Party Time on Armenian Street

The Peranakan Museum, subject of numerous posts on this blog (check them out here), has closed for a revamp eleven years after it opened in April 2008.

But before it closed, it threw a party!  The Armenian Street party, held 15-16 March 2019, was an opportunity for all to visit the museum (for free) before it closed its doors for renovation on 1 Apr 2019.

The event was held on Armenian Street itself, just outside the museum.  The street itself has been recently pedestrianised and so was the perfect venue for a little night market, selling food (like laksa), snacks and knick-knacks, so there was a really nice buzz in the air.

The Groom's beautifully embroidered jacket

I have to say that it was a busy day and so I turned up a little late for the party.   I didn't know (or didn't read) that it would start off with a wedding procession!!! The Peranakan wedding procession is just one part of the very elaborate rituals that make up the traditional Peranakan wedding.  Of course, the wedding is a perfect opportunity to showcase the wealth of the two families which are being joined together.  So it is a lot of pagentry and bling-bling, great fun for all concerned!

Whilst I was a little late for the start of the event, I was certainly rather well positioned at the end of it to take photos of the wedding procession as they made their way back to the museum from the outdoor stage located just outside the museum.  Of course, this was definitely the photo opp moment for the event - as can be seen by the numerous photographers in action.

I was on the groom's side - would have preferred to get a close-up of the bride's outfit but at least it was an opportunity to admire the beautifully decorated jacket the groom was wearing, with the phoenix spread across the front, with flowers all around.  A much more inclusive photograph can be seen in this ST article and you can see the gorgeously dressed bride, with all her necklaces, kro-sang and elaborate headgear.  I am fortunately not to be seen in this photo.

Baba and Nonya Fashion Parade!

The procession was followed by a fashion show.  Not models, but Babas and Nonyas themselves wearing their traditional outfits.

My friends and I too had decided to dress up - at least, to wear our kebaya tops even if these were worn over pants instead of the sarong.  Sadly, we were in the minority.

We left soon after the fashion parade ended after doing a spot of shopping at the little night market.

Looking forward to the reopening of the Museum!  In the meantime, my older photos of the museum are here.

The Peranakan Museum in Party Mode

Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of Fatima at Ss Peter & Paul

For some reason, it's a positive avalanche of church posts recently!  Purely coincidental :-)

13th May 2017 is the 100th Anniversary of the first apparition of our Lady at Fatima, to three shepherd children.  Pope Francis is marking the event by canonising two of the three children, Jacinta and Francisco (they passed away, victims of the Spanish Flu of 1918).  The third child, Lucia, passed away only in 2005 and is still undergoing the sainthood process.  This website has more on the apparitions at Fatima.

Churches in Singapore are celebrating this event, whether through screening movies, or holding special masses.  St Peter and Paul held a candlelit procession after their evening mass on 6 May.

I just happened to be visiting St Peter & Paul, and so was able to view the procession.  One of the oldest parishes in Singapore, it serves largely the Chinese community and many, including those who have moved out of the area, still return to the church regularly for mass, and there's a vibrant community here.  (It was a 96-year old lady, daughter of the former Sacristan of the church, who put the Crown on Our Lady's statue before the procession).  What's impressive is that besides the Mandarin mass every Sunday, there's even a Cantonese Mass!  The Carmelites are now administering the parish on behalf of the Diocese.  I wonder who the Cantonese-speaking priest is!  The church underwent a massive restoration programme last year and it is so lovely to see it restored to its splendour.

At the back of the church, facing Waterloo St

The Altar

The candlelight procession itself took place after the Saturday evening mass.  The congregation processed out of the church behind the statue of Our Lady, and said the rosary as they walked around the church and back in again.  It was a joyful event, with the little children walking in front of the statue, throwing flowers into the air (and on / at the bystanders).

Leaving the church

And back again

By the Altar

More photos here on my Flickr page.

Indeed, it was an evening well spent.  Following my visit to the Cathedral and also after the Holy Family 80th Anniversary celebrations, it is indeed a walk through the history and heritage of the Catholic church here in Singapore.  It is up to us, living stones indeed, to take this into the years ahead.

