Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
58
L
ITTLE
I
NDIA
The natural landscape of Little I ndia
made it a natural location for an Indian
settlement. I ndians w ere the original
cattle hands and traders in S ingapore,
and this ar
S
HENTON
W
AY
: D
OWNTOWN
Two ar eas of the city center ar e r ela-
tively new, having been built atop huge
parcels of r eclaimed land. Where the
eastern edges of Chinato wn and Tan-
jong P agar once touched the water 's
edge, land reclamation created the pres-
ent-day downtown business district that
is named after its central thor oughfare,
Shenton W ay. This W all Street-like
district is home to the skyscrapers that
grace S ingapore's skyline and to the
banks and businesses that hav e made
the place an international financial cap-
ital. D uring w eekday business hours,
Shenton Way is packed with scurr ying
businesspeople—after-hours and on
ea's natural grasses and
springs provided their cattle with food
and water while bamboo gr oves sup-
plied necessar y lumber for their pens.
Later, with the establishment of brick
kilns, I ndian constr uction labor ers
flocked to the area to find work. Today
many elements of I ndian cultur e per-
sist, although I ndians make up a small
percentage of the curr ent population.
Shops, r estaurants, and temples still
serve the community , and on S undays
Little India is a tr ue mob scene, when
all the wor kers hav e their day off and
come to the streets here to socialize and
relax.
K
AMPONG
G
LAM
Kampong G lam, neighboring Little
India, was given to Sultan Hussein and
his family as par t of his agr eement to
turn Singapore over to Raffles. Here he
built his
Istana
(palace) and the S ultan
Mosque, and the ar ea subsequently
filled with M alay and Arab M uslims
who impor ted a distinct I slamic flavor
to the neighborhood. The area is still a
focal point of Muslim society in S inga-
pore, thanks to Sultan Mosque, and the
Istana has become a ne w exhibit cele-
brating Malay culture. Arab S treet is a
regular draw for both tourists and locals
who come to find deals on fabrics and
local and regional crafts.
weekends, it 's nothing mor e than a
quiet for est of concr ete, metal, and
glass.
M
ARINA
B
AY
The Marina Bay area will soon be the
new focal point for the city . With the
Shenton Way financial district on one
side, the H istoric D istrict on another ,
and S untec conv ention center on y et
another, the bay is humming with
4
activity. In the coming years, with con-
struction of one of S ingapore's ne w
casino integrated resorts, new office towers,
and luxury condominiums on a tract of
reclaimed land, Marina Bay will become
a vibrant district of ar ts and enter tain-
ment wher e S ingaporeans and for eign
residents can work and also live.
SUBURBAN SINGAPORE
With rapid urbanization in the 20th century, plantations and farms turned into suburban
residential areas, many with their own ethnic roots.
K
ATONG
To the east of the city is Katong, a
famous r esidential district inhabited
primarily b y P eranakan (S traits Chi-
nese) and E urasian families. I ts str eets
were, and still ar e, lined with P erana-
kan-style terrace houses, a r esidential
variation of the shophouse found in
