Chinatown Heritage Center

Chinatown Heritage Center stands as a testimony to the early dwellers of the city. The Chinatown Heritage Center was a project that was started with the joint effort of the Singapore Tourism Board and the National Heritage Board. The Chinatown Heritage Center in Singapore is located along the Pagoda Street in a newly restored shop houses.

Shophouses as they are called are basically the small rented dark and cramped cubicles where the early settlers lived. The Chinatown Heritage Center stands as an evidence of the saga of the past. The Chinatown Heritage Centre was re-created by recollecting the basic objects and things that the former residents used.

These age old objects are beautifully exhibited and displayed to give the visitors an insight on the life style of the early dwellers. The Chinatown Heritage Center, Singapore opens everyday for the tourists at 9 am and closes at 8pm. It takes around one or one and a half hour to tour around the center. The admission fee charged to enter the center is quite nominal. For adults the charge is 9.80 SGD and for children the charge is 6.30 SGD. Guided tour is conducted by the local travel agents in and around the center which helps the tourists to get an in-depth knowledge about the place and the surrounding and its history.

While on a tour to this center one should make it a point to taste the “cuppa” at the Kopi Tiam. Tourists can also buy mementos and small gifts from the retail shop which sells both modern and traditional pieces. Chinatown Heritage Center is worth a watch during any festivals. The place thrives with light and life during any festival.

Chinatown Heritage Center in Singapore is a major tourist attraction in Singapore and while touring in this center one must make it a point to visit the under mentioned venues:

Chinatown Coolie's Cubicle: A group of young coolies occupied this cubicle and resided here which later was also referred to as the opium den.

Chinatown Carpenter's Family: this cubicle portrays the life of happy working class man with celebrations on for the month old new born baby.
Heritage Centre's Samsui Women: here in this cubicle on will witness the group of women dressed who would soon appear on the street and would wait for someone who will take them to the construction sites for their day’s work.
Chinatown Food Hawker's Family: here one would see the portrayal of the family of hawkers with their young son.
Chinatown Shoe Seller: the small room of Ah Ngoh Chieh, who would drag her sacks of shoes downstairs at the time to open her stall.
Chinatown Painter's Family: Mr Cheong with his five girls and three boys. In this cubicle you would get the glimpse of the life.
Heritage Centre's Majie (Female Servants): cubicle of the group of four or five servants wearing 'black-and-white' servants’uniform.
Heritage Center's The Seamstress: See Cheng, a seamstress, who was adopted by a majie when she was young, recreates from her memory how her family's room was like.
Chinatown Tailor's Shop: The design of this cubicle recreates the glory of the tailoring business at Chinatown. The main workshop behind the original shop and another place where the assistants and apprentices of the tailor used to live also formed the part of this cubicle.