WONG Chew Chung 黄潮聪
Chinatown,
Accession Number 002414
- Oral History Centre
Source
- 17
Total Reels
- Yeo Loo Feng
Interviewer
- 08:40:16
Total Running Time
- Mandarin
Language
Copyright Notice
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Reel/Disc 1 of 17
Metadata
- 10 Aug 2000
Recording Date
- 00:31:08
Running Time
- MP3
Format
- Open Access
Conditions Governing Access
Synopsis
*Family background. Informant's career advancement. Informant used to live at 55 Sago Street. Boundary of Chinatown in informant's view. Another name for Sago Street. Number of people living on his floor. Different rooms and their rentals. Layout of the unit. Description of common kitchen. Used to have their meals in their own rooms. Kept leftover food under the dinning table.
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Reel/Disc 2 of 17
Metadata
- 10 Aug 2000
Recording Date
- 00:30:07
Running Time
- MP3
Format
- Open Access
Conditions Governing Access
Synopsis
*Limited utensils used in kitchen for each family. Quarrels over use of kitchen among tenants. How they take their bath. High class living area. Bucket system. Coffee money given to night soil collector. How they change the bucket. Description of night soil collector. Where informant and his roommates slept. How their room is furnished. Description of neighbours' rooms. How rooms were divided.
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Reel/Disc 3 of 17
Metadata
- 10 Aug 2000
Recording Date
- 00:30:47
Running Time
- MP3
Format
- Open Access
Conditions Governing Access
Synopsis
*Papers were pasted all over the wooden divider. Where informant and friends had their meals. Meals were more expensive at People's Park market. The living quarter of the amahs. Dressing of amahs. Small corridor. Floor was made of wood. Single men employed amahs to wash and iron their clothes. Some families hang their washed clothes in the air-well. Lighting of house. Relationship with the landlady.
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Reel/Disc 4 of 17
Metadata
- 10 Aug 2000
Recording Date
- 00:30:14
Running Time
- MP3
Format
- Open Access
Conditions Governing Access
Synopsis
*Living environment and conditions. Other neighbours' occupations and social status. Tuberculosis was common then. Neighbourhood composition was mainly Cantonese. Relationship between tenants. Other racial group in Chinatown. Business found along Sago Street. Street hawkers in Chinatown. Most congested street in Chinatown. Their business hours. Vegetables were laid on floor.
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Reel/Disc 5 of 17
Metadata
- 17 Aug 2000
Recording Date
- 00:30:54
Running Time
- MP3
Format
- Open Access
Conditions Governing Access
Synopsis
*Further elaboration on street hawkers. Type of food and products sold. Description of some roadside food stalls. Environmental inspectors came regularly for illegal hawkers. Gangsters collected protection money. Types of goods sold by stalls set up in the afternoon. Food stalls available at night. Description of landlady's sleeping area. Description of opium dens at Smith Street.
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Reel/Disc 6 of 17
Metadata
- 17 Aug 2000
Recording Date
- 00:29:24
Running Time
- MP3
Format
- Open Access
Conditions Governing Access
Synopsis
*Opium smokers. Dressing of girls working inside the opium dens. Condition of opium dens. Another name for Pagoda Street. Brief description of coolie quarters in the past. Informant's life as an apprentice in tailor shop at Pagoda Street. His working hours. Food and lodging were provided by his boss during apprenticeship.
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Reel/Disc 7 of 17
Metadata
- 17 Aug 2000
Recording Date
- 00:30:45
Running Time
- MP3
Format
- Open Access
Conditions Governing Access
Synopsis
*Types of chores he performed. Informant's learning process. Types of cloth used for suit making over the years. Relationship with the senior tailors. Further elaboration on his learning process. Problems informant encountered during his learning. Number of workers in the tailor shop. How much they can earn for making different types of garments.
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Reel/Disc 8 of 17
Metadata
- 17 Aug 2000
Recording Date
- 00:30:29
Running Time
- MP3
Format
- Open Access
Conditions Governing Access
Synopsis
*Further elaboration on income earned. Colour trends of clothes. Tailor business was good in the 50s. Sale of unclaimed clothes during Chinese New Year was popular. Interior description of tailor shop. Catalogue and pattern books were hardly available in the 50s. Different types of clothes were made for different occupational groups. Price range of tailor-made clothes.
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Reel/Disc 9 of 17
Metadata
- 21 Aug 2000
Recording Date
- 00:31:05
Running Time
- MP3
Format
- Open Access
Conditions Governing Access
Synopsis
*Pricing and color trends for tailor-made suit. Reason why apprenticeship is no longer popular. Informant's experience with some of his customers. Where he got his sewing materials. Relationship of workers and employers then. Many tailor shops were found along Pagoda Street, most were Cantonese.
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Reel/Disc 10 of 17
Metadata
- 21 Aug 2000
Recording Date
- 00:30:12
Running Time
- MP3
Format
- Open Access
Conditions Governing Access
Synopsis
*Why there were so many tailor shops in Pagoda Street. When and why these shops shift out of Chinatown. Not much competition among the tailor shops in Pagoda Street. Distinct characteristic of tailor shops in Chinatown. Comparison of customers groups, price range and materials used in Chinatown, Geylang Serai and Orchard area. Why tailor business were so good in the 50s.
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