Tiong Bahru market is one of the oldest modern combined wet market and food centre in Singapore.
The then Seng Poh Road market was first built in 1956, and rebuilt in 2006 under the new name. I consider this a node (centre of interaction) of community because I saw different walks of life interacting with one another there. Kids, teenagers, working/retired adults could all be seen there even on a Thursday afternoon.
Stroll down and read the captions under each picture to find out more!
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| Exterior of the Tiong Bahru Market! |
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| A shop selling aquarium fish and products |
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| Wet market! |
(Above) I came here in the morning once and found it bustling with aunties and shop owners haggling over prices, but I suppose why it's so seemingly empty now is because of the time (4pm) so it's like "after business/closing shops" time!
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| A family! |
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| Teenagers chatting over drinks |
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| Many people, even at this time! (eg, not lunch/ dinner hour) |
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| Stall owner, man from interview 5 (refer to previous post) |
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| Close up of stall!J Notice the black and white photograph of him cooking when he was way younger! |
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| Article on his stall, with background information about him and his wife, and the fried kway teow! |
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| People people people walking, talking, eating! |
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| More people can be seen chatting to each other over food! |
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| Celine Hehe, even Celine and I were chatting over her drink, only we're not part of the community lolJ |
I noticed some old aunties and uncles sitting together at one huge circle able noisily chatting away while sipping hot coffee/ tea! And it should be noted that it wasn't lunch/dinner time when we visited, so there would be a lot more people if it were.
Like I said, I consider the Tiong Bahru Market the centre of community because this is a place where obviously many people can be seen interacting with one another over food. Singapore's food culture is such that we are all bred to love eating food, and are all pretty capable of eating delicious food even when we don't even feel hungry.
And not to mention food is the universal bonding experience in the sense that we all have to eat food to sustain ourselves, right? So why not bond over food!J And that's exactly what the people in Tiong Bahru did when faced with a whole level of more than 50 food stores right in the middle of all the estates!
Also, with reference to interview 5, which I will kindly put here for your easy reference:
Interview 5: Mr Tay, owner of a Fried Kuay Teow stall at Tiong Bahru Market, 84 years old.
Note: The interview was conducted in Chinese so translation might have slightly edited the original interview.
Me: How long have you been working here?
Him: Very long, from 1968.
Me: Do you think that the environment has changed a lot?
Him: Environment... It has always been this good.
Me: Please elaborate.
Him: There were always lots of customers who come and eat all of our (gestures at market) food.
Me: Do you feel that you belong here?
Him: Yes, yes.
Me: Do you and your fellow shopkeepers help each other out? Are you close?
Him: Yes, yes.
Me: Do you and your fellow shopkeepers help each other out? Are you close?
Him: Yes, we help each other whenever we can.
Me: Were the shopkeepers you used to work with closer to you or now?
Him: About the same. There used to be two markets, one for eating, and one wet one. But they reconstructed into this combined one recently.
Me: Did you use to have more business, or now?
Him: Now... No, about the same. My business is not bad.
Me: Do you know any customers? As in maybe old/ regular customers?
Him: Yes, a lot, I know a lot of them because I've worked for over 40 years, they still come to eat my food.
Me: Did you have more regular/ old customers then, or now?
Him: About the same. There are always old and new customers.
Me: If the government gave you an option to move your shop to another good or even better location, would you move?
Him: I should think not.
Mr Tay, stall owner of the fried Kuay Teow stall at the Tiong Bahru Market, now run by his daughter and her husband, (he still cooks every now and then, like when we visited) has been running the stall here for 44 years straight, even through the rebuilding of the market. When asked about his opinion of the change in environment, he replied that there has been little change to the good environment of the market, highlighting the presence of plenty of customers for everyone. He also states that he and his fellow stall owners help each other out when they can, and that it has always been like this. And when given the scenario with the option to move to another better location, he states that he does not think that he will move.
This is positive, for it shows that the market has always been and is a bustling place full of people who both come to buy fresh food for their families, and eat. And that many old customers (literally both old in age and how long they have been eating there) still come to the market to eat, even after all those years, showing the nostalgia many people face over their past years. However, from the interview, and by observation, it can also be seen that new customers, and younger patrons, are coming to dine here as well, showing the trend of younger customers being able to appreciate food culture, regardless old or new.
