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Chulia Street

Chulia Street is a street in the downtown core, located in the central area. It used to be called Kling Street, which was regarded as derogatory leading to the street being renamed Chulia Street, after the Chulias who migrated to Singapore from Southern India. 


History
Chulia Street had been known as Kling Street for a very long time, until after World War I when the Indian Community strongly felt that "Kling" had taken on a degrading connotation.  It had become a socially undesirable term, referring exclusively to the Indian coolies who were considered the lowest of low in Singapore. But it was not so in the past. Kling had its origin in the term "Kalinga", the ancient empire of Southern India which traded with the Malay Peninsula and Java and Sumatra in the early centuries of the Christian era. Kling is a corruption of Kalinga.

In 19th century Singapore, all Hindus from Madras and elsewhere in Southern India were known as Klings in bazaar Malay. But over time, the term kling became restricted among the English-speaking residents to mean the coolie class, Tamil or Telegu.  The Peninsular Malays though still spoke of Indians of all classes from the Coromandel Coast in Southern India as Orang Kling, and the Madras presidency as Negri Kling.

Despite the above associations, it was not all clear why Kling Street was named such, for when Singapore was founded, the earliest immigrants from Southern India were known to the first European merchants and officials as the Chulias. During Farquhar's administration, a Chulia kampong was marked out for them and this site according to Buckley was probably Cross Street in Chinatown.  Presumably, the later European residents and the Chinese settlers heard the local Malays calling the Hindus Klings, and followed suit. The Chulias, who were mostly Muslims, had their own mosque in Telok Ayer Street which was called the Nagore Durgha Shrine, also known as Masjid Chulia.

From Kling Street to Chulia Street
In the early 1920s, the Indian Association of Singapore, in objection to the use of the derogatory word Kling, proposed a change to the street's name.  They were represented by Dr H.S. Moonshi, one of the Municipal Commissioners who was himself an Indian Muslim.  In one of the Ordinary Meeting of the Municipal Commissioners, on 24 June 1921, it was minuted that Dr Moonshi moved to change the name of Kling Street to "King Street".  However another member of the Commissioners, Dr Clarke, proposed that the street be renamed to "Chuliah Street", "...considering that Southern Indians form a large proportion of the population of Singapore and the work "Kling" is objected to by them..."  It was also agreed in the meeting that the name change would take place in six months' time. 

On 1 August 1921, The Straits Times carried a notice from the Municipal Office advertising that "from January 1, 1922, the name of the street extending from Raffles Square to South and North canal Roads at present known as Kling Street will be changed to Chulia Street".  The notice was issued by the Municipal Office on 4 July 1921.

Under its new name, Chulia Street was still very much an Indian street, dominated by chettiars. They were a separate community of professional moneylenders from Madras, forming a crucial source of credit for both the man on the street and the European bankers. The very busy Chulia Street had remained unchanged since the mid-19th century until the OCBC Centre and the UOB building were constructed in 1976 and 1974 respectively. The street was originally lined with two-storey buildings and famous for the Indian shops which were torn down between 1982 and 1983.

Variant Names
Chinese names: In Hokkien, Swa Kia Teng meaning "small hill top" or Thi Thiau Kha meaning "the foot of the iron pillars". Many iron pillars were used in the construction of houses along this street.
Malay name: Jalan Kedei Pisau meaning "knife shop street".
Tamil name: Kathi Kadei Sadakku meaning "knife shop street".



Author
Nor-Afidah Abd Rahman & Vernon Cornelius



References 
Buckley, C. B. (1984). An anecdotal history of old times in Singapore: 1819-1867 (pp. 73, 85). Singapore: Oxford University Press.
(Call no.: RSING q959.57 BUC)

Edwards, N., & Keys, P. (1988). Singapore: A guide to buildings, streets, places (pp. 431, 451). Singapore: Times Books International. 
(Call no.: RSING 915.957 EDW)

Peet, G. L. (1985). Rickshaw reporter (pp. 110-113). Singapore: Eastern University Press.
(Call no.: RSING 070.924 PEE)

Samuel, D. S. (1939). Malayan street names: What they mean and whom they commemorate (p. 93). Ipoh: Mercantile Press
(Call no.: RSING 959.5 RAJ)

Sheppard, M. (Ed.). (1982). Singapore 150 years (p. 218). Singapore: Times Books International.
(Call no.: RSING 959.57 SIN)

Straits Settlements. Supplement to the Straits Settlements Government Gazette (no. 60, p. 8). [Microfilm: NL1200-NL1219]. (1921, August 5). Singapore: Mission Press.

Municipal notice. Kling Street - change of name [Microfilm: NL 485]. (1921, August 1). The Straiits Times, p. 16.

Further Readings
Tyers, R. K. (1993). Ray Tyers' Singapore: Then & now (p.132). Singapore: Landmark Books.
(Call no.: RSING 959.57 TYE). 

Subject
Architecture and Landscape>>Streets and Places
Architecture and Landscape>>Building Types>>Commercial Buildings
Street names--Singapore
Arts>>Architecture>>Public and commercial buildings

Librarian Recommendations
>> Raffles Place
>> Philip Street
>> Nagore Durgha Shrine


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