Outram, Singapore

Outram
Planning Area
Other transcription(s)
• Chinese	欧南 Au-lâm (Hokkien POJ)
• Pinyin	Ōu nán
• Malay	Outram
• Tamil	ஊட்ரம்
From top left to right: Panoramic view of the State Courts in Outram, Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum at Chinatown, New Bridge Road and Eu Tong Sen Street at night, Aerial panorama of Chinatown at night, The Pinnacle@Duxton from Neil Road, Sculptures at Telok Ayer Green, Hong Lim Park with Parkroyal on Pickering and One Upper Pickering in the background
Location in Central Region
Outram Location of Outram within Singapore
Coordinates: 1°17′5.6″N 103°50′38″E / 1.284889°N 103.84389°E / 1.284889; 103.84389
Country	Singapore
Region	Central Region
CDC	Central Singapore CDC
Town council	Tanjong Pagar Town Council Jalan Besar Town Council
Constituency	Tanjong Pagar GRC Jalan Besar GRC
Government
• Mayor	Central Singapore CDC Denise Phua
• Members of Parliament	Tanjong Pagar GRC Indranee Rajah Jalan Besar GRC Josephine Teo
Area [1]
• Total	1.37 km2 (0.53 sq mi)
• Rank	51st
Population  (2019)[1][2]
• Total	18,960
• Rank	27th
• Density	14,000/km2 (36,000/sq mi)
• Rank	5th
Demonym	Official Outram resident
Postal district	3

Outram /uːtrəm/ is a planning area located within the Central Area of the Central Region of Singapore. The area is bordered by these planning areas: Singapore River to the north, the Downtown Core to the east and south, and Bukit Merah to the west. Outram comprises four subzones, China Square, Chinatown, People's Park and Pearl's Hill.

Outram is home to several key municipal buildings, such as Singapore General Hospital (SGH) and several other specialist health centres operated by Singapore Health Services (SingHealth) as well as the Central Narcotics Bureau and the Police Cantonment Complex. Outram Secondary School is situated in nearby York Hill. Across the Outram Road from the Outram Park MRT station is the Health Sciences Authority building. Along the same side of the road further down towards College Road, is Block 9 where Mortuary@HSA is located. At the junction of Outram Road and College Road stands the Alumni Building which at one time housed the Department of Scientific Services (DSS) before it was relocated to its present location in HSA Building.

Etymology[edit]

Outram Road was named by the Municipality in 1858 after a British general, Sir James Outram (1803–1863), of the Indian rebellion of 1857 fame. The nearby Havelock Road was named in reference to Major-General Sir Henry Havelock. General Outram and General Havelock were two of the leaders in the British army during the Indian rebellion of 1857.

History[edit]

Known as si pai poh in Hokkien, which means "Sepoy plain". The Sepoy Lines and police station and parade ground are at one end of Outram Road. Both designations of Sepoy Plain and Sepoy Lines refer to the public shooting of 47 sepoys at the wall of Outram Prison in 1915. This was in the aftermath of the 1915 Singapore Mutiny, which was quelled by local and British military forces.

Outram was once home to one of the earliest civil prisons in Singapore, Outram Prison. Located at the foot of Pearl's Hill, it was built in 1847 by Charles Edward Faber of the Madras Engineers. During the Japanese occupation in 1942, Outram Prison was briefly controlled by the Japanese and was used to hold prisoners of war. The prison was subsqeuently handed to the British forces following the end of the occupation.^[3] Outram Prison was eventually demolished in 1966 to make way for a housing project, Outram Park Complex, which was completed in 1970. It consisted of twelve 16-storey blocks together with a shopping complex. Outram Park Complex was selected for SERS in 1998 and was demolished by 2003, with its residents being relocated to Cantonment Towers in Everton Park.^[4] The land currently remains vacant and there are plans to revitalise Pearl's Hill, which includes building an integrated mixed-use development conisting of 6000 residential units, by the 2030s.^[5]

References[edit]

• Victor R. Savage, Brenda S. A. Yeoh (2003), Toponymics: A Study of Singapore Street Names, Eastern Universities Press, ISBN 981-210-364-3

External links[edit]

• Media related to Outram at Wikimedia Commons

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