Good evening, everyone.
And welcome to Temasek Shophouse at Dhoby Ghaut on this 6th day of August 2026.
Let me take you back in time some 200 years ago.
Dhoby wallahs, the Indian laundrymen, were washing bed linen by the riverbanks of Sungei Bras Basah, right here below us.
Beras Basah means wet rice in Malay. Harvested rice was laid out on the banks to dry. But high tides or sudden storm floods would wet the drying rice. Hence, we have Bras Basah Road just around the corner today.
By the mid-1800s, the land around us was cleared for plantations. There were areca betel nut palms, or bing lang in Chinese. Perhaps, this inspired the naming of Penang Road nearby.
Other fruit plantations also took root. Thus, Orchard Road was born.
By the late 1800s, the plantations moved out to Malaya. So, Dhoby Ghaut transformed once again — it became a horse carriage hub, full of stables, carriage companies, and horse veterinarians.
And Sungei Bras Basah? It was deepened for flood control, and straightened to become the Stamford Canal, that still runs below us today.
By the early 1900s, car showrooms and dealerships started to replace the horse carriage businesses at the Dhoby Ghaut area, between Penang Road and the Stamford Canal.
From dhoby wallah laundrymen and beras basah wet rice, to car showrooms, over barely a hundred years.
Today, 4 rare conservation shophouses[1], from the dawn of the motorcar era, still stand in Dhoby Ghaut.
The oldest was built in 1912, as the first motor showroom and workshop in colonial Singapore. Two young men started Wearne Brothers — they saw a future beyond the horse carriages of their day.
From horse carriages to motor cars. And then, the motor showroom even boldly hosted one of first biplanes in Singapore — this inspired crowds to imagine future flights into the skies.
Meanwhile, David Joseph Elias built the shophouse next door. It was an early film distribution centre that brought in movies — a new medium, telling stories alongside traditional Teochew and Cantonese street operas, and Malay wayang kulit shadow puppets.
Over time, the shophouses aged. Their founding businesses moved on. But generations of pioneers had imprinted Dhoby Ghaut with memories of how they re-imagined their future, and turned bold dreams into reality.
And so it came to be, that Cheo Hock Kuan would show the same spunk a century later, to “dream, dare, and do”.
After retiring from Temasek, Hock Kuan joined Temasek Trust as CEO in 2017. She came with a determined glint in her eyes:
Could we re-purpose a long-unused shophouse as a gift to the community?
Hock Kuan worked hard. She persuaded the authorities that a social impact hub had a place at this quiet end of Orchard Road. No one knew then, what that meant.
But Temasek supported her ambition. And the first Temasek Shophouse came alive two years later, at 28 Orchard Road, just behind me.
This pioneering social impact hub welcomed the public, and hosted impact start-ups and non-profit organisations.
An example was Foreword Coffee[2] — it trains and hires persons with disabilities, to work as baristas and cashiers. It aims to uplift and include the disabled, and give them more visibility and dignity as equals among us.
Temasek Shophouse quickly became a place to meet, exchange ideas, learn, and work together.
It was always bustling — events of high energy punctuated the deep but quieter enthusiasm of diverse social causes.
For instance, Let’s Jam hosted retired musicians to enjoy music together. It was so popular with music lovers of all ages, that it soon overflowed the available space.
That first Shophouse was a testbed.
We did not have all the answers. We learnt from those who used the space, shaped it, stretched it, and often surprised us with what it could become.
New programmes emerged. Partnerships took root. Friendships blossomed.
That emboldened us to dream bigger — to restore and repurpose all 4 conservation shophouses with one vision: Honouring the Past, Inspiring the Future.
Temasek Shophouse is our contribution towards Peace and our community.
Peace is not just the absence of conflict. Lasting peace rests on something deeper — trust, goodwill, a sense of belonging, ownership, and shared responsibility for our community.
When people are left behind, feel rejected, or become excluded, the divides deepen, and society fractures.
So, the peace we seek, must be big-hearted and inclusive. It is built patiently, through everyday connections, kindness, respect for the diversity of views, and not letting differences divide us.
Over the years, we have seen people enter Temasek Shophouse for the first time, then return with friends, colleagues, and new ideas. We have seen conversations begin over coffee, partnerships taking action, and communities making the space their own.
These human experiences cannot be planned on a drawing board.
Temasek Shophouse is a labour of love — born out of a deep respect for our shared heritage, and a clear-headed determination to build better for every generation.
This evening, we celebrate the people who have made Temasek Shophouse what it is today.
To our colleagues and residents, architects and builders, partners and supporters, urban planners and the authorities, friends and the neighbours around us — a big thank you.
Thank you for your ideas, energy, passion, and patience — especially when fresh discoveries meant a change of plans against tight budgets and short timelines.
Most of all, thank you for believing this could be more than just a beautiful set of buildings — you have made this a place of welcome, possibility, and hope, a place where people feel at ease and at home.
I want to specially acknowledge Yvonne and her Shophouse band of community champions and eco warriors.
They are tireless and ambitious, careful, and innovative in transforming an abstract dream into a purposeful legacy.
75% of the restoration waste were re-purposed or recycled. Energy usage is greatly reduced through hybrid cooling and other solutions.
Temasek Shophouse is both a lively place that tells the story of its past, and an inviting space for the public and partners alike, to look to the future.
So thank you, Yvonne and all of your team, for making the Shophouse a living treasure we can all be proud of.
I hope this Shophouse remains a place where strangers listen, help one another, and become friends; where fresh ideas find partners, and grow into something better.
Temasek Shophouse captures this aspiration in a simple phrase: "Turning strangers into friends"
Perhaps this is the most remarkable part of our journey — strangers becoming friends, and friends becoming family.
Buildings may stand for generations. But it is the people who gather within them — the friendships formed, the promises kept, the aspirations realised, the challenges faced together, and the lives transformed — that give them meaning.
May Temasek Shophouse continue to gather people across generations and walks of life.
May it nurture the trust, goodwill, and belonging that hold our communities together.
And may Temasek Shophouse continue to honour our shared heritage and inspire a brighter future — and remain the touchstone for us to create positive impact together, today and for many generations to come.
Thank you.
