Chulia Street
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Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA)
 The UOB Plaza Towers as seen from Chulia Street. | |
| Owner | Land Transport Authority (LTA) Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) |
|---|---|
| Maintained by | LTA |
| Nearest Mass Rapid Transit System station | Raffles Place MRT station |
| Other | |
| Known for | UOB Plaza |
Chulia Street is the name of a road in the Downtown Core area of Singapore that runs from an end of South Canal Road.[1] During colonial times, it was part of a settlement of the Chulias, a group of Indian Muslim workers from South India who inhabited the area.[2][3] It was also a popular tourist attraction due to the rows of two-storey Indian shophouses on either side of the road, which were all demolished in the early 1980s to make way for the industrial business developments in the area.[4] The current UOB Plaza and OCBC Centre were built along Chulia Street in the 1970s.[4][5] The only form of public transportation for the road is via the Raffles Place MRT station, which has exits located across the road.[1]
Currently, Chulia Street is no longer a tourist destination and is part of the central business district of Singapore.[4] Before the industrialization, Chulia Street was a commercial hub for knife makers, as well as moneylender agencies.[2][6] Aside from mercantility, there are also places of worship located along Chulia Street. There is a Chinese temple, Yueh Hai Ching Temple, as well as a mosque, Masjid Moulana Mohamed Ali.[7] The latter is located underneath the UOB Plaza and was established there in 1994 to replace an older mosque affected by the demolition of the shophouses along Chulia Street.[8][9]
The name of Chulia Street dates back to 1921.[10] Before that, it was known as Kling Street, until Hafeezudin Sirajuddin Moonshi requested that the name of the road be changed to Chulia Street.[10][11]