My Community has launched a new Clementi Heritage tour with plenty to offer including heritage food brands participants will get to try. Fantastic feasts, passionate business owners, aquarium avenue and historic spots await in the brand new two-hour walking tour.
My Community’s Clementi Heritage Tour Begins in September
Personally, having grown up wandering the Clementi Central marketplace, attending music and art classes at Yamaha and now a resident of Clementi, this tour offered wonderful insight into my hood. There are so many gems this tour has to offer including delicious cuisine (without joining the queue).
The tour starts at Clementi Town Centre, continuing into Clementi Avenue 2, Masjid Darasullam, and ends at Sunset Way. Wear good walking shoes, get ready an empty stomach and a pair of attentive ears to start your tour of Clementi.
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How Clementi Came To Be
Clementi is the fourth satellite neighbourhood of Singapore, right after Toa Payoh, Ang Mo Kio and Bedok. Many of us might have transited at Clementi, to head to the tertiary institutions nearby or to head further West.
Like many, I remember places like the OG Mcdonalds below Party World or Clementi Cinema depending on your generation. As a child, I was also one of the many Yamaha or art class students wandering Big Bookshop before class and admiring the myriad of charming stationery. I also recall waiting for my family near the fountain, sitting there staring at the huge water feature which has since transformed.
Memories aside, Clementi was known as Pandan named after the Ulu Pandan river running through the area. The road was named after Straits Settlement Governor Sir Cecil Clementi Smith (1840 – 2916), a well-liked figure who curbed the influence of secret societies and established the Queen’s Scholarships.
Clementi was redeveloped into Clementi New Town in 1971 when the Singapore Guard Regiment was disbanded. Most of the area was a military installation called Colombo Camp. Around 800 villages from surrounding kampongs were uprooted and relocated to the town which used to be an uneven swampy landscape.
Highlights of My Community’s Clementi Heritage Tour
We had a sneak peek of My Community’s Clementi Heritage tour and heard from seasoned hawkers, storekeepers and walked through the landmarks of Clementi. First we started right next to Clementi Mall, which sits next to Clementi MRT station.
The town became bustling when the MRT tracks were built in 1987. Clementi MRT Station opened in 1988 and so was the first fountain at the central area.
There were also a few cinemas in the area: Clementi Cinema and Empress Cineplex. Many decades ago, tickets were only $2 and kids got to watch movies for free. While the cinema buildings are gone, new malls have taken over.
Perhaps it was a poignant to see new developments, towering HDBs and little trace of the bygone era. Understanding the area’s past through tours like these help us to appreciate what has gone and relish memories. Older generations who have lived and breathed Clementi might appreciate going on the tour with their younger family members too!
We heard from owners from fabric shops Clementi Kian Seng where many have purchased cloth and curtains from.
We also sampled dishes from stalls like Chai Ho Satay, Fong’s Dee Curry Puff, Xin De Li and Brothers Rojak which have been at the market for decades. Besides the mouthwatering feast, we heard their stories and witnessed their passion in serving the masses with their fare. Many of them are third or even fourth generation business owners who fervently hope to continue the tradition of their businesses.
Participants of My Community Clementi Heritage Tour can also learn about military history at the former Mowbray Camp, Clementi’s past as Reformatory Road as a nod to the reformatory boys school standing on present-day Clementi Road and industrial past from the remnant of the Jurong KTMB Railway line.
Did you know about Aquarium Avenue in Clementi? The shops even open 24-7 to ensure available service to fish owners whose tanks need emergency support in the middle of the night! Kids will certainly be drawn to the critters sold at the aquarium shops.
Sign up for Free Clementi Heritage Tours by My Community
My Community’s community tour in Clementi is its 16th. It will be launching in September, along with Heritage Activation Node Festival happening in the middle of September. Tours will be held on the 4th weekend of the month, beginning October 2024.
Sign up for the free tour via My Community’s Eventbrite page.
Read our My Community tour experiences in Alexandra, Mount Faber & Fort Siloso, a shipyard and SingPost Mail Processing Centre.
