Another Walk Down Memory Lane

On Thursday 28 October 2010 I walked down Joo Chiat memory lane one more time. I acceded to a request for an interview by a seocnd year student in the Faculty of Real Estate, National University of Singapore. He is doing a project about building conservation and urban planning in Joo Chiat. We met at the junction of Joo Chiat Road/Dunman Road. After our conversations we walked along Joo Chiat Road towards Geylang Serai to view some of the conserved Peranakan shophouses and terraced houses. I also showed him the sites where some old buildings with archtectural significant and styles once stood but has now been replaced by modern buildings.

When we arrived at a block of 3 storey building bounded by Joo Chiat Road/a big drain and Onan Road, I pointed out to him that previously a bungalow with large compound occupied that entire block of building. The  property was then own by a Chinese towday known as towkay kelong because he had many fishing stakes off Marine Parade beach. In 1959 a fish jetty was built for the fishermen to bring their catch for sale to the

fish mongers in Joo Chiat and Changi markets. The jetty was directly opposite the end part of Joo Chiat Road.

Fish Jetty

We continued our walk. When we came to the vacant land between Joo Chiat Terrace and Joo Chiat Complex, I was overwhelm with nostalgia. On this empty land once stood the house that I grew up. Behind my house was an attap kampong  where some of my childhood friends lived.  We played marbles, gasing and flied kites together in the open ground near an old school. Chew Joo Chiat also had his residence on the same plot of vacant land. His house was a 3 storey building with a front balcony at the top level facing Joo Chiat Road. Across the road directly opposite his house, he built a permanent wayang stage (Chinese opera house) and engaged Teochew hi (opera troupe) to perform shows during his birthday. He watched the shows from the balcony with his family and friends. In 1980s all the buildings on the vacant land were acquired by the authority for development. But todate it remains an empty land.  Building conservation status in Singapore started in 1970. In 1993, more than 20 years later Joo Chiat area was granted the conservation status. Since the URA has no specific plan to develop the land for so long, why was it necessary to demolish Chew's residence then? The building could have been conserved to show case its historical significant. It is no use crying over spilt milk, but I am just thinking aloud.

Chew Joo Chiat's residence once stood on the empty land

Teochew opera

                                Elevation Plan of wayang stage

Foor Plan of Chew Joo Chiat's residence

A Malay Grandson

My Grand Father

I am searching for one of Chew Joo Chiat's grandson. He is my father's half brother and also my uncle. The differnece is, his mother is a Malay. Nevertheless, he is still my uncle and a close relative. He has a Chinese name but later changed it to a Malay name. The last I saw him was when his father (my grandpa) passed away in 1947. He came to pay his last respect to his father. His last known address was at Jalan Eunos. It is more than half a century ago and I am sure he had moved to a new address. He and his family deserve a place in Chew Joo Chiat's family tree which I am still building. Any of his family members or anyone who knows this family can contact me.

The Peranakan Town

In the recent issue of the Peranakan magazine I was surprised to learn that there was so much talk about making Joo Chiat a Peranakan Town. It is most appropriate to give Joo Chiat this honour for the Peranakan culture is very much alive here. Joo Chiat district has rich heritage of Peranakan buildings with mixed motifs of different cultures. There are Peranakan antique shops, tailors making sarong kebaya, many Nonya food restuarants and the Peranakan community. Now there is a forging of ties between the Peranakan Association and the Joo Chiat community club to take the Peranakan culture to a wider community and eventually making Joo Chiat a Singapore Peranakan hub.

There are organisations in Singapore that keep Peranakan culture and traditions alive. The most outstanding are the Peranakan Association and Gunong Sayang. Less known is a small group of Peranakan senior citizens in Marine Parade formed in 2009 to actively promote their culture and traditions. They are members of Good Life, an organisation sponsored by the Catholic Welfare Association for senior citizens in Marine Parade. The group consists of Peranakan women age from 70 to 80 plus. They dressed in sarong kebaya to sing and dance at functions such Christmas, Lunar New Year and recently Singapore National Day. All the 3 events were graced by Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong. During the Christmas party at Block 34, SM Goh went up the stage to dance rongeng with the elderly bibiks.

