Beauty World Market

Beauty World Market was an open-air market in Singapore that was opened in July 1947. It was located at the junction of Upper Bukit Timah Road and Jalan Jurong Kechil. Just next to it was Beauty World Town, another shopping place opened in 1962. It was located at the junction of Upper Bukit Timah Road and Chun Tin Road.[1] Both shopping areas were completely demolished by the end of the 1980s due to frequent fire outbreaks.[2] Many of the stalls were relocated to Bukit Timah Shopping Centre and Beauty World Centre located across Upper Bukit Timah Road.[3] Now, the original site of the market is occupied by two carparks and Beauty World MRT Station.

Original site of Beauty World Market and Beauty World Town is now occupied by carpark and Beauty World MRT Station.

History
  • 1800s: Bukit Timah Village was formed by the early Chinese Gambier and Pepper Planters and farmers.[4] Another name of the village was “Beh Chia Loh Boey” which meant “terminal of the horse carriage way” in Hokkien. This was because, at that time, Bukit Timah Road ended at where the village was and beyond the village was the Bukit Timah Hill jungle.[5]
  • 1920s: An open-air market called Bukit Timah Market existed along Jalan Jurong Kechil. The market was mostly used by the rubber and pineapple plantation workers living in the village at that time.[6]
  • 1941: Japan invaded Singapore and the original site of the market was badly destroyed by bombing.[7]
  • 1942-1947: An amusement park called Tua Tong Ah(大东亚) was built by two Hokchia businessmen, Yuan and Yan at the destroyed site. It was a gambling center. The park was named after Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere propagated by Japanese invaders and hence, it was called “Tua Tong Ah” which means Greater East Asia in Hokkien.[8] As initiated by Japanese, Tua Tong Ah was built as a gambling centre to reduce rapid inflation. The park had 20 gambling stalls, roughly a dozen coffee shops with "coffee girls", six general stores, a photo studio, a movie theatre, hawker centre, restaurant, dance hall and several wayang and getai stages.[9]
  • 1947: After the Japanese invasion, gambling was banned.[10] Hence, the proprietor, Giam Kok Eng, converted the park to Beauty World Market in July.

The word “Beauty” of Beauty World was named after the daughter of Mr. Giam.“World” was named after other amusement parks in Singapore such as “Happy World”, “New World”, and “Great World".[11]

  • 1962: A new shopping area called Beauty World Town was built beside Beauty World Market.[12]
  • 1968: 140 hawkers at the Beauty World Market and Bukit Timah Village market registered to Hawkers Department of Ministry of the Environment to move to a new wet market&hawker centre called Bukit Timah Food Center with more hygienic environment. It was located beside the old Bukit Timah Market and it still exists now.[13] Bukit Timah village has a population size of around 4,500 and had about 500 houses. The villagers were mostly Chinese shop owners and laborers.
  • 1970s: Beauty World stalls kept catching fire due to complex electricity cables all tangled around the stores.[14]
  • End of the 1980s: Both Beauty World Market and Town closed down due to the frequent fire outbreaks. Many stalls were relocated to Bukit Timah Shopping Centre and Beauty World Centre located across Upper Bukit Timah Road.
  • 1990s: Two car parks occupied part of the original site of Beauty World Market and Town.
  • 2015: Beauty World MRT station opened and also occupied part of the original site of Beauty World Market and Town.

Architectural Features of Stalls in Beauty World Market and Town
  • Beauty World Market: Temporary stalls were made of zinc or attap shacks.[15] There were stall canvases for the shops to provide shade and to prevent rain from getting onto the displayed items.[16]
  • Beauty World Town: Stalls in Beauty World Town also had zinc roof. From various old photos of Beauty World Town, it could be seen that many shops had doors made of metal wire[17] or wood to keep the shop safe at night. Each shop had a name panel pasted at the top center too.[18]

