Culture and Identity of Arab Street

As mentioned before, culture in Arab Street has diminished. What has caused culture to diminish?

During the 1820s, Arab Street was a trading centre for materials such as spices, rattan products and textiles. Arab Street was also a residential kampong for the Muslims of Arab, Malay and Indian descent. It sold oriental carpets, fabrics, Muslim apparel and cuisines catered specifically towards the Muslim community.

However, in modern times, culture in Arab Street has diminished and it exemplifies the mishmash of cultures found in Singapore. There are several causes that lead to the diminishing of culture in Arab Street, main reasons being globalisation and commercialisation.

Globalisation:

Due to globalisation, there has been an increase in different types of culture in Arab Street.

In the past, Arab Street sold only exclusive goods from Arabia. These Arabian goods attracted Muslims. However, globalisation has enabled Arab Street to bring in materials from all over the world. This not attracts people of different races and religions, bringing in new cultures. This introduction of “new cultures” leads to a dilution of culture. There is an integration of culture and Muslim culture no longer solely defines Arab Street.

Image of a trishaw rider that symbolises commercialisation as it caters to the needs of tourists.

Commercialisation:

Furthermore, globalisation brings an emergence of commercialisation.

Commercialisation also causes loss of culture at Arab Street. As the world undergoes globalisation, “culturally rich” areas such as Arab Street are driven towards commercialisation to fuel tourism. More souvenir-shops and information stations begin to replace traditional shops selling authentic Arabic goods. This leads to an immediate loss of culture of Arab Street, since before commercialisation Arab Street’s culture partially consisted of its authentic Arabic goods.

Furthermore, commercialisation drives the tourism industry, attracting people from different cultures. Arab Street then changes to meet the needs of the tourists, instead of to the needs of Muslims like before. This again, leads to the mishmash of cultures and thus dilution of culture at Arab Street.