History of Simei

Many may assume that the name Simei (四美) originates from the four legendary beauties of ancient China, but that is incorrect. The name Simei was actually derived from Jalan Soo Bee (惹兰四美). It was during the peak of the Speak Mandarin campaign that the dialect version of Simei, Soo Bee, was discarded.

Here, due to the nearby Changi Airport, the flats in this eastern housing estate were built not taller than 11 storeys high.

In addition, the main streets at Simei New Town were originally named as Xishi, Diaochan, Zhaojun and Guifei Roads. They were later renamed as Simei Street 1 to 4 in mid-1987 after the names were deemed too difficult for the non-Chinese residents living in the vicinity.

The void deck portraits as depicted below are hence a unique feature of Simei, not seen in any other new towns of Singapore. They can be found at the void decks of Block 146 (Street 2), Block 226 (Street 4) and Block 107 (Street 1) respectively, whereas there are two Xishi portraits at Block 116 and 123 of Simei Street 1.