The Accidental Tourists visit Arab Street

Arab Street, the place where the first Malay community in Singapore settled before the arrival of Sir Stamford Raffles.

The place where we wandered on a weekday morning to encourage the little ones to take in the colorful sights and the bustling sounds of Singapore’s Malay culture.

The first landmark in Arab Street that the children had to spot was Sultan Mosque. The mosque was built in the 1820s and is considered the national mosque of Singapore. It is named after Sultan Hussein, a man who was known as Sultan of Singapore by Sir Raffles.

Here, the children ventured through the shops lined with textiles; lace, chiffon, silk, georgette, batik.

And found that Arab Street is arrayed with shops stocked with floor mats, prayer mats, cane and rattan ware from chairs to serving trays.

T, J and K paid close attention to the details that they spotted while walking down Arab Street. Part of the fun of the walkabout was to complete a scavenger hunt that Pauline and I developed for this visit.

To complete the scavenger hunt, the children had to ask the shop-keepers questions…

Try on the Malay headwear for men, the Songkok.

Play the traditional game of Goli Panjang (Marbles),

and paid a visit to the Malay Heritage Centre at the end of Arab Street.

Take a trip down this ethnic Malay street with your kids, to immerse in the Malay culture and heritage unique to Singapore. Perhaps this is one of the best way for children to learn that there are more to Singapore’s culture than our hawker centers, food courts, air-conditioned malls and manicured gardens.

Coming up soon on the blog, a walk down another ethnic street in Singapore.

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