GEYLANG SERAI. neighbourhoods

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2 WE GEYLANG SERAI

3 Copyright 2016 by Epigram Books Published in Singapore by Epigram Books. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. Cover design and map by Allan Siew Front cover illustration by Vincent Pang Back cover illustration by Chanel Hu Edited by Gracia Ting & Lee Li Ying Sketchwalk organised by Urban Sketchers Singapore neighbourhoods WE GEYLANG SERAI National Library Board, Singapore Cataloguing-in-Publication Data We love Geylang Serai / Urban Sketchers Singapore. First Singapore edition. Singapore : Epigram Books, [2016] pages cm. (Our neigbourhoods) ISBN : (paperback) 1. Geylang Serai (Singapore) In art. 2. Singapore In art. I. Urban Sketchers Singapore (Group), illustrator. II. Series: Our neigbourhoods. NC344.7.S dc23 OCN First Edition RONALD GOCHANCO

4 Historical Crossroads of the East Geylang Serai is often confused with the general Geylang area bearing Lorongs 1 to 41. It is in fact a large district bounded by Paya Lebar Road and Jalan Eunos, where it includes a sub-district called Kampung Ubi. In the nineteenth century, this large plot was owned by Hajjah Fatimah, a wealthy Melakan lady of Bugis descent who built Hajjah Fatimah Mosque near Beach Road. The land was inherited by her son-in-law Syed Ahmed Alsagoff alias Nong Chik who then hired English managers to run Perseverance Estate. Initially coconuts were grown, giving rise to the name Geylang Klapa, before citronella or serai cultivation gave rise to its present name. The estate land gradually became a sprawling residential area of numerous Malay panggung houses (with raised floors), with major streets named Jalan Pasir, Jalan Alsagoff, and Lorong Engku Aman, named after Abdul Rahman bin Taha Alsagoff. It boasted a commercial centre around the eastern terminus of Singapore s tram and later trolley bus network, including the Great Eastern Trade Fair where the market stands today. Geylang Serai holds a special place in the hearts of many Malay Singaporeans. The area comes alive with the annual Ramadan bazaar. At its heart is a historical crossroad where a short street named Geylang Serai meets the arterial Geylang Road at the point where the latter becomes Changi Road. Here, one finds the only all-halal wet market in Singapore, first built by the HDB in 1964 to replace the older Changi and Joo Chiat Markets, while shops in the surrounding shophouses and the HDB s Joo Chiat and Tanjong Katong Complexes cater to a Malay clientele, just like those found in the area before the urban renewal projects of the 1960s. RAUL SARIA Imran bin Tajudeen Assistant Professor of Architecture National University of Singapore 5

5 VINCENT PANG 6 7

6 MICHAEL LEE Tanjong Katong Complex has been around since the early 1980s. It is known for its wide array of shops selling traditional clothing and textiles. It also housed Yokoso, Singapore s first 24-hour supermarket and departmental store. PHOCOLO ESTREMOS 9

7 FABIAN EE 10 11

8 Old-timers don t live here anymore, but they always come back, and Geylang Serai has become the place to meet old friends you haven t seen in a while. We used to watch Hindustani films at Taj, Garrick and Queen s, and after watching the films we d go to Muzika Records to find the music booklets so we could sing along to the music. One KM mall used to be an open field where we would fly kites and play football. The circus and carnival would come every once in awhile and make camp there. Shariffa Maimuna binte Syed Abdul Kader bin Syed Abdul Rahman Alsagoff PHOCOLO ESTREMOS 12 13

9 14 15 CHEN SHU

10 CHANEL HU BENEDICT TAY 16 17

11 18 19 LIM HAN SENG

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