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Visitors and Singapore residents can once again experience the Chinatown of the past when the Chinatown Heritage Centre (CHC) opens this July. Housed in three painstakingly restored shophouses at Pagoda Street, the CHC will showcase the rich heritage of Chinatown - the lifestyles, traditions and rituals of the people who lived and worked there.
The idea of setting up the CHC was first mooted during the conceptualisation of the Chinatown Experience Guide Plan (EGP). Launched in 1998, the EGP mapped out the strategy for re-vitalising the ethnic district. Various recommendations were proposed under this masterplan - the first of which to be implemented was the Chinatown Food Street launched late last year.
Mr Edmund Chua, Singapore Tourism Board's (STB) Deputy Director for Thematic Development commented: "The Chinatown Heritage Centre represents the next milestone in our efforts to rejuvenate Chinatown. The objective is to make the CHC the focal point for visitors when they visit Chinatown and offer them a more complete and memorable experience through understanding its rich history."
When completed, the CHC will form a heritage bank of memories, sights, sounds and smells of Chinatown. The main highlight of the Centre is the living cubicles and tailorshop in one of the shophouses. The CHC research team has gone to great length to trace back the past residents who used to live in that unit to give their input in re-creating the authentic living conditions of Chinatown then.
In addition, there will be 15 exhibition galleries that will showcase the trials and tribulation of Chinese migrants. Each gallery has been carefully designed to take the visitor through a journey to discover the evolution of Chinatown - presented through a series of personal and real-life stories contributed by the people of Chinatown.
Mr Lim Guan Hock, National Heritage Board's (NHB's) Deputy Director of the Singapore History Museum said: "Chinatown has always been an integral part of Singapore's history. It was where the early Chinese migrants settled when they first arrived in Singapore. No effort has been spared to ensure that every detail is looked into. Each artifact and character in the CHC has been put together to tell its own story - whether of the lifestyle, living condition or tradition of Chinatown."
When completed the CHC aims to be the gateway from which all visits to Chinatown would begin. Armed with the knowledge of its history, visitors would then be encouraged to explore the rest of Chinatown.
The CHC project is a joint collaboration between the STB and the NHB. The centre targets both the local residents and visitors to Singapore. Based on the findings of the 'Survey of Overseas Visitors to Singapore (2000)', Chinatown attracts some 3.5 million visitors a year and is the second most frequented free-access attraction after Orchard Road. |
