The neoclassical Chinese Protectorate building in this photograph was designed by H.A. Stallwood along Havelock Road, bounded by New Bridge Road and Market Road. The building’s construction began in 1928 and housed the Chinese Protectorate upon its completion in 1930. The Chinese Protectorate had been established by the British Administration in 1877 in a shophouse on Canal Road to oversee the needs of the Chinese community. After World War II, the Chinese Protectorate (later known as the Chinese Secretariat) was subsumed under the Ministry of Labour and Welfare which occupied the building in 1955. The ministry was later renamed as the Ministry of Labour and Law. Over the years, the building underwent various phases of expansion and renovation to accommodate the space requirements of different ministries. Since 1990, the building has been used by the Judiciary and it houses the Family Justice Courts today.
