Singapore City Gallery & Chinatown Heritage Centre

It's school holidays for Sai Pi this week so it's a good time to go on excursions. We set off this morning for the Singapore City Gallery which is run by the Urban Redevelopment Authority. 

 

Outside the Singapore City Gallery (URA Centre) 

with Liu Jilin's "Samsui Women"

The first thing we did when we got there was to take part in a quiz hosted by Gurmit Singh which tests you on your knowledge of Singapore.  We took our places behind individual stands with A B C buttons, ready to pick our answers as the video played on the big screen.  We learnt some interesting facts from the quiz.  Did you know that Toa Payoh and Paya Lebar mean the same thing?  Toa Payoh is "big swamp" in Hokkien and Paya Lebar means "wide swamp" in Malay so they both refer to those areas being big swamp lands.  And now we know that the three tallest buildings in Singapore are Republic Plaza, UOB Plaza and OUB Centre.  All three are 280m tall, 66 storeys high.  In accordance with aviation regulations, no structure in Singapore can be more than 280m high.  You will find skyscrapers only in downtown Singapore because that is the only place far enough from any airport to allow buildings of that height.  Ahso!

Then it was on to the galleries each focusing on a different theme relating to Singapore's urban development. I was interested in exploring the history and conservation galleries but the girls were more excited about the architectural models. There were two - one 3D model of the whole of Singapore featuring all the buildings on the island (we believe we found our block), and the other one of the city centre.

3D model of the whole of Singapore with all buildings represented

We love shophouses!

I was amused by this quote from Lee Kuan Yew where he admitted that it was a mistake to have demolished many of the old and quaint buildings in Singapore as they were a valuable part of our cultural heritage (yup, agree) and they were what tourists found attractive and unique about us - alamak, who cares about the tourists?!  Yet another indication that economic considerations dictate policy making in Singapore.  No wonder the old National Library along Stamford Road was demolished; wouldn't earn us much tourism dollars.

When we were done at Singapore City Gallery, we crossed the road to have lunch at Maxwell Road Food Centre which started life in the 1950s as a wet market for the Chinatown area.  It was hard getting a seat as it was lunch hour and there were umbrellas and various items used to "chope" seats.  Poor office workers.  Tai Pi declared that when she grows up and works here, she would bring her own lunch instead of waiting around for a table.

After lunch, we headed off for the Chinatown Heritage Centre located at Pagoda Street.  Along the way, we popped into the Sri Mariamman Temple, Singapore's first Hindu temple.  It was built in 1823 by Naraina Pallai who arrived in Singapore together with Sir Stamford Raffles.


As we made our way along Pagoda Street, the girls were engrossed with the souvenir stalls while I lamented to myself the sad state of touristy Chinatown; that's progress for you.  Then we found ourselves at the Chinatown Heritage Centre which was haplessly lost among the shops selling silk robes, Merlion keychains, CDs and T-shirts.

It was certainly worth wading through the tacky souvenir shops to get to the Chinatown Heritage Centre because it gives an excellent glimpse into the lives of the early Chinese immigrants - the coolies, Samsui women, tailors, etc who made Chinatown their home.  The most interesting part of the museum was the Cubicle Living section which stretches over 2 levels and recreates the living quarters of the families who lived in such a shophouse, divided into little "cubicles".  There was Ah Ngoh Chieh, a shoe seller who lived alone in a tiny cubicle crammed with sacks of shoes and barely space for sleeping, and the painter with 5 daughters and 3 sons whose wife and daughters occupied a cubicle the size of my storeroom.  It was truly fascinating although Pumpkin was a little spooked by the dark interior.

Cubicle occupied by the painter's wife and 5 daughters.  

The painter and his 3 sons occupied a separate cubicle.

As we were leaving the Chinatown Heritage Centre, a group of school children were just being ushered in by their teacher.  Whew, we made it just in time to avoid the maddening crowd.

After that, we walked over to Eu Tong Sen Street to catch a cab home and along the way, took a picture with The Majestic and Yue Hwa Building.  The former was originally a cinema while the latter was The Great Southern Hotel (aka Nam Tin) until 1994.  The hotel opened in 1936, catering mainly to Chinese travellers and was the first Chinese hotel in Singapore with a lift.  The building now houses Yue Hwa department store, a far cry from its glamorous past.

Majestic Theatre and The Great Southern Hotel in the 1950s