Sims Avenue

Sims Avenue, street, located in the Geylang Area of the Central Region. Today the road starts at Kallang River crossing and stretches to Kembangan MRT Station, and continues as Sims Avenue East. It is named after Sim Kia Jan, an influential and successful businessman, and member of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce. Though mostly a residential area, Sims Avenue had and still has many light and heavy industries, and small traders operating on this street which runs parallel to Geylang Road.

Sim Kia Jan, was a Managing Partner of Chin Huat Hin Oil Trading Co., Director of Sze Hai Tong Bank and a committee member of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce. Sim Kia Jan, a highly respected and hardworking person, was born in Singapore, and educated at Raffles Institution. He died at age 50, on 10 December 1913. His oil trading company acted as agent for several brands of oil. It also served Sperry Flour (USA), and were also general merchants and commission agents. They traded with Siam, the Federated Malay States, and British North Borneo. Sims Avenue was a part of Geylang which housed the most number of Chinese and Malay kampongs spread though various lorongs (Malay for "narrow streets"). It is today a one-way traffic street heading eastwards towards Bedok or Changi. In the 1950s, Sims Avenue ran from Lorong 3 Geylang to Paya Lebar Road.



Author
Vernon Cornelius



References
Samuel, D. S. (1939). Malayan street names: What they mean and whom they commemorate (p. 139). Ipoh: Mercantile Press.
(Call no.: RING 959.5 RAJ)

Song, O. S. (1984). One hundred years' history of the Chinese in Singapore (p. 501). Singapore: Oxford University Press.
(Call no.: RSING 959.57 SON) 



The information in this article is valid as at 1999 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.

Subject
Architecture and Landscape>>Streets and Places
Street names--Singapore
People and communities>>Social groups and communities
History>>Asia>>Southeast Asia>>Singapore