Sago Lane

Sago Lane (Chinese: 硕莪巷) is a one-way lane in Chinatown within the Outram Planning Area in Singapore. The street links Banda Street to Neil Road. In the past, the street was much longer and was home to funeral parlours or death houses. Part of the street was demolished in the late 1960s due to the construction of the new HDB development at Kreta Ayer, also known as Chinatown Complex. Currently the street, is mainly used during Chinese New Year as part of the festive bazaar in Chinatown.

Etymology and history

The lane received its name because during the 1840s, there were numerous sago factories in both Sago Street and Lane. Sago was taken from the pith of the rumbia palm and made into flour that is used to make cakes. During the 1850s, there were thirty sago factories in the town which had a total output of 8,000 tons annually. Many of the sago factories were in the Sago Street area. In the 1920s the lane was used as a jinriksha station in Chinatown. The lane's famous Chinese death houses or funeral homes came into existence in the late 19th century. This was the place where people near death will be left to die, with the funeral parlour prepared below. All the Chinese funeral paraphernalia (funeral clothing, home appliances, paper models such as houses, cars, incense paper etc.) were related to death rites were sold in shops on this lane. The death houses were banned by the government in 1961, and by the late 1960s, all the shophouses on the street were demolished, with part of the street being demolished to make way for Chinatown Complex.

Some mistaken Sago Street as sei yang gai or the "street of the dead", but it's actually on Sago Lane. Sago Street was where brothels were located. Sago Lane is known as ho ba ni au koi in Hokkien, which literally means "the street behind Ho Man Nin". Ho Man Nin is the chop of a well known singing hall in neighbouring Sago Street.

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

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sago Lane, Singapore.

Uniquely Singapore website

Roads and streets in Chinatown, Singapore

Amoy Street Ann Siang Hill Ann Siang Road Banda Street Boon Tat Street Club Street Cross Street Dickenson Hill Road Erskine Road Eu Tong Sen Street Jiak Chuan Road Kadayanallur Street Keong Saik Road Kreta Ayer Road McCallum Street Mosque Street Neil Road New Bridge Road Pagoda Street Sago Lane Sago Street Smith Street South Bridge Road Spring Street Stanley Street Teck Lim Road Telok Ayer Street Temple Street Trengganu Street Upper Cross Street

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, October 01, 2013. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.