Conclusion
After exploring Joo Chiat the past few weeks, we have found a lot about Joo Chiat. We have based our explorations mainly around the stretch of Joo Chiat Road and Katong and the surrounding areas.
Joo Chiat can be broadly sectioned into three parts. There is the Katong area, with its rich Peranakan and Eurasian culture; the area near Geylang, which has strong Malay influences, a spillover effect from Geylang (we didn’t manage to explore that area though); and the middle section, which has ‘Little Vietnam’ and a whole lot of other stuff.
As we can see, ‘Little Vietnam’ is a rather small area within Joo Chiat and the name cannot be generalized to the entire area. Also, the place is not yet deserving of its name because there are still missing elements necessary to truly re-create the Vietnamese culture in Joo Chiat.
In addition, even within these broad categorical areas of Peranakan, Eurasian, Vietnamese, etc. There is no clear-cut distinction from one area to the next. Joo Chiat is a mish mash of way too many elements, in which things of total opposites can be neighbours. Popular culture and high culture (when we visited Black Earth Art Gallery, the coffee shop opposite was bustling with the lunch crowd); holy and debauchery (karaoke joints and pubs were found in close vicinity to churches and temples); holiness versus holiness (churches and temples of the different religions are found near each other; one temple can house more than one type of Buddhism).
It is also a place in transition as tradition battles modernity. Traditional shophouses and landmarks are also constantly being torn down to make way for modern buildings. Many walk-in condominiums were traditional shophouses bought over by developers and torn down to build these walk-in condominiums. Traditional things are being interpreted in new ways, such as the very existence of Peranakan restaurants. And traditional shophouses undergo renovation and are transformed into new spaces and given a new lease of life as posh residential districts (Lotus at Joo Chiat Place), art galleries, and boutique hotels (Hotel 81, Peranakan Hotel).
The blurring of boundaries was not a recent phenomenon either. Even in colonial times, when Joo Chiat was known for being a Peranakan and Eurasian enclave, such racial boundaries were not so distinct. (There was a sizable Ceylon Tamil community in the area as well).
Singapore has been described as a mixing pot for the different cultures, and Joo Chiat is the very representation of Singapore. This is a place where you can find people from all around the world, each bringing a little of their culture and adding it to the mix. Each culture is distinct in their own sense, but also, to a certain extent, the cultures have blended together to form a totally eclectic mix.
So is Joo Chiat ‘Little Vietnam’? No. It isn’t. Joo Chiat, is a little bit of this, a little bit of that, and a whole lot of unique.
DATE: Friday, March 23, 2012
TIME: ||1:39 PM ||
Nuttaphon's Reflection
I came to Singapore 2 years ago and I did not go outside of the campus much. This time, I went to Joo Chiat to do my group project. We decided to work on the Vietnamese that dominate Joo Chiat, as well as the other races living around the area.
The first time, when we drove to Joo Chiat road, I saw the Peranakan buildings and Vietnamese buildings around this area. In Thailand, we do not have an area where others races would dominate, like this place.
My group told me that Joo Chiat was called a “Little Vietnam”. When we walked around the street finding information, I saw many Vietnamese restaurants and Vietnamese stores and everyone spoke Vietnamese and most of the customers were Vietnamese too. Joo Chiat was a place for
delicious food. There are many kinds of food in this area such as Vietnamese food, Chinese food, seafood and Peranakan food.
My group asked me about laksa that I quite like to eat in daily life. They said that Katong has a famous laksa that I should try. They treated me to the Katong laksa. That was very interesting. The noodles were cut into little pieces. They told me that previously, people did not have a table for eating and the customers had to stand while eating laksa. Hence, the noodles are cut because the customers will be able to eat it with a spoon.
For me, I wonder how people live and how they dominate this place. Compared with Thailand, some parts of Bangkok have also been influenced by other races, but it is not like Joo Chiat. In Thailand, everyone speaks Thai and everyone is Thai.
On the other hand, in Joo Chiat, the other races came from their own country and live in this place like it is a new home.
This project was a very good experience for me. I am a music student and I do not have much time to go outside. This time, I have learnt much more information about Singapore, especially about Joo Chiat. This makes me really enjoy learning about Southeast Asia. It also teaches me
about how many different races can live together in a small place like Joo Chiat.
DATE:
TIME: ||12:08 PM ||
Kristie's Reflection
My Home
I moved to Joo Chiat when I was 8 and have lived here ever since. Looking back, I have lived here for more than half my life. Joo Chiat is home.
Starting this project, finding out about Joo Chiat’s rich colonial history, the strong holds Peranakan tradition has on it, and how it’s been nicknamed Little Vietnam, honestly speaking, I was surprised. I’d never known! Sure, I know of the colonial buildings in the area (I used to pass them every day on my way to school) and I knew of Peranakan and Vietnamese eateries in the vicinity, but weren’t they all over Singapore? Besides, I had never noticed a particularly large congregation of Vietnamese in the area.
