Chinatown and Tanjong Pagar may be heritage-rich precincts with Singapore's best restaurants, bars and boutique hotels. But have you ever been curious about what Chinatown and Tanjong Pagar looked like in the past?
As part of the Singapore Heritage Festival 2020, Ethos Books is bringing Where We Come From: Memories of Chinatown & Tanjong Pagar live on its Facebook page on June 20 from 10.30am to 11.45am. Three former residents, Charmaine Leung, Sarafian Salleh, and Chan Wai Han, bring together childhood memories of the 1970s and 80s. From businesses in Chinatown, family visits to the mosque and makam (tomb) at Bukit Palmer, and the old way of life in Keong Saik Road, listen to the memories of stories as told to them by their parents.
Charmaine Leung, author of 17A Keong Saik Road, grew up on the road in the 1970s and 1980s – living across a brothel which her mother operated. She returned to Singapore after living overseas for almost 20 years and discovered a vastly different Keong Saik Road.
The second speaker, Sarafian Salleh, has spent most of his spare time studying and researching the history of the Malay world. Since 2001, Sarafian has been photographing and documenting various Malay holy sites and cemeteries throughout Singapore – thus resulting in a collection of photographs and material of historical interest.
Lastly, Chan Wai Han will share vivid memories of her childhood at 45 Cantonment Road, her birth address. She tells us about her nostalgic moments, from her first pair of specs made at Chai Ming Optical Co to supper at Foot of the Big Tree in the 1960s and going for Cantonese opera at the Kreta Ayer People's Theatre with her grandma, aunt and mother.
Through the sharing sessions, Ethos Books aim to inculcate an appreciation of where we come from, so we can have a deeper appreciation of where we are today.