Singapore’s Little India
Singapore’s Orchard Road is spectacular for its gigantic and architecturally impressive shopping malls, hotels and other buildings. But when you tire of the glitz, and want a taste of earthy Singapore, please visit Little India.
In a world where multiculturalism often seems poorly managed and under threat, Singapore may be the world’s most successful multicultural country. Chinese Singaporeans comprise around 74-75 percent of the population, Malays 13-15 percent and Indians 9-10 percent.
The Indian Singaporean community is linguistically and religiously diverse. Ethnic Tamils, from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, form about half of the community. There are also significant numbers who identify with other South Asian traditions, most notably the Sikhs.
Singaporean taxi drivers are remarkably chatty and helpful. Understanding my wish to lunch at a nice, atmospheric restaurant, my driver took me to the “Banana Leaf Apolo” restaurant, at 54 Race Course Rd.
This restaurant was established in 1974 by Chellappan Sankaranathan who named the restaurant after the success of the Apollo 11 spacecraft in 1969, which sent a man to the moon. He hoped that his business would achieve similar access. The restaurant upholds the tradition of South Indians eating on banana leaves.
In a South Indian spirit I ordered and enjoyed small and delicious portions of fish and king prawn curry. The manager also responded positively to my request for wifi access, when I explained my desire to follow the cricket Test match (Australia versus English) underway.
My Indian lunch was a nice complement to my participation in the Horasis India Meeting, Singapore. After lunch, I wandered around the streets and enjoyed the distinctly Indian atmosphere.