Waterloo Street, Singapore
Waterloo Street is a street in downtown
Singapore, within the
Rochor and
Museum Planning Areas. It runs from
Rochor Road in the north to
Bras Basah Road in the south. Waterloo Street is called Mang3ku1lu1 Chye1 Tng3 Kay1 in Hokkien, meaning "Bencoolen Vegetarian Hall Street", and Krishnan Kovil Sadakku in Tamil, meaning "Krishnan Temple Street".
Today the section of Waterloo Street north of Bencoolen Link, at the corner of the Sri Krishnan Temple, has been pedestrianized. This is to allow worshippers to the temple and the adjacent Kwan Im Temple unimpeded access to their places of worship.
Waterloo Street has been around since the early 1830's, when it was known as
Church Street. You might have supposed that it was named after the nearby Church of St Peter and St Paul, which was founded around that time, but no, it wasn't. Instead, it was named after a person named Church. Indeed, it was named in honor of Thomas Church, the Resident Councillor of Singapore in 1837.
The name Church did not stick, for in 1858, the Municipal Council of Singapore renamed the street to commemorate the Duke of Wellington's victory over the French in the Battle of Waterloo.
Apart from the two aforementioned places of worship, Waterloo Street is also the location of the Maghain Aboth Synagogue, the oldest surviving synagogue in Singapore.
Sights along Waterloo Street
- Albert Centre (GPS: 1.30106, 103.85399)
- Albert Complex (GPS: 1.3023, 103.8539)
- Catholic Centre (GPS: 1.29852, 103.85156)
- Cheng Yan Centre (GPS: 1.30063, 103.85346)
- Chinese Calligraphy Society of Singapore (GPS: 1.2986, 103.85106)
- Church of St Peter & St Paul (GPS: 1.29801, 103.85133)
- Dance Ensemble Singapore (GPS: 1.29884, 103.85116)
- Fortune Centre (GPS: 1.30034, 103.8523)
- Fu Lu Shou Complex (GPS: 1.30144, 103.85447)
- GSM Building (GPS: 1.29942, 103.85244)
- Jacob Ballas Centre (GPS: 1.29811, 103.85053)
- Kwan Im Thong Hood Chor Temple (GPS: 1.30167, 103.85338)
- Maghain Aboth Synagogue (GPS: 1.29826, 103.85067)
- Manulife Centre (GPS: 1.29786, 103.8502)
- Min Yuan (GPS: 1.29906, 103.85133)
- Objectifs - Centre for Photography & Film (GPS: 1.29977, 103.85212)
Sculpture Square (GPS: 1.29977, 103.85212)
- Skyline Building (GPS: 1.3012, 103.8532)
- Singapore Council of Women's Organisations (GPS: 1.29946, 103.85173)
- South East Asia Hotel (GPS: 1.301, 103.85313)
- Sri Krishnan Temple (GPS: 1.30052, 103.85263)
- Stamford Arts Centre (GPS: 1.30019, 103.85293)
- Singapore Arts Museum (GPS: 1.29736, 103.85102)
- Singapore Council of Women's Organisation (GPS: 1.29946, 103.85173)
- The Bencoolen (GPS: 1.30167, 103.85338)
- Waterloo Apartments (GPS: 1.29929, 103.85151)
- Waterloo Centre (GPS: 1.29897, 103.85206)
- Waterloo View Condo (GPS: 1.30069, 103.85275)
Waterloo Street, Singapore (30 July 2017)
Waterloo Street Singapore (Mar 2022)