References
  1. Singapore Beauty World Town Shopkeepers' Association. The Beauty World Town Shopkeeper Assn. Singapore 12th anniversary souvenir magazine 1967-1978. 1979.
  2. Tan, November Peng Ting. "Beauty World Amusement Park and Market." In Bukit Timah : a heritage trail, 12. Singapore: National Heritage Board, 2007.
  3. Tan, November Peng Ting. "Modern Shopping Centres." In Bukit Timah : a heritage trail, 12. Singapore: National Heritage Board, 2007.
  4. Lee, Kip Lin. "Appendix C." In Villages in the rural district areas, 220-27.
  5. Tan, November Peng Ting. "Bukit Timah Village." In Bukit Timah : a heritage trail, 13. Singapore: National Heritage Board, 2007.
  6. Tan, November Peng Ting. "Bukit Timah Village." In Bukit Timah : a heritage trail, 13. Singapore: National Heritage Board, 2007.
  7. Singapore Beauty World Town Shopkeepers' Association. The Beauty World Town Shopkeeper Assn. Singapore 12th anniversary souvenir magazine 1967-1978. 1979. 101.
  8. Tan, November Peng Ting. "Beauty World Amusement Park and Market." In Bukit Timah: a heritage trail, 12. Singapore: National Heritage Board, 2007.
  9. Jackie, Sam. "One World: Bad, Bright, Beautiful." Singapore Monitor, August 5, 1984.Accessed February 17, 2017. http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/singmonitor19840805-1.2.57.2.4?ST=1&AT=filter&K=beauty_world_amusement_park&KA=beauty_world_amusementpark&DF=&DT=&Display=0&AO=false&NPT=&L=&CTA=&NID=biztimes%7Cfreepress%7Csingmonitor%7Csingstandard%7Csundaytribune%7Csingfreepresswk%7Csundaystandard%7Cstweekly%7Csyonantimes%7Ceasterndaily%7Csingherald&CT=&WC=&YR=&QT=beauty,world,amusement,park&oref=article.
  10. Jackie, Sam. "One World: Bad, Bright, Beautiful." Singapore Monitor, August 5, 1984. Accessed February 17, 2017.http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/singmonitor19840805-1.2.57.2.4?ST=1&AT=filter&K=beauty_world_amusement_park&KA=beauty_world_amusement_park&DF=&DT=&Display=0&AO=false&NPT=&L=&CTA=&NID=biztimes%7Cfreepress%7Csingmonitor%7Csingstandard%7Csundaytribune%7Csingfreepresswk%7Csundaystandard%7Cstweekly%7Csyonantimes%7Ceasterndaily%7Csingherald&CT=&WC=&YR=&QT=beauty,world,amusement,park&oref=article.
  11. Tan, November Peng Ting. "Beauty World Amusement Park and Market." In Bukit Timah: a heritage trail, 12. Singapore: National Heritage Board, 2007.
  12. Tan, November Peng Ting. "Beauty World Amusement Park and Market." In Bukit Timah: a heritage trail, 12. Singapore: National Heritage Board, 2007.
  13. Tan, November Peng Ting. "Bukit Timah Food Centre." In Bukit Timah : a heritage trail, 13. Singapore: National Heritage Board, 2007.
  14. "Old bookstores in Singapore which have stood the test of time". AsiaOne. 2017-02-05. Retrieved 2019-06-12.
  15. 50 best kept secrets in Bukit Timah : an insider's guide. Singapore: Epigram for Bukit Timah Constituency, 2005. 47.
  16. "Beauty World : general view [2] | PictureSG". eresources.nlb.gov.sg. Retrieved 2019-06-12.
  17. FIRE ROARED THROUGH NINE SHOPS AT THE BEAUTY WORLD PARK IN BUKIT TIMAH JUST AFTER 1.20 AM, DESTROYING GOODS AND PROPERTY WORTH OVER $200,000. THE GUTTED SHOPS DEALT IN TEXTILES, RADIOS, POULTRY AND INCLUDED TWO COFFEESHOPS AND EATING STALLS. THE CAUSE OF THE FIRE HAS NOT YET BEEN ESTABLISHED. April 19, 1975. SINGAPORE PRESS HOLDINGS (SPH). In National Archives of Singapore. Accessed March 3, 2017. http://www.nas.gov.sg/archivesonline/photographs/record-details/b6827174-1162-11e3-83d5-0050568939ad.
  18. BEAUTY WORLD - SHOPHOUSES/PROVISION SHOPS. July 29, 1986. NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF SINGAPORE. In NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF SINGAPORE. Accessed March 3, 2017. http://www.nas.gov.sg/archivesonline/photographs/record-details/f7e03035-1161-11e3-83d5-0050568939ad.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.