Once a dirt path that connected Geylang Serai to the sea in the 1910s, Joo Chiat Road is now a bustling area filled with old family-run businesses, hip eateries and karaoke pubs. The road was owned by and named after wealthy businessman Chew Joo Chiat, who made his fortune as a trader and plantation owner of gambier, nutmeg and coconut. Boasting a mix of Peranakan, Eurasian, Indian, Chinese and Malay cultures, the area was designated by the National Heritage Board as a heritage town last year. CHERYL FAITH WEE takes you down the road.
Walking directions: Joo Chiat Road is a 20-minute walk from Paya Lebar MRT station. Take exit A at the station and walk along Eunos Road 8 and Tanjong Katong Road. Turn left at Geylang Road. The walking trail starts at Joo Chiat Complex, detours to Joo Chiat Place and Koon Seng Road, and ends near East Coast Road. It takes about three hours to complete.
A - Joo Chiat Complex
WHAT: This 1980s shopping complex sits on the site of a long-demolished Joo Chiat Market and Changi Market, once the second largest market of Malay goods, after Pasar Besi in Beach Road, which has also been demolished.
Nestled among the textile shops on the first floor of the complex is a Malay bookstore, H. Hashim Bin H. Abdullah. The bookstore, one of the oldest shops in the complex, sells stationery and books.
Opened by Mr Yusof Hashim in the 1950s, the store moved here from Geylang Serai in the 1980s when residents in the Malay enclave were resettled into HDB flats.
Mr Yusof has died and his son, Mr Abdul Aziz, 58, took over as manager o the store three years ago.
He has worked there since he was in primary school and he remembers the "wet market, trishaws and old buses on electric lines" that once existed in the area.
WHERE: 01-1051, 1 Joo Chiat Road, tel: 673-1787
INFO: H. Hashim Bin H. Abdullah opens Mondays to Saturdays, 9am to 9pm, and Sundays, 9am to 6pm. Opening hours for other shops vary.
WHAT: Key-maker Choo Kok Foo, 75, hidden behind his make-shift table in the five-foot way outside nasi padang shop Minang House. He has been plying his trade in Joo Chiat Road for close to 50 years.
"Before I became a key maker, I was a mover and carried bulky items up and down stairs," says Mr Choo, who started making keys when he was 28. "I'm thankful I ended up doing this - at least I can sit down."
While the road has seen many changes, his daily ritual remains the same. The almost-toothless septuagenarian cycles to his staff from his home in Bedok every morning. Every other day, he buys bundles of joss sticks and lights them by the roadside throughout the day to offer prayers to the Goddess Of Mercy or Guan Yin.
WHERE: 92 Joo Chiat Road (in front of Minang House)
INFO: Open Mondays to Saturdays, 10.30am to 5pm, Sundays, 10.30am to 3pm
C - Kway Guan Huat Joo Chiat Original Popiah and Kueh Pie Tee
WHAT: Drop by before 11am to watch popiah skins being made by hand on hot iron pans, in this family-run shop which has been around since 1938.
Founded by the late Mr Kway Guan Huat, the business still involves five of his more than 10 children.
Mr Kway's oldest son, Mr Ker Cheng Lye, learnt the trade when he was 12 years old. Now 65, he says: "The babas in the area used to come to buy our kueh pie tee and popiah skins in their traditional kebayas and sarongs. There were also a lot of Malay, Chinese, Indians and the area had a kampung feel. Now most of them have either passed away or moved elsewhere."
The popiah skins are sold by weight, at $10 for 500g (no minimum quantity). Kueh pie tee costs $10 for 25 shells.
WHERE: 95 Joo Chiat Road, tel: 6344-2875
INFO: Open Mondays to Fridays, 8.30am to 7.30pm; Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, 6am to 8pm
D - Masjid Khalid
WHAT: During the early 20th century, the land where the mosque stands was a place for Malay food vendors to rest.
Philanthropist and businessman Haji Abdl Khalid Haji Mohamed Tyeb donated the land in 1917 to build the mosque, a simple single-storey building. in 1999, when it was renovated for the third time, two domes and a five-storey minaret were added. It has two main entrances: along Joo Chiat Road and along Onan Road.
The mosque's chairman Allaudin Mohamed, 59, has worshipped there since he was a teenager, and lives in Onan Road.
Of the area surrounding the mosque, he says: "There used to be the satay man, the mee rebus man, the mee goreng man... They would each make a different sound by hitting their sticks or woks. It was a pleasant sound, especially when you were waiting for one of them to come."
WHERE: 136 Joo Chiat Road
INFO: www.mosque.org.sg/khalid/
E - Sultan Maricar Framemaker And Glasswork
WHAT: An eclectic mix of framed images, ranging from Chinese calligraphy to Aravic script are scattered around this custom-framing shop.
Owner Mohamed Sultan Maricar, 65, is a second-generation framemaker who has been in the trade since he was 12. He sometimes works in his shop until midnight.
he used to have his own shop opposite Hong Leong Finance Building in the Central Business District. In 2000, he took over this shop, founded by his late uncle in the 1940s.
A simple wooden A4-sized frame costs between $12 and $15, while a large frame for a world map costs from $200 to $300.