Perhaps my ignorance was caused by my blind unawareness. After all, Joo Chiat is the place that I grew up in. I spent a considerable part of my formative years walking along its streets, wandering from shophouse to shophouse, wandering and eating (food hunting was and still is a hobby of mine, an especially good hobby since I live in close proximity to such a wide variety of delicious food). Perhaps I took home for granted, never giving much thought to it. Joo Chiat was always just there, a place that was called home. But I have never truly thought what Joo Chiat meant to others.
Exploring Joo Chiat with the rest of the group, I found myself looking out at this familiar scenery with brand new eyes, forming new revelations about these things that I have seen countless times over the years. I noticed that though Chinese in origin, many of the shophouses in Joo Chiat had Peranakan motives found in the floor tiles, walls, doors… The colonial bungalows, were not simply colonial bungalows, they were seaside bungalows (for before reclamation took place Joo Chiat was just by the sea), meant for luxury and relaxation of the wealthy. I shocked myself, noticing the prevalence of Vietnamese eateries that could be found along Joo Chiat. Along a street peppered with Vietnamese eateries, we found a characteristic Vietnamese conical hat tied to a bicycle parked outside a shophouse. It’s one thing for an area to have many Vietnamese eateries, but to even have the traditional clothing! It really told me that this was Little Vietnam.
And all these, I would NEVER have noticed had I not been paying attention. I thought I knew Joo Chiat like the back of my hand but I guess I didn’t. I’m only just discovering what Joo Chiat is as a place other than just being my home.
DATE:
TIME: ||9:29 AM ||
Irtiza's Reflection
Visiting Joo Chiat was a very weird experience for me. I have been living in this country for the past 18 years of my life but it was the first time I felt like a stranger in a new country. My parents migrated here when I was 4 and I am pretty much bred a Singaporean and I love every part of being Singaporean. I have always grown up in north and most of my schools were located in the central area so the east side was something very “ulu” for me.
I must say that the first time I stepped into Joo Chiat I discovered a new side of Singapore. One that showed how Southeast Asia came together in a country so small. It had Vietnamese, Thai, Cambodian and colonial influence all over the place. The
architecture, especially the old shophouses really intrigued me. Moreover, how people from Southeast Asia actually brought their cuisines over was especially refreshing. The taste of different parts of Southeast Asia being available in Singapore made me appreciate Joo Chiat even more. It’s definitely the number one location in my list for food hunts now.
It was also very enriching as I have a group member who’s been staying there for majority of her life. She was actually able to tell us which part was reclaimed and she was able to direct us to the old abandoned colonial houses. This assisted us greatly as it felt like a local was bringing us around in a field trip. It was an eye-opening project and I hope that after this, I have learnt to enjoy this one from a more tourist point of view then an academic one.
DATE: Thursday, March 22, 2012
TIME: ||6:24 PM ||
Debbie's Reflection
A Foreign Area
I grew up living in west/central area. Places in the east are very foreign to me. My parents do not bring me to the east and I personally do not have many chances to explore into those areas. This was the first time that I visited Joo Chiat and explored it on my own (and of course with some of my friends).
Hearing that Joo Chiat Road was a Little Vietnam was pretty surprising to me. Though I always knew that Singapore have many foreigners, it never came across my mind that there would be an area that is actually “flooded” by just a single country. I was also fascinated by the fact that there are colonial buildings in Singapore. I have probably seen them on TV shows but in real life, this was my first time!
Walking down Joo Chiat Road, I realized that the street is actually quite empty. Very different from what I thought it would be. Most of the shops were not open in the afternoon and there are rarely any people or cars along the street. In the day, it is very hard to see that Joo Chiat is actually a Little Vietnam. Though there were quite a few Vietnamese restaurants, in which some were really very popular amongst the Vietnamese, they do not dominate the whole place. The restaurants were separated by a few other shops. In addition, there are other restaurants such as Peranakan and western restaurants which were noticeable too.
By just walking down the street in the day, I guessed it’s impossible to convince me that Joo Chiat Road is becoming little Vietnam. Although Vietnamese culture seems more dominant in Joo Chiat as compared to the other parts of Singapore, I feel that it is more of a hybrid of the different kind of cultures rather than just solely Little Vietnam. I feel that more research needed to be done, and visiting Joo Chiat at a different time of the day was necessary in order to truly understand how Joo Chiat Road is like.
After my second visit this time at night I was truly convinced that Joo Chiat is to a certain extent Little Vietnam. This research has made me feel as though I’m actually living in a cave. Singapore
may be small, but there are many interesting places like Joo Chiat Road waiting to be rediscovered. There are many stories that can be told, such as the Peranakan culture seen in Joo Chiat.
I was rather surprised that Joo Chiat Road is indeed a red light district, other than famous Geylang and Changi Village. Walking down the streets at night is a totally different scene. The pavements which were empty in the day were filled with mostly Vietnamese girls who were skimpily dressed and stood outside the bars trying their best to attract more customers. Many of the eateries were also open and they were filled with customers. The roads were also busier as cars streamed by for one reason or another.
