Singapore Chinatown - Kreta Ayer (Teo Chew Area)
- Marc Michelmann
- Feb 13, 2021
- 2 min read
Updated: Mar 5, 2021
Carpenter Street
Carpenter Street might be named after Percy Carpenter or after the many Chinese craftsman who used to work in the area. The roads mentioned are in the vicinity of Boat Quay.
Source: What’s in the Name? By Ng Yew Peng, pg 109
This 1983 photograph shows Carpenter Street, from New Bridge Road (towards South Bridge Road).
January 2021
January 2021
Hongkong Street
Listed as a street in town in 1853. Named after Hong Kong became a British colony in 1841 after the first Opium Wars (1839-1842).
Source: What's in the Name? by Yew Peng Ng, Pg. 179
January 2021
January 2021
January 2021
North Canal Road
This was the north bank of the old canal that leads to the Singapore River.
Source: What's in the Name? by Ng Yew Peng, pg 342
February 2021
Ellenborough Street
Based on a report in 1906, this road was named after the Earl of Ellenborough Edward Law (1790-1871), Governor-General of India from 1841-1844. During his tenor in 1843, he appointed Willian George Butterworth (1801-1856) as Governor of the Straits Settlements in Singapore. The new market built along this road, completed in 1845, was also named after him. Ellenborough Market was a famous landmark until it was demolished for new developments in early 2000.
Source: What's in the Name? by Yew Peng Ng, Pg. 147
Ellenborough Street around 1990
Source: https://www.nas.gov.sg/archivesonline/photographs/record-details/5ff7466d-1162-11e3-83d5-0050568939ad
Ellenborough Market
Ellenborough Market was known as the "New Market" as it had been rebuilt in 1891-1894 on the site of an earlier market. As the area was populated by the Teochews, it was nicknamed "Teochew Market". In 1968, it was destroyed in a fire and the building was demolished some time later.
Source: https://www.nas.gov.sg/archivesonline/photographs/record-details/adfcf713-1161-11e3-83d5-0050568939ad
Ellenborough Market between 1860-1899
Source: https://haydenng.wordpress.com/2013/07/09/what-soho2central-was-before/
Ellenborough Market around 1910
Tew Chew Street
This street was the area for the Teochews in Chinatown. The street name was seen in the press as early as 1883.
Source: What's in the Name? by Yew Peng Ng, Pg. 417
February 2021
Read Bridge, originally built in 1889, replaced an earlier structure from 1863 called Merchant Bridge or Tock Seng's Bridge (after Tan Tock Seng, a pioneering merchant and philanthropist), which was built too low for tongkangs (traditional river boats).
Read Bridge was located close to Kampong Melaka (Malay for "Melaka Village"), an area originally settled by Malay traders and fishermen from Melaka in the 1820s.
Source: National Archives of Singapore
Crossing the Singapore River at the uppermost limit of Boat Quay, the bridge used to be where labourers and tongkang (small boats) rowers gathered to listen to Teochew storytellers. Part of the area around the bridge was locally known as cha chun tau, a jetty for tongkangs carrying firewood from Indonesia.
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