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Take
a look at some of our exhibition highlights:
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| Wanlu
Tang -
“Hall of the Ten Thousand Strands of
Pussy Willow” |
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“The
Chinese have a kind of flexibility,
adaptability, a sense of inclusiveness,
a willingness to learn and to accept
new ideas – at the same time,
values to help them organize themselves
to face difficult decisions and conditions,
so that the migrants could operate
quite successfully.”
Prof
Wang Gungwu
Director, East Asia Institute
National University of Singapore
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| Sons
& Daughters Library |
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Strive
for succcess and blaze a trail
Take from society, return to society
"A
great man never loses the heart he
has when a child."
Yung
Wing (1828 - 1912), a pioneer in education
Yale College, June 12, 1854
In
1847, when 20 year-old Yung Wing landed
in New York, he created a stir with
the locals. A Chinaman with long,
braided hair, wearing a ‘skirt’,
was something strange to the New Yorkers,
in a city of less than 300,000 people.
Even
at 20, Yung Wing had a dream to learn
from the west so that he could bring
reforms to China. He would bring modern
ideas and inventions back to his country.
He would also bring young Chinese
to study in the US so that they could
bring these thinking skills back to
his country.
It took him 20 years to make this
dream a reality: 120 boys were sent
to Massachusetts and Connecticut to
study in schools and colleges. Many
of them would play important roles
in the development of China in the
decades that followed. Yung Wing’s
doggedness and determination made
his dream come true.
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| The
Long Road |
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“Arriving
in Singapore, I saw many workers carrying
loads of coal, their bodies covered
with black soot. At that very moment,
I realized that life was going to
be very difficult.”
Ng
Teow Yhee
Businessman, Ship Chandling
Born in 1923, Fujian Province, China
Migrated to Singapore at age 15.
From
the Wanlu Tang, the migrant story
begins with the “The Long Road”
from village to dock This exhibit
welcomes visitors with a brief history
of the origins of Chinese migrants.
The journey begins with The Long Road,
a philosophical display representing
the uncertainties felt by migrants
who left their home villages for new
opportunities overseas.
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| Floating
Hell |
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“The
Singapore Chinese may look Chinese
and speak Chinese, but they
are different. They are of Chinese
stock, but most important, they
think in terms of Singapore’s
interests.”
Lee
Kuan Yew
Prime Minister
Singapore
(‘Lee
Kuan Yew’ By Alex Josey)
This
area exhibits various old pictures
of the early migrants including
the coolies’ days of struggle,
their habits and customs, and
how they adapted to their new
found home. With the model of
a Chinese junk bordering the
area to depict the “Floating
Hell” which thousands
of Chinese migrants had to endure
when sailing the rough seas
to their new lands, the archival
area is reminiscent of a traditional
and nostalgic gallery.
Pictures are placed behind a
0.5-metre-deep panel. To look
at the pictures, visitors need
to peep through holes framed
with Chinese timber carving,
set at different heights. There
are also two display areas of
artifacts placed at extreme
corners of the exhibit area.
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| From
China to Chinatown |
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The
China to Chinatown
section tells the
stories of how migrants
and their descendants
assimilated into
their new adopted
lands. This section
features pictures
of the early generation
of migrants. It
also tells how these
migrants attempted
to preserve their
identity and nurture
a relationship with
the locals, the
pastimes they engaged
in, the bonds they
formed, etc.
Where
the Chinese had
settled in all over
the world can be
seen on the wall
banners that provide
interesting facts
and figures of Chinese
residing in their
respective countries. |
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| Popular
Culture |
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A sampling of Chinese movies and songs from
the 1950s and 1960s depicting Chinese popular
culture are featured in this hall, a good
venue for corporate events and theme parties.
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| The
Survivors |
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"Robust like bamboo, able to thrive
in rich soil and stay alive in poor soil,
the
early Chinese immigrant had to bend and
blend in to survive."
