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No 8,32,42 and 106, Jalan TAR
 Old
timers who grew up on the street can recall hotels, barber shops, bakeries,
a coffee shop or two, laundry, blacksmith, flour mill, and shops selling books,
stationery, spices, textiles and carpets. While many of the businesses have
disappeared or relocated elsewhere, some old trades are still evident.
They are housed in the two-storey shophouses built as far back as the 1900s.
Typically in these shophouses, the shopkeepers ran their operations in the "shops"
on the ground floor and lived in the "houses" upstairs. Shophouse No 8 represents
the earliest form of Utilitarian architecture. The first floor has a single
opening which is covered with simple wooden shutters. The elevation of the building
is quite low with a steeply sloping roof as well as a jack roof, which provides
additional ventilation.
Four family-run businesses from the 1930s still remain:
Syarikat Canton started as a tailoring shop servicing the Chinese miners
around the town and was established at this location in 1934. Pok, the original
owner, obtained his professional qualification through a correspondence course
from England. In the old days, the clients included judges, lawyers and engineers
from the nearby courts and electricity sub-station.
Bhagwansingh Melasingh, a Sikh merchant, came from Punjab, India around
1934 to start his wholesale trade. His children practically grew up on the street
as the family lived above the shop until 1957. The store is a wholesaler and
retailer of spices, condiments and sundry food items. It distributes QBB (Queensland
Buttery Board) Pure Ghee, a well-known brand of clarified butter from Australia.
Kean Leong & Co, a Chinese engineering tools supplier, was cited in the
1929 Malaya Directory as an agent for Dunlop tyres, Sun motor cycles, Varta
batteries and Crescent Star bicycles. Jalan TAR has been its home throughout
its long history.
At 22 years of age, GS Gill started his business in 1945 by importing
bicycles, IXL jam and Camel cigarettes. Originally operating from a two-storey
shophouse, it now occupies its own twelve-storey premises. Today, the company
is a well-known sports goods wholesaler and retailer, with a branch in Singapore.
Click the map below to view a larger version
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