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Five-foot-way traders

Five-foot-way traders were craftsmen who conducted their business along shophouse walk-ways which were five feet wide. These traders were immigrants from various races who came to early Singapore and were found in areas such as Chinatown.

History
The five-foot-way was a unique feature of Malaya's shophouses. Stamford Raffles stipulated that shophouses must have a covered walkway of about five feet along its street front. These walkways were meant to protect pedestrians from the hot tropical sun and rain. However, with the influx of immigrants, work increasingly became difficult to find. Many of the old and the unemployed thus began using these corridors to set up small businesses instead. The Hokkiens began calling these trades the gho kha ki trades or the "five-foot-way" trades and thus the name came to define these particular trades.

Job Scope
The five-foot-way trades provided inexpensive commodities and services. They required little capital investment and had flexible working hours. They operated wherever space was available and could shift easily to other places. Five-foot-way traders include knife sharpeners, streetside barbers, mask makers and fortune tellers. Trades were either brought over from their homelands such as Chinese calligraphy or were acquired locally. Other interesting five-foot-way traders were locksmiths, letter writers, traditional "medicine men" or bomoh, newspaper vendors, storytellers, tinsmiths, hair-bun makers, stool makers, garland makers, stamp dealers and food vendors.

Development
The hustle and bustle of businesses that overflowed into Singapore's streets lent a certain charm to early Singapore. Despite the cramped conditions of some of these shophouses, the owners were flexible enough to allow a peaceful coexistence with the trader. Some of these traders later became itinerant as they began to travel with their equipment to provide services from door to door or found more profits as travelling hawkers. Even so, by the mid-1970s some five-foot-way trades had already disappeared although some of these professions are still practised in a more modern setting today. 



Author
Naidu Ratnala Thulaja



References 
Ong, C. S., & Tan, B. L. (Eds.). (1985). Five-foot-way traders (pp. 5, 9). Singapore: Archives and Oral History Department.
(Call no.: SING 779.9658870095957 FIV)

Singapore days of old: A special commemorative history of Singapore published on the 10th anniversary of Singapore Tatler (pp. 113-115). (1992). Hong Kong: Illustrated Magazine .
(Call no.: SING 959.57 SIN)

Sullivan, M. (1993). "Can survive, la" cottage industries in high-rise Singapore (p. 28). Singapore: Graham Brash.
(Call no.: RSING 338.634095957 SUL)

Tan, S. S. (1998, April 10). Eat, drink on 5-foot-ways. The Straits Times, Life!, p. 10.


Further Readings
Chinese expo will have a window to the past. (1989, November 2). The Straits Times, p. 22.

Lim, S. K. (Producer). (1983). Chinatown in transition [Videotape]. Singapore: Singapore Broadcasting Corporation.
(Call no.: AV 959.57 CHI) 

The vanishing trades [CD-ROM]. (1997). Singapore: Daichi Media.
(Call no.: RAV 338.642095957 VAN)


List of Images
Ong C. S., & Tan B. L. (Eds.). (1985). Five-foot-way traders (pp. 13-104). Singapore: Archives and Oral History Department.
(Call no.: SING 779.9658870095957 FIV)

National Archives of Singapore. (n.d.). Access to Archives Online. Retrieved December 9, 2002, from www.a2o.com.sg

The information in this article is valid as at 2002 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.

Subject
Commerce and Industry>>Labour and Employment>>Vanishing Trades
Street vendors--Singapore
Business, finance and industry>>Economics>>Labour economics
People and communities>>Social groups and communities



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