DESCRIPTION
Telok Ayer Street, loosely translated as the Water Bay, once faced the original seafront and has served as the landing site for early immigrants before the reclamation of the Telok Ayer Bay in the late 19th Century. It was a designated Chinese district that resulted in a concentration of Chinese clan associations in the area, including one of the oldest schools in Singapore, Gan Eng Seng.
Not forgetting the fact that this is where many set up altars and worship houses to give thanks to their gods for the safe journey upon arrival in Singapore, these religious buildings have been gazetted as national monuments around 1974 and you will be able to see them along the street to date, together with the conserved pre-war shophouses.
While some of the religious buildings still serve their original purpose as a place of worship for the various religious groups, you will find some of them converted into museums. For example, the Nagore Dargah Shrine which now serves as an Indian Muslim Heritage Centre, or the Hokkien Huay Kuan that has expanded and moved from their original location within Thian Hock Keng Temple to their own building directly across the temple.
Since then, Telok Ayer Street, considerably the oldest part of Chinatown, is bustling with both locals and tourists every day conveniently located just opposite the Telok Ayer MRT station.