Ann Siang Hill

Ann Siang Hill is a small hill in Singapore's Chinatown. It is one of the hills collectively known as Telok Ayer Hills because it was once located beside the Telok Ayer Bay. Other hills within Telok Ayer Hills include Mount Wallich and Mount Erskine. However, Mount Wallich and Mount Erskine were no longer around. They were levelled in the 1890s and the land used as landfill to reclaim Telok Ayer Basin. As a result, Telok Ayer Street is now located on dry land, and only Ann Siang Hill was left standing.

Ann Siang Hill had changed name twice. It was originally called Scott's Hill, after Charles Scott who owned a clove and nutmeg plantation there. Ownership passed to John Gemmill, and the hill was renamed Gemmill Hill. In 1894, it was sold to Chia Ann Siang, a wealthy Malacca-born landowner, and once again the name changed, to Ann Siang Hill. It remains Ann Siang Hill to this day.

The shophouses on Ann Siang Hill, the tallest geographic point in Chinatown, are today home to fashion boutiques, trendy bars, and posh restaurants, but before ownership of the hill passed into the hands (and namesake) of Chia Ann Siang, the hill had two prior owners who also named the hill after themselves.

Targeting tourists and Singaporeans alike, today you will find hidden parks and fascinating alleyways full of beautifully conserved shophouses. Ann Siang Hill remains true to its heritage while at the same time is hip and happening.

Ann Siang Hill Park

This charming pocket park, completed in 2004, is wedged behind two rows of shophouses and the Urban Redevelopment Authority building.

Location: Ann Siang Hill. Enter via Amoy Street, next to Siang Cho Keong temple.
If you enter the 0.3-ha park from Club Street, a winding path will take you up to a timber deck with a bird's eye view of the undulating landscape.

At mid-day, office workers gather to unwind with a smoke or gossip over packed lunches within its shady nooks. Map-toting tourists drop by regularly to admire the way the heliconia are planted right up against a wall.

From time to time, you may meet a strolling street performer. For example, there was a street magician from India who would ask you for your name and date of birth, and pronounce you "lucky" for that year; he would then make you tear up a piece of paper, then make the sheet whole again. Notwithstanding, there is a cost to some of such entertainment - around S$5.
Only grouse for this park, the winding staircases can be a bit trying for those with weak knees.

Getting There:
The nearest MRT stations are the Chinatown Station (NE4) and Tanjong Pagar Station (EW15).