Middle Road is a road in the Central Area of Singapore, stretching along the Downtown Core and Rochor planning areas. It starts from its junction with Selegie Road and ends at its junction with Nicoll Highway. Middle Road was already in existence in early Singapore, appearing in George Drumgoole Coleman's Map of Singapore in 1836. The area around Middle Road was the original settlement of the Hainanese immigrant community, a community noted for its active role in the food and beverage history of Singapore. From the late 19th century until the Second World War, the area around Middle Road, Hylam Street and Malay Street was also a bustling Japanese enclave known for its brothels of Karayuki-san and traditional shops run by the Japanese immigrants. Etymology The road formerly served as a demarcation line which separated the civic area from the ethnic settlements of Singapore as part of the British colonial government's town planning, known as the Jackson Plan. Jackson's 1822 plan for the European Town composed of four parallel roads laid out in the northeast-southwestern direction, and a major intersecting road. This perpendicular road is the present-day Middle Road. Due to increasing Chinese immigrants settling near the European Town, the Europeans subsequently vacated the area to dwell more inland, away from the urbanising city quarters. History Hainanese community and enclave Of the Chinese dialect groups that occupied the area of Middle Road, the Hainanese community was the largest. Its enclave was adjacent to European churches, army camps and the Raffles Hotel, and extended from the seashore along Beach Road westwards towards North Bridge Road. The three streets that run perpendicular to these two – Middle Road, Purvis Street and Seah Street were respectively called Hainan First Street, Hainan Second Street and Hainan Third Street by the Hainanese and other Chinese communities. The first Hainanese settler was recorded as Lim Chong Jin, who arrived in Singapore in 1841. By 1881, the Hainanese had constituted about 10% of the local Chinese population numbering 8,319. The Hainanese worked mainly in service-related industries and operated provision shops, ship-chandling and remittance services, hotels and coffee shops. It was in the "food" business that would bring them most regional fame. Ngiam Tong Boon, a Hainanese bartender working at Raffles Hotel concocted a gin tonic called The Singapore Sling in 1915. At Nos. 51—53 Middle Road (now demolished), Wong Yi Guan adapted a rice dish served with