Reflections

Hui:

I think it was my first time visiting Little India. Or probably my last visit was so long ago that I do not remember. All of us hated the sun. It nearly fried our brains. The trip to Little India was a fruitful one. There were many things that I would have missed if not for this heritage trail. Little India contains traces of how the Indians lived. I feel the Indian culture is strongly reflected in Little India. The agricultures and the things sold are reflective of the Indian culture and they made me realized how unobservant I am. The temples were built by people who had contributed to the society back then and it is comforting to know that they are not demolished! With the aid of the information board, there are indeed many things that we can learn. In my opinion, Little India makes Singapore a place with more "history".

Hana:

I was excited about the heritage trail to Little India even before the actual trip because of the great food that awaits us and we were planning to shop around the area once we are done. After we have met at Little India MRT station, we agreed that we have to settle something first – to fill our tummy. Feeling energized after breakfast, I was all set to explore Little India. The weather was intolerably hot and I took every opportunity to walk in the shade and to enter air-conditioned buildings. The buildings such as places of worship that we have to visit are magnificent with a wonderful history. I was not aware that there are places of worship of numerous religions including Buddhist temples and Muslim mosques could be found within walking distance of each other or that there are numerous European influences in the area as evidence by the roads named after these prominent Europeans such as Dunlop Street.The trip did not take as long as I had expected because of our efficient tour guide, Reena. We were able to locate the stops rather quickly except for the Chinese Villa because it looked different from what we had imagined. I expected the Chinese Villa to stand out from the buildings around it and to have a distinctively Chinese architectural style.
Shortly after we finished our trail, I had to rush back to school for my lessons. I did not have the opportunity to shop around and to try the Henna. I would definitely return to Little India to for the food, to shop and to try the Henna. But when I return, I will try to remember to bring an umbrella – just in case it is scorching hot again.

Reena:

Little India is not a new place to me as occasionally I go there with my family. However, the heritage trail made me view Little India very differently. Initially, I considered the food and the places to shop the major attractions there. However, after going on the trail, I discovered many historical sites with huge information boards beside them. It was so amazing that I never noticed the boards whenever, I passed by the areas. Also, I never noticed that Little India has so many places of worships. Moreover, there are not only Hindu temples but also other faiths and religious places, like Buddhists temples, mosques and churches. This is rather interesting because most people and even I associate Little India with the Indian community that is largely Hindu. Therefore, it shows that having a plural society is not a new concept in Singapore as it existed previously shown by the evidence of different religious place in Little India. Also, I was astonished to find out how the road names in Little India were derived. While on our trial, the weather was really scorching hot, despite me carrying my umbrella. The heat was so unbearable that we all began to conclude that maybe it never rained here before. Towards, the end, we all applied Henna on our hands. It looked beautiful initially but it came off really fast.
Overall, it was a very fruitful experience as I learnt a lot about my own heritage. I always used to wonder what interesting attractions, other than Sentosa and the zoo, tourists can actually see in Singapore. However, I have realised that Singapore is actually very rich in history. Thus, whenever I go out nowadays I will be more vigilant to any information about historical sites, instead of just walking past all these historical monuments.

Aini:
I was really looking forward to the Little India trip. I’ve been there once, back in primary school. Since that was ages ago, I can’t really remember much about Little India, except that I could find interesting things there. The very mention of Little India would remind me of FOOD. Tekka Market has great food. There is this particular stall that sells a mean mee kuah. Very delicious. Also the chendol there is simply irresistible. Before we started the trail, it was essential for us to fill our tummies. The weather was very hot that day. I made a mistake of wearing a black tudung and slippers. I felt a little hot and uncomfortable throughout the journey. Nevertheless it was fun trying to locate the different places we were needed to visit. It was interesting to see the diversity in Little India. Despite being called Little India, you could see all the different communities there, like the Chinese and Malay community. We would have a difficult time to locate the places if not for Reena. Personally, I’m hopeless in locating things. Reena’s truly our savior. I was in awe of all the places of worships that we went to. The buildings had amazing designs and looked truly majestic. Going to the Little India Arcade was a pleasant change. The goods available at the Little India Arcade truly shows the beautiful and colourful Indian culture. There I was able to find my favourite sweet, the laddu. It was really an enjoyable experience. It was interesting learning about the history of the different places we went to. Through the trail, I learnt a lot more about Little India and what lies within it. The trip was a starting point for me in terms of exploring Little India. I would really love to go back to Little India and explore the other interesting places in it. I’m sure there would be lots of wonderful places in store for me there.

Dunlop Street

Originally known as Rangasamy Road, Dunlop Street was named after the secretary of the Race Course Committee, Mr. A. E. Dunlop.

Race Course Road

As its name suggests, Race Course Road is known for its biannual horse-racing event in the past.Its first race was held in 1843.

Campbell Lane

Campbell Lane is the centre of activity during Hindu religious festivals. Three weeks before Deepavali( Festival of Light), the street will be turned into a festival village. Traditional Indian garments , jewellery, food, art, handicrafts, spices and carpets are available for sale. The origin of the street has little to do with its main activities Campbell Lane is named after Sir Colin Campbell, a Scottish field marshal (1792-1883). He is involved in successful military campaigns in the Far East, including the Indian mutiny and the Crimean War. However, there exists a varying account that suggests that Campbell Lane was named after Robert Campbell, a member of the managing committee of the Public Library and Museum in Singapore in 1874.

Colourful garlands are hung on the shop. Flower garland is one of the oldest surviving trade on Campbell lane. Threading together jasmine, marigolds and roses to represent purity, peace and love respectively. Given to the chief guest or guests during functions as a symbol of respect.

While we were looking for P. Govindasamy Pillai's shop, something caught our attention! Cows brought in for harvest festival, Pongal.

Back to the topic, yes, we've found the shop of “The Shop of P. Govindasamy Pillai". He is affectionately known as PGP P. Govindasamy Pillai and he came to Singapore being a “lowly immigrant” but with a bank loan, he managed to embark on a new retail career. Eventually he went on to become the “king of the textile industry, a social reformer and philanthropist”. He helped in many worthy causes, such as the establishment of the University of Malaya, the Ghandi Memorial Fund, the Ramakrishna Mission, Mount Alvernia Hospital and Sri Perumal temple.

Little India Arcade

The Little India Arcade is situated at 48 Serangoon Road (S) 217959. The site was once a Hindu burial and cremation ground. This cluster of shophouses, dated back to 1920’s, was conserved in 1982 and later turned into this bustling shopping haven.

There were rows and rows of shops full of touristy stuff . That was where we did our henna. Yes, we know. Beautiful! But sadly it was over-priced and the henna did not last long.

Hastings Road

Hastings Road was named after Warren Hastings.His lasting contributions included his admiration of Hindu sacred literature and its legal codes. He advocated that Britain govern India in accordance to Indian traditions and customs to win the support of the Indians. He had thus laid the administrative foundation for a new traditional order in Bengal.We shall not lament about the torturous weather again. We started wondering if it ever rained in Little India.

Abdul Gafoor Mosque

We did not enter because they were having their Friday prayers so kind Aini went in to take a photo for us.

The mosque is located at 41 Dunlop Street (s) 209369. It was built in 1859 by Abdul Gafoor.
It is of brick with beautiful coloured glass cupola which are supported by pillars of the Roman/Saracenstyle. Its elaborate ornamental touches are not found in modern Mosques of Singapore which lack the old world charm of Abdul Gafoor Mosque. The Indian community usually goes to the mosque for worship.