Squatters and Squalors

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This is what the sign says:-

Life on Nankin Street and Upper Nankin Street was representative of the squatter living conditions found all over Chinatown before the advent of public housing in the post-war years. Rooms in shophouses were divided several times over into tiny cubicles, averaging 15.5 feet by 13.5feet. It was not uncommon for entire families to be crammed into a single cubicle. Several families, if not an entire shophouse, often shared one kitchen and bathroom. For decades, many people lived in such squalid conditions without electricity, running water or proper sanitation. Needless to say, pollution, overcrowding and disease were rife. The infant mortality rate was high, and suicides occurred with alarming frequency.

Upper Nankin Street was one of the most densely populated streets in Chinatown. In 1955, six three-storey shop houses on Upper Nankin Street were reported to be housing over 300 residents. A large proportion of the area’s population was made up of samsui women – hardy, weather-beaten women from Guangdong who came to Singapore to work as labourers. They were frugal, stoic and tough; toiling at construction sites by day and sleeping in spartan wooden dormitories by night.

The picture in the sign is, courtesy of National Archives of Singapore, show the labourers in the overcrowded cubicles.

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This is a small part of the history of Singapore’s Chinatown in the 1930s. The Chinese fled their homeland in China, during the depression to look for a better life in South-East Asia. Unfortunately, for most of them, the hopes of a better life were dashed. They ended up working as coolies (labourers), and living in squalid conditions. That is if they were lucky to have made it here. Many died enroute, packed into vessels like animals.

The men worked as labourers at the harbor, or the quays, loading and loading goods. The pay was miniscule and work was back breaking. Some of them turn to opium to help them cope with the harsh reality. They became addicted, and didn’t end well.

Some were lucky to find jobs in the rubber plantations. They worked as rubber tappers. Some worked as trishaw pullers. Whatever the nature of the job, it was all hard labour, all hard work.

The women didn’t have it easy either. They worked at construction sites, and were referred to 'samsui woman'. They were tough women with principles. They vowed not to marry, and they will reject jobs involving drug peddling (it was opium at the time), prostitution and other vices even if it meant living in poverty. They looked out for each other, and were a close-knit community. Some of the women who came here found jobs as domestic servants.

It was not the best of times.

The area was later redeveloped and given a new lease of life with sculptures and murals, depicting days of old, reminding us of how it was in the early days.

Residents bonding over some snacks and tea (probably). This little side street must be so much better than being crammed inside a cubicle.

Some immigrants worked as trishaw pullers.

Some wall murals of children at play.

More murals.

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