is the road that defines for Chinese, the Chinatown area. In the 1880s, Kreta Ayer was the red light area in Chinatown. The legacy of
cultural diversity in Chinatown is still present. There used to exist some
Hokkien merchants along Havelock Road, Telok Ayer Street, China Street and Chulia Street, and
Teochew merchants are mostly in Circular Road, River Valley Road,
Boat Quay, and South Bridge Road near Chinatown. The ubiquitous
Cantonese are scattered around South Bridge Road, Upper Cross Street, New Bridge Road, and Bukit Pasoh Road as well as others. These days, the former Hokkien and Teochew residents have largely scattered to other parts of the island, leaving the Cantonese as the dominant dialect group in Chinatown. The Chinese names of Pickering Street are
Kian Keng Khau (mouth of the gambling houses) or
Ngo Tai Tiahn Hok Kiong Khau (mouth of the five generations of the Tian Hok Temple). There are also several prominent century-old Chinese temples like Hokkien
Thian Hock Keng Temple at Telok Ayer Street, Teochew
Wak Hai Cheng Bio Temple at Phillips Street, Siang Cho Keong Temple at Amoy Street, Seng Wong Beo Temple at Peck Seah Street, and Cantonese
Cundhi Gong Temple at Keong Siak Roadside.
Guilds,
clans, trade unions and
associations were all referred to as
kongsi are present within Chinatown such as to assist to the needs of each Chinese dialect group, such as Cantonese, Hokkien, etc. There were the
letter writers of Sago Street—in Hokkien this street is called
Gu Chia Chwi Hi Hng Cheng (front of Kreta Ayer Theatre), but it was mainly associated with life and death — the
sandalwood idols of Club Street and the complicated and simple food of Mosque Street; all rang to the sound of the
abacus. Old women could be seen early in the mornings topping and tailing
bean sprouts, the skins of frogs being peeled, the newly killed snakes being skinned and the centuries-old
panaceas being dispensed by women blessed with the power of healing. Besides Chinese residents, other races such as the Indians whom migrated during the
British Raj live in Chinatown. Within the Chinatown is an important temple for the
Tamils, the Sri Mariamman Hindu Tamil Temple, and also mosques,
Al-Abrar Mosque at Telok Ayer Street, and Jamae Mosque at Mosque Street. These places of worship catered to the pockets of non-Chinese residents in the area and shows that despite efforts to segregate the early immigrants, they had no qualms living peacefully together, and side by side.
Street name origins at the end of the street. •
Mosque Street is named after
Jamae Mosque, located on the South Bridge Road end of the street. The mosque was completed in 1830 by the Chulia Muslims from the
Coromandel coast of
South India but also used by the Malay Muslims living in the area. In the early years, Mosque Street was the site of ten
stables. •
Pagoda Street takes its name from the
Sri Mariamman Temple. During the 1850s and 1880s, the street was one of the centres of slave traffic. It also had its share of
coolie quarters and
opium smoking dens. One of the traders was Kwong Hup Yuen who, it is thought, occupied No. 37, and after whom Pagoda Street is often referred to today. •
Sago Lane and
Sago Street got their name because in the 1840s there were a number of
sago factories located there. Sago is taken from the
pith of the rumbia
palm and made into flour that is used for making cakes both sweet and savoury. Funerary businesses were formerly prominent on Sago Lane. •
Smith Street was probably named after
Sir Cecil Clementi Smith, who was the
Governor of the Straits Settlements between 1887 and 1893. •
Temple Street refers to the Sri Mariamman Temple, which is located at the South Bridge Road end of the street. It was formerly known as Almeida Street after Joaquim d'Almeida, son of José D'Almeida, who owned some land at the junction of Temple Street and Trengganu Street. In 1908, the Municipal Commissioners changed its name to Temple Street to avoid confusion with other streets in Singapore which were also named after D'Almeida. •
Trengganu Street, described as "the
Piccadilly of Chinese Singapore" in the past, now forms the heart of the tourist belt in Chinatown. In Chinese, it is called
gu chia chui wah koi, or "the cross street of Kreta Ayer". The crossing of streets refers to Smith Street and Sago streets. The street name is derived from
Terengganu, a state in present-day
Peninsular Malaysia. == Gentrification and the impact of tourism ==