Tekka ? Tekka
Lime pits, brick kilns and a race track once dotted the pettai (neighbourhood), and the streets thronged with herdsmen, merchants and garland makers, plying their trade. Though these places and people might be gone, time stands still in small pockets within this historic district. Olden day trades thrive, right next to new businesses, perfectly blending traditions and modernity.
Little India today, is one of Singapore’s most colourful districts, ranked nineteenth in the list of the world’s “coolest” neighbourhoods. Teeming with culture, life and a buffet of choices for every need of an Indian household, its history dates back to the 19th century, when the country was on her primary foundation of becoming a metropolitan business hub.
Cattle herding was the first and foremost trade that was popular in the district, due to the readily available water source from the Serangoon River in the early 1840s. Little India housed many European families, who employed Indian migrant workers, adept with the skill of tending to and herding cattle. Thus, cattle herding paved the way for further settlement of many different Indian communities and business opportunities such as wheat grinding, pineapple preservation and even bullock-cart transportation.
1915 saw the birth of Tekka market, a distinguished landmark of present Little India. The name ‘tekka’ stems from the Hokkien word teh kah, which means “the foot of the small bamboo” due to the bamboo clumps that grew alongside the Rochor Canal. Today, the name ‘Tekka’ is affectionately synonymous with Little India, as most of us refer to it casually. Interesting, isn’t it
Many Indian families began to settle down in Little India in shophouses that simultaneously served as their residence and trading hub, until the Japanese Occupation. Many were compelled to return back to their hometowns as businesses struggled to stay afloat. Despite the difficult circumstances, some continued to thrive, right up to Singapore’s independence in 1965.
Eventually, more housing was established when Little India rose to become a magnificent business hub. Today, it not only houses businesses but also provides its streets to urban architecture, new opportunities, and simply a locale that brims with solutions for every households’ needs, no matter big or small.
While our Tekka continues to serve (pun intended), it is time we gave back to the neighbourhood that has allowed us to be thankful for a myriad of reasons. The gap between the various businesses dotting Tekka and the current generation of digitalisation is wide, and we believe that both ends should meet at last.
Tekka.sg believes in the goal of supporting and uplifting one another, and that a district with a spirited force should not be left behind in this race of modernisation. Hence we, Tekka boys and Tekka girls have gotten the cart (another pun?) moving by bringing Tekka to you, right at your fingertips. Are you ready to come onboard?
