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Ann Siang Hill

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Ann Siang Hill Ann Siang Hill was named a rich Chinese businessman, Chia Ann Siang (1832‒1892). The first name of the hill was named after it’s owner Charles Scott hence the name Scott’s Hill. He was a businessman who managed nutmeg and clove. It was then sold to another businessman called John Gemmill which the hill was renamed as Gemmill’s Hill. Chia Ann Siang was the third businessman who bought over the hill after Gemmill and hence had the hill named after him as well. For Mr Chia, he had his house and estate built on the hill instead using it for other types of businesses. Interestingly, there was a Malay school situated on the hill in the 1800s to provide education to the son of the Temenggong of Johor and royal members who wish to take up their education there. Businesses that were traditionally located here were letter writing, calligraphy and it was known for remittance houses to be set up there where Chinese immigrant workers are able to send money home to
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National Monuments

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National Monuments   Sri Mariamman temple Our first stop was the Sri Mariamman Temple, the first Hindu Temple in Singapore. It was built by Indian labourers commissioned by Mr Naraina Pillai in 1827. Mr Pillai was a clerk of the East India Company who followed Raffles to Singapore. The temple was initially made out of wood and attap but was later reconstructed using bricks in 1843 with the help of Indian convicts from India. Unfortunately, it was brought down in a fire that broke out in 1910. There were several other redevelopments through the decades as well, furnishing the temple with better structures and elaborate designs through the years.       The temple is situated at the intersection of Pagoda Street and Temple Street and such has resulted in the namings of the respective streets. The presence of a Hindu temple in a largely Chinese dominated area shows evidence that there was a substantial Indian community living or working in Chinatown during the time of
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Chinatown Heritage Centre

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Chinatown Heritage Centre Depiction of Local Lives During this part of the museum trail, the Chinatown Heritage Centre utilised an interactive approach to depicting the lives of Singaporeans living in the Chinatown shophouses. Visitors could touch or see exhibits donated to the museums while they listened to the narration of the stories behind these exhibits. Visitors can listen to audio recordings while they interact with museum exhibits. What was notable was the selection of narratives that were presented to museum visitors.   Framed through the lens of an “authentic” shophouse, the visitors are first introduced to the wealthier families who were living on the first floor.   It was the shop of a tailor where the front of the house was used business while the back was utilised just like any other home - an undivided space allocated for the living room, open-aired washroom and kitchen. They are taken through the daily routines of such families, such as watching
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About

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Next stop... Chinatown! Almost 70% of Singapore's population consists of Chinese and it is no surprise that there is a Chinatown for the Chinese. Likewise there were areas demarcated for the Malays, Indians and Eurasians as part of the Raffles Town Plan in 1828. Today, Chinatown, along with many parts of Singapore have become commercialized and urbanized. Through this blog, we are going to bring you through a side of Chinatown that is often overlooked. We embarked on a Heritage Trail in September this year and this was the path we took. Read on to find out more!
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5-foot Walkways

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5-foot W alkways and the Architecture of Buildings The way buildings were built then were very different from modern day Singapore. The current architecture of our buildings now evolved and adapt accordingly from past buildings. Shophouses as show in the picture above are the most popular shaped buildings here in Chinatown. Also known as Shophouses, these types of buildings were long in depth but short in width, usually comprising of 2 to 3 storeys high. The name shophouses suggests, that buildings like these were used as both for businesses and homes. The ground flow was meant to run a business whilst the second and third floor are more commonly used as living quarters for the Shop Owners and their family. Following the architecture of the houses are also the prominent walkways of the time -5 foot walkways .            Measuring just 5 foot long in width from shophouses, these walkways were were adopted from  Raffles Town plan to be able to provide resi
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Street Names and their Meanings

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Street Names and their Meanings   A Street Sign in Chinatown  During our heritage trail around Chinatown, we realised that there were many streets with notable street names and history. Also of note were the alternative names given by the various communities living in the area as this indicates their different experiences of this common space. We did a quick background research of the street names (that are circled on the map below) and found these info: Ann Siang Hill [1]   (see detailed report of Ann Siang Hill) Originally known as Scott’s Hill after Charles Scott, who owned the area around the hill. He sold it to John Gemmill who christened it as Gemmill’s Hill. The hill became known as Ann Siang Hill after it came to be owned by Chia Ann Sian. It was known as “Chui-lan teng” (Chui-lan pavilion) to the Hokkien, because a club named “Chui-lan” was located here. Smith Street [2]   Named after Cecil Clementi Smith, the Governor of Str
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