Chinatown Heritage Centre
Located in three newly restored shophouses at the ethnic quarters of Chinatown, the Chinatown Heritage Centre houses a wealth of memories and untold stories of how Singapore’s early forefathers had settled in this area after their perilous journey from afar. The Centre has a series of galleries describing the history of the Chinatown area as well as the stories of the immigrants who came here from coolies and rickshaw pullers to samsui women and other migrants. The real highlight of the Centre however are the cramped and dark rooms, corridors, stairs and kitchens that have been reconstructed as they were when people lived in the building. Learn about this rich history through exhibits that relate the real life stories of Chinatown’s former residents. Get a chance to see how each cubicle of a typical shophouse was like in the past, as each has been skillfully re-created based on the recollections of its former residents.
What’s inside Chinatown Heritage Centre:
Chinatown Coolie’s Cubicle - A group of young coolies occupied this cubicle, which also doubled up as an opium den. It is said that a fire once started here - caused by a careless opium smoker.
Chinatown Carpenter’s Family - Festivities are abound in the carpenter’s cubicle as he prepares for his newborn’s first month celebrations.
Heritage Centre’s Samsui Women - A group of thrifty Samsui women shared this little cubicle. Every morning, dressed in their characteristic red headgear, they would appear on the street, waiting to be taken to the construction sites for another day of gruelling work.
Chinatown Food Hawker’s Family - A family of hawkers who peddled cooked food lived here, including a young son who was an inveterate gambler.
Chinatown Shoe Seller - Ah Ngoh Chieh lived alone in this small room, with barely enough space for her to sleep or eat. Every day, the shoe seller would drag her sacks of shoes down the stairs when it was time to open her stall.
Chinatown Painter’s Family - House painter Mr Cheong had a family of five girls and three boys, a typical family in Chinatown. This cubicle portrays the life of the Cheong family sisters, who shared the room with their mother.
Heritage Centre’s Majie (Female Servants) - A group of four or five servants rented this cubicle. As uniformed ‘black-and-white’ servants, they lived with their employers, returning only twice a month to read letters from their homes in China and to catch up with friends.
Heritage Center’s The Seamstress - See Cheng, a seamstress, was adopted by a majie (female servant) when she was young. This cubicle is recreated from her memory of how her family’s room was like.
Chinatown Tailor’s Shop - Styled to recreate the glory of the tailoring business at Chinatown, this ground floor shophouse is an authentic replica of the many tailor shops that used to line Pagoda Street. Behind the shop front was the main workshop where assistants did the sewing, ironing and other tailoring work. Successful tailors may have had more than one shop and a small army of assistants and apprentices to help out. More affluent than the other occupants in the building, the tailor had his own rooms, one of which was occupied by his apprentices. He also had his own kitchen and the exclusive use of the airwell where his clothes could be hung out to dry.
