Last weekend, a campaign called “Is this your grandfather’s road?” was carried out at Tiong Bahru estate to discourage motorists from parking illegally and obstructing the traffic. The “grandfather’s road” phrase has been always a popular and catchy one, and seems a good fit to use in an old housing estate where all its roads were named after Chinese pioneers.

A question comes to mind: What are the roads in Singapore that were named after the early pioneers of Singapore?

They could be political figures like colonial governors, engineers and surveyors. Others were respected community leaders, philanthropists and wealthy businessmen who had contributed generously to the local education, healthcare or charitable causes. There are more than 200 roads that were named after the early pioneers; some of the famous ones include Aljunied Road, Boon Lay Way, Jalan Ahmad Ibrahim and Eu Tong Sen Street.

The list of the…