This confusing diagram (a condensation of my research from 2005) is about Kampung Gelam’s morphological transformation through archival records; it is dedicated principally to:
(1) The royal family of Singapore whose role in Singapore’s social, cultural and political history has only been marginally treated.
(2) The Bugis, Banjar, and Javanese urban community and merchants who were so important to the economic viability and social and intellectual life of Singapore as a new port-town in the 1800s. The Bugis were made to move from the former “Bugis Town” area around Bugis Junction today to the Java Road area (demolished, Crawford Estate today) in 1822-27. Thanks to the importance attached to the Bugis and other Nusantara traders in Singapore’s early growth, a large area with streets bearing Malay names was laid out for them, seen on the right half of this diagram (Kampung Rochor, the relocated “Bugis Town”, indicated in a Town Plan as “Bugis Campong”)
While the Bugis owned many of the shophouses and brick residences here, the area also became the place of investment by a diverse group of merchants, including Javanese, Banjar, Malays, Hadhrami Arabs, Hokkiens.
Also in the 1800s, the Javanese printing presses in Kampung Gelam were numerous, and their presence as shopkeepers and artisans along “Arab Street” gave it the local Malay, Hokkien and Cantonese names “Kampung Jawa” and “Jiawa Koi”…
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