Chulia Street

Chulia Street is situated in Singapore's Central Business District. It was named in honour of immigrants from the Coromandel coast. It was earlier known as Kling Street. Due to the presence of several knife shops, the street was also referred to as 'knife shops street' in Tamil.

The term 'kling,' originally a source of pride for the sojourners from the Coromandel coast, eventually became derogatory when referring to Indians. As a result, in the 1920s, the Indian Association of Singapore recommended renaming the road. During a meeting of the City Council Commissioners on 24 June 24 1921, two alternative names were considered. One was King Street, because it sounded much like the old name. The other was Chulia Street, which was suggested because the majority of Singapore's Indians, who were South Indians, were often referred to as Chulias. The latter name was chosen and took effect on 1 January 1922. Up to the 1980s, Chulia Street was characterised by two-storey buildings and Indian shops, including many Tamil Muslim shops specializing in stationery. Today, it is dominated by financial institutions and shopping malls.



For more information
Cornelius, Vernon and Nor-Afidah Abd Rahman. "Chulia Street." Singapore Infopedia. Published  https://www.nlb.gov.sg/main/article-detail?cmsuuid=9c103061-e68c-4662-8946-8dbe86d9b651
R Savage, Victor, and S A Yeoh, Brenda. Singapore Street Names - A Study of Toponymics. 4th ed. Singapore: Marshall Cavendish Editions, 2022

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The information in this article is valid as of August 2025 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. If you have any feedback on this article, please submit here.