THE MAKING OF A PLACE : HISTORY, COMMUNITY AND IDENTITY OF LITTLE INDIA

Abstract

People make places and invest it with meanings, feelings and emotions. Place meanings are closely interwoven with the passage of history associated with the place. The study has shown that Little India is a place of importance to the Indians, from the early days since the foundation of Singapore. The large number of early Indian migrants who were drawn to the place, due to its numerous job opportunities, endorse the Indian identity of the place. This 'Indianness' of the place has persisted through time despite the changing character of the place from an area of cattle trading to a residential-commercial area. The study has shown that the 'Indianness' of the place is manifested in both the material and non-material elements of the place. The community understudy in Little India is divided into insiders (people who work and live in Little India) and outsiders (Indians who work and live outside Little India). Although both the groups were able to identify the "Indianness' of the place, their views on factors that affect place identity are starkingly different. The outsiders view the coming in of foreign workers, from the Indian subcontinent, as a threat to the place identity. According to the insiders, the coming in of foreign workers enhanced the 'Indianness' of the place. Similarly, the study has shown that foreign workers like the insiders have developed a deep sense of identity with the place while half of the expatriates interviewed, just like the outsiders, claimed that their attachment to the place is confined to its functionality. The insider-outsider disparity in factors that affect place identity is also reviewed in their assessment of the conservation project. The outsiders see the conservation project as an improvement to the physical environment of the place while the insiders argued that conserved environment are empty shells, devoid of people's meanings to place. It has been proposed that conservation issues should entail both the economic feasibility and authentic ambience of the place by allowing both traditional and new commercial activities to take place in the area. Places are lived world of human experiences, aspirations and consciousness. Thus, this thesis has demonstrated the importance of place by examining the inter-relationships among place, history, community and identity.