Order and Cleanliness: Singapore’s Public Bathhouses of the 1880s

The article discusses the involvement of the colonial Municipal Commissioners of Singapore in the management of public washing in urban and rural areas of 19th century Singapore. This included regulations regarding public decency, the classification of natural bathing areas, and the creation of bathing enclosures. By the 1880s, under the Municipal Engineer Thomas Cargill, this programme resulted in the creation of three public bathhouses, at Ellenborough Market, Canton Street and Clyde Terrace. By the late 1890s, as Singapore's water supply was changing, the bathhouses were removed. These buildings provide an interesting insight into a moment of transition in colonial Singapore's urban water infrastructures.