Today I made a trip down to Chinatown and was once again disheartened by the sight I saw. As compared to the times when I was young, Chinatown went through many changes. Just in Kreta Ayer alone, more than half of the shops there are selling tourist souvenirs, such as fans, chopsticks, Chinese translation of English names, and many others. All these items bear little link to the actual Chinese culture of the place. As compared to the days when I was young the place now is a place for tourist to visit, purely a tourist attraction or maybe just a place for people to experience the festive mood during Chinese related celebrations. The shops in the past sold many different things, ranging from Chinese decoration, such as firecrackers decoration, or lanterns to Chinese snacks sold in road side stalls, showcasing our Chinese culture, allowing the residents and visitors to know more about it and not just obtain Chinese related souvenirs. As said on a website, http://mojotrotters.com/2010/10/singapores-chinatown-is-kind-of-gay/, other people or tourists from other countries feel that Singapore’s Chinatown bears no resemblance to the usual Chinatowns, where they are supposed to be populated with ‘noisy fruit markets, chaotic grocery stores and a glut of no-frills restaurants’ instead of looking like a trendy neighbourhood with lines of 19th century houses with matching bright colours.
I went to search on the internet and found some pictures of how Chinatown used to look like in the past. The pictures are as shown below.
It used to be like that, with road side stalls and people hustling and bustling around.
The stalls there sold such items, especially so when the holiday is coming up. In this case, the upcoming holiday would be Chinese New Year, and the shop keeper is selling Chinese New Year decorations.
Another event that happens is the Moon Cake Festival, also known as the Lantern Festival. During this period of time, shop keepers at Chinatown would sell lanterns for children to play during that period of time.
And here are some pictures I took on my trip to Chinatown that day.
Not only are there shops which are selling things that are totally not related to Chinese culture, like
Perfumes Stores…
A Tintin Shop…
Camera and Electronics Shops…
Jewellery Shops…
There are also many shops which sells souvenirs as can be seen below. Ranging from,
Samurai Umbrellas,
To T-shirts and bags,
To fans and chopsticks,
To key chains,
To hand phone pouches,
Although Chinatown might still retain some of its Chinese essence, for example retaining a model of the trishaw, transportation device that was used in the past, as well as a statue of the Samsui women that used to work in Singapore
I wonder why must there be such a ‘change’, and with the change we lose the culture and essence of Chinatown , being a place where Chinese culture congregate. Change in itself isn’t bad, but too much or too drastic changes are not good as well. Too little change will lead to the place being left behind, in the fast pace of the society. Too much change will lead to the place losing its identity, culture and essence. People who had once felt for the place may slowly start to lose that feeling and memories for the place. For Chinatown , currently it is merely a place for people to tour, a tourist hotspot and occasionally to celebrate Chinese celebrations, such as the Chinese New Year or the Lantern Festival. Although it cannot be denied that the times have changed and Singapore Chinatown . Is there a need for so many stalls to sell the same thing? No, there isn’t.
Here, I would like to advocate for change. Not change to make the place back to what it originally was, back in the 50s or 60s, but change to make it into a place where people can come and say ‘hey, this place actually shows some of the Chinese culture’ or ‘this reminds me of the times when I was still young’.
Now, Chinatown is slowly changing into a modernised place where there are trendy shops along the supposedly traditional streets. Now, Chinatown is merely a name, a sign where people can refer to as ‘Chinatown ’. But what is really along the streets of ‘Chinatown ’, no one actually cares. In the past, in the 1800s, Chinatown was a place where migrants from China Chinatown was still a place where Chinese gathered and talk. But now, Chinatown is a place for tourists, for tourist to shop more than anything else. I want to try and change this. I want to try to change it into a place where people can actually experience the Chinese culture and essence of the place.
It may start off small, with just smaller change like regulating the shop houses in the area. The government could try to regulate the area and ensure that there are not too many shops selling souvenirs or things specially catered towards tourists. Shop houses which may bring back the essence of Chinatown may also be encouraged to open in the area. Shops selling Chinese books, crafts, food products and tea are such examples. Although the government have already been trying to retain the essence of Chinatown, such as retaining the buildings in the area and maintaining it such that it does not lose its aesthetic appeal, it is not enough. To bring back the essence of Chinatown , more needs to be done.
Not just by regulating the types of shop houses in the area, the government can also encourage street performers to perform Chinese related performances, such as erhu performances, along Chinatown . This will make Chinatown more vibrant and it will also bring back some of the lost culture of Chinatown . Although this might not be a huge step in changing Chinatown into one which will trigger memories or one which will allow others to understand Chinese culture more, however it will be a small step to the big goal. As the Chinese saying goes, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” (“千里之行，始于足下”) by Lao Tzu. No matter how small that step is, it will add to the big picture, like bricks placed one on top of the other, eventually building a wall.
However, this cannot be done with just me alone. I will need your help, the help of as many people as possible. So, I would like to ask you to help, the people that are currently reading this blog post. If you are affected by this post, please help me advocate for change. Change will make Chinatown a more real one, a place filled with Chinese culture.
Reference:
- Roberto Rocha (2010, October 10).
- Sengkang. (2006). Mid-Autumn Festival at
- Jpatokal. (2005). Stall selling Chinese New Year decorations [Photograph]. Retrieved from http://wikitravel.org/en/Image:Singapore_CNY_Tinsel.JPG
- _______. (____).
