The Essence of Chinatown Essay Example

The Essence of Chinatown Essay It is Chinese New Year. The hustle and bustle of trade, the haggling of prices fills the air as people jostle through the crowd to buy that kilogram of barbecued pork, or that bunch of golden rat-shaped decorations to welcome the year of the Rat. However, many people simply run through the epicentre of joyful noise and energy that can only be Chinatown without stopping to wonder at the past it possesses and the reason for its existence in a predominantly Chinese Singapore. Modern day Chinatown I stand silently at the start of Pagoda Street and look down from my vantage point of an overhead bridge to see a place that embodies the very story of Chinatown is the Chinatown Heritage Centre. Sitting right in the center of Chinatown, it is a quaint shop house that has been converted into a wealth of memories and untold stories. These stories are showed to the public on three different levels and exhibit the lives of early settlers. It traces the evolution and growth of both Chinatown and the Chinese people of Singapore, from coolie workers and maids to bosses and politicians. The Heritage Centre shows why Chinatown is the way it is in modern day Singapore. It tells the story of a place that never really sleeps through an exhibit called â€Å"Where the day never ends† and tells us of how Chinatown was always rampant with festive mood during celebrations like the Lunar New Year. Like present day Chinatown, the Chinatown of the past was an energetic place whenever Chinese festivals were around the corner. We will write a custom essay sample on The Essence of Chinatown specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The Essence of Chinatown specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The Essence of Chinatown specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer When asked about what the Heritage Centre taught him, a secondary school student whom I interviewed on location told me, â€Å"This place shows us that that every Chinese person had a stake in Chinatown. It also teaches me not to forget my roots,† The Heritage Centre, for many youth, also carries a cautionary tale against the four vices of life. An exhibit details the lives of people who have fallen to opium smoking, prostitution, gambling and secret societies and is still a relevant warning to today’s Chinese population in Singapore about the dangers of indulging in forbidden pleasures. A Prostitute’s Room I asked one shopper why she went to Chinatown to visit the Heritage Centre and I was told that, â€Å"Chinatown is the place many Chinese had lived in the past. I am a Chinese and I really like to know what my roots are,† What she said clearly highlights to us why Singapore needs a Chinatown: Cultural identity. The Heritage Centre tells us that Chinatown has existed ever since Singapore was conceptualised as a colonial state. The place was characterised by shop houses that possessed five-foot walkways and cramped quarters on the upper floors. Large scale immigration forced occupants of Chinatown to stay in small, cramped and sordid cubicles that lacked proper sanitation and facilities. People squeezed together, sometimes seven in cubicle. However, Chinatown was more than just a living quarter for the Chinese migrants who came by boat from mainland China. It was a retail location for uniquely Chinese goods, a uniquely Chinese socialisation ground which gave birth to the coffee shops that we see in contemporary Singapore. A life-sized model of such coffee shops can be seen in the Heritage Centre. Chinatown was, most importantly, a place representative of escape from oppression, poverty and injustice in mainland China. My late great-grand mother, who came from China with nothing but the clothes on her back once told me that, â€Å"Chinatown, although small, cramp and noisy, was the home away from home for many, a place where Chinese people put down new roots and built new lives for themselves and their descendants. † I believe that this spirit of emancipation and determination to make it in the world is what is so beautiful about Chinatown’s Heritage Centre. While Singapore is a multi-racial nation that does not discriminate creeds, race or religion, it is undeniably mixed in its racial denominations to a very high degree. As such, people need to hold on to their cultural identity. Unlike many other countries where Chinese are not the dominant race and thus need a Chinatown, Singapore’s Chinese population needs a Chinatown not to give them a sense of home, but to satisfy a deep-seated need to retain the uniqueness of being Chinese while becoming Singaporean all the time. Chinese, like all other races, need a place where we can identify with both culturally and, on a deeper level, spiritually. We need a place that tells us who we are and where we really came from and Chinatown provides us with that cultural belonging and identity. Chinatown is â€Å"where Chinese go to be Chinese and not worry about how we would be looked at, simply because it is Chinatown,† as said by a passer-by when I asked him what Chinatown meant to him as a Chinese person. When I started primary research, I did not expect such a deep-rooted sense of belonging to Chinatown in the Chinese people because even I, a Chinese, did not have great attachment for the place. However, I have come to understand that Chinatown is more than a place. It is a record book, a place that history has etched its mark on to educate and enlighten future generations of Chinese people. Therefore, the true idea behind why we need a Chinatown in Singapore is because the essence of the Chinese people is the essence of Chinatown.

