Heritage Trail - Bedok Heritage Trail

Heritage Trail - Bedok Heritage Trail (2020 1024-25)

Length: 15.30Km)

Getting There:

MRT Bedok (EW5)

Start/End Point: Bedok Town Square / Bedok Heritage Trail (208C New Upper Changi Road)

Bedok Town Square>

Bedok Mall & Bedok Interchange>

Bedok Interchange Hawker Centre>

Bedok Heritage Corner - Heritage Makers (Bedok Mall/Bedok Point)> Sampan-shaped markers carry information about this area’s history. The area was full of fishing villages, kampongs, markets, as well as rich men’s beachside manors and military installations.

Bedok North Drive>

Bedok North Street 1> Old Bedok Public Library> Heartbeat@Bedok (Bedok Public Library, Kampong Chai Chee Community Centre, SGH Laboratory Sevices, Bedok Polyclinic, Heartbeat@Bedok ActiveSG Swimming Complex)>

Blk 216 Bedok Food Centre and Market>

Cross Bedok North Avenue 3> Along Bedok North Avenue 3> Bethesda (Bedok-Tampines) Church (300 Bedok North Ave 3, Singapore 469717)>

Bedok North Road>

Cross Bedok North Road (Chin Lee Restaurant)>

Bedok 85 Market & Food Centre (85 Bedok North Street 4, Singapore 460085)>

Fengshan HDB Heritage Makers (Bedok North Road/Bedok North Street 4 – Feng Shan Neighbourhood Centre (Pedestrian mall between Blk 85 and 86 Bedok North Street 4) - The 1980s estate of Fengshan, carved out of Bedok New Town, lays claim to a history that is in fact older than the Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats and shops around it. Many of those who moved to Fengshan when the estate was established originally hailed from the farming village of Chang Mao Hng in Tai Seng. >

Bedok Sports Complex (1 Bedok North Street 2, Singapore 469642)> Cross New Upper Changi Road>

New Upper Changi Road>

The Market Place 58 (F&B Outlets, Food Centre>

APSN Katong School>

Bedok View Secondary School>

Cross Bedok South Avenue 3>

Highlands of Bedok Heritage Makers (Junction of Bedok Rise & Jalan Lima Kasturi (pedestrian footpath between Bedok Rise and Tanah Merah MRT Station) - This area provides visitors with an idea of the undulating elevation of the Bedok area prior to the levelling of land in the 1960s to 1980s for land reclamation. Excavated earth from former hills in the area was used to fill the sea from the edges of Bedok to Tanjong Rhu, to form today’s East Coast Park and Marine Parade. >

MRT Tanah Merah (EW4)>

Bedok Road Turn Left)> Simpang Bedok & Koh Sek Lim Plaque (Bedok Road/Jalan Chempaka Kuning (in front of the row of shophouses at 324-346 Bedok Road) - This boundary area, long been known as Simpang Bedok (“Bedok Junction” in Malay), was previously a Malay kampong (“village” in Malay) that remained in existence until the 1980s. Simpang Bedok once stood between predominantly Chinese rambutan plantations on one side and a Malay village on the other. It was also a recreational area and favourite food haunt for Commonwealth soldiers based in Changi. Simpang Bedok’s culinary heritage continues today as it remains a popular late-night food haunt.>

Palelai Buddhist Temple (49 Bedok Walk, Singapore 469145)>

Bedok Post Office>

The Bedok Marketplace (348 Bedok Rd, Level 2, Singapore 469560)(F&B Outlets, Toilet)>

Cross New Upper Changi Road/ Upper Changi Road East> onto Bedok Road> Man Fatt Lam Temple (211 Bedok Rd, Singapore 468584)>

Bedok Methodist Church (86 Bedok Rd, Singapore 469371)>

Chee Hoon Kog Moral Promotion Society>

Masjid Al-Taqua (11A Jln Bilal, Singapore 468862)>

Kampong Bedok Heritage Makers (Junction of Upper East Coast Road and Bedok Road (outside Bedok Food Centre at 1 Bedok Road) - This area, affectionately known to long-time residents as Bedok Corner, was formerly Kampong Bedok Laut and Kampong Bedok Darat, founded in the 1850s, with the former village facing the sea. According to oral history accounts, Kampong Bedok Darat was started by a young fisherman, Haji Abdul Salam, from Johor Lama, while Kampong Bedok Laut was started by a farmer, Abdul Wahab, from Java. In addition to rubber plantations and farms, this area was also home to upscale restaurants and holiday beachside homes. >

