Jeffrey Eng – Teochew Chinatown, Merchant Rd & Eng Tiang Huat Part 2 | Chronicles of Old Singapore

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Jeffrey Eng remembers growing up in a shophouse, which was not only a house but a business premises. For a long time, they used the bucket system. The Singapore River close by was putrid before it was cleaned up and lightermen and coolies worked along the riverfront. I asked Jeffrey if he can envisage Eng Tiang Huat being at Smith Street, which is being revitalised by the Chinatown Business Association. He said perhaps, but it would have to be a serious cultural venture and not as a souvenir shop for tourists to come and take photographs. Part 1 | https://youtu.be/DwigZDNKhLM Part 2 | https://youtu.be/8hoKmWJF0D8 00:00 Growing Up in a Shophouse 05:34 My Father’s Favourite Clogs 14:03 The Bucket System 18:18 The Old Singapore River 26:27 Heritage Businesses & Vanishing Trades 33:21 Can Eng Tiang Huat be at Smith Street? 41:50 Eng Tiang Huat is Not a Souvenir Shop 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