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Arab Street

History
Arab Street was a spine for transportation in the "Arab Kampong" or "Muslim Quarter" drawn up in Sir Stamford Raffles' Town Plan of 1822. By 1824, Arab Street was laid. The area saw residents who were Malays or other Muslims comprising Arabs, Indians, Bugis, Boyanese and Javanese. Arab Street served as the "town centre" and became the main shopping street and trading centre of activities in this Muslim quarter. Several fires have gutted Arab Street since the early days, and a great fire of 14 January 1889, caused much damage.

Key Features
Arab Street today is still a key Muslim centre in Singapore. All walks of life gather here to savour the culture, colour and cuisine. Many of Singapore's "first generation" shophouses of squat two-storey buildings, with one or two windows on the upper floor facade, are found here on Arab Street. Each block of these shophouses are 135 m (35 shophouses) long and 8 m deep. Here amidst the heady smells of Arab Street, were import-export businesses, wholesale and retail textile merchants, all catering to the needs of the various ethnic Muslim communities settled here although it became popular with other Singaporeans and even foreigners. Today, the shops sell jewellery, sweet perfumes, carpets, curio, rattan and other basketware, preserved food and other delicacies; spices, flower-shops, Muslim restaurants, and money-changers too. Travel agents here specialise in the travel needs of Muslim pilgrims heading for Mecca.

On 7 July 1989, Kampong Glam was gazetted a conservation area by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA). Arab Street comes under this conservation area. In 1993/1994 the Arab Street/Baghdad Street/Bussorah Street area came under the URA's conservation pilot project.

Variant Names
Chinese names: In Hokkien, Jiau-a koi, or in Cantonese, Yau-wa kai means "Javanese Street" (the Chinese identified them as chief inhabitants of the street).
Tamil name: Pukadei Sadakku means "Street of the flower shops".



Author
Vernon Cornelius-Takahama & Dahlia Shamsuddin



References 
Buckley, C. B. (1984). An anecdotal history of old times in Singapore: 1819-1867 (p. 85). Singapore: Oxford University Press.
(Call no.: SING 959.57 BUC)

Perkins, J. (1984). Kampong Glam: Spirit of a community (pp. 38-43). Singapore: Times Publications.
(Call no.: RSING 959.57 PER) 

Urban Redevelopment Authority (Singapore). (1995). Kampong Glam: Historic district (pp. 19, 21, 69). Singapore: Urban Redevelopment Authority.
(Call no.: SING 363.69095957 KAM)


Further Readings
Gopalakrishnan, V., & Ananda P. (Eds.). (1983). Singapore changing landscapes: Geylang, Chinatown, Serangoon (pp. 2-27). Singapore: FEP International.
(Call no.: RSING 959.57 SIN)

Urban Redevelopment Authority (Singapore). (1994). Geylang planning area: Planning report. Singapore: The Authority.
(Call no.: RSING 711.4095957 SIN) 

Subject
Architecture and Landscape>>Streets and Places
Ethnic Communities
Street names--Singapore
Social groups--Singapore
Muslims--Singapore
People and communities>>Social groups and communities
History>>Asia>>Southeast Asia>>Singapore

Librarian Recommendations
>> Arab Street : general view
>> Kampong Glam
>> Kampong Java Road


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