Introduction

" What was life like for the people of colonial Singapore before WW2? "

 

For our History project on " What was life like for the people of colonial Singapore before WW2?" , our group has decided to focus on the Living Conditions and Culture & Religion of the Chinese before WW2 of colonial Singapore.

Data collection : Culture and Religion of the Chinese in Singapore during colonial times

Source A: A write-up from " YourSingapore, culture and heritage ". ( Taken from :

 http://www.yoursingapore.com/content/traveller/en/browse/see-and-do/culture-and-heritage/places-of-worship.html )

"Built between 1908 and 1913, the Hong San See temple, located along Mohamed Sultan Road, was originally located at Wallich Street in Tanjong Pagar in 1836. Established by the Hokkien people of the Lam Ann clan, this temple is dedicated to Guang Ze Zun Wang, the God of Fortune. It later relocated to Mohamed Sultan road, and the temple now draws worshippers from different dialect groups." "The Hong San See Temple was designated as a national monument in 1978. In 2010, it was also honoured with the Award of Excellence in the 2010 UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation. The façade and the interior of the temple have gone through numerous restorations, with the first in 1868 when the old temple was at Tanjong Pagar area. Apart from Guang Ze Zun Wang, other deities worshipped here include Buddha and Guan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy."

From Source A, I can tell that dedicating for religious purposes was important. This can be seen from the fact that they built temples to worship gods and repray for their safety etc. This meant that they wanted to pray for safety, harmony and other things and were religious as it was part of their culture.

Source B: excerpt of YourSingapore, Festivals and Events. ( Taken from: http://www.yoursingapore.com/content/traveller/en/browse/whats-on/festivals-and-events/chinese-new-year.html )

 

"Symbolically, new clothes are usually worn to signify the new year. It is also the tradition for every family to thoroughly clean their homes to “sweep away” any ill-fortune, making way for the arrival of good luck. Chinese New Year also brings people together, and is marked by visits to kin, relatives and friends, a practice known simply as "new-year visits". The highlight for children and younger members of the family during these visits comes in little red packets, or “hong bao”, filled with money. Another significant tradition is the Reunion Dinner, which takes place on the Eve of Chinese New Year, and is an occasion for families to come together and eat."

 

From Source B, I can tell that dedicating for religious purposes was important as this can be seen from the fact that they celebrate Chinese New Year and Reunion Dinner to understand more about  the Chinese culture and being respectful to the culture. This meant that they do not want to forgo the previously Chinese accustom of offering the gods and all which proved to be religious and of cultural purposes.



Source C: Excerpt of a blog spot ( Taken from: http://rememberingsingapore.blogspot.sg/2013/01/the-chinese-amahs.html )

"Some women in the Pearl River Delta found a way to maintain their independence while keeping social acceptability. The formed sisterhoods, taking vows of celibacy.  

A woman would take this vow in front of an altar, and have her hair combed up from a girl's pigtail into a married woman's bun (known as sor hei in Cantonese). In effect, the sor hei ceremony was equivalent to that of marriage.  The woman now had no place under her family's roof.  She could be independent and keep whatever she earned."
 



 From Source C, I can tell that dedicating for religious purposes was important. This can be seen from how women tied their hair in buns. Known also as " Sor hei ", often live together unmarried and plan to stay unmarried and independent for the rest of their lives. This meant that they did not want to be married and even took an oath to promise as of cultural and religious purposes.

 

clothing of the women when Sor hei

Data collection : Living conditions of the Chinese in Singapore during colonial times

 

Source A: A picture and write-up taken from The National Museum Of Singapore

 



 

 

From Source A, I can tell that the living conditions for Chinese in colonial Singapore before WW2 was harsh. This can be concluded from the fact that many people died because of them living together in a room though young or old, healthy or sick as many of them are poor. Thus, it was faster and easier to be contracted with infectious diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis. This meant that during the colonial times, infectious diseases can't be escaped and the people in colonial Singapore can only faced it although they did not want to be contracted with any diseases as they were poor.

 

 

 

Source B: A picture taken from The National Museum of Singapore of a Rickshaw

 

 

Chinese immigrants carrying a customer on a rickshaw.

 

 

From Source B, I can tell that the living conditions for the Chinese in Colonial Singapore was tough. As seen from the pic above, the Chinese immigrants seemed to be carrying customers on a trishaw to their designated destinations without wearing any shoes. We can conclude that they worked very hard under the hot sun barefooted although its tough.

 

 

 

Source C: Pictures taken from The National Museum of Singapore of China street and a River scene

 

 

River scene and native huts

China street

                                                                



                                        

















From Source C, I can tell that the living conditions of the Chinese before WW2 was hard. We can see that at the River Scene and Native Huts of conditions were squalid and people used the same water source for various use. While at the China street, we can see the crowded conditions of immigrant life in colonial Singapore. From these evidences, we can conclude that life of the people of colonial Singapore before WW2 was hard

Final Conclusion : Living conditions and Culture & Religion of Chinese in Singapore during colonial times

Conclusion: After gathering the data, we can conclude that Chinese culture and religions are of religious purposes such as of offering the gods from Source A as of the temple they built. Furthermore, there is the celebration of Chinese New Year etc as seen from Source B to accustom to the previous Chinese lifestyle. Lastly, there is Source C which includes women who tied their hair up into buns and to take oath to not marry for the rest of their lives. ( Religion & Culture )

After gathering data from all sorts of sources, we can conclude that the condition of Singapore before WW2 was squalid. As seen from Source A, the immigrants there had contracted diseases which were most probably due to unsuitable living conditions in their area. To add on, Source B shows how the immigrants worked barefooted under the scorching hot sun to earn a living . Lastly , source C shows a situation where the immigrant had to use dirty water because they have no choice to do so or that they were too poor to afford . Through these evidence , we are therefore able to conclude that Chinese immigrant lead a hard life before WW2. ( Living conditions )

Acknowledgements

We do not claim ownership over the pictures and source texts used in this blog. We sincerely thanked the original sources and made it possible for us to have done this.

• http://www.yoursingapore.com/content/traveller/en/browse/see-and-do/culture-and-heritage/places-of-worship.html 
• http://www.yoursingapore.com/content/traveller/en/browse/whats-on/festivals-and-events/chinese-new-year.html 
• http://rememberingsingapore.blogspot.sg/2013/01/the-chinese-amahs.html
• The National Museum Of Singapore

Authors

This blog is an effort by the following students from class 105.

• Isabel Lim Cheng Ying ( 5 )
• Shania Lee Chia Yee ( 13 )
• Siew Hui En ( 14 )
• Jocelyn Wong Jie Qi ( 18 )
• Cheryl Yong Jing Hui ( 19 )