The quiet stretch of road parallel to Commonwealth Avenue was infamous for its robberies and murder cases. In July 2007, an Indian woman in her early 30s was found dead with multiple injuries at the bottom of the Block 181. On 9 July 2009, an 82 year old Chinese woman fell prey to a man who snatched her gold necklace as she was walking at the void deck of Blk 48 Stirling Road.
Yet, this same quiet stretch of road is home to one of the last few blocks of colonial houses left in Singapore. Named after a borough in England, the northern portion of Stirling Road formed the boundary of the first Neighbourhood in Queenstown-the Princess Estate. Stirling Road also played host to the first vocational institute, the Baharuddin Vocational Institute dedicated to applied and manual arts in Singapore, which was subsequently absorbed by Temasek Polytechnic in 1990.
The trees do provide a good shade in an hot and humid afternoon when I visited this stretch of road. The colonial houses, sheltered with red colour tiled roofs, are prominent features in this part of Queenstown. The Blk 40s with 3 "rooms" and the Blk 50s with 4 "rooms" are fascinating architecture that differentiate themselves from the columns of concrete buildings situated on the opposite of the road. There are murmurs within the community that these buildings may make way for upcoming development. Yet these colonial houses are too pretty and too memorable.
The first flats in Stirling Road
Colonial Houses with "4 rooms"
The serene and the laidback
Does this drain flows to Singapore River?
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