From Stones to Living Stones - Holy Family 80th Anniversary

Holy Family 80th Anniversary Book

Late last year, my parish celebrated the 80th Anniversary of the Church of the Holy Family.  Holy Family has featured a few times on this blog, like these posts on Easter celebration (with hot cross bun recipe!) and the Peranakan mass on CNY.  So how can I omit mention of this most special occasion?

The parish celebrated with a few events, including a fun fair and our 80th Anniversary Mass held on the Feast of the Holy Family, 30 Dec 2016.  It was a joyful Mass, with the Archbishop con-celebrating with eight other priests including our three parish priests (really nice photo here).  The other five priests had connections to our parish too - our former parish priests or assistant priests, and a young priest who was a parishioner here before being called to the priesthood.

The Parish also released our 80th Anniversary book at the Anniversary Mass.  Entitled "From Stones to Living Stones", it is a story of our Parish.  Of course, this is my excuse as to why I am only putting up a post on the 80th Anniversary in 2017, when the Anniversary was in 2016!  How am I supposed, after all, to write a post on the book in 2016 when I only receive it on the evening of 30 December.

But as I said, this book marks the origins of our Parish - when the worshippers went for mass in a small little hut set up by the La Salle brothers.  But as our Catholic community (one of the oldest in Singapore) grew, the need for a proper church building was felt and a charitable landowner donated the tract of land along East Coast Road.  Here, the first church building was erected, and has been rebuilt twice since to accomodate an ever-increasing congregation. Apparently, the Parish had to shift our masses to a cinema hall whilst the old church building was being replaced for the first time!  Of course, I was fully aware that masses had to be held in St Patrick's School whilst the current beautiful church building was being built.  I well remember those days of going for mass in St Pat's large school hall and not having kneelers for a few years - really toughened up those knees :-)

It was also a real pleasure to hear the "voices" of Holy Family in the book - contributions from past priests, including Fr Michael Arro and Fr Rene Nicolas (who served in Holy Family in 1957!).  It was good to see a little profile on Fr Alfred Chan, a true Baba of Singapore, and Holy Family's longest serving parish priest. No one has said the Peranakan mass quite like him since. Each parish group had its contribution - all the choirs, the lectors, wardens, Eucharistic Ministers, RCIA etc etc.  Individual parishioners told their tales too.  I saw many familiar names and faces in the book.  Indeed, we are the "living stones" of our little Parish.

In short, this was a book well worth reading, well worth keeping.  Many thanks to those who worked on it, and the many contributors to it.

Happy Easter everyone!

Nyonya Needlework

On the Curator's Tour

 The latest exhibition at the Peranakan Museum Singapore is on "Nyonya Needlework".  I had the pleasure of going on a Curator's Tour of the exhibition the other week, and learnt so much about the history of this beautiful craft as well as about the numerous beaded and embroidered exhibits!

The curator was at pains to explain two key points.  First, that "needlework" here was used as a generic term to cover embroidered and beaded items.  Second, that the exhibits may not have been personally made by the nyonyas themselves for their own use or that of their families.  Just like today, they may have been made by seamstresses/ shoemakers, or beadworkers/embroiderers who do this job for a living.  (There was one piece which was apparently worked on by the nyonya herself and the quality, according to the curator, was not so good).  I do tend to agree that the intricacy and scale of some of these pieces may have been beyond the scope of a normal household.

The exhibition is divided into 5 main sections: the first looks at needlework techniques and materials;

Phoenix in flight - detail from bed hanging

the second, on the auspicious symbols and elements which are often incorporated into the needlework pieces; the other three sections covered exhibits from Indonesia, Malacca/Singapore, and Penang.   Our curator showed us one of the oldest known examples of Peranakan embroidery - a simple bed hanging from Indonesia, which had been sent to a Dutch museum.  The date of acquisition, in the mid 1840s, had been recorded by the museum - it was really wonderful to see that even after all these years, the bed hanging was still in such good condition.

