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Cross Street (Chinese: 克罗士街; Malay: Jalan Silang) is a street in Singapore starting from Shenton Way in Downtown Core and ending at the junction of South Bridge Road in Chinatown which is in Outram Planning Area which then becomes Upper Cross Street. At the start of the street, it houses Telok Ayer Market (more commonly known as Lau Pa Sat). A number of landmarks are located on the street including Far East Square and China Square Central.
Etymology and history
The street, one of the oldest streets in Singapore, was built shortly after Sir Stamford Raffles founded Singapore in 1819, and appeared in Raffles' Town Plan of Chinatown.
Cross Street was built in the 1820s and was originally mainly a housing estate for Indian migrant workers, mainly sailors who and operated shops selling goat's milk, mutton and herbs. The native place names for the street in the past indicate of the dominance of Indians in the area. In the later years, Cross Street was dominated by the Chinese, when Chinatown expanded into Telok Ayer. In the 1950s until the late 1970s, the street housed a number of Chinese stationery and book shops.
The Chinese called this street kiat leng kia koi, or "Kling man's street" (kling is a derogatory local term for Indians). The Tamils called it palkadei sadakku, or "street of the milk shops", while the Malays called it kampong susu or "milk village".
Landmarks
The prominent landmarks along Cross Street (from east to west):
- Lau Pa Sat
- City House
- Market Street Carpark
- Manulife Tower
- Telok Ayer MRT station
- Far East Square
- Ying Fo Fui Kun
- China Square Central
References
- Victor R Savage, Brenda S A Yeoh (2004), Toponymics - A Study of Singapore Street Names, Eastern University Press, ISBN 981-210-364-3