Thursday, April 3, 2008
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.