Located within Bukit Ho Swee, Beo Crescent Market is well-worth the train-bus combo or the sweltering 3-minute walk from Tiong Bahru MRT. For many of the older folks living there, however, it has been their primary source of affordable and hearty fare, from day to night, since its opening in 1965.
Opened in 1965, the area it stands on wasn’t originally planned for a market. It got its name from the Hokkien/Teochew word beo, which translates to temple and references the three Chinese temples along Beo Lane, and its formerly crescent-shaped road.
What sparked the change - quite literally - was devastating fires exaggerated by strong winds on 25 May 1961 (known as the Bukit Ho Swee fire), and another in November 1968. The two incidents swifty destroyed the temples and turned residents homeless, forcing the government to expunge the road for development of the Bukit Ho Swee HDB flats. This eventually spurred the opening of a market and food centre to serve the residents.
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