Kreta Ayer Road
Kreta Ayer is the most important road that defines Chinatown. Since there is no word colloquially in Chinese for Chinatown, Kreta Ayer has been used as the defining reference to Chinatown; its name is used as a place name for Chinatown by locals. In the old days, water drawn from a well near Ann Siang Hill was transported in bullock carts, hence, the name Kreta Ayer, which means "water cart road" in Malay. The Hokkiens referred to this area as gu chia chui and the Cantonese called it ngow chay shui also meaning "bullock water cart road". Kreta Ayer Road was officially conferred in 1922.
The Chinese defined their centre not by its cultural or economic activity, nor its ethnic dominance, but by a street name of historic significance. The Chinatown area was also referred as tua poh or "greater town" district. In the 1880s, Kreta Ayer was the red-light area of Chinatown. The Chinese traveller, Li Chung Chu, observed in 1887 that the street was a place of restaurants, theatres and brothels and where "filth and dirt are hidden".
Source: Singapore Street Names 4th Edition by Victor R. Savage and Brenda S.A. Yeoh, page 291
Kreta Ayer Road, a one-way road in the heart of Chinatown, connects Neil Road to New Bridge Road. The road is historically important as it was the name given to Chinatown in the early 1800s and was known as tua poh (greater town district) in 19th-century Chinatown.
Kreta Ayer Road was officially named in 1922. In Malay, kreta ayer means water cart. In the early 19th and 20th centuries, bullock and ox carts plied this road carrying water. Water was drawn from wells located on Ann Siang Hill and distributed to Chinatown and its surrounding areas. Another water source was located at Spring Street, which was named after a spring where water was drawn and transported by bullock cart for distribution round Chinatown.
From 1826 onwards, land parcels were issued and many roads were developed around Kreta Ayer Road, such as Hokien Street, China Street, Sago Street and Pagoda Street. The Kreta Ayer district of Chinatown, where all these streets were located, developed at a faster pace and was more prosperous. As a result, the Chinese divided Chinatown into two sections: tua poh (greater town district) and sio poh (smaller town). Kreta Ayer Road and its surrounding streets with their restaurants, brothels and theatres, belonged to and shaped the more prosperous tua poh.
The commercial heart of the Chinatown area is known as Gu Chia Chwi (in Hokkien), Ngau-che-shui (in Cantonese), and Niu Che Shui (in Mandarin), which mean "bullock water-cart". These names are in reference to the Malay name of the area, and actually refer to the district around Kreta Ayer Road. In Malay, the then lingua franca of the island and the region, Kreta Ayer means "Water cart".
Trengganu Street connects four streets in Chinatown: Pagoda Street, Temple Street, Smith Street and Sago Street. Trengganu Street was well-known as the famous Lai Chun Yuen opera house was located at the junction of Smith Street and Trengganu Street. Built in 1887, the opera house occupied a three-storey shophouse, and featured an 834-seat theatre. It was considered the Broadway or West End of Cantonese opera, and also hosted famous opera stars from China and Hong Kong.
By the late 1920s, the theatre experienced a decline in popularity due to the introduction of motion pictures. A few months before World War II broke out, the theatre was rented to Shaw Brothers, which screened movies there. During the war, a bomb blast badly damaged the theatre. Post-war renovations were carried out, but by then, the building had become a merchandise shop and later a warehouse for street hawkers. During the Japanese Occupation, the block of flats that lined Trengganu Street, from Smith Street to Sago Street became home to Malay families who sought shelter and protection.
Source: https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_330_2005-01-22.html
View towards Pagoda Street, September 2020
View from Pagoda Street, November 2022
Brothels were common all over Chinatown. However, Japanese brothels were concentrated only in a few areas, such as Trengganu Street. Thus, Trengganu Street was also known as Yap Pun Kai, or Japanese Street. Until the pre-war years, Japanese prostitutes plied their trade along this street in an oddly noble effort to help finance their country's military campaigns.
Besides the brothels, a number of coolie houses also operated on Trengganu Street. In these houses, hundreds of indentured labourers, mostly peasants from southern China, awaited their fate, which lay in the hands of agents and employers.
Other impoverished workers also eked out a living here. Every day, Chinatown's food hawkers would descend onto Trengganu Street, a routine that endured until the hawkers were moved into Chinatown Complex. During the Lunar New Year season each year, Trengganu Street is filled with the hustle and bustle of street sellers, jamming the pavements and touting their wares late into the night.
Source: Tourist Development Board
Chinese New Year shopping, February 2017
Temple Street was originally called Almeida Street after Joaquim d’Almeida, who owned land at the junction of Temple Street and Trengganu Street. At the time, there were two other roads named after members of the d’Almeida family – D’Almeida Street at Raffles Place and Almeida Road near the former Mount Victoria, where the patriarch of the family, Jose d’Almeida, lived. In 1908, Almeida Street was renamed Temple Street after a fire brigade got confused between D’Almeida Street and Almeida Street.
To avoid any further mix-up, Almeida Road was renamed Balmoral Road, while D’Almeida Street retained its name. Although some believe that Temple Street got its name from the Sri Mariamman Temple located at the junction of Temple Street and South Bridge Road, it is also probable that the road was named such due to the presence of many temples in the vicinity. Built in 1827, Sri Mariamman Temple is the oldest Hindu temple in Singapore.
