The street, one of the oldest streets in Singapore, was built shortly after Sir Stamford Raffles founded modern Singapore in 1819, and appeared in Raffles' Town Plan of Chinatown.
Cross Street was originally an Indian residential area where Indian boatmen lived and operated their shops, mainly selling Goat milk, mutton and herbs.[1] As a result of the many milk shops, local Chinese called the street as kiat leng kia koi (kiat leng kia is a derogatory local term for Indians while koi means street), or "Kling man's street" (kling is another derogatory local term for Indians), Tamils called it palkadei sadakku, or "street of the milk shops", while the Malays called it kampong susu or "milk village".[1]
When Chinatown expanded, Cross Street becomes dominated by Chinese. In the 1950s till 1970s, the street consisted mainly of Chinese stationary and book shops.[1]
Landmarks
The prominent landmarks along Cross Street (from east to west):