Amber Road on Singapore Infopedia

The Singapore Infopedia website maintained by the National Library Board has a very interesting article on the history of Amber Road.

Here’s an extract:

“In 1921, a stretch of road running between Grove Road (now discontinued) and Tanjong Katong Road was named Amber Road, after a renowned property owner, the Elias family. Amber Elias was the mother of Joseph, Ezra and Issac Elias and they belonged to a well-known Jewish business family. Other places named after her is the Amber Building on Malacca Street and Amber Mansion on Orchard Road.

Amber Road was the scene of two tragic events in Singapore's history. During the Japanese Occupation, the beach across this road was used for Operation "Sook Ching", carried out to purge suspected anti-Japanese elements. As a result, many Chinese males were brought to the beach only to be slaughtered mercilessly by the Japanese soldiers. Amber road was also one of the worst hit areas during the Maria Hertogh Riots that took place in 1950.”