SINGAPORE: Trishaws were formerly among Singapore’s most widely used forms of public transportation, but they are no longer seen on the streets.
The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) confirmed to CNA on Tuesday, April 9, that there isn’t a trishaw service in the nation as the previous operator’s contract expired and wasn’t renewed.
Rickshaws are a Japanese invention first observed in Singapore in the 1880s. Together with steam trams and bullock carts, they were among the first forms of transportation in Singapore.
Rides in rickshaws were cheap and perfect for quick trips through congested inner-city streets.
However, according to the National Library Board’s (NLB) Infopedia website, the first batch of 15 trishaws was reportedly “crudely constructed” and did not last long on Singapore’s streets.
In 1914, British colonial officials refused an American company’s proposal to import 500 trishaws because of their concern for road safety.
According to Roots, a website maintained by the National Heritage Board (NHB), the first trishaws were formally registered in Singapore in 1914. These early trishaws, called “pedal rickshaws,” were modified rickshaws mounted on bicycles.
According to an article in the Syonan Times, a propaganda newspaper run by the Japanese military during the Occupation, the operator rented each trishaw for 80 cents per day.
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