Pagoda Street

We weren't the only ones exploring Chinatown! Also, conspicuously located along Pagoda street is an old coolie house!

Now a tailor shop belonging to (who we suspect are) Indian Muslims, the former Coolie House is almost unrecognisable save for the signs! We actually got scolded for taking pictures, until we explained to them Ah Gong's story. They then (only slightly reluctantly) let us pose for a picture! :)

Pagoda Street had been a street known for its notorious activities since the early 19th century, when it was lined with opium smoking dens, before it turned into a coolie trading centre during the later half the century. No coolie firm has been more famous than Kwong Hup Yuen, the largest coolie trading firm. Coolies lived in packed bunk spaces until they are sold as slaves to wealthy buyers. Kwong Hup Yuen was later transformed into a bicycle shop called Kian Seng Heng, before the street was reinvented as a commercial place dealing with textiles, tailoring and retail services.