WHERE: 136 Joo Chiat Road (beside the mosque), tel: 6440-6041
INFO: Open Mondays to Saturdays, 10.30am to 10.30pm, closed on Sundays
WHAT: Make a short detour to what is said to be the oldest Peranakan restaurant in Singapore - it ha an official document to prove that it dates back to 1953.
The 52 nonya dishes, such as the ayam buah keluak ($12 for small) and hee peow soup ($12 for small), were handed down two generations to Ms Jenny Yap, un her 40s, who now runs the place.
The restaurant was founded by her Hainanese grandfather, the late Mr Yap Chee Quee, in Joo Chiat Road. He worked for a Peranakan family, and learnt to cook their cuisine.
"Guan", "Hoe" and "Soon" are the first names of his three sons and the shop sign from the 950s is still hung up behind the counter in Joo Chiat Place, where the restaurant moved three years ago.
WHERE: 38 - 40 Joo Chiat Place, tel: 6344-2761
INFO: Open 11am to 3pm, 6pm to 9.30pm daily
G - Long Phung Vietnamese Restaurant
WHAT: One of the more popular Vietnamese eateries in Joo Chiat Road, Long Phung is packed throughout lunchtime and between 7pm and 1am. Dishes here include rare beef steak noodle soup ($5.50) and Vietnamese spring rools ($6 for our pieces).
Madam Pham Thi Kiue Ngan, 41, opened the restaurant three years ago. Married to a Singaporean, she moved here from Ho Chi Minh City 14 years ago.
The daughter of restaurant owners who learnt how to cook when she was 14, she says: "I like it here because there are many Vietnamese and I get to speak my language. It make me think of home."
WHERE: 159 Joo Chiat Road, tel: 9105-8519
INFO: Open 11am to 1am daily, closed on the last Wednesday of the month
WHAT: Peek into this dimly lit wholesale and retail shop, and you will see stacks of beer, wine and hard liquor.
Walk-in customers are welcome. Prices are cheaper than at most convenience stores, with beer cheaper by a few cents and hard liquor going for about half their retail price.
Third-generation wine merchant Jeffrey Ong, 63, opened this shop a decade ago, after leaving his family business located along the same road.
His grandfather had run a bar, which in those days served small cups of Chinese wine, in Joo Chiat Road about 60 years ago. This grew into and alcohol retail store, Nam Kait Chew Wine Merchant, which still exists at 162 Joo Chiat Road.
Mr Ong helmed that shop with his late father Ong Chong Teng for close to five decades, before he decided to start his own business. His mother and brother now run the older shop.
Recalling the fights that used to break out in the area near, he says: "Ruffians would run over and grab our fizzy drink bottles which they would break and use as weapons against one another. Some shop owners would come back the next day to pay us back."
WHERE: 254 Joo Chiat Road, tel: 6346-2428
INFO: Open 10am to 8pm daily
I - Guan Yin Temple
WHAT: Do not be afraid to press the doorbell at the red doorway of this temple in a shophouse. Madam Tan Hock Khee, 71, the temple caretaker, is more than happy to open the metal gate if you do.
She says: "Very few people come to worship these days, unless it is special occasions like Guan Yin's birthday. The younger generation do not seem to believe in Guan Yin."
She has lived in the temple, which is more than 70 years old, since she was two weeks old, with her late grandmother, mother and two aunts. They, too, had looked after the temple.
"Most of my friends have moved away and it has grown quieter, but I am used to it," she says, "With all the karaoke pubs in the area, I usually stay indoors after 7pm. I shut the doors and watch television."
WHERE: 264 Joo Chiat Road
INFO: Around 6am to 7pm daily
J - Koon Seng Road
WHAT: Check out the ornate facades of two rows of pre-war terrace houses, featuring Malaccan-style Peranakan architecture.
Ceramic tiles with floral and geometric designs are laid on their colourful walls. The houses also boast Western-style windows and pillars. Intricate motifs of animals and mythical creatures also decorate pillars. Intricate motifs of animals and mythical creatures also decorate the facades, symbolising good fortune and long life.
Joo Chiat was a Peranakan, or Straits-born Chinese, enclave up to around the 1970s. At least three Peranakan families still live in these two rows of houses.
WHERE: Turn left where Joo Chiat Road meets Koon Seng Road
K - Ann Tin Tong (Hing Kee) Medical Hall
WHAT: Wooden drawers bearing the names of Chinese medicine line this 70-year-old medical hall from floor to ceiling.
The hall was founded by Chinese physician Leong Moh Lim, who came to Singapore from Guangdong in China in the 1920s. He dispensed traditional Chinese medicine until his death at 97, two years ago.
Previously, the hall was located at No. 295, but moved to its current premises in 2001.
Madam C.F. Leong, one of Mr Leong's eight children, has succeeded his medical practice. The Chinese physician runs the shop with four of her siblings.
They sell Chinese herbs and medicines for common ailments such as flu, cough and stomach aches.
A word of advice, though: Taking pictures inside the shop may earn you some sharp words from the family members.
WHERE: 320 Joo Chiat Road, tel 6344 5482
INFO: Open Mondays to Saturdays, 9.30am to 8.30pm, closed on Sundays
Photos: Cheryl Faith Wee
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