Jeffrey Eng – Teochew Chinatown, Merchant Rd & Eng Tiang Huat Part 1 | Chronicles of Old Singapore

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Jeffrey Eng is the 3rd generation owner of Eng Tiang Huat, a shop selling traditional Chinese cultural goods such as embroidery and musical instruments. He recalls the Teochew community along Merchant Road in the 1960s where the shop was originally located, and how his father did business with suppliers in China, when the business was still good. Part 1 | https://youtu.be/DwigZDNKhLM Part 2 | https://youtu.be/8hoKmWJF0D8 00:00 Introduction 01:22 Merchant Road & the Teochews 12:25 The Story of Eng Tiang Huat 18:27 The Business in the ‘80s 24:51 Import & Export Trade with China 37:39 Opening Up of China 45:53 Conserved Shophouses Eng Tiang Huat on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChineseCulturalShop I’m Dr Loh KS, the people’s historian. I’m interested in the history of Singapore and the lives of its people. In Chronicles of Old Singapore, I speak to people about their memories of Singapore before it became a global city today. We discuss three topics: 1. People and places. 2. Change and continuity. 3. The importance of heritage. As a historian, I try to stay true to the oral history method on a video format and social media platform. I let the interviewee speak, as the ‘voice of the past’ as Paul Thompson put it. No clickbait, no BS, no posturing. The aim is to canvas a wide range of voices on various aspects of Singapore history and heritage – physical, social, cultural, economic. Do like the video, share your memories below and subscribe to the channel for future episodes. Write to me if you have questions or thoughts on Old Singapore or want to come onto the podcast: lohkahseng@chroniclesresearch.com Support Chronicles of Old Singapore on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ChroniclesofOldSingapore Follow the channel on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61551786759344 Spotify: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/loh-ks TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lks992002 Chronicles Research & Education is my research consultancy on the history of Singapore: https://www.chroniclesresearch.com/ Caveat: this is above all a podcast based on personal memory. As has been well-documented in oral history, memory is not always reliable and what is recalled here should not be taken as fact. However, as Alessandro Portelli noted, the subjectivity of oral history is also its great strength, and what is inaccurately remembered may point to how deeply meaningful the past is to people. #singaporehistory #memory #heritage #nostalgia #oralhistory #socialhistory #history #singapore