Pagoda Street

Last updated October 21, 2023 • 2 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

Pagoda Street (Chinese :宝塔街; pinyin :bǎo tǎ jiē) is a street located in Chinatown within the Outram Planning Area in Singapore. The road links New Bridge Road and South Bridge Road, but has since been converted to a pedestrian mall to Chinatown MRT station at its New Bridge Road end.

The Chinatown Heritage Centre, located on Pagoda Street, provides an overview of the life of early Chinese settlers in Chinatown.

Etymology and history

Pagoda Street was named after the pagoda-like gopuram of Sri Mariamman Temple, the largest and oldest Hindu temple in Singapore, located on the South Bridge Road end of the street.^[1] Due to Sri Mariamman Temple, the street was called kit ling a le pai au in Hokkien, meaning "behind the kling place of worship" where Kling is an old reference to Indians.^[1]

The street was known for its opium smoking den and also as one of the coolie trade stations between the 1850s and the 1880s. One famous firm for the coolie trade located at the street was Kwong Hup Yuen and later known as Kian Seng Heng Bicycle Trader of 37 Pagoda Street. This leads to the Cantonese to call this street as kwong hup yuan kai.^[1] In the early 1900s, many shophouses along the street became coolie lodging places due to the coolie trade.^[1]

By the 1930s, the coolie trade in Singapore stopped and hence the many coolie lodging places went out of business.^[1] By the 1950s, the shophouses changed to retail trade and services and became well known for textile and tailor shops.^[1]

The architecture of the shophouses on Pagoda Street and other parts of Chinatown originates from the Raffles Town Plan of 1822, which stipulated the material that should be used to build the shophouses as well as the need to have covered walkways of five-foot width (hence known as "five-foot ways").

In the late 1980s, Chinatown was gazetted as a Historic District for conservation and the street was included.^[1]

Related Research Articles

Chinatown is a subzone and ethnic enclave located within the Outram district in the Central Area of Singapore. Featuring distinctly Chinese cultural elements, Chinatown has had a historically concentrated ethnic Chinese population.

Chinatown MRT station is an underground Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) interchange station on the North East (NEL) and Downtown (DTL) lines in Outram, Singapore. It serves the ethnic enclave of Chinatown. Situated at the junction of Eu Tong Sen Street, New Bridge Road and Upper Cross Street, the station is near several landmarks, including the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, Masjid Jamae (Chulia), Chinatown Point and People's Park Complex.

The Sri Mariamman Temple is Singapore's oldest Hindu temple. It is an agamic temple, built in the Dravidian style. Located at 244 South Bridge Road, in the downtown Chinatown district, the temple serves the majority Hindu Singaporeans, Tamilians, in the city-state. Due to its architectural and historical significance, the temple has been gazetted a National Monument and is a major tourist attraction. Sri Mariamman Temple is managed by the Hindu Endowments Board, a statutory board under the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports.

Tanjong Pagar is a historic district located within the Central Business District of Singapore, straddling the Outram Planning Area and the Downtown Core under the Urban Redevelopment Authority's urban planning zones. The district has a rich history and is known for its cultural and architectural landmarks, making it a popular tourist destination.

Petaling Street is a Chinatown located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The whole vicinity is also known as Chinatown KL. Haggling is a common sight here and the place is usually crowded with locals as well as tourists.

Jamae Mosque is one of the earliest mosques in Singapore, and is located on South Bridge Road in the Chinatown district within the Central Area. The mosque was established in 1826. This mosque is also known as Chulia Mosque and Periya Paḷḷi among the Tamil Muslim community in Singapore. Together with its neighbour, Sri Mariamman Temple, the mosque stands out in its predominantly Chinese location. The Mosque Street that runs beside it may have been named after this mosque.

Telok Ayer Street is a street located in Singapore's Chinatown within the Outram district, linking Church Street to Cecil Street. Telok Ayer MRT station is located at the junction of Cross Street and this road.

Hindu religion and culture in Singapore can be traced to the 7th century AD, when Temasek was a trading post of Hindu-Buddhist Srivijaya empire. A millennium later, a wave of immigrants from southern India were brought to Singapore, mostly as coolies and indentured labourers by the British East India Company and colonial British Empire. As with Malay peninsula, the British administration sought to stabilise a reliable labour force in its regional plantation and trading activities; it encouraged Hindus to bring family through the kangani system of migration, settle, build temples and segregated it into a community that later became Little India.

South Bridge Road is a major road in Singapore, running south of the Singapore River in Chinatown. It starts at Elgin Bridge and ends at the junction of Neil Road, Tanjong Pagar Road and Maxwell Road.

The Old Ministry of Labour Building is a former building of the Ministry of Labour located at Havelock Square in the Outram Planning Area, within the Central Area of Singapore's central business district. The building once housed the former Chinese Protectorate which was first established in 1877 to protect and control Chinese immigrants to Singapore. The building had since been restored in 1990 and currently used as the Family and Juvenile Court of Singapore.

Mosque Street is a one-way street located in Chinatown within the Outram Planning Area in Singapore. The road links South Bridge Road to New Bridge Road near Chinatown MRT station.

Trengganu Street is a street located in Chinatown within the Outram Planning Area in Singapore.

Temple Street is a one-way street in Chinatown within the Outram Planning Area in Singapore. The road links South Bridge Road to New Bridge Road, and is intersected by Trengganu Street.

Amoy Street is a one-way street located within Chinatown, within the Outram district in Singapore. The street is close to Tanjong Pagar MRT station.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keong Saik Road</span>

Keong Saik Road is a one-way road located in Chinatown within the Outram Planning Area in Singapore. The road links New Bridge Road to Neil Road, and is intersected by Kreta Ayer Road.

Ann Siang Hill is a small hill, and the name of a one-way road located in Chinatown, Singapore. It was named after Chia Ann Siang, a wealthy businessman. The road links Club Street and Ann Siang Road (安祥路) to South Bridge Road.

Tras Street is a street located in Tanjong Pagar in the Outram Planning Area and Downtown Core in Singapore. The road connects Enggor Street and Gopeng Street to Cook Street, and is intersected by Wallich Street.

Duxton Hill is a small hill, as well as the name of a road, located in Tanjong Pagar in the Downtown Core district of Singapore.

Kampung Cina, is a Chinatown located in Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia. Kampung Cina is located along Jalan Bandar, in Kuala Terengganu city centre at the river mouth of Terengganu River that empties into the South China Sea. Kampung Cina literally means Chinese Village; it is also called Tn̂g-lâng-pho (唐人坡) or KT's Chinatown by local people. It is one of Southeast Asia's early Chinese settlements and contains stately ancestral homes, temples, townhouses, and business establishments. The town is small but has colourful shophouses along both sides of the road that carries traditional flavour.

Chinatown is located at Padungan road, Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia. The most notable streets in the Chinatown are Main Bazaar and Carpenter Street.

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Savage, Victor R. (2013). Singapore street names : a study of toponymics. Brenda S. A. Yeoh. Singapore. pp. 657–658. ISBN 978-981-4484-74-9. OCLC 868957283.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

National Heritage Board (2006), Discover Singapore - Heritage Trails, ISBN 981-05-6433-3

This Singapore road article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[:02-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Savage, Victor R. (2013). Singapore street names : a study of toponymics. Brenda S. A. Yeoh. Singapore. pp. 657–658. ISBN 978-981-4484-74-9. OCLC 868957283.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

[1]