Singapore Recreation Club

The Singapore Recreation Club (Abbreviation: SRC; Chinese: 新加坡康乐俱乐部) is one of Singapore's oldest social clubs with a strong sporting tradition, located on Connaught Drive at the north end of the Padang in the heart of Singapore's Civic District.

The Singapore Recreation Club was founded on 23 June 1883 by a group of thirty eurasian men and was officially established on 1 July 1883. At that time, the club was housed in a building on Waterloo Street.

In 1884, a club pavilion was erected on the site of the Padang. Two years later, the club adopted navy blue and red as its corporate colours: navy blue for sportsmanship and red for the brotherhood of man in sports.

By 1904, with increasing membership, construction of a clubhouse commenced, with the foundation stone laid by club president Edwin Tessensohn. The clubhouse was formally opened on 2 September 1905, the governor of Singapore, Sir John Anderson. The addition of two wings was completed in 1931 and declared open by club president Dr Noel Clarke.

At the Annual General Meeting in 1948, member P F de Souza proposed that the club should be open to non-eurasians, and this proposal, though not immediately accepted, gained more support over the years. In 1955, ordinary membership was opened to people of all communities. A year later, in 1956, women were admitted as members for the first time.

At a meeting on 11 February 1963, club president Sir George Oehlers proposed to open full membership to people of all communities in Singapore. This was agreed by a majority of members. As such the vision that SRC "will be an inter-racial club in Singapore" was fulfilled.

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