Prior to this heritage trail, Chinatown to me has always
been just a place I visit during Chinese New Year and did not play any significant
part in my life. I had never made the effort to go and discover more of the
place and the history behind it. Throughout the journey, it was rather torturous
as we had an endless list of stops to make and we had to walk under the
scotching sun. It took us two days to cover the whole trail. However, upon
completion of the trail, it definitely made me appreciate the history of Chinatown
and the interesting architectures influenced by the different cultures. Besides
these, I was very blessed to have this group of lovely girls as my team mates
and it was a pleasant experience for all of us.
The most memorable part of this journey was the Chinatown
Heritage Centre. It was my first time visiting the Chinatown Heritage Centre
and I must say it was an enriching experience. I had learnt so much more about
the Chinese immigrants coming into Singapore, seeking for job opportunities and
how they suffered throughout those times. They even had replicas of how housing
was like in those days and their lifestyles. Even though I had never experience
how was life like then, the little tour in Heritage Centre definitely helped me
to relate better and better appreciate what our forefathers had been through.
The journey had also allowed us to discover the many hidden
treasures in Chinatown. Places we never knew existed, places that had such rich
history behind it. Singaporeans are so caught up with their hectic lifestyles
that we usually do not have such opportunities to slow down our pace and embark
on a heritage trail, appreciating our past. Hence, I believe without this
opportunity to do a heritage trail in Chinatown, I will probably never get to
find out so many interesting things about Chinatown and their hidden treasures.
We can always read up on the history of these places on the internet or
textbooks but all these can never beat the true learning experience we gain by
embarking on this trail physically, getting lost in Chinatown and hunting down
historical places such as the Coolie House etc. It is undeniably a tiring
journey to complete this trail but it is all worthwhile as I had now got a
better understanding of Chinatown and most importantly, appreciating the
history behind it. =)
