Girl with the Rosebuds: Chinatown Heritage Centre

Because i was bored cooped up at home only for the 2nd day of holidays, i decided to take a trip down to Chinatown to see the heritage centre. I've been there a couple of times before but it doesn't hurt to go there again since i've forgotten almost all the exhibits and artifacts there. Plus this time, i'm going alone for the first time :)

So i don't have to be disturbed by whoever i was accompanied with to look at some other exhibit when i was looking at another or telling me to read the information faster and move etc. Plus, i want some quiet 'me' time :3

"Every face has a story to tell

and every story seeks to be heard"

Located within beautiful shophouses and surrounded by thousands of chinese new year decorations (i think the CNY celebrations have just ended), the Chinatown Heritage Centre is located along Pagoda Street. In it are stories told and retold by people from the past, the way our predecessors lived and struggled to make ends meet... and braved the unknown.

This was one of the first few things i saw that caught my eye. How the early migrants prayed to be able to reach the port of Singapore safely. The conditions upon which they had to be to reach Singapore is a marvelous feat, hundreds died on the way, even children whose corpses were just tossed into the sea to provide more space for people on board, not even given a proper burial. To think they came to Singapore just to provide money for their loved ones only to be taken away at such a young age and never see them again... is just saddening for me.

When i saw a board of chinese surnames, immediately, i went to mine, 谢. It wasn't very interesting though, just showcased roots of my surname cause my ancestors were most likely born elsewhere.

Look at the dingy furniture back then,. The picture below is actually a replica of an old teahouse called Da Dong Tea House the way it used to be back in the 50s to 60s.

And then there were magazines. I've watched shows that copied the era back then. People would pay a few cents just to read the books, comics or magazines available in the small booth/store and just sit on a stool to read them. I think i might have been one of these people, read stuff like those just to pass my time.

Marketplace back then, look at the old baskets holding those ingredients. There was even snakes and stuff like that. Thank god people don't sell stuff like that nowadays in Singapore, or at least anywhere in Singapore i know.

lightswitch, i tried flicking them a couple of times cause you don't see these kind of things nowadays :)

All these, the walkways, staircases, toliets etc. are an exact replica of what used to be an old 2/3 storey house, each small room or more like a cubicle than a room was 2m square big (and a house could be divided into 30 such rooms) A lady who used to live there said in one of the many audio interviews the following:

"If all of us laid on the ground, the cubicle could best fit 6 people"

Each house had 2 or 3 toilets so about 10 cubicles of people shared the same toilet. Lets just imagine the worst case scenario...

10 cubicles x 6 people = 60 people

It's 60 people to one freaking toilet!

Oh and have i mentioned that they also share the same kitchen?

At this point of time, a chinese dialect speaking guide brought a group of chinese towards an exhibit near me as i was looking at one of the cubicles that used to house carpenters. At the same time, there were loud talking and shouts from the tour group as well as ruckus from a couple of children. Before this, i could never have understood how much trouble people in the cubicles had just to get to sleep but now, i knew. Every second, some loud conversation pipes up and another time as soon as that died down, the children started up followed by the tour guide's talking. There was just so much noise that i couldn't even hear myself think until the group left. It was then that i finally understood what an old samsui woman from a video interview said:

"When i left Chinatown for my new home in Red Hill, i missed my old cubicle, the familiar food scents that would waft in from the street below... But one thing i wasn't going to miss was the constant noise from my neighbours"

Imagine youself trying to walk down these steps, an exact replica of the steps in the past, probably much easier to walk than how it was supposed to be. I had to hold on to the handrail for fear of falling or tumbling down.

A tailor who were followed by his apprentices apparently, was the wealthiest among everybody in the shophouse. He had a toilet and a kitchen just for him and his entourage. The others in the upper level who were coolies, carpenters, ma jies etc. had to share the same kitchen and shower that were all located in the same room!