The Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hall is a building on Race Course Lane in Little India, Singapore. Officially opened in 1953 in honour of Mahatma Gandhi, it housed the Singapore Indian Development Association in the 1990s. Beginning in 2008, it was occupied by The Hindi Society.
History
During a mourning session for Mahatma Gandhi held on 31 January 1948, a day after his assassination, legislative councilor Rajabali Jumabhoy announced that a fund would be established by the Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce in order to raise 100,000fortheconstructionofastatueofGandhiinSingapore.InFebruary,MaryLobooftheSingaporeRegionalIndianCongress′women′ssectionproposedtheconstructionofaGandhiMemorialInstitute,whichwouldincludeanassemblyhall,aschool,awomen′scentreandalibrary.ThisproposalwassupportedbyboththeSingaporeRegionalIndianCongress′swomen′ssectionandtheSingaporeIndianChamberofCommerce.TheGandhijiMemorialFundCommitteewasthenestablishedinordertoraisefundsfortheconstructionofthehall.Jumabhoyservedasthecommittee′spresident,whileGangaramMaganlalandJesudossMuthaiyaDoraiRajservedasthecommittee′streasurerandsecretaryrespectively.InSeptember1949,PadmaRamakrishnan,thewifeofChiefInspectorK.Ramakrishnan,wona100 prize for suggesting that the memorial should contain an assembly hall with books by and about Gandhi. It was then decided that if the fund could raise 250,000,aschoolwouldbebuiltinstead.Thefundwasabletoraiseover117,000 for the memorial. Several leaders of the local Indian community, such as Vayloo Pakirisamy Pillai and P. Govindasamy Pillai, supported the construction of the memorial.
In June 1950, the Gandhi Memorial Committee purchased 680.5 m2 (7,325 sq ft) of land on Race Course Lane for 32,000withtheaimofconstructingtwobuildings.Thefirstwastohaveafreelibraryonthefirstfloorandastageandtwoofficeroomsonthesecond,whilethesecondbuildingwouldberentedout,withtheincomegeneratedbeingdonatedtolocalcharities.ThePrimeMinisterofIndiaJawaharlalNehrulaidthememorial′sfoundationstonewhilevisitingSingaporeinthesamemonth.Healsomadeseveralsuggestionsforalterationsofthememorial′soriginalplans,someofwhichwereincorporatedintothememorial′sfinalplans.InNovember,Jumabhoyannouncedthatonetwo−storeybuildingwouldbebuilt,withthefirstfloorbeingoccupiedbyalibraryhallandthesecretary′soffice,alongwiththefoundationstone,andthesecondfloorbeingoccupiedbyanassemblyhallandameetingroom.Alife−sizedbronzebustofGandhimountedonamarblepillarwasplacedinthefoyers.ConstructionwascompletedinJuly1952andthememorialwasfurnishedbytheendofSeptember.On25April1953,thememorialwasofficiallyopenedbyMalcolmMacDonald,thentheCommissioner−GeneralforSoutheastAsia.Thebuilding,whichwasmadeofbrickandbuiltinthemodernstylewithArtDecoinfluences,featuresawallreliefofGandhi.Thebuilding′sarchitectwasNgKengSiang.Beginningin1954,anannualeventwouldbeheldonevery2OctobertocommemoratetheanniversaryofGandhi′sbirthday.ThememorialalsoservedasacentreforreligiousceremoniesandmeetingsandIndianweddings.TheSingaporeIndianDevelopmentAssociation,acharityorganisationestablishedinSeptember1990,wasinitiallyheadquarteredonthebuilding′sgroundfloor.InMay1993,theassociation′sFamilyServiceCentrealsomoveditsheadquarterstothememorial.However,boththeassociationanditsFamilyServiceCentrewererelocatedtoBeattyRoadinApril1998,afterwhichthememorialwasleftvacant.In2008,theHindiSocietymovedintothebuildingandraised1 million for its restoration, which began in the following year. The building was gazetted for conservation on 30 April 2010. The building was officially reopened by then-President of Singapore S. R. Nathan on 22 January 2011. The building was placed on the Little India Heritage Trail by the National Heritage Board in 2017. In 2018, The Hindu Society moved out of the building, which was closed on 12 September and again left vacant. The memorial was reopened by the Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society in January 2022 after a refurbishment.