Rooms with more than a view

Tucked away on a hill some 38 metres above street level is a disused building that has gained a reputation for all the wrong reasons. Better known to most for what it has most recently been used for – the View Road Hospital, it has an uncertain beginning and was in the last days of the Naval Base, a barracks to house Asians in service with the Naval Base Police.

The Naval Base Police, established at the completion of the Naval Base in 1938/39, was disbanded when the British forces pulled out in 1971. It counted in its ranks a large contingent of Sikh policemen, and later Pakistanis and Malays. A Sikh temple, the Gurdwara Sabha Naval Police has been closely associated with the force and from the time the barracks was established at View Road in 1959-60 until 1971-72, that was located right next to the barracks. The temple merged with another temple the Gurdwara Sahib Guru Khalsa Sabha Sembawang (Sembawang Sikh Temple) with the disbandment of the Naval Base Police in 1971. The Sembawang Sikh Temple in turn merged with the Gudwara Sahib Jalan Kayu as the Gurdwara Sahib Yishun and is now located at Yishun.

A July 1941 photograph showing Rimau Offices and Accommodation in the early stages of construction (National Archives UK via National Archives of Singapore online).

The gurdwara, at its closing in October 1971 (photo courtesy of Sheila Singh Sidhu).

The former View Road Hospital’s building goes a little further back. It would seem that it may have been completed in late 1941 (a 1944 map of the Naval Base – based on information developed prior to the outbreak of war – has it identified as the uncompleted “Rimau Offices”). A photograph dated 21 July 1941 from the National Archives UK shows in the very early stages of construction and another showing it almost complete in 1941. A photograph of an above-ground bomb-proof office on the site – above-ground possibly because it was built in a hurry, shows it in the late stages of completion in July 1941. Also an updated map of the Naval Base printed in 1945 shows the building completed.

Rimau Offices nearing completion in 1941 (National Archives UK via National Archives of Singapore online).

Rimau Bomb-Proof Office nearing completion in July 1941 (National Archives UK via National Archives of Singapore online).

AA gun positions and buildings around the Bukit Rimau area, including Rimau Offices from a 1944 intelligence report.

From a 1968 edition of the map of the Naval Base, we see that it was the Naval Base Police Asian Quarters with the words “Old Maritime HQ” in parenthesis – indicating that it was built for either the RAF or the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy for use it as a command centre for maritime air operations (hence the observation tower found on the building and also the “bomb-proof office” next to it). An RAF proposal to use it as such fell through in the 1950s due to signal interference at from nearby SUARA Wireless Transmitting Station. It would have only been around 1960, possibly the late 1950s, that the building was converted into a much needed barracks for Asian Naval Police personnel, many of whom had taken to renting accommodation outside the base due to shortage of quarters.

1944 War Office drawn Naval Base Map based on pre-war information.

Aug 1945 Naval Base Map showing building in place.

Following the pullout of the British forces, the building was converted for use as an secondary hospital to supplement the overcrowded Woodbridge Hospital, providing rehabilitation for recovering mental patients, particularly those with chronic schizophrenia. The first batch of 34 patients were moved into the 250 bed hopsital in September 1975. The rehabilitation  programme included providing skills training to the patients to allow the patients to return to society. A large group of about 100 would in fact be permitted to work outside the hospital, which was already running a laundry, a nursery and a cafe, in the day. The hospital was shut in 2001. The building has seen use as the View Road Lodge – a foreign workers’ dormitory – which was in use until a few years back. The building today lies unoccupied.

A visit to the observation tower.

As the View Road Lodge in January 2011.

The Bomb-Proof Office seen in Oct 2017.

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