CHINATOWN CHARM

Along Temple Street in the heart of Chinatown lies this 3.5-storey charming shophouse, merely a few minutes’ walk away from Chinatown MRT and the upcoming Maxwell MRT Station. 5 Temple Street was most recently occupied by Toh Foong, a local antique shop that has been located here since the 1970s.

Temple Street was formerly known as Almeida Street, named after Joaquim D’Almeida, a Portugese merchant who owned a large piece of land at Temple Street and Trengganu Street. In 1908, Almeida Street was renamed Temple Street to avoid confusion with other streets in Singapore that were also named after D’Almeida. Temple Street was named in honour of the oldest Hindu temple in Singapore, the Sri Mariamman Temple. Temple Street was well known as “hei yuen hau kai”, “theatre back street” as it was famous for Cantonese Operas in the early 1900s.