Kreta Ayer Road, Singapore

Kreta Ayer Road, Singapore (29 July 2017)


Kreta Ayer Road is a minor road in the Chinatown neighbourhood of Outram, Singapore. It runs in a single direction from Neil Road to New Bridge Road/Eu Tong Sen Street, and is intersected by Keong Saik Road.

The name Kreta Ayer means "water cart" in Malay. It refers to bullock carts used to carry water. In our present age, where we tend to take piped water into every homes for granted, it is necessary to understand that in the past, before there was piped water, fresh water has to be delivered to homes by bullock carts. Kreta Ayer Road is where the bullock carts carrying water containers passed through on its way into the city. In this respect, Kreta Ayer Road played a similar rôle as Burmah Road in Penang.

For that reason, Kreta Ayer Road became known in Hokkien as 牛車水 (Taiji Romanisation: Goo3 Chia3 Cui4 , Church Romanisation: gû-chhia-chúi, Taiwanese Romanisation: gû-tshia-tsúi) meaning "water oxcart (road)".

In today's modern society we often forget how life was like in the early 19th century, when Kreta Ayer Road was laid out. At that time, there was no electricity or piped water. Battalions of bullock carts were used to bring fresh water to the houses in the Singapore township. Of course, much of the residential houses were thatched, with brick shophouses appearing only later on.

Kreta Ayer Road was a working class neighbourhood. From the late 19th century until the early part of the 20th century, it was the destination for earthy pleasures, as brothels and opium dens were the main commercial establishments at that time.

Map of Kreta Ayer Road, Singapore

Kreta Ayer Road road sign (29 July 2017)

Kreta Ayer Road Singapore on Google Street View

Kreta Ayer Road, Singapore (Mar 2022)

References

List of the Streets in Singapore; Discover Singapore

 Sights in Singapore

 Latest updates on Penang Travel Tips

Streets of Singapore and Map of Singapore Streets

Singapore MRT and Map of Singapore MRT

Postal Districts of Singapore and Map of Singapore Postal Districts

Planning Areas of Singapore and Map of Singapore Planning Areas

About this website

Hello and thanks for reading this page. My name is Timothy and my hobby is in describing places so that I can share the information with the general public. My website has become the go to site for a lot of people including students, teachers, journalists, etc. whenever they seek information on places, particularly those in Malaysia and Singapore. I have been doing this since 5 January 2003, for over twenty years already. You can read about me at Discover Timothy. By now I have compiled information on thousands of places, mostly in Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore, and I continue to add more almost every day. My goal is to describe every street in every town in Malaysia and Singapore.