Farrer Park
Encyclopedia
Neighbourhood
A neighbourhood or neighborhood is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town or suburb. Neighbourhoods are often social communities with considerable face-to-face interaction among members. "Researchers have not agreed on an exact definition...
in the central part
Central Region, Singapore
The Central Region of Singapore is one of the five regions in the city-state. Comprising 13,150 hectares of land area, it includes 11 Planning Areas within the Central Area which is the immediate vicinity of the Singapore's central business district, as well as another 11 more outside it.Although...
of Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, located at the end of Little India. Farrer Park is defined by the boundary
Border
Borders define geographic boundaries of political entities or legal jurisdictions, such as governments, sovereign states, federated states and other subnational entities. Some borders—such as a state's internal administrative borders, or inter-state borders within the Schengen Area—are open and...
formed by Dorset Road, Hampshire Road and Northumberland Road.
Etymology
Farrer Park and Farrer Road were named after R. F. Farrer (died 1956), who was Municipal Assessor and later President of the Municipal CommissionerCommissioner
Commissioner is in principle the title given to a member of a commission or to an individual who has been given a commission ....
s in the 1920s. In 1952, there was an abortive attempt to change the name of Farrer Road in order to avoid confusion with Farrer Park, situated in a different location.
Serangoon Road Race Course
It was at Farrer Park that Singapore's first racecourseRace track
A race track is a purpose-built facility for racing of animals , automobiles, motorcycles or athletes. A race track may also feature grandstands or concourses. Some motorsport tracks are called speedways.A racetrack is a permanent facility or building...
was built and where the island's aviation
Aviation
Aviation is the design, development, production, operation, and use of aircraft, especially heavier-than-air aircraft. Aviation is derived from avis, the Latin word for bird.-History:...
history began.http://infopedia.nl.sg/articles/SIP_1111_2007-07-19.html
The Serangoon Road Race Course was established at Farrer Park in December 1842 and was run by the Singapore Sporting Club. Horse races
Horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...
were held mostly on weekends
Workweek
The workweek and weekend are those complementary parts of the week devoted to labour and rest respectively. The legal working week , or workweek , is the part of the seven-day week devoted to labor. In most Western countries it is Monday to Friday. The weekend comprises the two traditionally...
and attracted a largely Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an audience. On non-race days, the Racecourse's large turf
Sod
Sod or turf is grass and the part of the soil beneath it held together by the roots, or a piece of thin material.The term sod may be used to mean turf grown and cut specifically for the establishment of lawns...
doubled as a golf course
Golf course
A golf course comprises a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, fairway, rough and other hazards, and a green with a flagstick and cup, all designed for the game of golf. A standard round of golf consists of playing 18 holes, thus most golf courses have this number of holes...
, grazing
Grazing
Grazing generally describes a type of feeding, in which a herbivore feeds on plants , and also on other multicellular autotrophs...
pasture
Pasture
Pasture is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep or swine. The vegetation of tended pasture, forage, consists mainly of grasses, with an interspersion of legumes and other forbs...
and rifle range. Staffing the Racecourse were Bawean
Bawean
Bawean is an island of Indonesia located approximately 150 km north of Surabaya in the Java Sea, off the coast of Java. It is administered by Gresik Regency of East Java province. It is approximately 15 km in diameter and is circumnavigated by a single narrow road. Bawean is dominated by...
ese settlers from Java
Java
Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...
in Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
. A sizeable India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n community also lived in the Farrer Park area; they were workers and owners of the cattle
Cattle
Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...
farm
Farm
A farm is an area of land, or, for aquaculture, lake, river or sea, including various structures, devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food , fibres and, increasingly, fuel. It is the basic production facility in food production. Farms may be owned and operated by a single...
s, rattan
Rattan
Rattan is the name for the roughly 600 species of palms in the tribe Calameae, native to tropical regions of Africa, Asia and Australasia.- Structure :...
processing houses and pineapple
Pineapple
Pineapple is the common name for a tropical plant and its edible fruit, which is actually a multiple fruit consisting of coalesced berries. It was given the name pineapple due to its resemblance to a pine cone. The pineapple is by far the most economically important plant in the Bromeliaceae...
factories in the vicinity. It was these cattle farms which gave the area its Malay name of Kandang Kerbau, or Buffalo Shed.
The first plane to fly over Singapore was here in March 1911.
On 6 February 1919, Singapore celebrated its centenary and one of the many events that marked the occasion was a grand fair
Fair
A fair or fayre is a gathering of people to display or trade produce or other goods, to parade or display animals and often to enjoy associated carnival or funfair entertainment. It is normally of the essence of a fair that it is temporary; some last only an afternoon while others may ten weeks. ...
at Farrer Park. The Racecourse grounds were also used as an airstrip.
In 1924, the Racecourse was renamed the Singapore Turf Club
Singapore Turf Club
The Singapore Turf Club was founded in 1842 as the Singapore Sporting Club to operate the Serangoon Road Race Course at Farrer Park.It is today the only horse-racing club in Singapore and is part of the Malayan Racing Association, which also regulates the three Turf Clubs in Malaysia, the Selangor...
. It remained at Farrer Park for a further nine years until 1933 when it moved to the Bukit Timah Race Course
Bukit Timah Race Course
The Bukit Timah Race Course was a venue for Thoroughbred horse racing in the Bukit Timah area of Singapore. Built by the Bukit Timah Turf Club, it was opened on April 15, 1933 by the Sir Cecil Clementi, Governor of Singapore...
