The Chinese High School Clock Tower Building

Coordinates: 1°19′35″N 103°48′12.3″E / 1.32639°N 103.803417°E / 1.32639; 103.803417

The Chinese High School Clock Tower Building with a statue of the school's founder, Tan Kah Kee, in the foreground.

The Chinese High School Clock Tower Building in Singapore is situated in what is now the campus of the integrated Hwa Chong Institution after the merger of The Chinese High School with Hwa Chong Junior College on 1 January 2005. Standing at 31 metres tall atop a small knoll on which parts of the campus was built on, it was completed in 1925, a few years after the Chinese High School opened in 1919. It served as an imposing landmark for the Bukit Timah area where it is surrounded by relatively low-rise private housing estates.

It was used in tactical military situations during the Pacific War in World War II. Its strategic location atop a hill gave any troops stationed in it a good view of the island. It was used by the Allied defenders during the Battle of Singapore, as well as during the Japanese Occupation of Singapore, it was occupied by the Imperial Japanese Army for the purpose of surveillance.

On 19 March 1999, 2 days before the 80th anniversary of the school, the clock tower was gazetted as a national monument,^[1] to mark the significance of the institution as the first Chinese-medium secondary school to be built in Southeast Asia catering to the Overseas Chinese by its founder, Tan Kah Kee. The four clocks on the tower were donated by Seiko.

Gallery

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  Clock Tower Building

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  As seen from a distance during sunset

References

1. ^ "National treasures". AsiaOne. http://www.asiaone.com/News/Education/Story/A1Story20091112-179518.html. Retrieved March 31, 2011.