Sunday, April 13, 2008
Modern Day Katong Park
After the Fort was abandoned, the Katong Park was built on top of the fort in the 1960s, until all of the land have been covered during the land reclaimation in the late 1960s. Even though some excavation works have been carried on in recent years, the park have been mainly the same, with the exception of new facilities to the park.Posted by Joshua at 10:52 PM
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Tanjong Katong Fort and Katong Park
HistoryConstructed in 1879, Tanjong Katong Fort was part of a series of defensive batteries and fortifications along the south coast of Singapore, which was meant to defend the eastern areas of Singapore, like the Singapore Harbour, Singapore Town and New Harbour, now known as Keppel Harbour. The fort was supposedly built to defend Singapore against possible Russian invasion in Asia. It initially carried an elevated battery with three 7-inch muzzle-loading guns along with magazines and bombproof shelters built between the gun emplacements. The battery was surrounded by mangrove piles and a wet ditch measuring 100 feet on the flanks. The fort was sitting atop a wet, low-lying coconut plantation and occupied an area of approximately two hectares. The battery was surrounded by a ditch measuring 100 feet wide on the flanks. It was completed by local contractors within 12 months. The fort's garrison included members of the Singapore Volunteer Artillery (SVA) that held regular gun drills and their annual training camps at the fort. In 1885, works began on upgrading the existing gun batteries in Singapore, and the three-gun battery at Tanjong Katong was replaced with a pair of more powerful and longer range breech-loading Mark VII 8-inch (200 mm) guns.
Problems that led to the fort to be abandoned
Beset by problems from the start, the Fort Tanjong Katong was nicknamed the "Wash-out Fort". Due to the soft ground, each time the guns were fired, the range finding equipment would shake, and would need to be recalibrated. To make matters worse, it was difficult to find the ammunition for the new 8-inch (200 mm) guns as it was not common in Singapore. The remoteness of the site, which hindered supply and reinforcement, reduced the effectiveness of Fort Tanjong Katong as a defensive position. Barely five years after upgrades were completed in 1888, it was suggested the fort be demolished. Debates over the fort lingered on between the Colonial Defence Committee in London, and the Local Defence Committee in Singapore for nearly a decade. The fort was finally rendered obsolete and abandoned in 1901 when the guns were removed. Instead of destroying the fort, the British thought it simpler to bury it, which was done sometime after World War I. A portion of a bastion was still visible above ground well into the 1960s, when a public park was built atop the fort for the fast-growing Katong suburbs. In the late 1960s, the bastion was finally buried when land reclamation in the East Coast took place, and its memory was soon forgotten in the ensuing decades.
Rediscovery
In 2001, the outline of the top of the bastion wall became visible during a dry spell; this prompted a Katong resident, Jack Sim, to seek out the relevant authorities to investigate its origins. Despite much public discussion and interest generated by the discovery, it was not until in 2004 that the Singapore government finally approached a team of archaeologists to excavate the forgotten fort. The excavation began on 29 September 2004, led by a handful of archaeologists and dedicated archaeology volunteers. Nearly 2 metres down, the volunteers uncovered significant remains of the fort still in situ—a pair of infantry bastions that did not appear in the original plans, the perimeter of the moat's inner escarpment and what appears to be the drawbridge superstructure. The fort had protection all around—and it was considered one of Singapore's most important archaeological finds. However, today, Katong Park is restored to its original looks as the forts were once again buried.
Inference
The fort was built on the edge of the seaside. From the positioning of Katong park, which was once Tanjong Katong Fort, we can see how far back the coastlines were before reclaimation. Therefore, Katong would have been a smaller place until the reclamation of land which led to the development of East Coast Park
Posted by Joshua at 8:02 AM
Friday, April 4, 2008
East Coast Park
Info
Location: Along East Coast Parkway
Size: 185 Ha, stretching over 15 km
Activities: Besides recreational activities, this once-barren reclaimed land offers a diversity of both flora and fauna
East Coast Park was opened in the 1970s, when the government completed reclaiming land off the coast at Katong which extends from Changi to Tanjong Rhu. The 1.85 square kilometre East Coast Park is the largest park in Singapore, and is built entirely on reclaimed land with a man-made beach, where swimming is possible. The beach is protected by breakwaters, with no other natural features. The park is easily accessible by East Coast Park Service Road with numerous exits along the East Coast Parkway.
