South East Asia Hotel

Hotel in Singapore

The hotel in 2013

The South East Asia Hotel is a hotel on Waterloo Street in downtown Singapore.

## History

[edit]

Piling work on the four-storey building, which was designed by Chan Yee Lim, began in October 1952.[1]

The building cost $600,000 and its main part was scheduled for completion by the end of August 1953.[2] It opened on 1 October, with 34 rooms, a hall and an adjoining carpark.[3] By March 1981, the total number of rooms at the hotel had increased to 51. Its occupants at the time were primarily European tourists and Asian businessmen.[4]

On 13 November 1985, Indonesian fish merchant Nurdin Nguan Song was murdered at the hotel by two hitmen,[5] who were sent by a business rival to attack Nurdin. One of them, Loh Yoon Seong, was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in 1990,[6] while the other, Tan Swee Hoon, was jailed and caned for manslaughter and unrelated robbery charges in 1993.[7][8]

In April 1986, The Business Times reported that, despite the hotel's "low" $33 to $44 rate, the hotel had seen a 20% decrease in occupancy levels from 85% in the previous year.[9] However, it was reported in November 1989 that occupancy levels had greatly increased within the past few months.[10]

The hotel features a "plain and simple" façade, with walls made of reinforced concrete and windows framed with metal and accompanied by fixed ventilators either above or below. It utilises hand-written ledgers for reservations. Coin-operated scales can be found by the lift and mini-televations are mounted on the walls of the hotel's rooms.[11] In 1974, Kwan Im Restaurant a Chinese vegetarian restaurant operated by the Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple next door, opened in the hotel's lobby. In May 1976, in a positive review of the restaurant for the New Nation, Violet Oon noted that the restaurant had "established a reputation for serving good food at reasonable prices."[12] According to Roots, which is published by the National Heritage Board, the restaurant is "popularly known for providing sumptuous Chinese vegetarian cuisine."[11]

## References

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1. ^ "New $200,000 S'pore Hotel". The Singapore Standard. Singapore. 7 October 1952. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
2. ^ "New $600,000 hotel opens in September". The Straits Times. Singapore. 14 July 1953. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
3. ^ "34 Rooms In New Hotel". The Singapore Standard. Singapore. 29 September 1953. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
4. ^ Manasseh, Shirley (27 March 1971). "'Poor' visitors help second-class hotels in the Republic to survive". New Nation. Singapore. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
5. ^ Wee, Paul (15 November 1953). "Indonesian murdered in hotel". The Straits Times. Singapore. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
6. ^ "Death sentence for fish merchant's killer". The Straits Times. 11 July 1990.
7. ^ "Judge tells DPP: Check what life term means". The Straits Times. 19 June 1993.
8. ^ "DPP did not answer query by judge on length of life term". The Straits Times. 24 June 1993.
9. ^ Abdullah, Said (22 April 1986). "Rate war starting to hurt small hotels Rate war starting to hurt small hotels". The Business Times. Singapore. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
10. ^ Wong, Brenton (28 November 1989). "Small hotels' big boom". The New Paper. Singapore. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
11. ^ a b "South East Asia Hotel". Roots. National Heritage Board. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
12. ^ Oon, Violet (20 May 1976). "'Meat' that's served the vegetarian way". New Nation. Singapore. Retrieved 17 June 2024.

1°18′04″N 103°51′12″E﻿ / ﻿1.30105°N 103.85320°E﻿ / 1.30105; 103.85320