Banda Street

Banda Street (Chinese: 万达街) is a one-way street located in Chinatown within the Outram Planning Area in Singapore. The road links Spring Street to Sago Street, Sago Lane and Dickenson Hill Road.

Etymology and history

Banda Street lies on a hill, which has gone through several name changes over the decades. It was referred to as Dickenson Hill and then changed to Bukit Padre, a name which alluded to the Portuguese missionary school which stood on top of the hill amidst nutmeg trees. At the turn of the twentieth century, the hill was converted to a park by the Municipal Authority and became popular with the Chinatown residents.

This hill was the site of Banda Street Community Centre (later renamed to Kreta Ayer Community Centre, which started in 1969 and was renovated in 1980) and the Kreta Ayer People's Theatre (started 1969, renovated 1981). Banda Street and neighbouring Spring Street were known in Cantonese as "fan tsai mei", or "end of the foreign brothels", because of the many Japanese prostitutes who operated from here in the pre-World War II era.

References

*Victor R Savage, Brenda S A Yeoh (2004), "Toponymics - A Study of Singapore Street Names", Eastern University Press, ISBN 981-210-364-3

External links

* [http://www.visitsingapore.com/publish/stbportal/en/home/getting_around/tours_in_singapore/walking_tours/chinatown_-_route0.html Uniquely Singapore website]
* [http://infopedia.nlb.gov.sg/articles/SIP_305_2005-01-11.html Singapore Infopedia article on Banda Street]