I take a seat near a mural of Singapore’s first Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew. Outside, the Buffalo Road HDB blocks stand as landmarks of the neighbourhood. The name Tekka comes from the Hokkien phrase Tek Kia Kha, meaning “foot of the small bamboo,” referencing bamboo that once grew along the Rochor Canal.

Two hundred years ago, Tamil labourers grew rice and sugarcane here. Now I sit in the same place eating sugar on my roti canai. Every bite is crisp and sweet, the smell of burnt sugar, alluring and irresistible. 

A dish created by migrants for comfort still comforts many today across our island home and our counterparts across the causeway. It reminds me of my home Chennai, but in a completely different way. Food is the language that unites people lucky enough to call Singapore home, I’m grateful I get to be one of those people.

Shruti Balaji is a Singapore based art director and illustrator raised in California and Chennai who loves libraries, urban planning and pop culture analysis. She believes in the power of a well packed Indian office tiffin.

References:
Indians in Singapore, 1819-1945: Diaspora in the Colonial Port-city By Rajesh Rai
Singapore’s Pre-Colonial Ties with India from the book India on Our Minds by Tharman Shanmugaratnam
Indian Heritage Cooking by Sanmugam, Devagi and Kasinathan, Shanmugam

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