Chinatown

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Nowhere else did I feel the antithesis between different facets of life in Singapore so vividly, as I did the first time I visited Chinatown. It is a bit tricky to locate the border between Chinatown and the Financial Center-Singapore's very own 'city'. Maybe I would need an aerial picture for that.

Temple street, the street of many names - and functions :

Initially called 'Almeida street', after the Portuguese consular, medical doctor and witty merchant who once owned the land. The street was notorious for the many brothels that existed here, and was known as 'the street behind the theater' among the Hokkien population. The theater being the chinese opera on Smith street. Years later, another doctor, Dr Chen Su Lan, initiated efforts to stop prostitution, and the opium smoking that came with it. Below is a glimpse of Temple street as it is today, with the People's Complex (the characteristic yellow building!) in the background. The People's Complex is a huge mall, featuring many spas - doctor fish spas as well! A pedestrian bridge connects it with the 'core' Chinatown

Oh my, I failed to mention how the present name came up. If you walk around Temple St, it will be kinda obvious though! Sri Mariamman ("Mother Goddess") Temple, the oldest Hindu temple in Singapore (1827), is just around the corner:

What is interesting is that the street on the other side of the temple, also got its name because of Sri Mariamman. The reason it is interesting, is that it is called mistakenly Pagoda St., although the grandiose entrance to the hindu temple is not really called a pagoda, but a gopuram, as I find out by the informative label placed nearby! What else do I learn there? That Pagoda street used to be filled with street hawkers, opium dealers and slave traders,. Nothing but the label will remind you of this past now, Pagoda st. housing the entrance to the MRT, spas, and many -mainly tourist-oriented- shops: