Cantonment Road, Singapore

Cantonment Road, Singapore (7 July 2011)

Cantonment Road is one of the major roads in downtown Singapore. It runs roughly north-south on the western part of the downtown area, starting at the intersection with New Bridge Road/Eu Tong Sen Street, across from Outram Road, in the north, and ends at the junction with Keppel Road in the south. In between, it forms an interchange with Neil Road, and junctions with Cantonment Link, Yan Kit Road and Enggor Street.

Cantonment Road was named after the cantonment, or police barracks, erected by Major William Farquhar, following the directive from Stamford Raffles, in the area. However, Raffles was furious when he discovered that Farquhar had sold land which was meant for public space to European merchants. This was one of the many conflicts between Raffles and Farquhar that culminated with the latter's dismissal.

Farquhar was never ever satisfied with how things turned out. In his opinion, it was he would was instrumental in founding Singapore. However, the way he went about business might not have created the Singapore that we know today.