Sago Lane, Singapore

Sago Lane, Singapore (12 September 2010)


Sago Lane is a narrow lane in Singapore's Chinatown. It runs from Banda Street to South Bridge Road. It originally goes all the way to Keong Saik Road, but the section between Banda Street and Keong Saik Road has since been paved over and pedestrianised. Block 4 Sago Lane is a reminder of where a section of Sago Lane used to be.

Today Sago Lane is next to the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, which was built just a few years ago. Despite its present reduced size, Sago Lane has been around since the 19th century. It got its name because there were factories here processing sago, way back in the 1840's.

By the end of the 19th century, Sago Lane had become built up, with brick housing similar to what we are seeing today. The trade of the area has also evolved to centre on funerary practises. Sago Lane in particular was the location of Death Houses. These are houses where the terminally ill aged poor were brought to die, a rather pitiful form of hospice. Within the same street are funeral parlours ready and shops specializing in paraphernalia related to funerary rites.

What I mentioned above is now gone. In its place, Sago Lane has since been pedestrianised, gentrified and made touristic with street vendors selling trickets and prayer items related to the temple next to it. The shops along Sago Lane have likewise moved with times.

Map of Sago Lane, Singapore

Sights along Sago Lane

Block 4, Sago Lane, one of the flats in Chinatown, as seen from Keong Saik Road. (29 July 2017)


Sago Lane roadsign (9 July 2011)


Sago Lane roadsign (10 July, 2006)

Sago Lane Singapore on Google Street View

Sago Lane, Singapore (Nov 2018)

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