• Queenstown was originally known among the Chinese as boh beh kang (“no end river” in Hokkien), because there was a small river there, flowing through Hong Lim Hill and Hong Yin Hill, but the residents were never able to ascertain where the river started or ended. Boh beh kang was a quiet, peaceful village away from the bustling city centre. Most residents lived in attap dwellings at the foot of Hong Lim Hill.
• On 27 September 1953, to commemorate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II the year before, the Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT) renamed boh beh kang as “Queenstown”. At that time, SIT was in the process of developing Queenstown as Singapore’s first satellite new town, with the aim of relieving the overcrowding situation in Chinatown.
• In 1968, Hong Lim Hill and Hong Yin Hill were levelled to make way for the development of Mei Ling estate.

Queenstown is one of the earliest satellite towns built in Singapore, with both old houses from the 1950s and brand new Housing & Development Board flats. (Shin Min Daily News, 25/9/1996)