factories right from the early days.
Most famous of which would be the Ford Motors Factory on the eastern slope of Bukit Batok.
The Old Ford Motors Factory goes down in Singapore history as the place where Lt-Gen Arthur Percival surrendered Singapore to the Japanese during World War II.

Industrial unrest at Ford Motors in the 1960s

After World War II and into the 1950s, the area around the Ford factory became known as the "Colonial Industrial Estate at Bukit Timah". Gradually, more factories were built up in the surrounding area. Joining the already established companies like Hume Pty Ltd and Ford Motors were Union Carbide, Gammon Malaya Ltd, Amoy Canning, Singapore Magnolia Co, Malayan Guttas, Malayan Textiles, Hong Kong Rope Co. and Kiwi Polish (M) Ltd.

Hume Pipes Pty Ltd, later renamed Hume Industries Ltd

Hume factory along Upper Bukit Timah.  Far right Union Carbide

After Singapore's Independence in 1965, the area was aggressively promoted as a light industrial area and factories were encouraged to set up in the new Hillview Industrial Estate. The government pushed for industrialisation with the urgent need to create more jobs for the population. Hillview Avenue was extended to join up with Jurong Road at the other end.

Companies setting up included Castrol, Singapore Ceramics Ltd, International Spinning Mills, Cerebos, Yakult, Lam Soon Oil, Camel Paints, Metal Containers Ltd, Central Oil Refinery and Snow White Laundry amongst others.
Flatted factories were also set up within the bigger warehouse complexes like Lam Soon Industrial Building, Kelwaram House, and Hillview House.
Cycle & Carriage Industries Ltd set up Singapore's 2nd car assembly plant at Hillview together with a centralized Service Centre for Mercedes Benz in an adjoining plot of land.

In 1993, the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) rezoned the Hillview area from an Industrial Zone to a Residential Zone under the Singapore Master Plan. Companies in the area had to relocate or redevelop their land into residential properties.

Today, except for the Ford Motors Factory, which was conserved as a heritage site, and some warehouses along Hillview Ave, the rest of the factories have been replaced by condominium developments.

Lam Soon Industrial Building (left) amidst the condominiums at Hillview Avenue.

The remaining warehouses will have to move out by 2014 as gazetted under the URA Master Plan.
The last of these warehouse complexes are the Lam Soon Industrial Building, Kelwaram Hillview and Hillview House. It might interest you to know that McDonalds had their warehouse at Hillview House before moving to their own premises at Pandan Loop.

In a future blog, I will talk about Cycle and Carriage at Hillview as I once worked there.

New signs of life at the old P.E.Estate.

After many years of lying dormant, the land that was formerly Princess Elizabeth Estate appears to be awakening with some signs of more developments coming up.

The Hillview area had been earmarked since 1993 by the government's URA for condominium residential development. After the rezoning, all the industrial factory owners were encouraged to develop their land into residential properties or relocate. At present, there are about 15 condominiums already completed along Hillview Avenue.

The latest, now on show and slated for completion in 2016, is The Hillier, a residential and commercial complex. This new condo will be built on the former Hillview Estate site and not at the old P.E.E location. Their showflat is currently on view at the old PEE site.

The Hillier showflat on the old PEE site on Hillview Avenue.

The Hillier complex

The Hillier's commercial area will be called hillV2.

It will be only a matter of time before the ex-PEE land will see new condominium highrises.

It will be interesting to see what 'Educational Institution' will be built at the earmarked area at the junction of Hillview Ave and Elizabeth Drive. Looks to be a very big plot. See the Singapore Master Plan 2008 for the Hillview area below.

The old Princess Elizabeth Estate School is now being refurbished into the new United Medicare Nursing Home. It is slated to begin operations by June 2012. However, if you see the Master Plan 2008 above, the plot where the old school lies is also under 'residential'. So I expect that the lease for the nursing home is only temporary.

The old PEES being refurbished. Dec 2011.

Exploring Bukit Gombak

This is an extract from the comments I made on Lam Chun See's Good Morning Yesterday blog.

I recalled there were lots of durian trees on the slope behind the two 7-storey blocks belonging to the isolated families living on the slope. 
There were 2 paths up to Bukit Gombak (i.e. from Princess Elizabeth Estate). 
One from the left beside Blk 23 and the major one on the right of Blk 24 which connected to Lorong Taluki leading to the kampong beside the railway tracks. (This would be where the Mindef field is now)

There was a catholic Cheng family living 2/3 way up the hillside to Bukit Gombak. 
The mother was my family's washerwomen and she had 2 sons and a few daughters. 
The elder son was called Thomas (In Teochew, "Tomack" who worked at Eveready and rode a Vespa which he used to park in front of my flat for security, we used look after it for him).
She had a daughter named Lucy who became the maid who looked after my younger sister as a baby. 
The mother also washed for the Moss family at 126A, my neighbours above our flat. 
When the Moss family moved to staff quarters at Hume Heights, she continued to wash for them there and used to take me along. That was how I used to play at the Moss' Hume Heights home for a number of years.