Source: https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_320_2005-01-11.html
Temple Street during Chinese New Year celebrations, February 2015
January 2017
January 2017
Temple Street during Chinese New Year celebrations, January 2020
January 2022
Smith Street
The street is believed to be named after Cecil Clementi Smith, governor and high commissioner of the Straits Settlements between 1887 and 1893. In the early days, Smith Street was popularly referred to as hei yuen kai (theatre street) in Cantonese, a reference to the 834-seat Chinese theatre Lai Chun Yuen that used to be at 36 Smith Street. The theatre was built in 1887 and was very popular among the Cantonese community in Chinatown for its Cantonese opera. The popularity of the theatre gave rise to colloquial names for the streets surrounding it: Temple Street was known as hei yuen hau kai (theatre backstreet), and Trengganu Street was hei yuen wang kai, or “side street”. Between the 1910s and 1920s, performances at the theatre attracted packed audiences. Cantonese stars who performed at the theatre included Ma Shi Chan, Leong Seng Poh, Hong Xiannu and Luo Pin-chao.
September 2020
Chinese New Year Shopping, January 2020
Lai Chun Yuen, September 2020
No. 37 Smiths Street, January 2021
No. 64-72 Smiths Street, February 2021
Chinatown Complex, 335 Smith Street
Chinatown Complex from Keong Saik Street, February 2021
The Kreta Ayer Complex was built in 1981 as a part of the urban renewal of Chinatown. It was renamed Chinatown Complex in 1984. Hence, when the market and food centre within the complex was completed in that year, it was named Chinatown Complex Market and Food Centre. The complex had been a crucial part of the government’s effort to provide a final solution to the thousands of street hawkers who were still plying their trade illegally throughout the streets of Chinatown. As they depended on this trade for their livelihood, it was not a problem the government could solve easily. The establishment of the colossal Chinatown Complex right at the heart of the street hawker district, Smith, Trengganu, Pagoda and Temple Streets, provided the permanent solution.
Source: https://www.roots.gov.sg/stories-landing/stories/Hawker-Centres/Chinatown-Complex-Market-Food-Centre
Playing chinese chess in Kreta Ayer Square, January 2022
Chinatown Complex is home to the largest hawker centre on its second level with over 260 food stalls offering a generous variety of Singaporean street food fare, from traditional Hainanese chicken rice and Char Kway Teow, to craft beer on tap and even some Michelin-Starred stalls, mostly at very budget-friendly prices. Over 470 wet market and sundry stalls fill up the other levels of this unassuming building, and you will often see groups of older residents sitting around the sheltered areas nearby chit-chatting or playing intense games of Chinese chess.
November 2022
November 2022
November 2022
Originally used by the Japanese military police during the Japanese Occupation, the site was home to “death houses” and brothels until the 1960s when the land was cleared. In 1975 construction work began, and the site transformed into what it is today: the heartbeat of Chinatown.
Source: https://chinatown.sg/shop/chinatown-complex/
Wet market at night in the basement of Chinatown Complex, September 2020
Wet market at night in the basement of Chinatown Complex, September 2020
Chinatown Square during Chinese New Year on TriX400, January 2020
Sago Street / Lane
OnTriX400, January 2020
Making sago flour from sago, a starchy ingredient used in making delicacies, was a profitable business in 19th-century Singapore. So profitable was the business that in the 1850s, nearly 30 sago factories were operating in Singapore, producing 8,000 tones of sago flour annually. Sago was also exported to India and Europe from Singapore then. Most of these sago factories were located around Sago Street, including the adjacent Sago Lane. However, the street gained infamy for the brothels that sprang up there in the early 20th century. In 1901, there were about 14 prostitute dens on Sago Street.
One of the landmarks on Sago Street was the Chinese Tua Pek Kong temple. Constructed in 1895, the temple was dedicated to the deity, Tua Pek Kong.
January 2020
January 2020
Spring Street got its name from a spring that used to be found there. Water from the spring flowed into a well; once drawn, the water was loaded onto bullock carts and transported to different areas in Chinatown.
Spring Street is located near Smith Street, Sago Street and Sago Lane. The latter three streets were red-light districts in the early 20th century. Spring Street, being next to Sago Lane and the last of those three streets, was also known as fan tsai mei in Cantonese, meaning “end of the foreign brothels”. However, Spring Street was also dotted with a few Japanese brothels. Spring Street is bustling during Chinese New Year and food festivals. Activities such as busking and arts performances can sometimes be found on empty plots of land near Spring Street.
Spring Street with Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, November 2022
Keong Saik Road (between New Bridge Road and Kreta Ayer Road)
Tan Keong Saik (1850-1909, Hokkien) was a director at a shipping company. He was one of the founders of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce. Keong Saik Road was named a public road in 1926.
Source: What's in the Name? by Ng Yew Peng, pg. 270
Keong Saik Road in Kreta Ayer runs from Telok Ayer to Bukit Basoh.
Blk 4 Sago Lane from Keong Saik Road, November 2022
Keong Saik Road from Kreta Ayer Road, December 2022
No. 87 to 91 Keong Saik Road, December 2022
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