By Chia Kei Yin (24S03C), Low Jing Kai (24S03H) and Shannen Lim En-Qi (24A01A)
In a four-part series about a tour run by Ms Eunice from Indie Singapore Tours, titled “The Hidden Communities of Middle Road”, Raffles Press members bring you on a journey that spans time and space—from the well-known shophouse facades of Bugis Street that belie an unknown history; to the myriad of religious institutions that line Waterloo Street.
In this piece, we explore what’s changed and what’s stayed in the Middle Road area, and their significance in Singapore’s national history.
What makes a place? The people, the culture, the history, or perhaps a combination of all of the above? This is what we set out to answer on a sunny Saturday afternoon, exploring the Middle Road district.
The Hainanese History of Purvis Street
Our journey found us taking on Purvis Street, also known as Hainan Second Street. The aroma of freshly brewed coffee hits us instantly, as we find our way through small alleyways of shuttered shophouses and restaurants. The smell of coffee is courtesy of YY KaFei Dian, home to what some consider the best kaya buns in Singapore.
The street is dotted by many other past Hainanese establishments, such as Sing Swee Kee Restaurant–Singapore’s oldest standing chicken rice stall until it closed in 2020 due to the pandemic.
Their chicken rice is a lesson on history and culture in itself–they had invented chicken rice as we know it now, adapting the Cantonese style of poaching chicken and sauce dressing to local tastes by employing their spin on it.
This innovation in cooking is what sustained many Hainanese immigrants in the past. With no one speaking their language and few industries for them to break into, many of these immigrants turned to the service industry, making use of skills they had picked up working as houseboys and cooks on the ships that had brought them here.
With the support of clan associations who stepped up to help aspiring restaurant owners manage their businesses, Hainanese restaurants were a roaring success in Singapore.
Today, this success is seen in many local food chains, such as Yakun, Hans, and Killiney. Purvis Street is home to a few such Hainanese businesses, such as Chin Chin Eating House and the aforementioned YY KaFei Dian.
Perhaps, then, what makes a place is its cultural history.
North of the River: North Bridge Road
We continued our journey to the north (literally) as we headed to North Bridge Road, named so as it was located north of the Singapore River. A popular landmark here is the largest Popular bookstore. Little known fact, it was founded by an immigrant from the Zhejiang province in China, Mr Chou Sing Choo. Its home, the Bras Basah Complex, was once known as Shu Cheng, which means Book City, due to its many Chinese bookstores.
Walking further down, we were greeted by The National Library, which many of us know as a popular study haunt. What many of us might not know, though, is that it contains several artworks done by local artists, including panels by Ah Guo, a popular local artist, and even an adaption of Singaporean illustrator, Lee Xin Li’s artwork ‘In Our Time’, showcasing iconic landmarks of Singapore, at its entrance.
Perhaps, then, what makes a place is the people who build it into a space.
The Sleazy Past of Bugis District
Afterwards, we headed into the much-appreciated air-conditioned bubble of Bugis Junction, where we stood near the front of the InterContinental Hotel. Where we now stood used to be the crossroads between three busy streets—Malay Street, Hylam Street and Bugis Street.
We also seemed to be at a crossroads between time periods as we caught glimpses of the 1910s colonial-era Singapore amidst the modern architecture and activity there.
The road signs and shophouse facades lining the walls of the glass canopy corridors in Bugis Junction are remnants of their past. Malay Street used to be a bustling place of business. The same empty and gutted shophouses there were once full of activity. Now, all that’s left is their outer facades, and shoppers patronise the retail stores all around the mall instead.
Before WWII, this area also housed Singapore’s Japanese immigrant community which was forced to leave after the war due to perceived mindsets against the Japanese at the time. But before all that, Malay Street fringed what was known as “Little Japan”.
“Little Japan” even had a Japanese cemetery established in 1880, an elementary school we passed by later on at Waterloo Street, a photo studio, a textile shop, and more.