We also did some research on the internet and we realized that Joo Chiat Road is actually dying off. This came as a surprised to me as I always thought that Joo Chiat road was a very crowded place. Though I do not frequently go to Joo Chiat, I always hear that Joo Chiat has a lot of
good food. The queues at these stalls were long. How is it possible that Joo Chiat is actually dying? After thinking about it, why not? Joo Chiat is a popular red light district and it is hard to set up a business there, due to the nature of the place. Hence business opportunists tend to shy away from such places over fear of unwanted attention. It seems like the Vietnamese population is growing in the area. I wouldn’t be surprised that Joo Chiat road may become Little Vietnam in time to come.
DATE:
TIME: ||4:07 PM ||
Chikako's Reflection
My First Visit to Joo Chiat
I have been in Singapore for over 6 months and I have gone to different places in Singapore. Recently, I visited an area called Joo Chiat for the first time. From my impression of Singapore, it is a country like the city of Osaka in Japan, which has lots of city side, and a bit of countryside and it has a good balance (not like Tokyo which has only buildings and no greens;)). Where I have
been in Singapore is probably called “city side” and I would call Joo Chiat the “countryside” of Singapore.
By visiting Joo Chiat, I found that it has lots of religion related buildings and objects. Walking around Joo Chiat with group members, we found a building with lots of statues. It actually reminded me of the time I went for school trip in Kesennuma city in Japan. I don’t know if the place is still alive as the place got badly affected by the earthquake and tsunami. Anyway, statues
aren’t normally seen everywhere as I have never seen such a thing in my home town. Actually, I have never gone to a different city where it has temples or area that are related to religion. What I thought was that people start to live in a place because what they want a relation to their religion.
Also, we could see the beautiful buildings which are very colourful and pretty. These buildings are not just colourful and pretty like new buildings; something about them makes it historical. I asked one of my members and I found that they are buildings that are the culture of Peranakan. It was very interesting to see the buildings showing the culture because I don’t think there are buildings to show the Japanese culture. In Japan, you can see buildings more on historical
(like Kumamoto, Osaka, Himeji Castle) but not cultural context.
We also found the area that had a traditional Vietnamese hat tied on a bicycle. Around that area, it had few Vietnamese restaurants. I wondered if that was the area that is called “little Vietnam”. It is interesting that in Singapore, there are “little India”, China town, and “little Vietnam” and I had a little hope that has “Little Japan”, but I guess not, as the Japanese society in Singapore is not as big as Chinese, Malays, and Indians.
Visiting Joo Chiat was completely new experience for me, and was very interesting. While we were visiting there, I got to try the food called Laksa. I have never eaten it before and I really liked it! Apparently that was the best Laksa you can get in Singapore so I was so lucky. :). The visits have really given me a new understanding of Singapore and increased my appreciation for the infusion of different cultures in Singapore. At the same time, it has allowed me to appreciate the different cultures in Singapore. I really consider myself lucky.
DATE:
TIME: ||3:00 PM ||
Little Vietnam - Overview
So far, in Joo Chiat,we have found a congregation of Vietnamese and authentic Vietnamese cuisine. (After returning home, we searched the internet and found several blog entries of Long Phung. Among them were several Singaporeans who had previously travelled to Vietnam and tasted the local dishes and they praised Long Phung for their authentic taste.) But is this sufficient evidence to begin calling Joo Chiat a Little Vietnam?
Many Vietnamese girls have been lured to Singapore over the years with job opportunities as karaoke hostesses and night walkers. The profusion of karaoke lounges and pubs found in the area of Joo Chiat have led to the girls flocking in the area. (Here’s an article that which may explain the congregation of pubs and karaoke lounges in the district http://www.yawningbread.org/arch_2006/yax-619.htm.) This has led to business opportunities for people like Long Phung’s lady boss, who realizing that there were a lot of Vietnamese in the area, decided to open an eatery selling Vietnamese cuisine. The introduction of authentic Vietnamese cuisine has in turn attracted Vietnamese students and professionals, who are living in Singapore, and patronize the eateries to have a taste of home. Not forgetting other curious people (like us), who having heard of the name, have popped down to have a taste too.
However, to simply declare Joo Chiat as a whole to be ‘Little Vietnam’ would appear to be a hasty generalization. An short interview from Razor TV shows us an insight why.
While Singaporeans are content to give ‘Little Vietnam’ its name by this influx of Vietnamese locals and eateries gathering in the area, Vietnamese still feel that these changes are superficial and are insufficient to justify the name. Firstly, people (especially a biased population that is mainly made up of one gender – karaoke hostesses and mail-order brides) and food does not necessarily translate into culture. Other things like religion, social belonging, architecture, these things all play a part in culture. While the Vietnamese have brought their people, language and food to Joo Chiat, it has yet to seep into the place and taken a life of its own. Given time, vietnamese culture may mature and become inextricably linked to the place, but not yet. As of now, the Vietnamese are still in the midst of etching out a place they can call their own here in Joo Chiat.
DATE:
TIME: ||9:07 AM ||