Singapore has officially gazetted the Former Kandang Kerbau Hospital (KKH) as its 76th National Monument, cementing the legacy of a site that witnessed over 1.2 million births and countless medical breakthroughs. The announcement came on 1 October 2025, exactly 101 years since the hospital was established as a dedicated maternity hospital in 1924.
Located at 1 Hampshire Road until its relocation in 1997, the Former KKH was once the nation’s only government hospital specialising in obstetrics and gynaecology. For its socio-cultural importance, Blocks 1, 2 and 3 of the compound will now be preserved under the Preservation of Monuments Act, granting them the highest level of heritage protection.
The gazette was officiated by Mr David Neo, Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, who also launched The Architecture of Care, a special exhibition tracing the hospital’s remarkable journey. The exhibition runs from 1 October to 31 December 2025 at the Land Transport Authority headquarters, the former hospital grounds.
From Buffalo Pens to a World-Famous Maternity Hospital
The name Kandang Kerbau (“buffalo enclosure” in Malay) recalls the area’s past as home to colonial buffalo pens. Built in 1858 as a general hospital, the site evolved into the Pauper Hospital for Women and Children before becoming a free maternity hospital in 1924.
During World War II, KKH was repurposed as an Emergency General Hospital and later renamed Chuo Byoin (“Central Hospital”) under Japanese occupation. Among its pioneering figures was Dr Benjamin Henry Sheares, later Singapore’s second President, who introduced the lower-segment Caesarean section, a safer technique that reduced maternal risks and became standard practice worldwide.
“Birth-quake” and Medical Firsts
Post-war Singapore saw an unprecedented baby boom at the hospital. In 1966, dubbed the “birth-quake” year, KKH delivered 39,835 babies, an achievement that earned it a Guinness World Record. At its busiest, the hospital welcomed more than 110 babies daily, making it the largest maternity hospital in the world for a decade.
KKH also pioneered many of Singapore’s medical firsts: the nation’s first School of Midwifery (1952), the delivery of Singapore’s first Siamese twins (1961), and Asia’s first IVF baby (1983). These breakthroughs laid the foundation for today’s comprehensive maternal and child healthcare.
An “Architecture of Care”
The Former KKH’s modernist buildings reflected a deep concern for patient well-being. Blocks 2 and 3, built in the 1930s and 1940s, showcased tropical adaptations such as pitched red roofs and natural ventilation. Block 1, designed in 1955 with input from Dr Sheares, introduced innovative features like concrete fins that reduced heat and glare while allowing fresh air to flow, an architectural embodiment of the hospital’s ethos of care.
A Living Legacy
The Architecture of Care exhibition offers rare glimpses into the site’s history, featuring archival images, anecdotes, and artefacts including the 1953 foundation stone of Block 1 and lecture notes by Dr Yvonne Marjorie Salmon, who later became KKH’s first female head of department.
Open from Mondays to Fridays, 9.30am to 5pm, the exhibition invites the public to rediscover the Former KKH’s enduring role in shaping Singapore’s healthcare and heritage. Visitors are required to register at the LTA security posts before entry.
