Singapore International Foundation

Expatriates take a walk down memory lane in Balestier

Balestier Road is known for its delicious local food such as tau sar piah (red bean paste pastry) and ba kut teh (pork ribs soup). However, many do not know that it has a lot more to offer other than food. Balestier Road has a rich history in playing a role in the Chinese revolution during World War II. Despite modernisation in recent years, Balestier Road still retains its charm and gives us a glimpse of what Singapore looked like in the 1950s.

The SIF led 17 participants from America, Britain, Germany, Malaysia and Taiwan, armed with cameras and bottled water, on the Balestier trail on 25 April 2009 that started off in Goh Chor Tua Pek Kong Temple, built in 1847 by Chinese labourers working on the sugar plantations nearby. The visit coincided with the first day of the lunar month and many worshippers were at the temple giving thanks to the deity Tua Pek Kong.

Along Balestier Road, the group had a taste of fresh, oven-baked bread straight from a traditional local bakery, slathered with a thick spread of butter and kaya (sweet coconut paste), and sampled Balestier’s famous tau sar piah (bean pastries).

The participants also went to the Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall. Built in 1900, the villa was occupied by Dr Sun Yat Sen, the Chinese revolutionary leader and his men, from 1906 to 1911. It was renovated once in 1965 before it was gazetted a national monument in 1994 by the Preservation of Monuments Board. The villa was renamed as the Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall in 1996 to trace Dr Sun's revolutionary activities in the Southeast Asian region.

The walk through Balestier Road proved to be an eye opener for some. For participant Mr Jan-Christoph Daniel from Germany, “[I have] travelled through Balestier many times, [but I] never knew it has so much history and culture”.