Step into a forgotten side of Singapore that is disappearing before our very eyes.
Beyond the shopping malls and towering condominiums, a handful of family businesses still make things the way their grandparents taught them. On this immersive walking trail through the lesser-known corners of Chinatown, meet the last people carrying on these family legacies, many with no successor to take over.
Along the way, you’ll encounter a fountain pen seller surrounded by his grandfather’s photographs and receipts, a master craftsman who builds paper effigies to pay respects to the dead, kuehs so carefully made you must order a day in advance, and a legendary shoemaker who spent decades customising bespoke leather shoes for Lee Kuan Yew.
WHAT TO EXPECT
- Visit the workshop of Lee Kuan Yew’s shoemaker and hold a pair of shoes crafted for Singapore’s founding Prime Minister.
- Uncover the world of paper effigy building and try your hand at crafting these intricate structures from bamboo, paper and traditional glue.
- Step into a living archive of vintage fountain pens, old photographs, receipts and documents that tell the story of a business spanning generations.
- Enter Singapore’s last Teochew bookstore, a shop frozen in time where a dialect still survives in print.
- Learn why pairs of lions and dragons guard important doorsteps, and examine a collection spanning multiple eras and cultures.
- Sample traditional Teochew kuehs and uncover the stories behind beloved heritage snacks.
- Take in the striking contrast between one of Singapore’s most misunderstood neighbourhoods and the affluent districts that stand just across the river.
