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All roads lead home

Indian immigrants, who made Singapore their home, left a strong impression on the local scene.

All roads lead home

STRONG PRESENCE: The signage is a proof of Influence of IndiANS IN sOUTH aSIA



Vandana Aggarwal

Indian immigrants, who made Singapore their home, left a strong impression on the local scene. Roads were named after Indian personalities, rivers, men of letters and places. These roads provide an insight into the history of the settlers and the heritage that they left behind. These also tell a story of their dreams, hopes and aspirations, all inexplicably linked to India.

Fortunately, after the independence, the Singapore government did not follow a policy of changing road names. They felt that the colonial past was an important part of the history and not something that should be erased from the public memory. Here are some prominent landmarks that Indians named to feel at home. 

Pillai Road 

Merchants from the coastal regions of India had been trading in South-East Asia for thousands of years. When Sir Stamford Raffles came to Singapore in 1819, he brought with him several Indian soldiers, traders and at least one Tamil Indian clerk-Naraina Pillai — recorded as the first Indian in colonial Singapore.

Appropriately, there is a road named after Naraina Pillai called Pillai Road. Even though he came to Singapore as 

a clerk, his entrepreneurial instincts shone and he started trading in 

cotton, acquiring wealth and goodwill in society. 

Mistri Road

It was named in the remembrance of Navroji R. Mistri, who died in 1953. A Parsi merchant, he made big bucks in the shipping business. He is best known for his generous donation of $95,000 way back in 1952 towards building a hospital ward for children. The Mistri Wing still stands at the Singapore General Hospital. 

Veerasamy Road

 In the heart of bustling Little India, the road owes its name to Dr N. Veerasamy Naidu (1865- 1926). A prominent member of the Indian community, he was one of the first Indian doctors in Singapore and a municipal commissioner.

Angullia Road 

There used to be an Angullia Road, which had to make way for development and new constructions. It was named after another prominent Gujarati businessman and landowner, Ahmad Salleh Angullia (1875-1939). The Angullia Park and Angullia Mosque, however, still are a part of landscape of  Singapore.

Baboo Lane

Baboo Lane was so named in 1906. It is derived from the Hindi word babu, referring to a native Indian clerk of the colonial times. There are roads named after communities as well. Parsi Road, in a busy financial district, pays ode to the thriving Zoroastrian community, which set up businesses after moving here from India. Hindoo Road lies in the precinct of Little India.

Chitty Road

Chitty means merchant in Tamil. In Singapore, it was a name given to an Indian who married a local Malay woman. Chitty Road housed a large number of Indians. Another belief is that the word chitty may have been adapted from Chettiar or South Indian money lenders, who have always been a thriving money-lending community in Singapore.

Annamalai Avenue

 It is named after Annamalai Chettiar, a well-known philanthropist and founder of the Nattukottai Chettiar Trade association in the 1920s. The Chettiars had arrived in Singapore from Chettinad in Tamil Nadu as early as the 1820s. Roads have been named after Arnasalam Chetty, Muthuraman Chetty, Meyappa Chettiar and Narayanan Chetty.

Chulia Road

The Chettiars were very active in the Chulia Road area. It is believed that the term Chulia was derived from the Cholas of Tamil Nadu. Till 1922, this road was called the Kling Street. The term ‘kling’ is believed to be a variation of the word Kalinga — another region in India from where the early traders came to Singapore. 

Tagore Industrial Estate

There is a whole bunch of roads named after men of letters. There is an avenue named after Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) who had visited Singapore in 1927. Tagore Avenue, Tagore Drive, Tagore Lane and Tagore Road are located in the Tagore Industrial Estate also named after the Indian Nobel Laureate.

Dhoby Ghaut

The place was once a busy area where washer-men from India washed clothes on the steps of the Stamford canal. Today, it is home to a train station and shopping mall in the heart of Singapore.

Memories of the native towns must have been fresh in the minds of the immigrants when they moved their base. Malabar Street, Kadayanallur Street, Madras Street, Karikal Lane and Hyderabad Road are all located here. Lesser-known ones are Delhi Road and Khalsa Crescent. 

The names go beyond indicating the location of a place. These names mirror the rich historical past that has not faded out of the people’s consciousness. They convey a profound cultural, social, religious and historical meaning to the address and are an important part of Singapore’s multicultural heritage.

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