Having A Gay Time at The River Valley Swimming Complex

A stroll along the newly recreated Jubilee Park brought back memories of iconic buildings of a time gone by including the National Theatre, Van Kleef Aquarium and of course, who can forget having a ‘gay’ time swimming at the River Valley Swimming Pool. 

The area where these buildings were located used to be the site of King George V Jubilee Park. The park was set up before the war and was located at the base of Fort Canning, bounded by Clemenceau Avenue and River Valley Road.

Then in 1972 the land previously used by the British armed forces was combined with the park and the now bigger park was renamed Central Park. The park was eventually renamed Fort Canning Park on November 1981 by Lee Kuan Yew and designated as a historical park.

There were few sports facilities in the 1950s that were opened to the public, hence the Singapore City Council decided to build a swimming pool at the former Jubilee Park. The pool was designed by Crocker, who was also responsible to design the Farrer Park Swimming Complex.

Named River Valley Swimming Complex, it was Singapore’s second oldest swimming complex after Yan Kit Pool at Tanjong Pagar. Officially opened in August 1959, the swimming complex had an Olympic-sized pool and a wading pool. It was constructed at a whopping cost of $520,000.

After the independence of Singapore the National Sports Promotion Board and the Singapore Sports Council took over the swimming complex in 1971 and 1973 respectively. As more and more swimming pools were built in other parts of Singapore the popularity of the River Valley Swimming Complex declined. It was finally closed in April 2003.

What many of the younger generation may not be aware of is the pool was a popular place frequented by gays seeking partners. In April 2002 an article was published in a popular Chinese-language tabloid titled "Good Husband Has Rendezvous With Lad In Public Pool’.

A 48-year-old married man and his 27-year-old partner of 2 years were found guilty in court for having oral sex in the pool in July 2001. For the offence the men were sentenced to one month jail.

It was also one of the few swimming pools where outdoor photography was banned, presumably because the gay men there - who tended to wear skimpy swimming trunks and loved to sun tan, were very sensitive about having their photograph taken.

The swimming pool no longer exists although one of the former buildings is now home to Tiong Bharu Bakery, known for their handmade croissants freshly baked every two hours. 

Should you be nearby the foothills of Fort Canning, do drop by for a cup of coffee and a warm croissant served with jam while reimagining the days when it was a bustling pool.