The People Who Built Golden Mile Complex

It was pouring on Saturday 4th March 1933.

Despite this “inclement state of the weather”, a large crowd had gathered for the opening ceremony of a new Drill Hall and Headquarters for The Straits Settlements Volunteer Forces in Beach Road.

Present to officiate this important event was none other than Governor and Commander-In-Chief of The Straits Settlements, Sir Cecil Clementi himself.

Sir Cecil Clementi gave a lengthy speech that was reproduced in full by The Malay Tribune on 6th March 1933.

This was followed by a speech given by Lt.-Col. M. J. T. Reilly, Commandant Straits Settlements Volunteer Force.

Of note in Lt.-Col. Reilly’s speech was him singling out the contractor responsible for this new headquarters on Beach Road whom he interestingly addressed as “Mr. Woh Hup” and paid tribute to “for his good work on the building and for numerous extras which were not in the contract.”.

The Malay Tribune went to describe how “(o)n two occasions after building operations had commended he (the speaker) has to ask for certain structural alterations to be made and in spite of the fact that no extra expenditure could be allowed, the contractor caused(sic) no difficulties.”

Interestingly, there are numerous mentions of Woh Hup in the late 1920s and early 1930s which were all prefixed with “Mr.” when the firm won a contract. This was perhaps due to the fact that the founder of Woh Hup Mr. Yong Yit Lin had incorporated the company as Woh Hup Yit in 1927, putting his own name into his brand as a way of staking his firm’s and his personal reputation on the line.

Mr. Yong Yit Lin had arrived in Singapore from Malaysia in 1927 at the invitation of Mr. E CH Wolff. Mr. Yong had earlier worked for Mr. Wolff when he was the Resident of Negri Sembilan. Mr. Wolff was promoted to the post of Colonial Secretary of the Straits Settlements in 1926, and remembered Mr. Yong as a fair and efficient contractor.

Thus began the legacy of Woh Hup in Singapore and by 1933, the firm headed by Mr. Yong had already built Clifford Pier, the former Ministry of Labour (today’s Family Justice Courts) Building and then the Headquarters of the Straits Settlements Volunteer Force. Today, both Clifford Pier and the remaining buildings of the former Headquarters of the Straits Settlements Volunteer Force have been gazetted as conservation buildings and the former Ministry of Labour Building gazetted a National Monument.

Woh Hup would go on to build over 130 projects in Singapore in the course of the next 94 years. You may not be familiar with the firm, but you would most definitely have stepped into a Woh Hup constructed building sometime in your life. The firm’s more recent projects include Jewel @ Changi Airport, The Interlace, D’Leedon, Reflections @ Keppel Bay, Orchard Central, Ocean Financial Centre and even the new Funan.

Many more of Woh Hup’s projects built after 1933 have also been gazetted as conservation buildings including the bungalows at Rochester Park, the former Bukit Timah Fire Station, Pearl’s Hill Barracks and MacDonald House which is another National Monument.

On Friday 22nd October 2021, another of Woh Hup’s buildings joined this list of conservation buildings. This latest building was none other than Golden Mile Complex. It was gazetted as a Conserved Building on 20th October 2021 and is one of the most significant buildings in Singapore to be granted conservation status in recent years.

Built in 1973, Golden Mile Complex was completed along the same street (Beach Road) as the Straits Settlements Volunteer Force HQ exactly 40 years after the latter was built.

In fact, Woh Hup also built three more buildings along Beach Road - the former Merlin Hotel (today’s PARKROYAL Beach Road)(1980), phase II of The Gateway (1989) and most recently, City Gate (2018).

Older folks will remember that Golden Mile Complex was named Woh Hup Complex when it was first completed in 1973. This is because Woh Hup was not only the contractor for the building, it was also the developer and owner.

In June 1963, just before Singapore gained her independence, Woh Hup set up a development company named Singapura Developments (Pte) Ltd. A Straits Times story from 18 January 1972 said that the company “had its origin in the wish of the late Mrs Yong Yit Lin” who “wanted to take part in the development of the nation”. The chairman of Singapura Developments was the late Mr. Yong Nam Seng, son of Mr. Yong Yit Lin and also the former chairman of Woh Hup till his passing earlier this year in January at the age of 92.

The story goes on to say that:

“Keeping in mind Mrs. Yong’s desire to participate meaningfully in the development of Singapore, the company is currently developing three shopping centres designed to be prestigious landmarks in a rapidly changing Republic.

The first shopping centre, Golden Mile Shopping Centre, has been completed and will be declared open today.

The other two centres are Katong Shopping Centre and Queensway Shopping Centre.”

Golden Mile Shopping Centre was located within Woh Hup Complex and the residences above would not be completed till later in 1973.

When it was fully completed, Woh Hup Complex / Golden Mile Shopping Centre was touted as one of a new generation of complexes where one could buy everything under one roof. One could also work and live there if one so wished as above the shopping centre would be floors of offices followed by floors of apartments right at the apex of the complex.

Designed by the original Design Partnership (today’s DP Architects), Woh Hup Complex was designed at the same time that the Partnership was working on People’s Park Complex. The architects on record for Golden Mile Complex were Gan Eng Oon, William Lim and Tay Kheng Soon. Both complexes made history when they were built as the very first large scale mixed-use private developments to be completed in Singapore that embodied the Metabolist spirit pioneered by Japanese architects like Fumihiko Maki and Kisho Kurokawa.

Golden Mile Complex and People’s Park Complex were also both born from the government’s very first Sale of Sites programme - yes that very same programme today known as the Government Land Sales programme that continues to add to Singapore’s reserves. The first Sale of Sites was launched in June 1967 with a total of 13 land parcels to be sold to private developers. Other notable buildings that came into existence from sites sold in this very first sale included Pearl Bank Apartments, Golden Mile Tower, Oasis Theatre Restaurant, Apollo, King’s and Miramar Hotels as well as Kallang Theatre.

The Sale of Sites programme was started by the Urban Redevelopment Department (today’s URA) within the Housing and Development Board not just to raise money for nation building projects like the construction of infrastructure and public housing but also to partner the private sector in the urban development of selected prized plots of land (initially) mostly located in The Central Area.

Thus Golden Mile Complex is a special building not only because of its unique architecture which has been talked about time and again but also for its role in nation building and the very deliberate act of contributing to the building of Singapore by its developers - the Yong family of Woh Hup (Pte) Ltd.

It embodied the can-do spirit of Singapore’s pioneers - in the fields of architecture, construction and development; at a time when the nascent nation’s very existence was very much still in doubt.

That the Ministry of National Development and Minister Desmond Lee has made the unprecedented decision to conserve the building is the clearest sign that the government recognises not just its unique homegrown architecture but also the significance of Golden Mile Complex in Singapore’s post-independence history.