Chinatown

Article By: Sook

3 years ago

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Settlement-Community Settlement-Neighbourhood

Looking at the Chinatown of today, one can never imagine the delipidated and filthy conditions the Chinese immigrants of the past lived in. When the British arrived in Singapore in 1819, they begin working to segregate ethnic groups according to various territories along the Singapore River. Chinatown for the Chinese, Kampong Glam for the Malays, Little India for the Indians and the Europeans in European Town. Contrary to its name, Chinatown is not exclusively Chinese. In fact, Singapore's Chinatown is the only Chinatown in the world where a Buddhist temple (Buddha Tooth Relic Temple & Museum), Mosque (Masjid Jamae) and Hindu temple (Sri Mariamman Temple) coexist peacefully on one single street. Chinatown actually consists of five different precincts - Tanjong Pagar, Bukit Pasoh, Kreta Ayer, Telok Ayer and Ann Siang. From two-storey colonial shophouses to the sprawling 50-storey Duxton Pinnacle, from traditional Chinese teahouses to hip bars, from uncles dressed in singlets playing chess in Kreta Ayer Square to businessmen dressed in crisp button-downs holding a cup of Starbucks while rushing to their next appointment - this unlikely combination of the old and new created the unique unspoken charm that Chinatown has. 1st photo by Albert Vincent Wu, 2nd by Simone Fischer, 3rd by NICHOLAS LOO, 4th and 5th by Lily Banse on Unsplash