Tras Street is a

street A street is a public thoroughfare in a built environment. It is a public parcel of land adjoining buildings in an urban context, on which people may freely assemble, interact, and move about. A street can be as simple as a level patch of dirt, ...

located in

Tanjong Pagar Tanjong Pagar ( alternatively spelled ''Tanjung Pagar'') is a historic district located within the Central Business District in Singapore, straddling the Outram Planning Area and the Downtown Core under the Urban Redevelopment Authority's urb ...

in the Outram Planning Area and

Downtown Core The Downtown Core is the historical and downtown centre of the city-state of Singapore and the main commercial area in Singapore excluding reclaimed lands with many integrated resorts such as the Marina Bay Sands, one of the most expensive build ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

. The road connects Enggor Street and Gopeng Street to Cook Street, and is intersected by

Wallich Street Wallich is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * George Charles Wallich (1815–1899), British marine biologist and medical doctor; son of Nathaniel Wallich * Henry Wallich (1914–1988), German American banker and economist * Herm ...

Etymology and History

The street name ''Tras Street'' dates from an 1898

municipal A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

resolution Resolution(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Resolution (debate), the statement which is debated in policy debate * Resolution (law), a written motion adopted by a deliberative body * New Year's resolution, a commitment that an individual mak ...

to "''use names of

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

s and districts in the

Malay Peninsula The Malay Peninsula (Malay: ''Semenanjung Tanah Melayu'') is a peninsula in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area ...

as being better adapted to the purpose

f naming streets F, or f, is the sixth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ef'' (pronounced ), and the plural is ''efs''. Hist ...

than the names of persons or families''". Other Malayan place names which were assigned in the same year to new streets laid out on either side of

Anson Road Anson is a subzone located within the Downtown Core district of Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude ...

near Tanjong Pagar included Bernam Road, Enggor Street and Raub Street.

Hong San See Temple

The Hong San See Temple, which means "Phoenix Hill Temple" in Hokkien, by migrants from Lam Ann County in

Fujian Province Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its cap ...

. The temple used to be located at Tras Street when it was first built in 1836. A road widening project in 1907 involving government acquisition of the temple's site resulted in its relocation to

Mohamed Sultan Road Muhammad was an Islamic prophet and a religious and political leader who preached and established Islam. Muhammad and variations may also refer to: *Muhammad (name), a given name and surname, and list of people with the name and its variations ...

Tras Street Today

Tras Street today is lined with many shophouses, many of which are two- and three-storey buildings. These shophouses, some of which are conserved pre-war buildings, are home to shops, eating places, pubs, boutiques and offices. The street is in fact a well-known night spot because of its string of bars. Being part of the

Conservation area, and found within the historic district of Chinatown, there are efforts to bring back the old charms of Chinatown to Tras Street.

Alternate Names

The

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

name for this street, ''Zu Shi Gong Kou'' (祖师公口). It is known as ''Chor Su Kong Kau'' in

Hokkien The Hokkien () variety of Chinese is a Southern Min language native to and originating from the Minnan region, where it is widely spoken in the south-eastern part of Fujian in southeastern mainland China. It is one of the national languages in ...

, which means "mouth of the Chor Su Kong Temple". This name is very likely due to Kim Lan Temple (金兰庙) which is dedicated to Qing Shui Zhu Shi (清水祖师), also known as Chor Su Kong (祖师公) in Hokkien. Kim Lan Temple was founded in 1830, and is currently under the management of Hokkien Huay Kuan. The temple was formerly located at Narcis Street and moved to Kim Tian Road in 1988. The former location of Kim Lan Temple at Narcis Street is actually very near Tras Street.

References

*Victor R Savage, Brenda S A Yeoh (2004), ''Toponymics - A Study of Singapore Street Names'', Eastern University Press, *Dunlop, P. K. G. (2000). Street names of Singapore (p. 313). Singapore: Who's Who Publications.(Call no.: RSING 959.57 DUN) *Edwards, N., & Keys, P. (1996). Singapore: A guide to buildings, streets, places (p. 474). Singapore: Times Books International. (Call no.: RSING 959.57 EDW) *Samuel, D. S. (1991). Singapore's heritage: Through places of historical interest (p. 211). Singapore: Elixir Consultancy Service. (Call no.: RSING 959.57 SAM) *Savage, V. R., & Yeoh, B. S. A. (2003). Toponymics: A study of Singapore street names (p. 389). Singapore: Eastern Universities Press. (Call no.: RSING 915.9570014 SAV) *Firmstone, H. W. (1905, January). Chinese names of streets and places in Singapore and the Malay Peninsula. Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 4, 136, 137. (Call no.: RSING 959.5 FIR- C *Rosemary Lim, (2008), ''An Irish Tour of Singapore'', Two Trees Pte Ltd *Rashiwala Kalpana. (1994, September 22). Goei group clinches half of shophouses at URA auction. The Straits Times, Money, p. 39. *James, Josephine. (2001, October 5). Work on oldest monastery completed. The Straits Times, p. 8. *Lum, M. (1999, May 12). The sweet Aroma of success. The Straits Times, Life, pp. 1–2. *Tras St shophouses attract bids of up to $1,502 psf. (1994, December 20). The Business Times, p. 2. *Chinatown, a treat for the senses. (1995, February 25). The Straits Times, Life, pp. 12–13. {{coord, 1.2763, 103.8418, display=title Roads in Singapore Downtown Core (Singapore) Outram, Singapore