Skip to main content

Advertisement

Advertisement

Heritage groups want current Tanjong Pagar platform preserved

SINGAPORE — With most of the platform at the iconic Tanjong Pagar Railway Station set to make way for the construction of the new Cantonment MRT station, heritage groups are in favour of taking apart the platform carefully and reinstating it after work is complete.

Visitors at the former Tanjong Pagar Railway Station during the Good Friday public holiday. The station was opened in 1932 and was until June 2011 the Singapore terminus of the rail line operated by Keretapi Tanah Melayu. TODAY file photo

Visitors at the former Tanjong Pagar Railway Station during the Good Friday public holiday. The station was opened in 1932 and was until June 2011 the Singapore terminus of the rail line operated by Keretapi Tanah Melayu. TODAY file photo

Follow TODAY on WhatsApp

SINGAPORE — With most of the platform at the iconic Tanjong Pagar Railway Station set to make way for the construction of the new Cantonment MRT station, heritage groups are in favour of taking apart the platform carefully and reinstating it after work is complete.

While they were glad that preserving the old platform was one option the Land Transport Authority (LTA) has proposed to keep the heritage at this site, there are concerns over the works to be carried out at the future Prince Edward Station.

Noting that there are historical monuments in the vicinity that are not gazetted, the Singapore Heritage Society recommends that a heritage impact assessment, covering archaeological impact, be carried out for the site.

Besides these two, Keppel is the third new station to be built to close the loop for the Circle Line by connecting Marina Bay and HarbourFront stations, the LTA announced today (Oct 29).

To keep the heritage of the former Tanjong Pagar Railway Station — opened in 1932 and which was until June 2011 the Singapore terminus of the rail line operated by Keretapi Tanah Melayu — the LTA, which engaged a heritage consultant, briefed members of the heritage community on Tuesday on three options.

One was to dismantle, store, then reinstate the old railway station platform. Two, re-create a replica of the platform, or three, create a new interpretation of the platform. The first option was favoured by three of those who attended the meeting.

Dr Chua Ai Lin, president of the Singapore Heritage Society, said: “I think it’s quite obvious from a heritage perspective, that (preservation) is the only serious option to be considered.

“The building is a train station and a train station must have platforms and tracks — that’s part of what the function of the building is. When you conserve, you want to maintain a sense of the original purpose of the building,” she added.

Only 80m of the 550m-long platform are part of the gazetted national monument, due to the length of tracks still existing, which were the result of negotiations with Malaysia.

“It doesn’t mean the decision made about the tracks was a sound conservation decision to begin with. We shouldn’t base our treatment of the platforms now on those 80m of tracks,” said Dr Chua, who added that parties shortlisted in the Rail Corridor’s Request for Proposal exercise have the opportunity to incorporate a unique historical structure into their design.

Heritage blogger Jerome Lim, 51, who was also at the meeting, said the 550m railway platform — made up of modules each 30m in length — is among the longest found along the railway line. Supporting the retention of as much of the platforms as possible, he wrote on his blog today: “It does perhaps make perfect sense to have the new MRT station integrated into the former railway station, whatever its intended reuse in the future. While this may deviate from what had been intended in building the grand old dame — modelled, some say, after Helsinki Central to serve as the gateway to the oceans — it would be in keeping with its intended use as a transportation hub and serve as a fitting reminder of what it once was.”

Assistant Professor of Architectural History, Theory and Criticism at the Singapore University of Technology and Design Yeo Kang Shua shares Mr Lim’s sentiments. “When you have the original, my principle is to keep the original,” he said, adding that interfacing the old and new stations would be more meaningful and would continue the “railway story”.

“The new station is under the old station platform ... so (we could) have an escalator coming up (from the new station) to the platform or the old station, so it becomes more meaningful.”

On the future Prince Edward Station, Dr Chua noted that the nearby Hock Teck See Temple, the Haji Muhammad Salleh Mosque and the Keramat Habib Noh are not gazetted. The temple and Muslim prayer sites date from the around the 1820s but the area has been recorded on Portuguese maps as a point of importance for sailors since 1604, she said.

“I’m concerned about whether adequate thought has been given into protecting the integrity of these places,” said Dr Chua, who also called for a discussion on how the site above the MRT station is going to look like. “Right now, the temple faces the mosque and it’s an open space allowing a freeflowing cultural exchange that’s been going on for 200 years. I’d hate to see the integrity of that multicultural space affected by a modern development going right through.”

Asst Prof Yeo added that the site used to be known as Tanjong Malang, a historical settlement. An impact assessment should also be conducted on the archaeological potential of the site as there might be other older historical artefacts to be found in the vicinity, he added.

Read more of the latest in

Advertisement

Advertisement

Stay in the know. Anytime. Anywhere.

Subscribe to get daily news updates, insights and must reads delivered straight to your inbox.

By clicking subscribe, I agree for my personal data to be used to send me TODAY newsletters, promotional offers and for research and analysis.