Neighbours by chance, friends by choice: Meet the vendors of Chinatown Complex

SINGAPORE — When business at Chinatown Complex came to a standstill during the Covid-19 pandemic, former tour guide Petrova Ang linked up with her Japanese contact to host a series of shopping tours around the complex for Japanese residents here.

"Anything to boost business for everyone", said the 60-year-old, who owns three boutiques with her husband, Mr Edmund Low, 65, at the complex.

Best known for her cheongsams at her shop Matsuzaki (named after a Japanese friend), she has called Chinatown Complex her second home for 25 years.

"People can buy their clothes anywhere, but over here, we also have a bustling wet market and a famous food centre," she told The Straits Times. "We help each other so that we can thrive together."

Come August, Ms Ang will once again be leading guided tours around Chinatown Complex, sharing a treasure trove of stories about the people and practices at the heritage stronghold.

This is part of the My Community Festival from Aug 4 to 20, organised by non-profit organisation My Community and supported by the Singapore Tourism Board.

This fourth edition is also the biggest, with over 100 events including tours, exhibitions, workshops curated around the theme of "Love My Neighbour".

Chinatown Complex has over 600 market, sundry and food stalls.

Festival director Kwek Li Yong, 34, said he and his team befriended the hawkers and stallholders for over nine months to co-curate the tours.

Many of them were street peddlers, before the complex was opened in 1983 to resettle them.

Some are still hawking the same wares, including Madam Sally Ho of Chat Seng Sundry Goods Shop. The 68-year-old and her husband Richard Lee, 74, used to sell towels and napkins on Pagoda Street before moving into the complex in 1983.

At the festival, she will share stories about the ubiquitous towels and napkins which are familiar to many Singaporeans of a certain vintage.

"Our all-time bestseller is the retro 'Good Morning' towel," she said. "It's a symbol of hardship and used to be popular with rickshaw riders and labourers who built Singapore."

Women prefer the 'Empress' towels, which are thinner and more absorbent, she added.

Another "pioneer" product is Sun Panda Pyjamas, which Mr Lim Niak, 81, and his wife, Madam Ho Siew Hio, 79, will tell festivalgoers about. The couple, who have been promoting slumber fashion for over 60 years, will share about the evolving styles of pyjamas through the generations.

Not all are old-timers, though.

Ms Eileen Wang from Shenyang, China, moved into Chinatown Complex eight years ago. The 49-year-old Singapore permanent resident, also known as "Yilin", sells tongkat ali at Kiat Seng Wang Trading.

"Chinatown is central and accessible," she said. "There are also many tourists - I have customers from China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, United States and even Africa."

It used to be mostly men who patronise her shop, as tongkat ali is known for its aphrodisiac qualities.

But today, she also draws female customers who believe that the plant has other benefits, like lowering blood pressure and cholesterol. She will share her knowledge and experience in natural remedies during the festival.

Another new entrant is Madam Muthiah Vijayaletchimi, 62, who opened her food stall, Mrs Vadei, in September 2022.

She will share with festivalgoers her family's culinary legacy and recipes.

Besides her signature vadai, she also offers other Indian heritage food like prata, thosai and appam. Lambshank briyani, a new dish, will be introduced this National Day.

"I chose Chinatown because I want my food to be enjoyed by other Asians and tourists," she said, adding that 99 per cent of her regular customers are Chinese.

The festival also includes other programmes like My Lepak Corner, which features unique niches around Singapore, including Changi Boatel, a haven for the small community of fishermen around Singapore's eastern coast.

After Hours @ My Community showcases places that come alive after dark, such as vegetable wholesale markets and fishery ports.

Festivalgoers can join residents in decorating common shared spaces around their homes in the Decorate My Hood programme.

They can also sample an exchange of cuisines between neighbours of diverse backgrounds, or learn more about the lesser known religions in Singapore.

A new highlight in this year's festival is a day tour to Malaysia, where festivalgoers will visit the farms that supply 42 per cent of Singapore's imported vegetables.

"We might be neighbours by chance, but we should also be friends by choice. That is what makes a community come alive, and part of a living heritage," said Mr Kwek. 

He added: "We believe that all heritage is intangible, and any tangible asset — such as buildings and places — are only meaningful if we attach our interactions, stories, and memories to them."

For more information, visit https://mycommunityfestival.sg/. Tickets are on sale from July 18.

ALSO READ: New mall on the block: Sengkang Grand Mall now open, here's a sneak peak

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.