While
the stories in the archival area are mostly
about men, this section of the museum pays
tribute to the women who migrated overseas
and played a pivotal role in the development
of Chinese overseas communities. The women’s
stories are told through an engaging display
of mannequins comprising a little girl,
possibly sold to be a slave at an auction,
the Samsui woman, the Ma Jie and a famous
Hollywood actress, Anna May Wong.. Each
of the mannequins was rendered contextually
to tell their unique stories. The stories
of the other early survivors in their new
lands include the mannequins of the railroad
worker and the gardener.
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| The
Little Girl for Sale |
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“And
that worthless father…locked
me in the cabin while he was
negotiating my sale. And I kicked
and screamed and screamed…
Then they opened the door and
I went up and down, up and down,
here and there, and couldn’t
find him.”
Lilac
Chen
Ex-Mui Tsai (girl servant)
*Lilac was sent to USA in 1893,
when she was six and sold as
a child servant. She was rescued
by Protestant Missionaries in
1894.
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| The
Prostitute |
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“The
sufferings in a brothel are
unbearable.
To leave is to be spared from
sorrow
To be a prostitute is to be
dirt cheap or worse.
Today, happily, I’ve met
a young man
I vow to eternity I will withstand
any poverty.
Domestic life may lack the luster
of the fun quarters;
But it’s better than living
in Green Mansions
As a Hundred Men’s Wife!”
- Songs of Gold Mountain
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| The
Samsui Woman |
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“It
is more rewarding to be on your
own, making your own money which
you can send home. There is
no need to depend on anyone
or pander to someone else’s
whim. Instead, you are free
to do as you wish. Is that not
a good thing?”
Wong
Sau Eng, Samsui Woman
*Wong migrated to Singapore
without her husband’s
knowledge and leaving her daughter
in care of the grandmother.
“Female
Migrants in Singapore”,
Claire Chang
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| The
Ma Jie (Ah Mah) |
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“Our
amah, Ah Chung, has been with
our family for 33 years. She’s
like a grandmother to us and
treats us like her grandchildren.
I must admit that all her nagging
is related to my well-being.
We would like her to stay with
us when she has retired.”
Sylvia
Yap
“Superior Servants”
By Kenneth Gaw
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| The
Railroad Worker |
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“Without
the efforts of the Chinese
workers in the building
of America's railroads,
our development and progress
as a nation would have
been delayed by years.
Their toil in severe weather,
cruel working conditions
and for meagre wages cannot
be under appreciated.”
Hon.
John T. Doolittle of California,
in the U.S. House of Representatives
1999
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| The
Gardener |
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“When
other farmers gave up
trying to raise celery
in the low flat land of
Huntington Beach (Los
Angeles), the Chinese
went in. They drained
the land and showed that
celery could be successfully
grown there. As a result,
the price of land tripled
in Huntington Beach.”
Elsie
and George Yee
‘Chinese and the
Los Angeles Produce Market’
Gum Saan Journal, December
1986
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| The
Chinaman |
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“In
1889, Oei Tiong Ham petitioned
the Dutch government for
permission to cut his
cue and dress in western
style. This petition was
granted and he became
the first Java Chinese
to dress in western style.”
Onghokam
‘Chinese Capitalism
in Dutch Java’
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| The
Grand Food Hall |
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“A
broader view of
food is that it
is essentially all
things that go to
nourish us…
We have to congratulate
the Chinese on their
happy confusion
of medicine and
food. This makes
their medicine less
of a medicine, but
makes their food
more of a food.”
Lin
Yutang
“The Importance
of Living”
1937
The Chinese are
well known for their
passion for food
and for the early
Chinese immigrants,
food was one of
the most important
links they had with
China. Within this
exhibit area (6.5
metres by 14 metres),
interesting stories
and facts about
Chinese food are
presented. Various
types of Chinese
food are displayed
on the two shelves
against the walls.
Suspended from the
ceiling are also
fourteen pieces
of calligraphic
scrolls (5 metres
by 1 metre), each
telling stories
of Chinese food
and idioms.
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