The group is now looking for volunteer musicians to accompany their singing and dance performance. Can anyone help?

Pictures and video of Lunar New Year 2010

Pictures and video of Christmas 2009

KING OF KATONG

"Chew Joo Chiat came to be known as the undisputed King of  Katong in the 1930s" said Chew's grandson Lee Beow Guan in the book JOO CHIAT a living legacy. The book was published in 2001 by the Joo Chiat Consultative Committee in association with the National Archives of Singapore.

The National Library of Singapore used the title The King of Katong in a poster to advertise my talk there on 30 August 2008. The topic of my talk was 'how I traced my family history' and not on the King of Katong in particular. The next organisation to use the phrase 'King of Katong' was the Joo Chiat Grassroots Organisations in its 5th issue Apr-Jun 2010 quarterly newsletters to Joo Chiat Constituency residents. Copy of the newsletter is shown below.

 

As Chew's great grandson, I am very proud of him being known as the King Katong. But my intuition told me it could not be true. I am a very close member of Chew's family and I have not heard of it mentioned by my parents or grand parents when they were still alive. In the case of how Joo Chiat Road got its name, the matter was talked about from one generation to another. My grand son was so proud of his heritage that he told his teacher about it. My conscience was pricking me without probing the matter further. Finally I decided to investigate and went to the Lee Kong Chian Reference Library to do my research. I browse throught the micro films, books and publications of Joo Chiat. The result was zero. Therefore, Chew Joo Chiat became the undisputed King of Katong was not substantiated.

Below are some of the articles about Chew Joo Chiat and the roads named after him, but there was no mention that he was known as the King of Katong.

 

 

My purpose of this post is tell the true story of Chew Joo Chiat. I noticed some websites still state that Chew Joo Chiat was a wealthy Peranakan land owner when he was a Chinaman.

Reminiscence

Recently I met Ah Heng, an old Joo Chiat neighbour. We talked about the good old days of more than half a century ago. He was a teenager then living in a kampong behind my house at Joo Chiat Road. As a teenager he did many odd jobs for a living until he landed a job as an assistant cook to Ah Hong, a live-in Peranakan cook to Chew Joo Chiat's daughter who was also my grand aunt. I remembered Ah Hong for he catered 'toh panjang' ( a long table displayed with Peranakan cuisine) lunch at my wedding.

Ah Heng was lucky to be his assistant. Ater a few years he was very skillful at cooking Peranakan food that Guan Hoe Soon, a restaurant at Joo Chiat Road employed him as the chief cook. He left the restaurant's service soon after he got married. The newly wed couple started a Peranakan food catering business inside their house at Pennyfather Road. His food business was a success for the residents of Joo Chiat and Katong loved to eat his cookings. I was one of his regular customers. I remembered often seeing a long queue of people at his door steps waiting to collect the sumptious food in a tingkat (a tiffin carrier) home for dinner. Those who came in motor vehicles some time double parked on the road causing traffic jam at Pennyfather Road as well as the side roads resulting in complaints to the authority. His food catering business at his house was illegal. He closed shop and moved his business to a licensed premises at East Coast Road between Jago Close and Chapel Road. Business was good but age caught up with him. A few years later he retired from the business.

My wife comes from a Peranakan family. When we got married she had no cooking experience at all. Today Peranakan cuisine is her speciality. In the past Chinese New Year reunion dinner she produced a varity of Peranakan cuisine, such as buah kulak, kiam chye arh, itek sioh, babi pontay, sambal udang, bak wan kepentin, arti babi bungkus, ngo hiang, nonya noodle with pineapple salad, curry chicken etc. On new year's day visitors arriving at my place in an unending flow from morning to night. They were served with nonya mee siam, laksa and a few other items.

