China Street

History
The exact origin of the street name or why it was named thus is unknown. Being a part of Chinatown, it is possible that residents here simply named the street after their homeland. The street was closely associated with Fukkiens who lived and worked around China Street. The street was infamous from the late 19th century for its gambling dens and served as a meeting place for secret societies. The Hokkeins in fact called the street kiau keng khau or the "mouth of gambling houses", referring to the street being an entrance to the gambling dens. A powerful Hokkein secret society, Gi Hin Society, had their kongsi or "meeting house" along this street. The street was therefore also known as Ghee Hin Street. Only with the onset of the war and later government intervention were these notorious elements cleared out.

Description
Far East Square, a conservation block made up of 61 old shophouses and a new seven-storey carpark, is located at the junction of Cross Street and China Street. This whole area of shophouses with its quaint old-world charm used to be very popular for its puppet shows, street wayangs or "operas", snake charmers, Chinese medicine men, roadside hawkers and food vendors. With good food, cheap buys and entertainment, the place continually teemed with people. The hawkers, due to urban redevelopment work, were relocated to Maxwell Road Market in the 1980s. However, efforts are on to bring back some of the charm to the shophouses by reintroducing performers here. Opposite Far East Square is the China Square Complex, an office-cum-residential complex comprising two towers units. It occupies a site that was once an outdoor hawker centre. Other commercial buildings on this street are the Capital Square and Great Eastern Centre.

Variant Names
Chinese names
In Hokkien as follows:
(1) Kiau-keng khau, meaning "Gambler's corner" or "mouth of gambling houses".
(2) Kiau keng cheng, meaning "front of gambling houses".
(3) Gi hin kong si cheng or "front of Gi Hin kongsi or secret society".
(4) Hok kien ghi hin kong si cheng which means "the front of Hokkein Ghi Hin kongsi".

In Cantonese as follows:
Po-tsz-chheung kai, meaning "Gambling-hall street".



Author
Naidu Ratnala Thulaja



References 
Dunlop, P. K. G. (2000). Street names of Singapore (pp. 49-50). Singapore: Who's Who Publications.
(Call no.: RSING 959.57 DUN)

Edwards, N., & Keys, P. (1996). Singapore: A guide to buildings, streets, places (pp. 454-455, 484). Singapore: Times Books International.
(Call no.: RSING 959.57 EDW)

Haughton H. T. (1973). Native names of streets in Singapore. In M. Sheppard (Ed.), Singapore 150 years (p. 209). Singapore: Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society.
(Call no.: RSING 959.5 JMBRAS)

Savage, V. R., & Yeoh, B. S. A. (2003). Toponymics: A study of Singapore street names (pp. 87-88). Singapore: Eastern Universities Press.
(Call no.: RSING 915.9570014 SAV)

Firmstone, H. W. (1905, January). Chinese names of streets and places in Singapore and the Malay Peninsula. Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 4, 76-77.
(Call no.: RSING 959.5 FIR-[IC])

Batacan, F. (2001, November 23 ). China Square Central to house home offices. The Straits Times, Money, p. 14.

Bustling area part of early Chinese settlement. (1997, March 1). The Straits Times, Home, p. 26.

Chan, K. S. (2000, September 18). Ah, sweet scents of nostalgia for Maxwell Market. The Straits Times, Life, p. 18.

Chin, S. F. (1998, April 23). Eat and disco in an old school. The Straits Times, Life, pp. 1, 2, 3.

Lee, S. H. (1998, December 19). Dust cobwebs off memories. The Straits Times, Life, p. 8.


List of Images
Liu, G. (1999). Singapore: A pictorial history 1819-2000 (p. 136). Singapore: Archipelago Press.
(Call no.: RSING 959.57 LIU) 



The information in this article is valid as at 2003 and correct as far as we can 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
Architecture and Landscape>>Streets and Places
Ethnic Communities
Street names--Singapore
Urbanization--Singapore
Immigrants--Singapore
Arts>>Architecture>>Public and commercial buildings
Law and government>>Culture and community>>Heritage

Librarian Recommendations
>> Chinatown
>> Maxwell Road Food Centre


All Rights Reserved. National Library Board Singapore 2004.