The five-foot way is a unique architectural feature in Singapore.

Known in Mandarin as "wu jiao ji (五脚基)" and Malay as kaki lima, the ubiquitous five-foot way is often seen and used by us, but yet we don't really think much of them.

After Raffles founded Singapore in 1819, he mandated in his town plan that all shophouses must have at least 5 feet of covered space in front to serve as protection from the sun and rain.

Fun Fact: Shophouses were not only mandated to have space in front. Prior to 1910, shophouses were built back to back. However, in 1910, Singapore's British colonial government mandated that all shophouses had to have back alleys to facilitate fire escapes and, more importantly, the collection of night soil.

Since the space in front of shophouses were wide, and there was a good flow of human traffic, our pioneering immigrants found that these five-foot ways were excellent places to do business.

It also helped that these businesses were small, mobile, and could move at a moment's notice. Like this fortune teller.

And these cobblers.

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Not forgetting this roadside barber.

Sadly, businesses such as storytelling and letter writing are no longer around today.

You can imagine that the five-foot ways of shophouses were terribly crowded in the past, and bustling with all kinds of activity.

However, this also means that Singapore's five-foot ways have borne witness to the building and development of Singapore, which was probably why Mediacorp (then known as SBC-The Singapore Broadcasting Corporation) made a drama series on it.

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As Singapore transited into having high-rise HDB dwellings over the years, the five-foot ways also evolved with the times.

Those who live in older HDB estates will be familiar with the space outside the mama shop or Chinese medicine hall at the ground floor of their blocks.

Over time, however, these HDB five-foot ways evolved and gave way to the void deck, which was initially created to give children shelter on rainy days.

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If you happen to pass through a five-foot way today, take a moment to remember how this little unassuming space played an outsized role in our history.

Related articles:

Singapore’s toilets of the past were tests of endurance and luck

The story behind when the “void deck” was introduced and how it was invented

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