Years ago I remembered my wife's nephew was the life of the party. He gathered all his young cousins to play a game of dices called 'si gor luck'. He always played the banker while the others bet on the numbers. There was so much excitement and noises when he rolled the dices. All the people who crowded around him shouted in unison 'si gor luck!' which were the winning numbers.

This Tiger Year we shall miss all our guests who visited us annually as we shall be leaving home for a holiday. I am sure they too will miss us. We broke the tradition for the first time to be away from home on Chinese New Year's day. I felt sentimental when viewing past video clips that showed guests at my place on new year's day. I love the crowd, the noises they made as well as their laughters. Below are video clips showing guests during the past Chinese New Year and my wife's Peranakan food.


2009 Chinese New Year guests


My wife's Peranakan cuisine

Joo Chiat Walking Tour

The Straits Times has a Special Travel page every Tuesday. On Tuesday November 10 2009 it published an article about The Best Travel Experience Award won by Betal Box Backpacker Hostel at Joo Chiat Road. I know the Company's director Tony Tan and sent him a congratulatory message. I was curious to know how a small hostel like Betel Box could outdo the big guys in town. According to him his walking tours of Joo Chiat and Katong took about 4 to 8 hours and could go on to 12 hours including night tour. My elderly foreign friends joined his youthful hostel guests for the Joo Chiat walking tour on Saturday 13 November 2009. For me the Joo Chiat walking tour was my walk down memory lane. The tour group had briefing at Tony's hostel about the three main ethnic groups in the area. He also talked about the Eurasains, the Peranakan in Katong and the holiday bungalows by the sea along the East coast before the WWII.

We left the Betel Box Hostel for our first destination, the Kuan Im Temple at Tembling Road/Joo Chiat Lane junction. I remember the railway lines at Joo Chiat Lane which was disused after the war. On my way to school I used to do balancing act by walking on the metal rail. Kuan Im Temple was another nostalgic place. My grandmother visited the temple quite often and I had to tag along. I had a phobia for the 4 large idols (door gods), 2 on each side of the prayer hall. I liked the wall paintings of the inner halls. The first inner hall paintings on the wall was about filial piety. One painting showed a woman breastfed the mother-in-law during famine while her baby waited by the side. Another showed a son bare his body for the mosquitoes to bite him so that his father lying by the side would be spared. There were altogether 24 filial piety paintings. The inner most hall had wall paintings of hell depicting the 18 types of punishment for sinners.

Our next stop was at Kim Choo Kueh Chang. While Tony was explaining to the group about the meat dumpling and the story behind it, my mind was focusing on an apartment block across the road opposite the shop. Thereat once stood a permanent wayang stage and a Chinese temple facing it. The two buildings were built by my granduncle. Whenever there was a wayang performance I would be there, not to see the show but to watch kids playing tikam tikam ( a game of chance) and hawker selling beh leh ko (malt sugar) by twisting the candy. Another type of beh leh ko could be made into the shape of a fish and frog by blowing the malt sugar into a mould. I liked to watch artist making figurines from dough of various colours. The most expensive and difficult to make was the Chinese warrior and the cheapest was the cockerel figurine.

Now

Before

On our way to Joo Chiat Road we stopped at a fruit shop and Tony bought some mangosteens for the group to eat and experienced our local fruit. We walked passed the vacant land next to Joo Chiat Hotel. Chew Joo Chiat's residence and my former house were on the same vacant land. The place reminded me of my childhood. The lane from the main road and the kampong behind my house was my playground. The two gable walls separated by a lane was my canvas. As a kid I like to draw. Even at my present home I continued to paint on the walls until some time ago.

At Joo Chiat Road Tony took us to the 17th level of an HDB block for a panoramic view of the area. The sky was bright and clear and we could recognise the landmarks far away. Looking downwards we saw the Malay Village, Geylang Serai Market and the former Singapura Theatre. We moved to the right corner of the common corridor to see the eastern part of Singapore. The sea was within view and I could see my point block home at Marine Parade. There was also many ocean going ships anchored near the coast.

