By Huang Lijie

Ask Ms Ida Li, 28, communications manager in a health company, if she has been to any of the non-Indian eateries in Little India and the answer is a firm 'no'.

She is against patronising these hip dining outlets because she does not want to promote gentrification of the neighbourhood and have it wind up the way Chinatown has.

She says: 'There is a need for Little India to retain its integrity of being dedicated to Indian culture and not end up like Chinatown, which is a permanent pasar malam (night market) with shops that sell everything from cheap clothes and DVDs to sunglasses and souvenirs.'

Indeed, new neighbours moving into the area since 2000, from backpacker hostels to art galleries and now, non-Indian eateries, have changed the sight, sounds and colour of Little India.

Tourists now jostle with Singaporeans and migrant workers in the area.

Rowell Road's reputation for being a sleazy strip has been tempered by creative arts businesses that have set up base there.

And besides whiffs of pungent curry spices wafting out from Indian restaurants, you might catch a hint of baked brie cheese lingering in the air at French restaurant The Black Sheep Cafe in Mayo Street.

Chef-owner of The Black Sheep Cafe

The transitions in Little India are undeniable. There is even an inter-agency task force led by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) that is looking into giving the historic area a makeover, with plans to convert some streets into pedestrian malls.

The elephant in the room is whether the heritage area might lose its unique character the way Chinatown has.

While Chinatown ranks as Singapore's second-most popular free attraction after Orchard Road last year, according to the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), its critics, such as Dr Kevin Tan, president of the Singapore Heritage Society, have accused it of being too artificial and a tourist trap, following the nearly $100 million spent revitalising the area in the late 1990s.

New features such as the Food Street in Smith Street were set up to mimic the experience of streetside hawkers from the past, resulting in what some call a theme-park feel to the area. The push to draw foreign visitors to the area also meant that old trades such as Chinese medical halls, tailors and Chinese handicraft stores were replaced by souvenir shops cashing in on the tourist dollar.

Little India ranked third in the same poll by the STB.Mr Rajakumar Chandra, 50, chairman of the Little India Shopkeepers and Heritage Association, is sure that Little India will not lose its character simply because new businesses, such as non-Indian restaurants, in the area draw a different crowd to the neighbourhood.

He says: 'Indian businesses are very firmly rooted in the area and the Indian community will continue to patronise them, so they will not be displaced.'

He adds that the inter-agency task force led by the URA, which the Little India Shopkeepers and Heritage Association is a member of, is mindful of 'not over-polishing the area' and repeating the scenario in Chinatown.

For sales manager Cindy Tien, 30, who lives in a flat above Tekka Market, the area's new neighbours have not gentrified the location.

She says: 'Everywhere I turn, I still see Indian restaurants, shops and the Indian community shopping there.'

Janice Tan, co-owner of Zsofi Tapas Bar

Similarly, hotelier and restaurateur Loh Lik Peng, 36, is not worried that the heritage enclave will lose the culture and buzz that drew him to start a boutique hotel with a French-style bistro in Dickson Road that will likely open late next year.

He says: 'There is a process of gentrification that inevitably goes on in heritage places but in Little India, it is gentle and organic, and the ethnic-based Indian shops are so entrenched there that the change will not be wholesale like in Chinatown.'

Indeed, organic change is instrumental to the development of these heritage areas, argues Dr Tan, 47.

He says: 'The concept of Little India and Chinatown are touristic inventions, so it is necessary to think out of that paradigm and regard the areas as dynamic spaces, whose uses change with time.'

When taken in this light, the focus, he adds, should be on whether the changes to the space enhance it and attract more people to it.

'So, yes, you could say that Rowell Road in Little India has been gentrified to an extent, but it has also been revitalised with the new arts activities in the area.'

Nonetheless, preserving the heritage in these historic areas is important and a successful approach, he cites, is the conservation of old buildings that the URA has undertaken.

He adds that there is a need to preserve socio-cultural heritage but 'ossifying historic areas, freezing them in time and demanding that the old trades and way of life remain' is neither feasible nor realistic because these spaces are dynamic.

His suggestion: Give people a sense of the history of the place through education via free-standing storyboards and walking guides.

This article was first published in The Straits Times on Nov 8, 2008.

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