History of Chinatown

     Chinatown was an early settlement of Chinese immigrants whereby Chinese form the largest portion of the community. This was a town plan proposed by Sir Stamford Raffles which people of different ethnic groups settle in different places. Raffles also suggested that the streets in Chinatown run as far as practicable at right angles and artisans be concentrated in certain areas. For the sake of uniformity Raffles specified that the shophouses and houses be built in brick.  

     But, to what extent has all these been preserved by our government now? After visiting Pagoda Street, Smith Street and Temple Street in Chinatown, I personally think that the government has not been very effective in preserving the area.

How identity has been diluted in Chinatown

  As Singapore gradually progresses from a third world country to one that is of first world standard, the government has been trying to modernise the area, and in the process of doing so, they seem to have forgotten about preserving our roots, our culture and the old chinatown. It was not until the 1980s that the Urban Redevelopment Authority realised how Singapore's rising development threatened to destroy our heritage. You may think, what exactly is the importance of preserving our own Chinese history? As a large percentage of Singaporeans are Chinese, would it not be ashamed if we do not even know what our culture is and how we have come about? Look at the new generation of Chinese students, most of them do not even know their culture, roots and language.


   A Singaporean lady (in her 50s) we interviewed have mentioned a point which I absolutely agree on; 'The government is trying to make the new look old, but it is too late. There is no feel of the old chinatown anymore.'  Despite the 'new' chinatown being clean and orderly, old chinatown is still preferred. This shows the government's ineffectiveness in trying to preserve the area.

High rise buildings, constructions, shopping centres and flats are all signs of a modernized and commercialized area. Compare this to the wet markets, night markets and the many roadside hawkers before. These were all removed in 1983. Some may argue that they are still present in Chinatown today, however, it has been reformed. Instead of the vibrant and buzzing and trading going on in the past, it is now a well-planned and orderly manner that has robbed Chinatown of its liveliness. Some even describe it as 'ghostly' due to its quietness. It is now an image of a wealthy, modern Singapore targeting at tourists. Many of the stallholders we have interviewed claim that locals seldom visit Chinatown nowadays (except during festive seasons). They are all replaced by tourists.

  (Chinatown, c. 1970s. Copyright National Archives of Singapore and
             Urban Redevelopment Authority)

Has Chinatown become only a tourist attraction? 
It has become a 'built heritage' rather than a living one that has persisted for many generations. Although shophouses have been preserved by the government, but their way of life, the spirit of street hawkers in the past are long gone.  


Moreover, with the government's efforts to build a multi-cultural society, Chinatown is not mainly Chinese anymore, unlike the past  Now, there are many Malays and Indians setting up stalls there. Foreigners also own a significant number of shops. 


Chinatown is not Chinatown anymore. Old Chinatown is what is preferred by many whom have grown up with it. What is present now is a whole new Chinatown. Though the government is trying to preserve old buildings and liven up Chinatown to be what it is like before. But, what is taken away cannot be brought back easily. Old Chinatown seems to have long disappeared. 

How identity has been promoted in Chinatown.

street stalls

  However, the government did put in some measures to promote identity as well. The Urban Redevelopment Authority in the 1980s planned to preserve buildings as a 'built heritage' aiming to preserve what is left of the architecture and atmosphere of the area. In the late 90s, the Singapore Tourism Board came up with a plan to revitalise the area with Chinese-themed streets. Those that are preserved as a built heritage would be shophouses and street stalls. 


Chinatown still retains a predominantly Chinese character despite the coexistence of other races. Some evidence from the site are: 
1. advertisements, posters at Chinatown MRT mostly in Chinese
2. shops sell mostly things catered towards Chinese like Chinese accessories, clothings, antiques, food, furniture and ornaments            
3. chinese decorations along streets eg. lanterns

ornaments, antiques

Food Street

The Singaporean Tourism Board had organised Food Street, Bazaar Street, Festive Street and Tradition Street in the 1980s. Food Street is still being organised till today in Smith Street. It aims to add life to the area. However, the rest of the events were either cancelled or modified as it was still not the old chinatown that Singaporeans wanted to see. Tradition Street has been modified to night markets while the other two events were cancelled. 


Also, the Chinatown Heritage Centre in Pagoda Street was set up as part of the government's efforts to showcase the lives and original interiors of shophouses to relive the past and allow visitors to understand our cultural and traditional lives. This can remind and educate us of the old chinatown so that we will not forget it's true and most original identity.

Common Space in Chinatown

Common space in Chinatown: (Pagoda Street, Smith Street, Temple Street)  

-Coffee shops

-People's Park Shopping Centre

-Chinatown Complex

-Chess area 
-Events

These are some areas where people from different races, background and ideas interact with each other. Everyone in Singapore are free to go to these places. Events like singing competition and dancing practices are organised. Banners attract people and they gather to watch performances. The chess area in the bottom picture shown also facilitates interaction among people, mostly old folks. 


These interactions are important as the people will recognise themselves as members of the community, compromise with one another as well as create a common identity among themselves in Chinatown, cultivating a sense of belonging. 


