History.Heritage.People
What stories can be told from everyday places?
Documenting my heritage adventures.
NHB Work Attachment - Nov '22
A 3D scan of
The Chinese High Clock Tower Building
Not many can say that they work at a place which has a building that is gazetted as a national monument - I am one of the lucky few as a teacher in Hwa Chong Institution (HCI). While staff and students can see and walk past the historical landmark on a daily basis, being able to step inside is another thing altogether. The top of the Clock Tower is kept under lock and key so imagine my excitement when I was able to access it as part of my MOE Teacher Work Attachment (TWA) with The National Heritage Board (NHB) in November 2022.
Completed in 1925, the Clock Tower Building is one of the few surviving Swan & Maclaren buildings from that period that reflected a move towards modernism in Singapore’s architectural history. During World War II, the Clock Tower Building with its height and vantage point by both the Japanese and British troops as a surveillance point. In the post-war period, the Clock Tower Building also witnessed the tumultuous period of the 1950s and 60s when the school campus was rife with student activism.
Check out the final product of my attachment here - a 3D imaging scan of the Clock Tower.
Chinese Clan Associations
(Telok Ayer & Ann Siang Hill)
Clan Associations - Cultural Corridors
Then vs. Now
Chinese clan associations (huiguan) found in Chinatown can be traced back to the Raffles Town Plan which designated the south bank of the Singapore River as a Chinese kampong. Chinese huiguan were generally grouped in two ways - the first was based on where their members came from while the second was based on ties of kinship. For Chinese immigrants who arrived in Singapore, huiguan played many important economic, cultural and social roles but the role of the huiguan diminished after Singapore gained independence in 1965. As the Singapore government and its agencies such as Community Centres (CCs) took care of the people’s welfare needs. Many huiguan faced an existential crisis and either closed down or remained dormant. Those that remain recognised that working with the government and assuming the function of being a bastion of Chinese traditional culture and values was necessary to stay relevant. Researching for my paper also became a family activity to find out more about our roots when we visited my husband's Nanyang See Clan Association.
URA Work Attachment - Dec '19
Telok Ayer - a microcosm of multiculturalism
In December 2019, I did a work attachment with the Urban Redevelopment of Singapore (URA) and a deliverable was to design a heritage trail. Instead of covering the typical sights in Chinatown, I decided to focus on two sub-districts - Telok Ayer and Ann Siang Hill. Developed in the 1820s, Telok Ayer was situated along the old shoreline of Singapore and was a landing ground for immigrants. The arrival of overseas Chinese migrants resulted in a concentration of temples and clan associations around Telok Ayer, Amoy Street and Ann Siang Hill. Interestingly, many other ethnic groups also lived and worked in this area as evident in the presence of the Nagore Durgha Shrine and the Al-Abrar Mosque. The oldest Chinese-speaking Methodist Church was also set up in Telok Ayer.
Check out the story of Telok Ayer here by Google Arts & Culture.
The Old National Library
The Red Brick Library at Stamford Road
The inspiration for my History Honours Thesis came to me late one night as I was lamenting about the chicken wings I used to eat at the old National Library cafe. On 31 March 2004, the National Library (NL) at Stamford Road opened its doors for the last time. In reaction to the news that the NL was going to be demolished, there was a rare display of civic activism by a vocal minority over the building’s fate. The redbrick edifice had become an integral part of the lives of many Singaporeans who had grown used to the familiar façade. However, it did not possess sufficient merit to be accorded the status of a gazetted national monument.
Years later, many continue to use the case study of the old NL to illustrate the competing uses and interpretations of heritage in Singapore. Today, there is a new NL but it isn't the same, especially for those who grew up visiting the old NL. Today, what is left of the old NL are two red pillars in-between the Singapore Management University and the National Museum of Singapore. Today, all that is left of the old NL is a gallery in the basement of the new NL where at least one can go to feel the familiar red bricks once again.