As mentioned in the previous post, there is a barely visible, but still
existing, social fault line in the community, created by the influx of expats and new homeowners into the neighborhood due to the different income gaps and practices. Tiong Bahru market bridges this fault line by providing a place for residents of all races and backgrounds to eat and bond, or to buy groceries and bond too. Although, I would consider it sort of "forced" onto the people because there isn't any food centre that is as cheap and yet still has that many variety of good food nearby or as close as this one to the residents, so the residents kind of have to come here to eat, and also, it's the nearest market, (the other one is pretty far away) so residents inevitably have to come marketing to buy groceries for their families. But even though it's very needs based bonding, it is still essentially bonding as a community, enhancing the sense of belonging for the residents to Tiong Bahru.
Recommendations
What can the government do to improve the sense of identity in this place?
Even though this place, has in some sense been eroded by several factors covered earlier such as influx of expats, and other than these few recommendations, I must say that Tiong Bahru Estate in general is close knitted because it has a very strong sense of identity, as can be seen from its estates' unique appearances, mentioned in previous posts. Tiong Bahru Estate still has it's strong rustic feel even as Singapore is changing rapidly, thus residents there still feel a sense of belonging. But the the essence of community is more prevalent in the pre-war estates because the residents feel no need to move because the blocks are conserved, as covered in the previous post!
Regrets/ Room for improvement
One regret would be how we couldn't find the bird corner, according to interviewee 4, was really popular in the past, but after I did some background research, the area now is pretty abandoned, and hard to find. Another would be that the underground bomb shelters are closed off to public, unless you book the tours under the national heritage board, but all the tours have been fully booked, so I couldn't visit them.
Thank you for reading!J
This is positive, for it shows that the market has always been and is a bustling place full of people who both come to buy fresh food for their families, and eat. And that many old customers (literally both old in age and how long they have been eating there) still come to the market to eat, even after all those years, showing the nostalgia many people face over their past years. However, from the interview, and by observation, it can also be seen that new customers, and younger patrons, are coming to dine here as well, showing the trend of younger customers being able to appreciate food culture, regardless old or new.
As mentioned in the previous post, there is a barely visible, but still
existing, social fault line in the community, created by the influx of expats and new homeowners into the neighborhood due to the different income gaps and practices. Tiong Bahru market bridges this fault line by providing a place for residents of all races and backgrounds to eat and bond, or to buy groceries and bond too. Although, I would consider it sort of "forced" onto the people because there isn't any food centre that is as cheap and yet still has that many variety of good food nearby or as close as this one to the residents, so the residents kind of have to come here to eat, and also, it's the nearest market, (the other one is pretty far away) so residents inevitably have to come marketing to buy groceries for their families. But even though it's very needs based bonding, it is still essentially bonding as a community, enhancing the sense of belonging for the residents to Tiong Bahru.
Recommendations
What can the government do to improve the sense of identity in this place?
I think that the government can hold even more bonding events, such as block parties for events such as CNY etc, for I noticed the lack of events on the notice boards. Also, with reference to the newer post-war estates, the government can recommend that residents interact more with one another and promote its benefits. Like for eg, how you neighbor can look after your pet cat/ plants while you go on holiday etc.Conclusion
Even though this place, has in some sense been eroded by several factors covered earlier such as influx of expats, and other than these few recommendations, I must say that Tiong Bahru Estate in general is close knitted because it has a very strong sense of identity, as can be seen from its estates' unique appearances, mentioned in previous posts. Tiong Bahru Estate still has it's strong rustic feel even as Singapore is changing rapidly, thus residents there still feel a sense of belonging. But the the essence of community is more prevalent in the pre-war estates because the residents feel no need to move because the blocks are conserved, as covered in the previous post!
Regrets/ Room for improvement
One regret would be how we couldn't find the bird corner, according to interviewee 4, was really popular in the past, but after I did some background research, the area now is pretty abandoned, and hard to find. Another would be that the underground bomb shelters are closed off to public, unless you book the tours under the national heritage board, but all the tours have been fully booked, so I couldn't visit them.
Thank you for reading!J