My favourite piece was another bed hanging, a very intricate bed hanging for a wedding bed which used a threading technique to thread the beads together.  It was a truly spectacular piece, designed to hang from the top of the bed.  The curator noted that it was likely used only for the wedding itself, given that it was rather heavy and not practical for everyday use.  Again, I marvelled that such a delicate item had survived for so long and in such good condition, that we could continue to admire it even today.

Aside from the intricate threading work (the technique has been lost in the mists of time), I really like the cute little boatmen, the animals (birds, a little dragon, and some other strange creature), and the beautiful, beaded fringe.

Threaded Wedding Bed Hanging

The exhibits also helped illustrate the practices and way of life of the Peranakan community.  Use of European motifs (e.g. light haired children, dogs, cats etc) showed how the community sought to emulate the western way of life, but adapted to suit their own preferences.  It showed how the community thought of itself as still very Chinese, as can be seen in the use of Chinese symbols and motifs as well.  The Penang section, according to the curator, presented the items used in the wedding chamber, such as a lovely embroidered silk tablecloth, wall items and clothing items.

I am just a very amateur beadworker (and I am not too sure that I want to embark upon a second pair of shoes at this point in time).  But somehow, I did feel that sense of connection to nyonyas past who had painstakingly worked on making this beautiful items to delight the eye.

There are many more photos of the exhibition to be seen at my Flickr site: https://www.flickr.com/search/?sort=date-taken-desc&safe_search=1&tags=nyonyaneedlework&user_id=58375502%40N00&view_all=1

St Joseph's Church - the Portuguese Mission at Victoria Street

St Joseph's Church

St Joseph's Church at Victoria Street has played a rather unique role in the history of the Catholic Church in Singapore.  For many years, it was known as the "Portuguese Mission", where the Portuguese missionaries (headquartered then in Macau) had their base.  It served the "Portuguese" community - or the Eurasians of Portuguese origin in Singapore.  My friend and her family, for example, used to go there every Sunday for mass.  Not me and mine, though.  Being more of Scots origin, we did not have this tradition and so, as good Katong-ites, we went to Holy Family.

This being the season of Lent, Catholics normally go for Confession and the various parishes in Singapore will hold Penitential services to facilitate individual confessions for those who seek it.  I managed to miss the two sessions in the two churches nearest my home.  So I checked up the dates for the other sessions and noticed that the St Joseph's session was rather conveniently timed.  So, I decided that it was about time I stopped being so parochial about going to my home parish and instead take a trip to Waterloo Street and go to one of Singapore's historical churches for a change.

The Roll of Missionaries

I'd been to the church most recently about a year previously, soon after the famed stained glass windows were restored, and spent a quiet hour there, praying and (ahem) taking photos.  The old high alter, the ornate carved lectern, the statues of the saints around the church, old wooden pews, the tiled floor, the high vaulted ceiling - it is truly a beautiful, historical church reminiscent of European Churches.  A plaque near the entrance lists all the priests who have served in this community church, starting from Fr Francisco Maia in 1825, just 6 years after Sir Stamford Raffles founded modern Singapore.

But the windows were truly breath-taking, with their beautiful jewel colours, the workmanship and artistry which just shone through, inspired a feeling of awe within me.  

But when I went there for the Penitential service, it was night and so there was no light streaming through the stained glass, the statues of the saints were all shrouded in purple cloth.  I had therefore no distractions as I examined my conscience and prepared for Confession.

St Joseph's Church was completed in 1912, replacing an older building on the site.  It has been gazetted as a National Monument and as such, the National Library website has a most informative page  on it.  But to really experience the beauty, and rich history of this church, only a visit will serve.  

Baptism of Jesus

Stained Glass Window above the Altar

It's almost Easter!  So to all Catholics, may you have a holy Holy Week ahead!  Happy Easter!

(Note: St Joseph's church is the only one in Singapore which has a Latin Mass, every Sunday at 3pm. It's on my to-do list, so maybe another post is in the wings. :-) )

Singapore food heritage - Shashlik

Shashlik's interior.  That's our empty table.

Fans of Singapore's food heritage were saddened when Shashlik restaurant announced its closure, at the end of the year. (ST, 17 Jul 2015).  To be honest, I'd never gone to Shashlik before - it was always one of those things I would get to at some point in time.

