More sizzle and soul for Chinatown, please

The place has morphed into a commercial and tourism-driven district. We need to revive its lived-in spirit.

- Chin Soo Fang

The time is now. The Chinatown Heritage Centre in Pagoda Street has just reopened in January following a revamp. Besides trying to bring back the sights and sounds of Chinatown's yesteryears, it aims to be a community space, working with other groups in the precinct to support local events.

Meanwhile, Smith Street is being rejuvenated by the Chinatown Business Association with new tenants to bring back its vibrancy and drive greater footfall to the area.

Chinatown Complex will also undergo upgrading. Repairs and redecorations will be carried out as part of Jalan Besar Town Council's cyclical maintenance. The scope and schedule have yet to be determined.

There is no better time to remake Chinatown, and hopefully, revive its old school charm and colour.

A DISTRICT IN TRANSITION

Chinatown's origins trace back to the 1822 Raffles Town Plan, when Sir Stamford Raffles designated the area southwest of the Singapore River as the Chinese settlement.

A bustling hub for Chinese immigrants, the area pulsed with vernacular culture—Teochew opera in street-side theatres, Cantonese medical halls mixing herbal concoctions, and Hokkien hawkers haggling at night street stalls.

Despite its name, it has always been a multicultural district with significant Indian and Malay presences. Besides the Thian Hock Keng Temple and the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, the Sri Mariamman Hindu temple stands in harmonious proximity to Jamae Mosque.

But Chinatown has seen its struggles. By the mid-20th century, it was notorious for overcrowding, poor sanitation and dilapidated housing. Urban renewal projects were launched in the 1960s to address these issues. Residents were relocated to new public housing estates, and street hawkers were moved into the Kreta Ayer Complex (now Chinatown Complex).