Emerald Hill, Singapore

Emerald Hill is a neighbourhood and a conservation area located in the planning areas of Newton and Orchard in Singapore. Former home to many members of the city-state's wealthy Peranakan community, it is located near Orchard Road. Many of its homes feature Chinese Baroque architecture. Emerald Hill is also the setting for some of the short stories by the late Singaporean author Goh Sin Tub. Many of the homes were designed by Mr R T Rajoo (Rethinam Thamby Rajoo Pillay) an architect/contractor of those days who died in 1929 at his home in Tank Road, Singapore.HistoryBefore the time of Stamford Raffles and William Farquhar, Emerald Hill was believed to be fully covered in primary rainforest. However, around early 1800s, many Chinese immigrants occupied the land with Gambier or pepper plantation to make a living of their own, exhausting the land to its ends. Thus, when William Cuppage finally owned the land legally, it had already became a barren field.William Cuppage, a postal clerk who rose to become the acting Postmaster General in the 1840s, first leased Emerald Hill in 1837 and in 1845 secured a permanent grant for his nutmeg plantation, which failed in the 1860s because of disease.