The surprising history of an old bungalow along McNair Road, once owned by a police officer

MS Investigates: The history of an old bungalow at 94 McNair Road

Tucked away among HDB blocks and busy roads in the McNair estate is a weathered bungalow that appears frozen in time.

Despite its prominent location and colonial appearance, little is known about its origins.

Who built the bungalow? What purpose did it serve?

And why it has remained standing when much of the surrounding neighbourhood has been redeveloped?

Why is it the only building in a big field?

Today, McNair Road is lined with high-rise residential housing and small convenience stores.

Before the development of the McNair/Towner housing estate in the late 1980s, however, the area had a mix of low-rise residences and colonial-era buildings.

It was also once home to several schools, including McNair School, Balestier Girls’ School, and Balestier Boys’ School, which served the community during the 1960s.

Referencing an estate map from 1966, the bungalow is located in an area once occupied by these schools.

Though it is unclear when these schools were demolished, there are records that estimate their closures.

McNair School was converted into a workshop around 1968.

Meanwhile, the Balestier schools merged and then closed in 1991 due to low enrolment.

Home to Singapore’s first karate association

While the exact age of the bungalow remains unknown, it is clear that the building became an important part of Singapore’s sporting history in the 1960s.

In Dec 1964, a group of professionals and martial arts enthusiasts founded what was then known as the Singapore Karate Association, the country’s first karate organisation.

The association operated from the McNair Road bungalow, which then belonged to one of its founding members, a police officer.

In its early years, the bungalow welcomed Japanese instructors who travelled to Singapore to teach Shitoryu karate.

Students also trained at the bungalow’s open courtyard.

The organisation was later renamed the Shitoryu Karate Association (SKA) and remained at the McNair Road premises for more than five decades.

SKA relocated after 52 years

After calling the bungalow home for 52 years, SKA relocated to Tessensohn Road in 2017.

The move came as the McNair-Towner area underwent redevelopment, marking the end of an era for generations of karate practitioners who had trained at the historic premises.

Despite the association’s departure, the bungalow was never demolished.

One of the last living relics of McNair Road’s colonial past

That said, the bungalow at 94 McNair Road is not the only historic structure in the vicinity.

Directly opposite stands Townerville, a conserved estate comprising six blocks of 84 two-storey terrace houses built in the 1920s.

The road itself was named after Major John Frederick Adolphus McNair, Singapore’s first colonial engineer.

In the late 1800s, he supervised the construction of several notable buildings in Singapore, such as the Istana and St Andrew’s Cathedral.

Today, the bungalow continues to stand quietly amid the modern neighbourhood, serving as one of the few visible reminders of McNair Road’s rich past.

Its origins may still be murky, but its links to the development of Singapore’s karate scene is firmly etched into the nation’s sporting history.

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Featured image adapted from Heritage SG Memories on Facebook.