A mama shop or mamak shop (from

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

மாமா ''māmā'', meaning ''uncle'' or ''elder'') is a

convenience store A convenience store, convenience shop, bakkal, bodega, corner store, corner shop, superette or mini-mart is a small retail store that stocks a range of everyday items such as convenience food, groceries, beverages, tobacco products, lotter ...

or sundry shop in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

that is often located under a high-rise apartment block built by the

Housing and Development Board The Housing & Development Board (HDB; often referred to as the Housing Board; ; ; ), is a Statutory boards of the Singapore Government, statutory board under the Ministry of National Development (Singapore), Ministry of National Developmen ...

(HDB). Traditionally, they are owned and operated by Singaporean Indians. Unlike other stores such as

7-Eleven 7-Eleven, Inc. is an American convenience store chain, headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Seven-Eleven Japan, which in turn is owned by the retail holdings company Seven & I Holdings. The chain was founde ...

, mama shops are not air-conditioned and sell a variety of provisions within their limited area of approximately . Local residents often make use of mama shops as location markers..

History

The earliest mama shops were started by the early Indian immigrants to Singapore who were traders and businessmen. Many eventually became small shopkeepers along

Serangoon Road ''Serangoon Road'' is an Australian-Singaporean drama television series that premiered on 22 September 2013 on ABC and HBO Asia. It is a detective noir drama set in Singapore in the mid-1960s. The series takes its name from the eponymous roa ...

in the early 20th century. In its early days, the mama shop served mainly villagers in the vicinity. Since the shopkeeper was most likely to be the shop owner, service was rendered largely on a friendly and personal basis. In earlier times many customers were granted unlimited

credit Credit (from Latin verb ''credit'', meaning "one believes") is the trust which allows one party to provide money or resources to another party wherein the second party does not reimburse the first party immediately (thereby generating a debt) ...

, according to Ubid bin Ibrahim, co-owner of one of the oldest surviving mama shops.. Bargaining, discounting of prices and personal delivery of goods were also common. Over time, shopkeepers became familiar with customers from the other racial communities, particularly the

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who observed the custom of reciprocity. As English was not a commonly spoken tongue back then, the

Malay language Malay ( , ; , Jawi alphabet, Jawi: ) is an Austronesian languages, Austronesian language spoken primarily by Malays (ethnic group), Malays in several islands of Maritime Southeast Asia and the Malay Peninsula on the mainland Asia. The lang ...

served as the main form of communication between them. When Singapore's population underwent a major resettlement from villages to high-rise flats in the 1960s, many mama shops were relocated to

void deck Void decks refer to the open areas on the ground level of Housing and Development Board (HDB) public housing buildings in Singapore, which are commonly known as HDB blocks. They are one of the most used public spaces in housing estates.Ooi, Gi ...

s – open areas on the ground floors of HDB flats. While in the villages they had catered mostly to housewives, they now were frequented by children who would stop at the stores to browse through thrift comics,. inexpensive sweets and cheap stationery. However, the resettlement caused a weakening in what had been a strong sense of community established back in the village, and many mama shops witnessed a loss in an otherwise frequent and loyal patronage. With the passing of time and increasing modernization, rising competition from air-conditioned mini-marts and upbeat convenience chain stores also dealt a blow to the survival of many traditional mama shops.

References

{{portalbar, Singapore Architecture in Singapore Convenience stores of Singapore Culture of Singapore