Bedok Food Centre (1 Bedok Rd, Singapore 469572)>

Upper East Coast Road> The “King” of Bedok, Villa Haji Kahar (Jalan Haji Salam)>

Bedok Camp>

Upper East Coast Bus Terminal (740 Upper East Coast Rd, Singapore 465549)>

Bungalow House Along East Coast Road>

Yuan Meng Shih Temple (631 Upper East Coast Rd, Singapore 466596)>

Cross Bedok South Road> Temasek Secondary School>

Military Landmarks in the East Heritage Makers (Opposite Bedok South Avenue 3 in front of 568 Upper East Coast Road) - The strategic position of Tanah Merah is also evident in the many pillboxes that used to dot the area. A prominent gunpowder magazine was built and artillery guns installed by the British, with a nearby jetty for boats to bring in supplies and cargo. This magazine was left intact until land reclamation commenced in the 1970s, during which it was dismantled. After World War II, Tanah Merah’s hills were the place from which the very first lorry of earth was removed for land reclamation works along the former coastline, from Bedok all the way to Tanjong Rhu.>

Cross Bedok South Avenue 3> Hua Yu Wee (462 Upper East Coast Rd, Singapore 466508)>

Hua Yu Wee (462 Upper East Coast Rd, Singapore 466508) - Housed in a 1920s bungalow, this restaurant which continues to serve up good seafood even now, is the last of the famous seafood strip which counted the original Long Beach, Red House and Palm Beach Restaurant.>

ECON Medicare Centre & Nursing Home - Upper East Coast Branch> Seafront Homes & A Holiday Lifestyle Heritage Makers (Upper East Coast Road, opposite 462 Upper East Coast Rd) - Dotted with restaurants, casual eateries, holiday homes, seaside motels and recreational clubs, the East Coast has long been a playground for Singaporeans. Regattas featuring koleks (small wooden Malay boats) drew sailors from as far as the Indonesian islands. On the beach, spectators watched the races or participated in games such as climbing greased poles. The post-race dance parties featuring ronggeng (a dance from Java) and joget (a dance from Malacca) were perhaps as eagerly anticipated as the regattas themselves.>

Cross Lucky Heights>

Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan Cultural Academy>

ESSO Station - Upper East Coast> Cross Bedok South Avenue 1>

Bedok Exchange Telecommunications Facility>

Cross Upper East Coast Road> Nallur Road> Nallur Road/Marine Parade Road> Former Coastline Heritage Maker (Junction of Nallur Road and Marine Parade Road behind 54 Nallur Road) - end of Nallur Road, where a substantial sea wall still stands, the walls and a remaining iron gate are remnants of huge mansions that used to front the seashore.>

Nallur Road> Upper East Coast Road> Emmanuel Assembly of God>

Siglap South Community Centre>

Siglap Post Office>

Siglap Linear Park>

Siglap Frankkel Eastate & Opera Estate Heritage Makers (Upper East Coast Road, opposite Jalan Tua Kong in front of the open public car park) - Between the early 19th century and the 1980s, the fishing villages of Kampong Siglap, Kampong Lim Choo, Kampong Goh Choo and Kampong Hajijah stood along the former coastline where the housing estate of Siglap is today. Siglap is derived from the Malay word si-gelap meaning “dark one” or "the darkness that conceals". It is believed that Siglap was so named either because of a solar eclipse at the time of the village’s founding in 1821, or in reference to the thick canopy of coconut trees in the area that let little sunlight through.>

Cross East Coast Road>Siglap Road> Siglap Centre Shopping mall>

Kubur Kassim Cemetery (426 Siglap Rd, Singapore 455933)>

Opera Estate Plaque>

Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour (31 Siglap Hill, Singapore 456085)>

Cross New Upper Changi Road>

Chai Chee Drive>

Chai Chee Street> Land Transport Authority - Bedok Campus (71 Chai Chee St, Singapore 468981)>

Soon San Teng Temple (42 Senang Cres, Singapore 416610)>

Chai Chee United Temple (6 Chai Chee Ln, Singapore 469020)>

THK Home For Disabled Adults @ Chai Chee (2 Chai Chee Ln, Singapore 469030)>

Ping Yi Secondary School (61 Chai Chee St, Singapore 468980)>

Chai Chee Heritage Makers (Chai Chee Street; next to the main gate of Ping Yi Secondary School at 61 Chai Chee Street) - Today, the pocket-sized estate of Chai Chee stands as a peaceful annex to the bustle of Bedok. However, during the early 20th century, Chai Chee was the more boisterous sibling, known for its market with its vegetable sellers and other hawkers often spilling out along present-day Upper Changi Road. The area thus takes its name from the aforementioned market, with Chai Chee meaning “vegetable market” in Hokkien.>