However, alongside legitimate businesses, there were seedier businesses scattered along these streets. By day, the place was full of families shopping and patronising hawkers on the ground floor of the shophouses, but by night, another side of the Bugis district was brought to life. From the 1950s to 1980s, the Bugis district was rife with vices, including being a prominent red-light district
In the Japanese and Chinese districts in the area, nightlife offered heady parties, euphoric intoxication and sensual pleasures, with the area crawling with drunk customers, pimps, and escorts—a far cry from the “clean”, sanitised Bugis we know now. Japanese sailors would frequent the red-light districts on Malay Street, where there were nearly 130 brothels. In fact, this district in Singapore contributed to putting the little red dot on the world map, for better or for worse.
Between the European Town and the Malay Quarter, European women worked in brothels there too. However, with the opening of the Suez Canal, more Europeans moved to Singapore, including families with married couples. With their emphasis on family values, their public disapproval caused European brothels to fade into history slowly.
How Workers Were Treated in the Red-Light Districts
The red-light districts also spotlighted an even smaller minority at the time: the LGBTQ+ community. Transgender individuals worked as escorts, and drag queens served as hostesses. Their pivot to the red-light district was likely due to being unable to find work elsewhere because of societal mindsets of the time, exacerbated by Section 377A in the Penal Code (which was only repealed in 2023).
Like the red-light districts in Japan, brothels in Bugis were class-based, with lower-class brothels offering cheaper prices and high-end geisha houses located near textile shops and tailors.
The karayuki-san, Japanese courtesans, were often young women from poor families who were sold into the trade and trafficked across the Asia Pacific in what was known as the “Yellow Slave Trade” (Chinese women were also subject to trafficking). Many of these escorts and courtesans also suffered from sexually transmitted diseases and mental health illnesses due to the nature of their work and their isolation.
It may appal us that such businesses held activities in a place we now view as a shopping haven. The authorities of the time were well aware of the infamy of the place, but red-light districts were seen as a necessary evil due to the huge difference in number between the sexes (for context, there were around 16000 Chinese men there, but only 6600 Chinese women).
Inevitably, after widespread infections of venereal disease, and the ever-pertinent need to increase Singapore’s economic gains, the authorities cracked down on the red-light district, causing many brothels to cease operations.
Bugis Street: Revamped
The “un-Singaporean”, disorderly, and unclean image of Bugis Street was soon reformed by the government, so much so that many of us do not remember (or have never even heard of) its sleazy past. The “new”, or current, Bugis became very different from its chaotic, rebellious teenagehood, with the emphasis made on keeping activities there on the straight and narrow.
Redevelopment there in the late 1980s bulldozed much of Old Bugis, which made way for Bugis MRT Station. Many Singaporeans opposed such changes as they had grown fond of this “wild” side of Singapore, so the government compromised and agreed to keep Bugis Street itself, but tightly regulated the activities there still.
A mall or a temple?: Fu Lu Shou Complex
Continuing our exploration of the Bras Basah area, we made our way to Fu Lu Shou Complex, a shopping centre located a short walk North-West from Bugis Street. Fu Lu Shou Complex was constructed in the 1980s and is known for housing stores that sell religious paraphernalia. In fact, the mall has a complete lack of franchises and chain stores, with a quick scan of the directory showing that all the stores in the complex are independent small businesses.
Whether intentional or not, this certainly makes the complex feel antiquated, and gives it a quaint “ulu” feel, a breath of fresh air within the relatively commercialised Bugis district.
Located on the first floor of the complex lies “Fu Lu Shou Si Mian Fo Pte Ltd” a store which sells religious artefacts relating to the Hindu, Buddhist and Taoist religions. The store’s exterior is lined with stands and displays showcasing an assortment of trinkets, talismans, and offerings which can be purchased.
Inside the store, statues of religious figures can be found where worshippers can leave offerings while browsing. The store has a vibrant red and gold theme and fully maximises the space within, with ornaments, accessories and displays galore. This creates an atmosphere that is both dazzling and disorienting, feeling more like a merchant in an exotic bazaar than a store sharing retail space in a cushy air-conditioned complex with the likes of “World Overseas Bank”.