I remember their home on the Gombak slope had lots of fruit trees- durian, mangosteen, starfruit and lots of ubi kayu (tapoica) which they planted as fences to their plot of land. They also had a pig sty. We used to climb right to the top of Gombak where the radar was. There were lots of pineapple and buah susu (passionfuit) growing along the fence to the radar station. 

Up on the slope there was also a chinese temple but we feared to enter there as we were catholics and temples seemed so 'pagan' to us! There was a farmer who had a large starfruit plantation beside the temple.

From our estate perspective below, we could only see trees on Bt Gombak but it was a totally different world up on the slope.

The British radar station on the summit of Bukit Gombak.

Postscript:
There was another major path to Bukit Gombak that was Lorong Kemunchup.
This started between the primary school and blk 22. This was a very long track that passed several small farms along the way and also branched towards the granite quarry at what is now the Gombak Stadium (Little Guilin). We seldom went that way because of the numerous fierce dogs that belonged to the farmers along the track.

Locating Princess Elizabeth Estate

Today if you were to look, you would not locate Princess Elizabeth Estate on the map.
Sadly, the estate that was built in 1951 as a gift to Princess Elizabeth on her wedding to Prince Philip, was totally demolished by 1995.

Princess Elizabeth Estate was located at the then 9-1/4 milestone (14km) Upper Bukit Timah Road. The only access from Upper Bukit Road was a small road called Princess Elizabeth Estate Drive. Today this same road exists and is simply called Elizabeth Drive.

Maps courtesy of Lam Chun See
See his blog at Good Morning Yesterday

P.E.Estate has been taken off today's maps.

The estate was built on the south eastern slope of Bukit Gombak.
Popular Estate and Bamboo Grove Park were built in the late 1960s on the hillside west of P.E.Estate. The adjoining Hillview Estate was built by the HDB around 1980.  A Chinese kampong was located at the Lorong Taluki / Lorong Seburut area, where the current Mindef lies.

Pioneer factories operating there at the time were Ford Motors, Hume Pipes, Gammon, Malayan Guttas, Malayan Spinning Mills, Kiwi, National Carbon (Union Carbide) and Dairy Farm.

The most prominent factory then at the estate was Union Carbide. To direct taxi drivers to locate P.E.E., you would tell them to go to 'Tien Tor Long", in Hokkien - "the battery factory".

After Singapore's Independence, the Hillview area was identified for light industrial manufacturing and more factories were set up along Hillview Ave such as Castrol,  Cerebos, Yakult, Lam Soon Oil and Cycle & Carriage. Today all these factories have been relocated and replaced by condominiums.

Princess Elizabeth Estate had a unique addressing system.
Before 1965, there were no block numbers. Each house was numbered serially from No.1 to No. 142. Units on the upper floors were suffixed with A-B-C-D-E-F, representing the 2nd to 7th floor.

So a letter addressed to 126A Princess Anne Hill or just as 126A Princess Elizabeth Estate would be delivered correctly. The Estate was in District 23, making the postal code Singapore 23.
In 1965, Singapore Postal Service standardized the house numbering system.
This resulted in all the blocks getting a Block Number as well as a floor number from  #01- #07.
The postal code was later expanded to 2365 and eventually in 1995 changed to the 6-digit 650xxx format.

There was in fact only 1 paved road within the estate called Elizabeth Drive. The other street names were not 'roads' but basically footpaths leading to the various blocks. These were Princess Anne Hill, Prince Charles Rise, Clarence Walk and Philip Walk.

Passing of an era - The Railway Girder Bridge at Hillview.

So it has finally come to pass. The day that I thought I would never see the light of.
After more than 80 years, the Malaysian railway line has been dismantled and with it the freeing up of the bottleneck at Hillview Road.

I wrote a blog back in Nov 2010 about this bottleneck just after Singapore and Malaysia came to an agreement to remove the KTM railway line from Singapore. (Link here)

The traffic bottleneck at Hillview Road.

Yesterday, while online with another ex-resident, Mr SK Yum, of the now demolished Princess Elizabeth Estate, I learnt that the railway bridge was dismantled that very day we were chatting.  So I missed the opportunity to document a historic moment when the bridge was taken down.

The bottleneck will soon be a thing of the past, much to the joy of all the residents of Hillview and Bukit Batok, as well as for motorists who use that stretch.

I am not sure when the bridge was built but when my parents moved into Princess Elizabeth Estate in 1953,  it was already there. So it must be at least 60 years.

Back in 1953, when Princess Elizabeth Estate was built, the road was the only access from Upper Bukit Timah Road to the estate. It remained the only access road in, until the early 1970s when Hillview Avenue was extended and connected to Jurong Road at the other end.

Soon the old girder bridge will just be a part of people's memory, when they remember that there used to be a bridge at Hillview Road.

The Hillview Bridge with the railway line on top.
This was taken in July during the 'open' period for visitors after the train services ended.

Hillview Road with the bridge dismantled. 26 Nov 2011.

The concrete beam still across is a height warning and collision barrier. Soon to be dismantled as well.  

postscript: 12 Dec 2011

The collision barrier has been removed. Photo taken on 12 Dec 2011.

All that's remaining is the height warning gantry, which ironically has become the obstruction itself!

Related links:

KTM Railway photo blog.

The end of the Line.

Diplomacy untangles bottlenecks.