But with the restaurant's impending closure, I had run out of time.  My kind cousin kindly took me there for my birthday treat, so I trotted down to Far East Shopping Centre (on a day which recorded one of the highest PSI readings of the year) to sample the food.  Indeed, despite the hazy conditions, many people had the same idea because there was a queue!  The restaurant was packed and we were told that we may need to wait for our food. Typical Singaporeans - nothing can keep us from our makan.

Lamb and vegetables

In a way going to Shashlik was stepping back in time.  It had an old fashioned charm - no fancy plating here -  but with good, simply presented food.  We ordered (obviously) the food that made the restaurant famous - the borscht (that was me) and the shashlik meat skewers.  I ordered lamb, which came with the vegetables and chips on the side.  My cousin had a beef skewer which came with a Russian salad on the side (looked to me like a normal garden salad though).

Baked Alaska

For dessert, we shared a Baked Alaska.  Now that's one dessert I've not had for years!  I used to enjoy this as a child - watching the flames lick the meringue and then breaking it open to get to the ice cream within.  And I must admit that the thrill hasn't completely disappeared, all these years. Unfortunately I couldn't quite capture the Baked Alaska when the flames were licking around the sides.

Hmm.... I wonder if there is time to squeeze in another visit before the closure (braving the queues?).  But then, Shashlik's owners say that they are prepared to sell the business, recipes and all, to interested parties.  So is there the chance that the restaurant will stay after all ....

Going Home

"Balik Kampong" is a Malay term which essentially means going back (or "balik") to one's home village (or "kampong").  It can sometimes be used in a derogatory sense - for example, one could tell the referee in a football game to "balik kampong" if you disagree with his stupid decisions.  





"Balik Kampong" is also the name of a little book of short stories printed by the Math Paper Press, which I bought in Books Actually. Eight writers were invited to contribute a story about a place in Singapore which he or she had stayed for at least 10 years.  They share with us slices of their memories of the area, glimpses of their lives and of days gone by.

A story of an old man finding a buyer for the home he shared with his wife.  Seven family members remembering their lives in Redhill.  A young girl fascinated by a lighthouse.  The friendship between a Filipino maid and her employer's daughter.  A grandmother who visits with a change of clothing in a red plastic bag. I have my favourite - the vexing and curious story of mysterious disturbances at the museum - and old man burdened with the loss of a childhood friend. 

"Balik Kampong" means, simply, going home to the people and place you left behind.  Strangely enough, roughly what this entire blog is about.

Our Darkest Hour Begins

This year, we commemorate the 70th Anniversary of the Japanese Occupation of Singapore. I thought, therefore, it would be only appropriate for me to dig into my grandfather's oral history interview transcripts and feature some extracts of his interview on this blog (slightly edited by me).  By  way of background, my grandfather would have been in his mid-thirties at the time of the Occupation.  He had married a few years earlier, and had two children with a third on the way.  Sadly, he passed away a number of years ago, and so I no longer have the opportunity to ask him more about his experiences during the war.

To start off with, here is his impression of the Japanese bombing of Singapore, on 8th December 1941.

"Early that morning, at about 3 o'clock in the morning, I was then living in Jalan Eunos at the corner of Jalan Yasin and Jalan Eunos.  I heard booming of guns, rattling of windows and, I normally would have slept through it all because I was very, very tired.  When I heard all these guns and the rattling, I felt something unusual was happening and I came out and went out to the verandah there, and I saw search lights.  And all these gun firings seemed to have come from anti-aircraft gun-posts down near in Geylang Serai, at the corner of Joo Chiat Road and Geylang Road... ...We didn't hear the fall of bombs as I know them to sound but I said, "could it be that bombs are being dropped on Singapore?" ... Alright, I'll get into my MAS uniform, that is the Medical Auxiliary, and stand by the radio and see what we hear at six o'clock when the y start broadcasting.  And true enough the news came that Japanese planes had flown over Singapore...  so what I did straightaway was to get into my car and went straight to the Yock Eng Depot in Katong Road where I reported for duty."