Location: Along East Coast Parkway
Size: 185 Ha, stretching over 15 km
Activities: Besides recreational activities, this once-barren reclaimed land offers a diversity of both flora and fauna
East Coast Park was opened in the 1970s, when the government completed reclaiming land off the coast at Katong which extends from Changi to Tanjong Rhu. The 1.85 square kilometre East Coast Park is the largest park in Singapore, and is built entirely on reclaimed land with a man-made beach, where swimming is possible. The beach is protected by breakwaters, with no other natural features. The park is easily accessible by East Coast Park Service Road with numerous exits along the East Coast Parkway.
Posted by Joshua at 7:51 PM
Thursday, April 3, 2008
The Great East Coast Reclamation
"The Great East Coast Reclamation" was a major project to expand the land around the eastern areas by a process known as reclamation. Completed in 1985 after 22 years of reclamation work, it cost the government s$613 million. Around 1,525 ha of land was reclaimed for recreation and housing purposes. The reclaimation process included the building of a 100% man-made East Coast Park, which we will discuss later. The Marine Parade housing estate was built on this reclaimed land in the late 1960s and was completed in mid-1970s. The construction of the Marine Parade Town Centre was completed in 1975.Posted by Joshua at 11:05 PM
The coconut and cotton plantations
Katong/Joo Chiat has its revolutions in the early 19th century where coconut plantations stretching from Geylang River to Siglap Road and atop roofed kampungs (villages) dotted the landscape.The piece of land was bought by Jose d'Almeida, one of the earliest European settlers in Singapore who entrusted a sum of money to F. J. Bernard (the son-in-law of Colonel William Farquhar) for the transaction. Most of the land was given over to coconut plantations because of the suitably sandy conditions, although cotton was also introduced in February 1836. The cotton seeds were imported from North America, Brazil, Egypt and other regions. Jose d'Almeida was very keen on agriculture and was one of the pioneer planters in Singapore. He experimented with sugar, coffee and coconut cultivation and also introduced cotton, vanilla and gamboge here. He also introduced different varieties of trees and fruits, such as the Pisang d'Almeida, and brought in teal and quail from India. However, most of his enterprises were not successful.
Then, Chew Joo Chiat, a wealthy land-owner and philanthropist, bought over large plots of land in Katong and was known as the “King of Katong”. He carried on the coconut plantation business. At first, the coconuts which he planted had to be hand carried out of the plantation as it was mostly full of coconut trees and had no space for motorised vehicles. But as his produce got more and more, Chew Joo Chiat saw the need to built a road to export his goods more efficiently. The road was actually just a simple dirt track, spanning from Geylang Serai all the way till the seaside. This road is also today's Joo Chiat Road, named after Mr Chew Joo Chiat.
Following the expansion of the city centre, many communities started moving out from the 1920s/1930s all the way till post WWII. As Chew Joo Chiat had a large plot of land, he decided that it would be worthwile to rent the land to the wealthy. Furthermore, as it was near the seaside and there was a road running through it, it would be an ideal place for the rich. This resulted in bungalows, shophouses and places of worship being built, a reflection of the multi-cultural and varied Katong/Joo Chiat community. As more and more communities came, Chew Joo Chiat built smaller roads (Such as modern day Joo Chiat Place) linked to the main road, Joo Chiat road, to accomodate the residents.
Posted by Joshua at 10:53 PM
Introduction to Katong
Among modern buildings and high-rise apartments, Katong/Joo Chiat continues to exude the charm and beauty of its past. This place is full of beautifully sculptured shophouses from the past. Besides that, Katong is also famous for its wide range of food delicacies from the different races and ethnic groups. Katong has always been associated with a larger area in eastern Singapore, including areas such as Joo Chiat, East Coast, Mountbatten, Telok Kurau, Siglap and Marine Parade. The image below generally shows the area of Katong.
Katong has a variety of parks and nature hotspots, namely East Coast Park, Katong Park and Siglap Park connector. Also, in the past, there was a cotton and coconut plantation in the area. We will discuss all these sites and further information here.