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.