Subsequently, my grandfather (a first-generation Eurasian) was interned by the Japanese.  His account of how this came about:

"Now, after the Japanese took over from the 15th of February, they brought out the Syonan Shimbun, which was printed I think in the Straits Times Office ...   ....I knew that all the Europeans had already much earlier assembled on the Padang to be brought in  for internment, we Eurasians didn't know whether we were ever going to be interned or not...  ... One day, we got news somehow, that we had to go to the Padang to report, and the Eurasians were to go to the SRC, where all our particulars would be taken... ... We had a long walk to get to this SRC from Jalan Eunos.  It's about five or six miles.  The eldest son was only two years old.   I carried him from the house until I reached the end of Grove Road, which is now Mountbatten road.  Tess, my wife  was going to have a baby, our third child.  And someone else carried our second child.  At Grove Road a certain Mr Ess, a friend of mine, came along in his car, took Tess and the children and all into the car.We went there we got all registered and then we walked back all the way again.

Then some days later now my name appeared in the Syonan Shimbun in thick block letters and so did many others, and we were told to report to the Toyo Hotel, just told to report to the Toyo Hotel which was in Queen Street.  And there, I had gone down that day, thinking, well, it need not be internment.  I brought about $66 or something down meaning to buy a new tyre for my wife's lady bicycle.  But when my name was called by Shinozak in the Toyo Hotel, he just rapped the table with his finger, and he said, "By order of the High Command you are to be interned." I said, "But I've only come down just as I am now." "Oh don't you worry," he said,when we take you to the place of internment, on the way we will drop at the houses and pick up things.  I had about, as I said $66 with me, I gave $60 to my brother in law  and I said, "Give this to Tess".   And I kept just six for myself because I felt, my good gracious, she needs money.

We were there up to about 12 or half-past twelve, and then all these registration of those that they intended to intern were ready... ... Well, we got into the truck and it must have come along Geylang road, and when it came to the head of Jalan Eunos, well of course we were all quiet, silent in the truck, wondering where we were going. That's the main thing.  We didn't know where we were going."

My grandfather would spend the rest of the war in Changi Prison.  My grandmother would subsequently be put in a camp together with her three young children.  Happily, the family was reunited after the war, all intact.

A Different Sky, A Different Era

I have just finished reading Meira Chand's "A Different Sky".  A tale of Singapore in the tumultuous years prior to Independence, the story starts in the mid 1920s, takes us through the Japanese Occupation to the early years of self-government.  Told through the stories of three main protagonists - a Chinese girl of good family, a Eurasian boy and a young Indian businessman - we read how each person is shaped by the events they live through even as each, in their way contributes to the Singapore story.

In the same way, the book tells the story not only of Singapore during these critical years, but of the larger events in the world beyond.  Indeed, what I like best about this book was the way it portrayed how the nationalistic movement of the pre-Colonial period, and the growing threat of communism, influenced politics and society here in Singapore.

Of the three protagonists, I found Raj, the pragmatic but warm hearted Indian capitalist, rather endearing.  His self-serving actions (including collaborating with the Japanese during the war) contrast with his many acts of kindness to those around him.  The other two were less interesting and I felt that they were created to fit a certain "mould" -   Howard, the Eurasian civil servant, who grew up with a chip on his shoulder; Mei Lan, the war heroine who became a lawyer fighting and protecting abused women.  But a number of the minor characters, I felt, played an important role in livening up the tale.  Rose, Howard's mother, a widow making a living for herself and two young children.  Mei Lan's second grandmother, tyranising her slave girls, smoking her opium and dabbing on her Schiaparelli perfume.  Raj's brother-in-law Krishna, freedom fighter and rabble rouser.  Their stories, too, formed part of the rich tapestry of "A Different Sky".

But overall, the story was indeed that of Pre-Independence Singapore.  A tale of life under the British, and then under the Japanese.  A tale of political awakening, of a nation beginning to arise.  A tale of individuals and families passing through tragedy and terror, to live again and love again. 

In the broad sweep of history, 50 years ago is not a long time at all.  Yet for many of us, it is indeed a totally different era - a time and place totally outside our experience of life in Singapore today.  This book gives us an insight into these days gone by, and leave us the wiser for it.