It was already passed noon and we had our lunch at Geylang Serai Market food centre. We spent about half an hour there before proceeding to Malay Village. There was nothing of interest in the village. It was almost deserted. We took a few photographs at the main building for souviner. We crossed the road to Haig Road HDB housing estate and Tony bought some Peranakan cakes from Bengawan Solo cake shop. Sheng Siong Supermart was nearby. Tony led the group there to show our foreign guests the live seafood such as fish, crabs, frogs, cockles and others. He bought some mooncakes for the group.

We gathered at a semi-circular gallery to sample all the cakes bought by Tony. He had a story to tell with each type of cake including the moon cake festivals. At this point our walking tour ended. It started at 9.30 am and finished at about 3.30 pm. I have never come across a walking tour that lasted so long (6 hours). It covered only Joo Chiat area. What about Katong? Maybe another 6 hours. It is truely the best travelling experience for the tourists.

Map of Joo Chiat Walking Tour

Elderly group joining the youngster for the walk

Walking tour started from Betel Box Hostel

Kuan Im Temple

Kim Choo Kueh Chang shop

Level 17 panoramic view of the area

Panoramic view looking east and the sea


Geylang Serai Market


Geylang Serai Market food center


Front View of Geylang Serai Market



Malay Village

At Sheng Siong Supermart

End of Joo Chiat Walking Tour

Unique Crossed Road Junction

Bird's eye view of the unique road junction

This unique crossed road junction refers to four roads of different names converging at the common traffic light junction. The roads are Geylang Serai, Changi Road, Joo Chiat Road and Geylang Road.

Briefly, Geylang Serai was a Malay Settlements before. They lived in kampong houses as shown in the pictures below. After Singapore became independence in 1965, they were resettled to nearby HDB housing estates such as Eunos, Chai Chee and Marine Parade.


Photo credit to the book on Geylang Serai



Photo credit to the book on Geylang Serai

Photo credit to the book on Geylang Serai

Malay Village at Geylang Serai (now)

This was followed by landscape changes in the area. A Malay Village was built on one side of Geylang Serai to showcase the past kampong living of the Malays in the area. On the other side was the Geylang Serai wet market cum food centre. There was no permanent stall. The hawkers in the food centre had to provide their own stalls, tables and chairs. Around the market were 3 blocks of flats with shops on the ground floor.

Photo credit to the book on Geylang Serai

Photo credit to the book on Geylang Serai

In 2006 due to the redevelopment of the area, the hawkers in Geylang Serai market cum food centre moved to a temporary shed at Sims Ave opposite the Malay Village (picture below).

They were given proper hawker stalls with fixed tables and chairs for customers to eat their food.

Geylang Serai temporary market cum food centre

The landscape at Geylang Serai will change further when the hawkers at the temporary market cum food centre move into their permanent home on 13 July 2009.

New Geylang Serai market cum food centre

Opposite Geylang Serai is Joo Chiat, a predominant Chinese area where most of the shops were Chinese owned. There were a few Indian muslims shops selling provision/spices and shops that ground cereals into flour but not a single Malay shop. There were two wet market adjacent to each other. One was facing Changi Road and the other was facing Joo Chiat Road. Both markets were demolished and is replaced by Joo Chiat Complex, a shopping centre. At Joo Chiat Road opposite Joo Chiat Complex were 2 blocks of pre-war shophouses (picture below) separated by a narrow side lane where Javanese food hawkers took up position every evening to sell satay, mee rebus, mee siam. soto ayam and others.

Photo credit to the book on Geylang Serai

The 2 blocks of shopshouses at Joo Chiat/Geylang Road junction were rebuilt into a 3 and 4 storey buildings with shops on the ground floor, thus completed the changes of the 4 corners at this unique road junction. This crossed roads is also unique not only there are landscape transformations but also changes in business community. The influx of Malay businessmen and entrepreneurs into Joo Chiat is sight never seen before. There are more Malay shops than the Chinese now. Maju lah, Geylang Serai!

Joo Chiat Complex and the new 4 storey shophouses