Kampong Boyan was a Malay kampong (village) that used to lie near Syed Alwi and Jalan Besar, with a large number of Boyanese living in the area.

At the junction of King George's Avenue and Maude road lies a coffeeshop with an Indian stall - in the mornings, this stall sells only roti prata, a local Indian dish.

Sook Ching, meaning a purge or purification, represented the attempt by the Chinese to remove any anti-Japanese sentiments in the Chinese population of Singapore.

Throughout the Japanese Occupation that lasted from 1942 to 1945, Jalan Besar Stadium was one of the mass screening sites for Sook Ching, the extermination of resistance groups by the Japanese. The stadium remained open through the war and was also used as a language centre for the teaching of Japanese to locals.

Jalan Besar Stadium, built in 1932, is considered the birthplace of Singaporean football. It was here that the Malaya Cup (later known as the Malaysia Cup) was held from 1932 to 1973. The stadium also played host to many major events in Singapore's history, such as the first Singapore Youth Festival in 1955, the first Singapore Armed Forces Day in 1969, and the 1984 National Day Parade.

Swee Choon Dim Sum at 191 Jalan Besar is famous island-wide for its fresh and handmade Dim Sum or Dian Xin, the Chinese version of brunch consisting of a wide variety of snacks ranging from xiaolongbao (meat dumpings) to portugese egg tarts, usually served in small baskets.

The First World War lasted from 1914 to 1918 and many of the roads off Jalan Besar were named in 1926 by the Muncipal Commissioners in commemoration of British and French generals and admirals and the battle sites in World War 1 - although ironically Singapore was not involved in World War 1.

Due to the increasing traffic at nearby Race Course which was constructed in the 1840s, Jalan Besar was expanded in the 1880s and 1890s and subsequently given its name.

Jalan Besar, meaning "wide road" in Malay, started out as an estate owned by brothers Richard Owen Norris and George Norris in the 1830s and began life as a road through the estates of the betel nut and fruit orchard of the Norris Brothers.

Hello everyone, we will be using this blog to give our readers insights into the vibrant culture of Jalan Besar as well as chart the progress of our project on conserving the unique history of Jalan Besar itself.