. Farrer Park was then opened to the public
Public
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individuals, and the public is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the Öffentlichkeit or public sphere. The concept of a public has also been defined in political science,...
. Playing field
Playing field
A playing field is a field used for playing sports or games. They are generally outdoors, but many large structures exist to enclose playing fields from bad weather. Generally, playing fields are wide expanses of grass, dirt or sand without many obstructions...
s were created and a Sports House was set up in what used to be the grandstand
Grandstand
A grandstand is a large and normally permanent structure for seating spectators, most often at a racetrack. This includes both auto racing and horse racing. The grandstand is in essence like a single section of a stadium, but differs from a stadium in that it does not wrap all or most of the way...
.
Farrer Park remained a favourite sport
Sport
A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...
ing venue for decades, with the Sports House becoming the headquarters of the National Sports Promotion Board from 1971 to 1973. Several other sports associations occupied Sports House until 1985 when it was destroyed by a fire
Fire
Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material in the chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. Slower oxidative processes like rusting or digestion are not included by this definition....
.
Farrer Park saw its share of political gatherings during Singapore's turbulent pre-
Pre-war
The term pre-war or prewar is usually applied to the most recent or significant war in a culture's history.Antebellum is most often used to denote the period before the American Civil War while pre-war typically refers to the period before WWII.In real estate the term refers to buildings from the...
and post-war
Post-war
A post-war period or postwar period is the interval immediately following the ending of a war and enduring as long as war does not resume. A post-war period can become an interwar period or interbellum when a war between the same parties resumes at a later date...
years. In 1942, immediately following the fall of Singapore to the Japanese
Japanese Occupation of Singapore
The Japanese occupation of Singapore in World War II occurred between about 1942 and 1945 after the fall of Singapore on 15 February 1942. Military forces of the Empire of Japan occupied Singapore after defeating the combined Australian, British, Indian and Malayan garrison in the Battle of Singapore...
, Indian and Malay
Malay people
Malays are an ethnic group of Austronesian people predominantly inhabiting the Malay Peninsula, including the southernmost parts of Thailand, the east coast of Sumatra, the coast of Borneo, and the smaller islands which lie between these locations...
soldier
Soldier
A soldier is a member of the land component of national armed forces; whereas a soldier hired for service in a foreign army would be termed a mercenary...
s were rounded up at Farrer Park and urged by the new ruler
Ruler
A ruler, sometimes called a rule or line gauge, is an instrument used in geometry, technical drawing, printing and engineering/building to measure distances and/or to rule straight lines...
s to switch allegiance
Allegiance
An allegiance is a duty of fidelity said to be owed by a subject or a citizen to his/her state or sovereign.-Etymology:From Middle English ligeaunce . The al- prefix was probably added through confusion with another legal term, allegeance, an "allegation"...
.
In the post-war struggle for independence
Independence
Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state in which its residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory....
, political rallies took place at Farrer Park. In 1955, Singapore had its first local political election
Election
An election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy operates since the 17th century. Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the...
s for the Legislative Assembly
Legislative Assembly of Singapore
The Legislative Assembly of Singapore was the legislature of the government of Singapore from 1955 to 1965 and the predecessor of the Parliament of Singapore. The Rendel Constitution, proposed in 1953, sought to give the local population more self-governance as the Merdeka independence movement grew...
. On 15 August 1955, the People's Action Party
People's Action Party
The People's Action Party is the leading political party in Singapore. It has been the city-state's ruling political party since 1959....
campaigned
Political campaign
A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making process within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, wherein representatives are chosen or referendums are decided...
at Farrer Park for self-government.
When Singapore became an independent republic
Republic
A republic is a form of government in which the people, or some significant portion of them, have supreme control over the government and where offices of state are elected or chosen by elected people. In modern times, a common simplified definition of a republic is a government where the head of...
on 9 August 1965, returning military
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
personnel were stationed at Farrer Park until proper barracks
Barracks
Barracks are specialised buildings for permanent military accommodation; the word may apply to separate housing blocks or to complete complexes. Their main object is to separate soldiers from the civilian population and reinforce discipline, training and esprit de corps. They were sometimes called...
were found.
See also
- Farrer Park MRT StationFarrer Park MRT StationFarrer Park MRT Station ' is a station located along the North East Line on the Mass Rapid Transit. The station is between Little India and Boon Keng in Singapore, and managed by SBS Transit. Similar to other stations on the line, it is an underground station...
, the North East LineNorth East MRT LineThe North East MRT Line is the third Mass Rapid Transit line in Singapore and the world's second longest fully underground, automated and driverless, rapid transit line after Singapore's Circle MRT Line. The line is 20 km long with 16 stations and operated by SBS Transit. Travelling from one end...
MRTMass Rapid Transit (Singapore)The Mass Rapid Transit or MRT is a rapid transit system that forms the backbone of the railway system in Singapore, spanning the entire city-state. The initial section of the MRT, between Yio Chu Kang Station and Toa Payoh Station, opened in 1987 establishing itself as the second-oldest metro...
station serving the area. - Kandang Kerbau Women's and Children's HospitalKandang Kerbau Women's and Children's HospitalFormerly known as Kandang Kerbau Hospital, KK Women's and Children's Hospital is now the largest hospital specialising in healthcare for women and children in Singapore....
- Little India, SingaporeLittle India, SingaporeLittle India is an ethnic neighbourhood found in Singapore that has Tamil cultural elements. Little India lies to east of the Singapore River—across from Chinatown, located west of the river—and north of Kampong Glam. Both areas are part of the urban planning area of Rochor...