Neil Road () is a one-way

road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

Chinatown Chinatown ( zh, t=唐人街) is the catch-all name for an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, Asia, Africa, O ...

and

Tanjong Pagar Tanjong Pagar ( alternatively spelled ''Tanjung Pagar'') is a historic district located within the Central Business District of Singapore, straddling the Outram Planning Area and the Downtown Core under the Urban Redevelopment Authority's urba ...

in the planning areas of Outram and

Bukit Merah Bukit Merah, also known as Redhill, is a Planning Areas of Singapore, planning area and New towns of Singapore, new town situated in the southernmost part of the Central Region, Singapore, Central Region of Singapore. The planning area borders T ...

in Singapore. The road starts at the junction of South Bridge Road, Maxwell Road and

Tanjong Pagar Road Tanjong Pagar (New Rumi Spelling, alternatively spelled ''Tanjung Pagar'') is a historic district located within the Central Business District of Singapore, straddling the Outram, Singapore, Outram Planning Area and the Downtown Core under the ...

and ends at Kampong Bahru Road which then merges into Jalan Bukit Merah. At the end of the road, it is a

conservation area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewoo ...

of several

shophouse A shophouse is a building type serving both as a residence and a commercial business. It is defined in the dictionary as a building type found in Southeast Asia that is "a shop opening on to the pavement and also used as the owner's residence ...

s and a three-story

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

style

school A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...

building, which was the former site of Fairfield Methodist Girls' School. In the

area of the road, it is home to rows of conserved shophouses for various purposes.

Etymology

The road was formerly known as Silat, Selat or Salat Road, the Malay term for "straits" before renamed in 1858 to Neil Road. The Municipal Council renamed the road in honour of Colonel Neil of the Madras Fusiliers in India, who was involved in the

Indian Rebellion of 1857 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against Company rule in India, the rule of the East India Company, British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the The Crown, British ...

. In Hokkien, the road was known as ''goo chia chwee sia lo'', which means "steep street of Kreta Ayer".

Notable buildings

House number 147 belonged to Lee Hoon Leong, the grandfather of former

Prime Minister of Singapore The prime minister of Singapore, is the head of government of Singapore. The President of Singapore, president appoints the prime minister on the advice and consent of the Cabinet of Singapore. The incumbent prime minister is Lawrence Wong, ...

Lee Kuan Yew Lee Kuan Yew (born Harry Lee Kuan Yew; 16 September 1923 – 23 March 2015), often referred to by his initials LKY, was a Singaporean politician who ruled as the first Prime Minister of Singapore from 1959 to 1990. He is widely recognised ...

, who bought the house in 1920 for $25,000. Lee Kuan Yew lived in the house for a few years with his parents and grandfather. In 1912, Fairfield Girls’ School moved into a Victorian-style three-storey building on Neil Road in 1912. In 1983, the school moved out of the Neil Road.

Locations

141 Neil Road 141 Neil Road is a townhouse located along Neil Road in the Blair Plain district of Bukit Merah, Singapore. Near Singapore's Chinatown, Singapore, Chinatown, 141 Neil Road was built sometime in the early 1880s, with its first owner being Chinese b ...

145 Neil Road 145 Neil Road is a townhouse on Neil Road in Bukit Merah, Singapore. It was gazetted for conservation as part of the Blair Plain Conservation Area. Description The townhouse was decorated with . It also features plaster relief mouldings depicti ...

Baba House Baba House (also referred to as NUS Baba House) is a museum in Singapore, showcasing Peranakan history, architecture and heritage. It is a traditional Peranakan pre-war terrace-house on Neil Road which was formerly owned by the family of a 19th-c ...

References

Roads in Singapore Chinatown, Singapore Protected areas of Singapore Bukit Merah Outram, Singapore Tanjong Pagar {{Singapore-road-stub