Having temples for different faiths built in Chinatown like the Sri Mariamman Temple for the Indians, Al-Abrar Mosque for the Malays and Thian Hock Keng Temple for the Chinese, it allows the interaction between different races and religion. This peaceful co-existence of the different places of worship in the same area reflects our racial and religious harmony. This is especially important we are a multi-cultural society. Co-existing harmoniously prevents race riots and racial tensions. 


However, though this common space aims to create a common identity, it is diluting the orginal identity of Chinatown as more and more people that are not Chinese are gathering there. Moreover, those people who prefer old chinatown much more than the new chinatown (mostly middle-aged to elderly Chinese) would not have a sense of rootedness to the place. This defeats the purpose of having common space. 

Suggestions to enhance commonality and identity of Chinatown

In my opinion, enhancing sense of commonality would affect the identity of Chinatown as common space is a contradiction to the identity of having mainly Chinese in Chinatown. However, as common space is important for the country, it cannot be excluded from Chinatown. There is quite a lot of common space in Chinatown currently hence I do not think anymore should be created but more efforts should be put to develop the current ones so as to facilitate a much more effective interation. At the same time, the identity of Chinatown can be further preserved as well by bringing in elements of the old chinatown etc. 


Most stallholders have reflected that there are no activities going on or at least most of them have not heard of any. According to a Chinese antique shopkeeper, there is not much efforts by the government to promote multi-cultural activities. Hence, suggestions to have an effective common space would be to organise more events that allow the participant of all races for example a cooking competition. Flyers and brochures can be given out to all stallholders and residents living in Chinatown to inform them of the events and encourage them to participate by perharps including attractive prizes to be won. 

coffee shop 

Coffee shops can also include a wider and larger variety of food catered to all races like chicken rice (Chinese), Nasi Lemak (Malay), Roti Prata (Indian). Shopping centres can sell Malay and Indian clothings and accessories as well.  


As for ways to enhance the identity of Chinatown, authentic Chinese arts such as Chinese calligraphy, dancing, drama and martial arts can be displayed along the streets or in museum or theatre for showcasing. Bullock carts and trishaws can be placed along the streets for display as well. More street stalls and night markets should be set up as well to liven up Chinatown. 

Reflection

My suggestions on enhancing the sense of commonality and identity of Chinatown can bring about better interactions between people from different races and backgrounds and at the same time can help preserve more on Chinatown's identity. 

Though there are currently activities organised at a wide space area at Smith street, but not many people are aware of it. There is only a banner at the event site. Residents and shopkeepers at other streets of Chinatown such as Pagoda Street and Temple Street would not be able to know of this event as no flyers or advertisements are prepared by the government to promote the activity. Thus, my suggestion of using flyers and advertisements to spread the news to the other streets would gain more attention and people might be interested to attend the event. This facilitates more interaction and communication between the people to integrate a strong sense of belonging towards Chinatown in them. However, with this, it is not enough to ensure an effective common space for the people. The area has to be utilised effectively such as to have events once or twice every week or to organise events that require interaction among people. A cooking competition or a game that needs teamwork would be good enough to bond the people. Coffee shops selling all types of foods can bring together the different races as well. Everyone can have a taste of how Indian, Malay and Chinese food tastes like. This allows us to know more about the different cultures.  

I believe an effective common space can be created from the above suggestions. People in Chinatown will interact more and gradually gain mutual trust and understanding towards each other. This builds up a multi-cultural society with everyone living together and socialising with one another harmoniously. Also, with the help of common space, new migrants and new residents in Chinatown can integrate into the society easily and get to know more people. 

Having a common space cultivates a sense of common identity among people in Chinatown. In my opinion, this identity is different from the past identity of Chinatown which I feel has already been lost with the government's redevelopment efforts. However, some of it can still be preserved. From what I have gathered through interviews, people want the feeling of old chinatown back. Though what is lost cannot be replaced easily, but I believe that bringing in some elements of old chinatown can recur memories in people and instill their feelings for Chinatown. Displaying chinese arts, bullock carts, trishaws and re-creating more night markets and street stalls can preserve a trace of the identity of the old Chinatown and improve on the identity of the current chinatown. Culture can be shown through the form of arts, giving and reliving the identity of Chinatown. Bullock carts and trishaws remind people of past images of chinatown and how the chinese name of chinatown comes about. Night markets and street stalls can liven up the area.


Identity of Chinatown coexist with its common space to give people (residents, shopkeepers, migrants of chinatown) a sense of belonging to the place. 

        

References

David Lowenthal: China as Built Heritage (n.d.) http://www.hsse.nie.edu.sg/staff/blackburn/HeritageChinatownasbuiltheritage.html 15 April 2012

Karl Hack: Chinatown as a Microcosm of Singapore (n.d.) http://www.hsse.nie.edu.sg/staff/blackburn/ChinatownHistory.pdf 16 April 2012

Chinatown Heritage Centre (n.d.) http://www.chinatownheritagecentre.com.sg/explore.php 17 April 2012

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong 2009 National Day Rally Transcript (16th August, 2009) http://www.pmo.gov.sg/content/pmosite/mediacentre/speechesninterviews/primeminister/2009/August/national_day_rallyspeech2009part4shapingsingaporetogether.html 17 April 2012

Mr Doraisingam S. Samuel: History of Old Singapore Chinatown (2012) http://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/singapore/facts_old_singapore/329/history_of_old_singapore_chinatown.php 15 April 2012