Yan Kit Swimming Pool Opened
Monday, 29th December 1952
The Yan Kit Swimming Pool was opened near Singapore Chinatown. The site, originally constructed as a filter tank for the Water Department, for the pool was a portion of a old railway cutting on the old F.M.S. Railway line. The second public swimming pool in Singapore and was officially opened by Governor of Singapore, John Nicoll and City Council president, T.P.F. McNeice.Also, it's been selected as being the centre of a very densely populated area. It is estimated that there is a population of 140,000 within a three-quarter mile radius of this swimming pool.
Background: Look Yan Kit, a Cantonese dentist trained in Hong Kong came to Singapore in 1877 and soon became a wealthy and popular figure with a rich clientele. He owned two rubber plantations and 70 houses and was one of the founding fathers of the Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital constructed in 1910. Yan Kit Swimming Pool along the road is also named after Look Yan Kit. It was the oldest and smallest public swimming pool in Singapore.