星洲道院 • 世界紅卍字會新嘉坡總主會
The Origins and Founding of the Singapore Dao Yuan
and The World Red Swastika Society (Singapore Administration Centre)
Part Five: The Four Premises - From Kampong Bahru to Keng Lee Road
Key Details
Address | Period | Significance
1928 -1936
57 Kampong Bahru Road (金榜峇魯路57號) |
Founding premises – ground floor: Gold Justice Mining Co; upper floor: Tian Qing Cao Tang and later first XingZhou Dao Yuan
1936–c.1940s
214 Orchard Road (烏節律214號) | First officially registered address of XingZhou Dao Yuan; Women’s Ethical Society took over when Dao Yuan moved to Hill Street
c.1940s–1976
20 Hill Street (禧街20號) | Four-storey building; intermediate home; confirmed in source (E) as 禧街 (Hill Street) 4
1976–present
76 Keng Lee Road (金龍台76號), Singapore 219259 | Purpose-built permanent premises; “five” storeys encoding Heaven, Earth, Humanity; rooftop Euro-Asia Pavilion (歐亞亭); and the basement foundation stone (萬載慈基). Current address to date.
From Hill Street to Keng Lee Road
The Hill Street Chapter
After the Orchard Road premises proved too small for the growing community cultivators, the Singapore Dao Yuan purchased a four-storey building at 20 Hill Street (禧街20號) through collective donation by all members – a major acquisition that gave the community a substantial civic presence in the heart of colonial Singapore. The Hill Street building served the Dao Yuan for approximately three decades, housing its growing cultivator population that exceeded 1,300 cumulative members by 1948, its planchette sessions, and its medical clinic operations.
A second branch clinic (第二支施診所) was also established during this period. By the early 1970s, however, the community had outgrown even these four storeys. The Dao Ci work was expanding steadily – in Singapore and across Malaysia – and the Hill Street premises were increasingly felt to be inadequate for the institution’s growing mission.
The Du Shiwen Donation - A Devout Act That Made Everything Possible
As the community was contemplating how to develop further, the answer came through an act of extraordinary generosity by two of its own members. Mr and Mrs Du Shiwen (杜式文夫婦) – both were steadfast, devout cultivators, pillars of the community – offered a section of their land along Lee Road to Singapore Dao Yuan. Singapore Dao Yuan, however, has to redeem the outstanding loan from the bank. This as an event that arrived precisely when it was needed: “竟應機而幸得” – “responding perfectly to the living momentum, we were fortunate to receive”.
The entire community responded with enthusiasm – male and female cultivators alike contributing money and labour. The purpose-built new premises rose at 76 Keng Lee Road: ‘five’ storeys encoding the Three Powers (Heaven, Earth, Humanity), with a rooftop Euro-Asia Pavilion (歐亞亭),and the foundation stone buried underground on site. [The planchette instruction was for five storeys. However, there was a height restriction for buildings around the Istana. So the compromised five storey was for the rooftop was the ‘fifth’, and the buried foundation stone, the ‘first’.] The whole building oriented to face south as cosmological convention requires.
On the 31st of October 1976 – the 9th day of the 9th lunar month of the year Bingchen (丙辰年九月初九日) – the building was opened by divine commission (奉訓開幕) and the Society was elevated to The World Red Swastika Society (Singapore Administration Centre) (世界紅卍字會新嘉坡總主會), with the added mission of universal liberation and the role of Eurasian pivot for Dao Ci propagation, and the leading position over Malaysian branch communities.
Key Details
The Move from Hill Street to Keng Lee Road
Reason for moving
The community’s expanding Dao Ci work had outgrown the Hill Street premises – deemed inadequate (有欠理想) for the growing mission
Enabling act
Mr and Mrs Du Shiwen (杜式文夫婦) – devout long-serving members – offered a section of their land along Keng Lee Road. Dao Yuan has to redeem the outstanding bank loan; the whole community contributed money and labour
Previous address
20 Hill Street (禧街20號) – four-storey building; served the community for approximately three decades
New address
76 Keng Lee Road (慶利津76號), Singapore 219259
Opening date
31 October 1976 – 9th day, 9th lunar month, Bingchen year (丙辰年九月初九日)
Elevation
The World Red Swastika Society (Singapore Administration Centre) (世界紅卍字會新嘉坡總主會)
Mission confirmed
Universal liberation and propagation; Eurasian pivot; leadership of Malaysian branch communities
The Hill Street Building — Compulsory Acquisition by Government, 1984
The Hill Street chapter did not end cleanly. In 1984 – eight years after the community had moved to Keng Lee Road – the Singapore government suddenly announced the compulsory acquisition of the entire Hill Street four-storey building. The second branch clinic, which had continued operating there, was consequently forced to close. The institutional records note this simply: “1984年（甲子年），不料政府突然宣佈徵用禧街原日院會全座四層大廈，於是第二支診所即隨之而暫告結束，唯有待時機而滾辦之。” .: “In 1984, unexpectedly the government suddenly announced the compulsory acquisition of the original Hill Street premises – the entire four-storey building – and so the second branch clinic consequently came to a temporary close, awaiting the right opportunity to resume.”
This event, while practically disruptive, is entirely consistent with the pattern the Dao Yuan tradition has always observed in its own history: what appears to be loss or closure at one level reveals, in time, a deeper working of the cosmic plan. The community had already found its permanent home at Keng Lee Road; the Hill Street chapter was complete.
76 Keng Lee Road — The Permanent Home
Key Details
76 Keng Lee Road (金龍台76號), Singapore 219259
Completed
1976
Architecture
‘Five’ storeys encoding the Three Powers – Heaven (天), Earth (地), Humanity (人); rooftop Euro-Asia Pavilion (歐亞亭) and the basement foundation stone (萬載慈基)
Third floor
Five unified into six (合五統六): The Most Holy One and Five Religion Founders centrally; six internal Yuans flanking
Second floor
Meeting room; Memorial and Spirit Shrine Rooms (紀勳祀靈室)
Style
Bauhaus-influenced with Chinese elements; sitting north, facing south
Opening
31 October 1976 — delegates from Hong Kong Consecrate Office, Hong Kong, Tokyo, USA, Bangkok, Taiwan, and Malaysia attended
Elevation
Designated The World Red Swastika Society (Singapore Administration Centre) (世界紅卍字會新嘉坡總主會)