Kampong Java Road

Kampong Java Road connects Bukit Timah Road to Newton Circus.

Description
The road got its name from the large number of Javanese living along Kampong Java Road all the way to Arab Street in the Rochor district, concentrating at Java Village, or Kampong Java. The Javanese were good pekebun (gardeners), selling their produce along Arab Street’s five-foot ways. They were also good syces (those who tended to horses) and made themselves useful at the old race course just behind Kampong Java.

Today, the road is mainly lined with residential units. The Kampong Silat housing estate, made up of apartments and shophouses with distinctive curved roofs for weather protection, was constructed between 1948 and 1952. The residences were designed by the Singapore Improvement Trust.

Located at the junction of Bukit Timah Road and Kampong Java Road, the most prominent feature of Kampong Java Road is the KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital. The hospital, established in 1924, was originally located on the other side of Kampong Java Road. The current building was constructed in 1997. Next to the hospital is the Tanglin Police Division Headquarters built in 2001, while the Kampong Java Park sits behind the hospital, at the junction of Cavenagh Road and Bukit Timah Road.

The site of the park was originally occupied by a Christian cemetery (also known as the European or British Cemetery), which had moved from Fort Canning in 1865 and remained here until 1908. In that year, the cemetery moved again and was incorporated into Bidadari Cemetery.7 The old cemetery site was converted into the present Kampong Java Park in 1973.