Former Kandang Kerbau Hospital in Hampshire Road set to be gazetted as national monument

Three blocks of the former Kandang Kerbau Hospital in Hampshire Road are set to be collectively gazetted as Singapore's 76th national monument.

- Ng Keng Gene

On Sept 5, the National Heritage Board (NHB) listed the former hospital premises as a proposed national monument on its heritage resource portal, Roots.gov.sg.

Proposed monuments are accorded similar protections to gazetted monuments, and those who alter or change monuments in a way that affects their character and significance face punishment.

NHB said the three blocks were constructed between the 1930s and the 1950s, adding that they are "representative buildings of the former hospital and showcase the hospital's instrumental role in advancing midwifery, maternal and gynaecological care in Singapore".

The three blocks are state properties currently leased to the Land Transport Authority (LTA) for office use.

The hospital dates back to 1858, when it was established in an area called Kandang Kerbau as Singapore's fifth general hospital.

It is more commonly known today as KK Women's and Children's Hospital - a name that the hospital took in 1997 when it moved to its current premises at 100 Bukit Timah Road.