TEKKA CENTRE, SINGAPORE

The Tekka Centre in Singapore's Little India Quarter, is a multi-use building complex comprising a wet market, food centre and shops, located in the northern corner of Bukit Timah Road and Serangoon Road, Singapore. The original market was built in 1915, and was located across the street between Hastings Road and Sungei Road. When it was torn down in 1982 and relocated at its present site, the new multi-use complex was named Zhujiao Centre, the pinyin version of Tek Kia.

Today, Tekka Center remains a landmark in Little India, where different ethnic communities congregate. There are Chinese stallholders who speak Tamil, and vice versa. Shops sell traditional Indian costumes and inexpensive casual clothes. Some of the more notable shops include those selling Taoist and Buddhist paraphernalia, hardware shops, and tailors who can alter clothes in minutes. On the ground floor is a hawker centre with stalls which sell Indian vegetarian meals, served on banana leaves or on stainless steel platters, besides Chinese vegetarian, North Indian and Malay food.

At the wet market which is on the same level, stalls sell fresh seafood, especially crabs from Sri Lanka, and vegetables. There are also many Chinese stalls selling vegetables that are specially flown in from India. In terms of accessibility, the centre is served by the adjacent Little India MRT Station.

This post is part of the Mellow Yellow Monday meme.