SINGAPORE – Two centuries after Sultan Mosque was built in its heart, Kampong Gelam’s community is working to retain the district’s identity as rising rents and new retailers change its look and feel.

Longstanding tenants – among them textiles and haj goods traders – now face sharper competition from international chains, souvenir shops and massage parlours.

Rents in the area, once a gathering place for Malay/Muslim intelligentsia and pilgrims to Mecca, have gone up following an increase in investor demand for its more than 600 conserved shophouses.

Shopkeepers and others working in the community said Kampong Gelam is dealing with the tension between retaining its past and modernising. Some are working to find a middle way where it can evolve while keeping its unique character.

Mr Syed Osman Alsagoff, place director of Kampong Gelam Alliance, said recent rent hikes have forced some longstanding businesses out of the area, while others have shut down.