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South East Asia Hotel

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Hotel in Singapore
The hotel in 2013

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

History

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

The building cost $600,000 and its main part was scheduled for completion by the end of August 1953. It opened on 1 October, with 34 rooms, a hall and an adjoining carpark. 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.

On 13 November 1985, Indonesian fish merchant Nurdin Nguan Song was murdered at the hotel by two hitmen, 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, while the other, Tan Swee Hoon, was jailed and caned for manslaughter and unrelated robbery charges in 1993.

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. However, it was reported in November 1989 that occupancy levels had greatly increased within the past few months.

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. 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." According to Roots, which is published by the National Heritage Board, the restaurant is "popularly known for providing sumptuous Chinese vegetarian cuisine."

References

  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. ^ "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

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