Notes · 22 February 2025

Five-foot ways

The covered passages in front of the shophouses: where they came from, what they are for, and how to walk them.

Along every old shophouse street there is a covered passage in front of the shops, set into the ground floor of each house and joined to its neighbours to make one long arcade. It is called the five-foot way, after its width, although many are wider than that and a few are narrower.

The idea goes back to the town plan of the 1820s, which asked that each house in the new town have a covered way in front of it, open to the public, so that people could walk the length of a street out of the sun and the rain. The rule stuck, and it shaped every shophouse built for more than a century after. Read the fronts above as well; the note on shophouse fronts has more about them.

Half shop, half street

A five-foot way has always been a little of both. It belongs to the house, but anyone may walk through it. In the past letter writers, barbers and cobblers set up there, and shops still put out crates, racks of clothes, potted plants and folding chairs. Some owners keep theirs bare and swept; others let the shop spill out until there is just room to pass. Walking a whole street under cover is part of the pleasure, but it is also a slow way to see a street, which is exactly why it is worth doing.

The floors are worth a look. Each house laid its own, so the passage changes every few metres: red clay tiles, then patterned cement tiles, then plain concrete, then a single step up or down where one owner built higher than the next. Watch your feet after rain, when the glazed tiles are slippery.

Shade and storms

In the middle of the day the five-foot way is the coolest place on a street, and in a storm it is the best shelter there is. Rain in Singapore often comes hard and fast and is gone within the hour; a five-foot way lets you keep walking, or stand and watch the water pour off the roofs, while the road outside turns into a river. The Plan a walk page has more on waiting out the weather.

Walking them politely

These are working shops and homes, so walk them as a guest. Keep doorways clear, don't stop in front of the counter to take pictures, and step out to the road edge if you want to photograph the passage itself. Early morning, before the shutters go up, is the best time to see the long view down the arcade with nobody in it.

On the Old Streets walk, the side streets of Joo Chiat have the most complete runs, with house after house joined under one roof line.