Our Heritage

I think it is so wonderful that Singaporeans have the heritage of Chia Ann Siang to fall back on. We all can have something to be proud of. With all this modern and Avant-garde garden being established, we can look back with a romantic thought of our heritage - The Ann Siang Hill. Regardless of whatever race or bloodline we are, this man and others of his caliber has given us something special that will stay in our hearts forever – a stamp of Insignia, our Heritage.

This street could be in South of France or something.
Surprisingly there is a natural elegance to the architecture.

Seeing beauty in the old is an art form itself. It is about looking deeper
than the surface of things. With a little polishing, a new coat of paint...
something incredible may appear and be a topic of conversation.

The colors in the shop houses of Ann Siang Hill are so quaint and charming.
It makes for a show stopper... a place to relax, a place to eat/drink,
a place to talk and share the latest happenings.

I wonder what Great2Grandpa, Chia Ann Siang was thinking when he bought this street before?
Was it the natural charm of the building? The location? The ambiance?

Windows are intriguing. It is interesting how each window tells a different story for the owner.
I could stare at windows all day wishing that the windows would speak to me.

Evenings...  shadows make interesting forms that accentuates beauty

 

There is a saying that our eyes are the windows to our souls. Sometimes, it is better to
be still and just observed. For we can learn so much by just looking and reflecting.

Old and dilapidated, everyone has gone... attracted to new, modern dwellings
they seek the hard concrete repetitions of the new age world.
Losing oneself in the rat race of life, forgetting the past - our foundation.

What does this window mean? When its painted pink and green?
Musing... a feminine touch, a candy cane?
A sweet patisserie to die for with tea with la faire.

This mansion definitely has a British influence. The Colonial Georgian architecture charm.
I love the unexpected curve that embeds the formal windows, with the Corinthian
columns that adds a majestic feel to the structure. What a grand entrance it has...
with chandeliers greeting you with oomph... 

Amazingly, this is a quiet back street that leads to the garden park. I call this a
light of hope, hoping that we all will embrace who we are proudly, and understand that
our forefathers have toil with sweat and have done whatever it takes to get
Singapore to where it is today, with honestly, humility, perseverance, persistence and love.
We, the people of SIngapore.

Peranakan Shop Houses

The Peranakan shop house architecture can be found in the Chinatown in Singapore. It just amazes me how old and beautiful these houses are and I am glad the Singapore heritage can be preserved and reused in different ways.

I thought how interesting this photo can be, when taken inside the taxi cab. Cab drivers are always complaining how unfair the government is and too many unnecessary rules. There must be some kind of justice in that country. The inflation rate is sky rocketing and things are very expensive and inferior or average quality. How sad this country has turn out to be. The balance has definitely tipped.

View Inside Cabby

Shop House Architecture

But aside from all the complains, unhappiness and bickering, I am fond of these old buildings. Looking at these detailed carvings, with the wooden shutters, they don't make these buildings any more. Everything you see in Singapore is modern with sky scrapper buildings which is not shown here.

A Different View

The colors of the Paranakan style are pink, green, brown, teal, with usage of flowers like the hibiscus, peonies, roses, lotus and such. You can forget about simplicity in design. I would classify these almost Victorian or equivalent to the Baroque era in the 1600-1700s. Where rich colors, ornate details in carvings and design are all juxtaposed to look voluptuous.

Pretty Tiles Colors

Architecture Details

I like the yellow and green paints

Old Paranakan Shops Closed Down

Bold Colors and Graphics Goes Well Too

My Great Great Grand-Da3

Chia Ann Siang, born in Malacca (1832-1892) was born from a wealthy Chinese sawmill family-owned business. Being underpaid and under appreciated, he left for better opportunities, to join the British firm Boustead and Company in 1848, that was situated in Singapore at that time. He wanted to know more about international trading because it is a new exploration in his career. The company traded in natural resources, coconut, tobacco, tin tea, spices and silk.

Chia Ann Siang

Chia Teck Sian, 4th son of CAS

Wife of Chia Teck Sian

My Grandpa (CAS grandson) and Grandma

Ann Siang Hill, located off South Bridge Road, was the site of the house and estate of Chia Ann Siang (谢安祥; 1832–1892), a wealthy Malacca-born Hokkien Chinese sawmiller. Chia joined British firm Boustead and Company in 1848. The company traded in natural resources, spices, coconut, tobacco, tin, tea and silk. Boustead's ships plied the China-Europe routes in the early days. After eight years on the job, Chia was promoted to chief produce storekeeper. He retired in 1890 after over 40 years of service in the company, and went into the timber business. He also became a partner of the firm Geok Teat and Company in 1863. After he became a wealthy landowner and one of the leading merchants of his time, he acquired both Ann Siang Hill and Mount Erskine.

Before Chia bought the area, the hill was known as Gemmill's Hill after John Gemmill, a merchant and former auctioneer, and before that Scott's Hill, after its original owner Charles Scott, who cultivated nutmegs and cloves in the area.

The foot of the area between Ann Siang Hill and Mount Erskine, where South Bridge Road meets Neil Road and Tanjong Pagar Road (the site of the Metropole Theatre, now the Fairfield Methodist Church), was one of the earliest Cantonese Chinese burial grounds. The graveyard was in use up to 1867, exhumed in 1907 and part of the area, together with Mount Wallich, used for the Telok Ayer reclamation project.

The Chinese used to call this area qing shan ting. The early Chinese immigrants visited Ann Siang Hill when they wanted to send money home to their families in China, as it was the traditional site of remittance houses. Letter writers and calligraphers also had their businesses at the five-foot way of the shophouses to help the illiterate immigrants write letters home.

Most of the houses in Ann Siang Hill and along Ann Siang Road were built between 1903 and 1941. Ann Siang Road, which has elegantly restored shophouses today, was once the traditional home of clan associations and exclusive social clubs.

Giving New Life

I started this blog because I wanted to find out more about my heritage and people that are connected to it. I wanted to keep the Chia Ann Siang spirit alive as I just found out that I am actually related to him. He is my great, great, grandda, Chia Ann Siang. What a wonder!

Watch me kick up a storm! Are you ready?