Still Road

Background

Still Road connects Changi Road and East Coast Road. After its junction with East Coast Road, Still Road continues as Still Road South, which joins East Coast Parkway (ECP).¹ On the opposite end, after its junction with Changi Road, Still Road continues as Jalan Eunos to link up with the Pan Island Expressway.² Still Road runs parallel to Telok Kurau Road.³

Both Still Road and Still Road South were named after Alexander William Still, who was the chief editor of The Straits Times from 1908 to 1926.⁴ 

History
Still Road, originally called Lorong 210 East Coast, was named after Alexander William Still in 1933.⁵ Under his watch, The Straits Times earned the title “Thunderer of the East”, with Still being a forthright commentator on various political and economic issues.⁶ As a council member of the Rubber Growers’ Association of British Malaya, Still was a strong voice on issues pertaining to the rubber industry.⁷ He was also a member of the Freemasons.⁸ 

Still Road is in the Katong/Joo Chiat area in the eastern part of Singapore.⁹ When land was reclaimed for Marine Parade in the 1960s, this road was extended to link Koon Seng Road and East Coast Road in the ’80s.¹⁰ The road that continues after Still Road crosses East Coast Road is called Still Road South, which opens into the ECP.¹¹

Many grand houses facing the sea once lined Still Road.¹² One of them is the former Grand Hotel on Still Road, where a sea wall used to separate the land from the sea.¹³ Aptly named, the hotel was built in 1920 in Victorian and pseudo-high renaissance architectural styles.¹⁴ Before becoming a hotel, it was one of the grandest private houses on Still Road. Owned by Indian cattle merchant Moona Kadir Sultan, it was initially called Karikal Mahal after its owner’s birth town.¹⁵ It was converted into a hotel in 1947. With the extension of Still Road to Still Road South in 1973, the Grand Hotel was cut into two. The two properties were converted into pre-schools in 2016.¹⁶

The Jamiyah Home For The Aged was temporarily located at Still Road from 1996 to 1997, before moving to Tampines.¹⁷

Description
Still Road is lined mostly with houses, apartments and shophouses.¹⁸ Tao Nan School is located at the junction of Still Road South and Marine Parade Road.¹⁹ On the other side of Still Road South, opposite the school, is the Marine Parade Community Building that houses the Marine Parade Community Centre, the Marine Parade Public Library as well as an arts group, The Necessary Stage.²⁰ Other establishments on Still Road include Al-Khairiah Islamic School, Malacca Hotel and the Police National Service Department.²¹

Telok Kurau Secondary School is at Chin Cheng Avenue, just off Still Road.²² Still Lane, also named after Alexander William Still, is a short offshoot from Still Road and is located between Lorong L Telok Kurau and Lorong M Telok Kurau. It leads to some private residences.²³



Author
Thulaja Naidu Ratnala 



References
1. Norman Edwards and Peter Keys, Singapore: A Guide to Buildings, Streets, Places (Singapore: Times Books International, 1988), 302. (Call no. RSING 915.957 EDW-[TRA])
2. Lee Han Shih, “Still Road to Be Expanding into Six Lane Highway,” Business Times, 14 September 1985, 12. (From NewspaperSG)
3. Singapore Land Authority, Singapore Street Directory (Singapore: SingTel Yellow Pages under the license of Singapore Land Authority, 2003), 325. (Call no. RSING 912.5957 SSD)
4. Victor R. Savage and Brenda S. A. Yeoh, Singapore Street Names: A Study of Toponymics (Singapore: Marshall Cavendish Editions, 2013), 357–58 (Call no. RSING 915.9570014 SAV-[TRA]); Lily Kong and T. C. Chang, Joo Chiat: A Living Legacy (Singapore: Archipelago Press, 2001), 126. (Call no. RSING 959.57 KON-[HIS])
5. Savage and Yeoh, Singapore Street Names, 357–58; C. M. Turnbull, Dateline Singapore: 150 Years of the Straits Times (Singapore: Times Editions: Singapore Press Holdings, 1995), 65, 79. (Call no. RSING 079.5957 TUR)
6. Turnbull, Dateline Singapore, 65, 68–69.
7. Turnbull, Dateline Singapore, 68.
8. Savage and Yeoh, Singapore Street Names, 357–58.
9. Joseph Khul, “Old World Charm,” New Paper, 25 April 1997, 77 (From NewspaperSG); Urban Redevelopment Authority, View Planning Boundaries, 2017, map.
10. Lee, “Still Road to Be Expanding”; Gerry De Silva, “10% More Land Here between 1960 and 1992,” Straits Times, 4 May 1987, 18. (From NewspaperSG)
11. Edwards and Keys, Guide to Buildings, Streets, Places, 302.
12. G. Byrne Bracken, Singapore: A Walking Tour (Singapore: Times Editions, 2002), 108. (Call no. RSING 959.57 BYR-[HIS])
13. Edwards and Keys, Guide to Buildings, Streets, Places, 291.
14. Kong and Chang, Joo Chiat, 53; Edwards and Keys, Guide to Buildings, Streets, Places, 302.
15. Kong and Chang, Joo Chiat, 53.
16. Edwards and Keys, Guide to Buildings, Streets, Places, 303; Melissa Lin and Janice Heng, “Still Road’s Old Grand Hotel Gets a New Life,” Straits Times, 31 July 2016. (From Factiva via NLB’s eResources website)
17. “About Us,” Jamiyah Singapore – Jamiyah Home For The Aged, accessed 17 October 2017.
18. Edwards and Keys, Guide to Buildings, Streets, Places, 291; Kong and Chang, Joo Chiat, 53.
19. “Contact Us,” Tao Nan School, accessed 17 October 2016.
20. Suzanne Sng, “A Three-in-One Community Hub,” Straits Times, 27 May 2000, 4 (From NewspaperSG); Bracken, Walking Tour, 108.
21. Singapore Land Authority, Singapore Street Directory, 325; “Other Police Units,” Singapore Police Force, accessed 24 February 2017.
22. Grace Chua, “We Never Forget How Old Our School Is,” New Paper, 4 August 2004, 7. (From NewspaperSG)
23. Singapore Land Authority, Singapore Street Directory, 325.



The information in this article is valid as of 2017 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.