A Splendid Little Colony: British Singapore 1819 - 1963

Cross Street, Chinatown, in 1905

Cross Street, in the Chinatown district, in 1905. There are men of different races milling around, and the shop sign-board is written in the English, Chinese and Jawi languages. Despite the apparent inter-mingling of the races, Singapore remained very much a plural, rather than a multi-racial, society.
Source: Cheah Jin Seng. Singapore: 500 early postcards
Despite being located in the Chinese quarters, or Chinatown, this street scene was typical of Singapore at the turn of the century. Although not multicultural in the modern sense (with overt inter-mingling of the races) Singapore was certainly a plural society. The various groups did interact constantly, if mainly for business and trade. Do note the shop name in the three languages.

A Splendid Little Colony: British Singapore 1819 - 1963 | Singapore