Fu Lu Shou Complex is worth a visit for those who wish to see the more offbeat side of the Bras Basah district.
Waterloo Street: Religion and the Arts
Leaving the complex, we headed straight to the adjacent Waterloo Street, which Taoist and Buddhist practitioners frequent.
Waterloo Street is part of an enclave of streets north of the Singapore River endearingly named 小坡 (xiao po) or small hill, which is a sister district to that of 大坡 (da po) or big hill, consisting of areas like Chinatown and Raffles Place.
At one end of the street lies the Kwang Im Thong Hood Cho temple, devoted to the goddess of mercy (Guan Yin), which becomes engorged with worshippers during Chinese New Year. When we visited, there was still a sizable amount of worshippers (and tourists) within the temple.
Outside, barricades have been set up to manage the crowds coming in during periods when the temple needs to be cleaned or closed temporarily. To capitalise on the temples’ popularity, merchants selling flowers and incense sticks are littered all over the surrounding area. Before entering the temple, some visitors can be seen facing outwards from the temple and praying. This is done by those who wish to pray to the jade emperor (the head of the Taoist pantheon) first before entering the temple.
Next to the Buddhist/Taoist temple, stands the smaller Sri Krishnan Hindu Temple. As to why these two temples are so close to each other, our guide explains candidly, “We built where we had land.”, which succinctly describes much of what makes our city such a melting pot of cultures.
Due to our limited land space, our forefathers who immigrated over had to live near those of other races and cultures, and though conflict inevitably arose, we overcame it and came out stronger, with these two temples proudly standing side by side as a testament to that fact.
Our Singapore story of cohabitation and integration can be seen as far back as colonial Singapore, with these two temples and their worshippers having harmoniously coexisted for nearly 140 years.
The section of street where these two temples lie is also conveniently entirely civilian walkways, which makes it feel like a full-fledged religious district, leaving one susceptible to forget that surrounding this area is an urban cityscape consisting of high rises upon high rises.
Further along Waterloo Street, where the cityscape takes over, religious sites such as the Church of Saint Peter and Paul, and the Maghain Aboth Synagogue can be found, cementing Waterloo Street’s reputation as the religious hub of Middle Road. In fact, in the past, many schools like CHIJ, MGS, and SJI (all of which have now been relocated) could be found near Waterloo Street, purposefully constructed to be close to the aforementioned religious buildings.
The Arts Belt: Waterloo Street’s urban landscape
Though the past of Waterloo Street was heavily shaped by religion, modern-day Waterloo Street and its adjacent areas have taken on the additional role of being an Arts and Culture hub over the years, under the purview of the government.
The Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) and the headquarters of the Dance Ensemble Singapore are all located within the area, which has been designated as an arts belt managed by the National Arts Council. Along the Arts belt are buildings and venues which are rented out to arts groups at subsidised rates.
Though the Arts are often overlooked by the general public in Singapore, it is heartening to see that much effort has been put into creating a space where the Arts can thrive in Singapore, within the beating heart of our city.
An unsavoury footnote: Middle Road’s old prison
At the other end of Waterloo Street lies the Singapore Management University (SMU). What is now a hub for growth, education, and research, used to be a monument to the oppressive and backward system of colonialism. The land it stands on previously housed a prison in the 19th century, which was built by the prisoners themselves.
They were convict labourers, largely Indian, taken away from their homeland as part of the operations of the prison transport system of the United Kingdom and made to work on projects like Cavenagh Bridge and the Istana. Years later, the prison was demolished to make way for the school field for the old SJI campus, but after SJI’s relocation, the land was repurposed to house the Singapore Management University.
So what makes a place?
In our trek through Middle Road, we encountered various pieces of architecture that reflect both the past and present of Middle Road, sometimes both together. From Bugis Junction to SMU, all these buildings contain within them, remembrances of Middle Road’s vibrant communities, charting a course through nearly 200 years of history. Though most of these buildings have been refurbished and modernised, if one looks closely, it can be seen just how this road, which used to be just a line on a map running through the middle of European Town, now serves as the intersection of a segment of Singapore’s rich but often overlooked history.