As Asia’s
true cultural melting pot, Singapore is home to citizens from many backgrounds. I
wanted to know more about the people that call the city home. Chinatown was the
obvious place to go to learn about the modern lives of the Chinese in
Singapore, but to understand what life was like in the early days, a visit to
the Chinatown Heritage Centre is unbeatable.
The centre hosts
an exhibition called ‘Faces of Chinatown’ that tells the history of the Chinese
in Singapore through the personal experiences of early settlers. The display of
old photographs from the 1950s and personal artifacts is touchingly poignant
and, at times, confronting.
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| Thanksgiving prayers of Chinese settlers in Singapore |
One display shows the thanksgiving prayers of
survivors who, having survived a treacherous journey, rushed to temples to give
thanks for their safe passage. Another showed a reproduction of a room in a
brothel and provided information about that side of life. There was also an
opium den section explaining the opium trade.
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| Chinese artifacts at the Chinatown Heritage Centre, Singapore |
You can explore
the centre at your own pace. After making your way through the first part of
the exhibit, which feels more like a museum, with artifacts and explanatory
displays, you descend a flight of stairs and find yourself in a restored
traditional home, or to be more precise, seven homes.
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| Reconstructed home of an early Chinese settler to Singapore |
An entire floor
of the traditional long house that houses the centre has been restored to
provide a real-life view of the living conditions for the early Chinese
settlers. They lived in one-room-homes on the floor there are seven, each of
which was ‘home’ to a separate family. These rooms often doubled up as stock
rooms for the occupants’ shops. They lived in very cramped conditions, where
basic hygiene was limited and health problems chronic.
While the 1950s
are generally considered the ‘golden years’ of Singapore’s Chinatown, it is
easy to see that life was not easy. I really enjoyed this exhibit because of
the personal stories. While I found some of the tales of human exploitation
tragic, there were also stories of hope and I left full of admiration for the
resilience of the early settlers.
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| Reconstructed room of a Chinese settler, Chinatown Heritage Centre, Singapore |
The Chinatown
Heritage Centre is on the north side of Pagoda Street, roughly opposite the
junction with Trengganu Street. The shop front does not stand out particularly
amongst all the other shops on Pagoda Street, so keep an eye out for it if you
want to visit. It is easy to miss!
