Geylang

SG neighbourhood
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englishname=Geylang
chinesename=芽笼
poj=
pengim=
pinyin=Yálóng
malayname=Geylang
tamilname=கேலாங்

Geylang, also known as Geylang Serai, is a neighbourhood in the city-state of Singapore east of the Central Area, Singapore's central business district. It is located to the East of the Singapore River.

Etymology

The word "Geylang" is found early in Singapore's history. On Franklin and Jackson's plan, reproduced in John Crawfurd's 1828 book, Geylang appears as a river, referred to in the map as "R. Gilang". The word "Geylang" is of Malay origin, and likely to be a corruption of the word "kilang", meaning "press", "mill" or "factory". This may be due to the large number of processing factories for the coconut and lemongrass plantations in the area, and it could be that mills or presses operated on the coconut plantations to produce oil from copra.

Another possible origin to Geylang is the early presence of the fierce "orang gallang" tribe, one of the many "orang laut" tribal groups that lived along the coasts and rivers of Singapore island. The "orang gallang" were well-known for their piracy and pillaging of helpless craft in seas around Singapore island.

The other possible origin to the word "Geylang" is Chinese Hokkien "鸡笼“, which means chicken cage.Fact|date=February 2007

History

The neighbourhood has been the centre of Singapore's ethnic Malay community since Malays and Orang Lauts settled there after the British authorities dispersed their floating village at the mouth of the Singapore River in mid-19th century.In middle of the 19th century an Arab trader Syed Ahmad Alsagoff bought the land that is now geylang serai.He is the son in law of Hajjah Fatimah,a Malaaccan lady who built a mosque named after her in Beach Road.The Alsagoffs planted coconut and later lemon grass.They also built factories and as a result the population grew because of demand for plantation workers.The area became known as Geylang Serai.A road that stretches from north to south in the middle of the estate was named Jalan Alsagoff.By the latter half of the 1800s, the area has also become the congregation area of wealthy Malays and Arabs, particularly the Alsagoff, Alkaff and Aljunied families.In the seventies,the govt acquired all of remaining Alsagoff Estate in Geylang and Paya Lebar from Alsagoff & Co. In the 1930s, several exclusively Malay districts were formed, such as Kampong Melayu (Malay Village), later evolving into the today's Geylang Serai. A modern-day development called the Malay Village was created to replicate the history and heritage of this early settlement.

Contemporary Geylang

Partly untouched by urban projects and developments and so far spared by the gentrification process that has changed the face of Singapore since the 1970s, Geylang's combination of shophouse scenery and hectic day and night life, including a red-light district (particularly the even numbered streets or "Lorong"s), foreign workers quarters and karaoke lounges provides an alternative view of elements the rest of modern Singapore generally does not have. Shophouses along Geylang Road are protected from redevelopment, and several famous eateries have sprung up along the major road.

Geylang is also the red-light district of Singapore. It is the only area in the city-state where prostitution is legal. Thousands of Asian prostitutes from other countries work in Geylang, and visitors and locals alike flock to the area each evening. The district is home to hundreds of brothels. Some are regulated, while others operate behind the scenes illegally. The houses in Geylang operating in sex practices are easily identifiable; their house numbers are large and bright red. As many as a dozen girls work out of each house, and the operating hours tend to be 14:00-3:00.

The area provides legal sex services for all of Singapore. Typical prices in this area range from S$30 to S$150, and services are vastly different for locals as they are for visitors. Typically, the locals know where to go for the best deals while tourist often fall into traps or are even strong-armed by brothel management. These practices are noted by Singapore authorities, but in most cases they look the other way when it comes to crime in Geylang. [ [http://www.warrenssingapore.com/geylang.htm Geylang the area for Legal Sex in Singapore ] ] [ [http://massageshongkong.com/geylang Geylang Red Light District » Geylang Singapore Red Light District ] ] [Holmes, T.D. History of Singapore Prostitution]

Transport

To get to Geylang Road, there are lot of several MRT stations in the vicinity of Geylang Road: Aljunied, Kallang and Paya Lebar stations. There is also the Geylang Lorong 1 Bus Terminal situated in the Kallang planning area.

TV shows about Geylang

*Living in Geylang, a 20-episode drama aired on MediaCorp Channel 8 in 1998.

References

*Peter K G Dunlop (2000), "Street Names of Singapore", Who's Who Publishing, ISBN 981-4062-11-1
*Victor R Savage, Brenda S A Yeoh (2003), "Toponymics - A Study of Singapore Street Names", Eastern Universities Press, ISBN 981-210-205-1