The Historic District of Chinatown comprises four distinct sub-districts: Telok Ayer, Kreta Ayer, Bukit Pasoh and Tanjong Pagar. This article introduces the history and character of the area and explains its growth from the 1820s. When it began as the first settlement of immigrants from southern China and southern India, until the immediate post-World War II period. Together with the other precincts south...