Balestier Road is a street located in the Kallang Area of the Central Region, running from Serangoon Road to Thomson Road junction. It was named after Joseph Balestier, the first American Consul in Singapore, an enterprising and perservering gentleman, who also owned a large but not too successful sugar-cane plantation known as the Balestier plantation.

History
The area was originally swampy ground before the road was made. Lined with two-storey shophouses adorned with highly decorative ceramic tiles and ornately carved walls, the road was nicknamed Recreation Road because of the many recreational clubs that stood along the short stretch between Tessensohn Road and Moulmein Road. It included the Civil Service Club, Singapore Indian Association, Singapore Khalsa Association, Singapore Chinese Recreation Club and Ceylon Sports Club. After the Moulmein point, Balestier Road veers right till it connects and meets Thomson Road at a junction. Two excellent Chinese temples are sited on this road, namely Tua Peh Kong and Sun Tye Kee.

Variant Names
Chinese names:
(1) In Hokkien, oh kio means "Black Bridge".
(2) In Cantonese, wu-hap thong refers to "Taro Pond". There were plantations of this vegetable in the Balestier Road neighborhood.
(3) In Hokkien, Go-cho toa-peh keng refers to "Rochore Temple" where Go-chois a transliteration of Rochore.

Indian Name:
In Tamil, Thannir Kampam refers to "The water kampong" as water was drawn from this are and sold in town.

Author
Vernon Cornelius

References
Buckley, C. B. (1984). An anecdotal history of old times in Singapore: 1819-1867 (pp. 221, 248, 273, 290, 305, 306, 314, 333, 346, 347, 399. 456, 483). Singapore: Oxford University Press.
(Call no.: RSING 959.57 BUC)

Samuel, D. S. (1939). Malayan street names: What they mean and whom they commemorate (p. 82). Ipoh: Mercantile Press
(Call no.: RSING 959.5 RAJ)

The information in this article is valid as at 1999 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.

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