History of the World in 6 Glasses Essays

History of the World in 6 Glasses Essays History of the World in 6 Glasses Essay History of the World in 6 Glasses Essay Chapter 2: Civilized Beer 1. The Land between 2 rivers is the Tigris and Euphrates rivers located in Mesopotamia ( in the Fertile Crescent ) . The World’s first metropoliss arose in Mesopotamia. the land between the watercourses. ’ the name given to the country between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers†¦ ( 24. Standage ) . which meant that around this country most of the people were hardworking. The job about these two rivers though is that they had unexpected implosion therapy and there was small rain. This is why at the clip. goods. alternatively of being offerings to Gods were. compulsory revenue enhancements that were consumed by the temple bureaucratism or traded for other goods and services ( 40. Standage ) . This lone arose though because of the unpredictable conditions and nature of the Mesopotamian environment. 2. Mesopotamia and Egypt had many differences. . but they were both similar in one thing. Both civilizations were made possible by an agricultural excess. in peculiar an entree of grain ( 25. Standage ) . It funded many a huge sum of public works/constructions to be possible such as canals. temples and pyramids and besides freed a little elite of decision makers and craftsmen from the demand to bring forth their ain nutrient. Grain was the chief national diet in both Mesopotamia and Egypt. refereed to as edible money because it was consumed in both liquid and solid signifier. 3. †¦ Grain was the footing of the national diet in both Egypt and Mesopotamia ( 26. Standage ) . it was consumed as non merely beer. but bread excessively. Many people supplemented themselves with staff of life. beer. day of the months and onions ( sometimes with meat and of class extra veggies ) ; Dates provided vitamin A. beer provided vitamin B and everything else added up to 3. 5000 to 4. 000 Calories. They both had different ways of seeing how beer should really be used sometimes but they both used it in the same manner most of the clip. for pleasance and to fulfill. 4. Gilgamesh was a Sumerian sort who ruled around 2700 BCE and Tells s narrative that includes a wild adult male that becomes human by being introduced to beer and nutrient by a adult female. He drank the veer-seven jugs! – and became expansive and American ginseng with joy†¦ He was elated and his face glowed†¦ he splashed his bushy organic structure with water†¦ and turned into human ( 27. Standage ) . Sumerian myths affected people by picturing the Gods as really fallible. human characters who enjoy eating and imbibing. normally imbibing excessively much ; Sumerian authorship might hold besides inspired how Egyptians get downing authorship. 5. As in Mesopotamia. beer was thought to hold antediluvian and fabulous beginnings. and it appears in supplications. myths. and legends ( 28. Standage ) . non merely in Mesopotamia did they happen beer to be sacred but in Egypt excessively. one narrative even gives credits to beer with salvaging world from devastation. Mesopotamians and Egyptians likewise saw beer as an antediluvian. god given drink that underpinned their being. formed portion of their cultural and spiritual individuality. and had great societal importance ( 29. Standage ) . In both civilizations. without beer. the repast wouldn’t be complete. Beer is one of the grounds that led to the the arising of civilisations. chiefly because it combined different societal groups from high category to low category. from grownups to kids ; it allow people have something in common. something they could portion. no affair how much money you had or even your age. 6. Originally. authorship was invented to enter the aggregation and distribution of grain. beer and other goods ; it arose as a continuance of the Neolithic usage of. using items to account for parts to a communal depot ( 30. Standage ) . Since there was s excess of nutrient. Sumerian metropoliss collected it normally as offerings to Gods. but in pattern were consumed by the temple to assist keep public constructions such as irrigation systems because of the unpredictable Mesopotamian environment. Subsequently though. items were abandoned and pictograms came to stand for Numberss and even Gods excessively. Having started out as a agency of entering revenue enhancement grosss and ration payments. composing shortly evolved into a more flexible. expressive. and abstract medium ( 34. Standage ) . 7. Our modern Latin alphabet can be traced back to the Mesopotamians and Egyptians. After items were abandoned. pictograms came to put picturing Gods and Numberss. By around 3000 BCE composing had evolved a small spot more. The terminal consequence was the first all-purpose signifier of composing. based on cuneate. or cuneiform . indentures made in clay tablets utilizing reeds ( 24. Standage ) . 8. Both civilisations barley and wheat. and their processed solid and liquid signifiers. staff of life and beer. became more than merely staple groceries ; they were convenient and widespread signifiers or payments and currency ( 25. Standage ) . people were paid for their work in loaves of staff of life and jars of beer ; even adult females and kids were paid by this. The usage of staff of life and beer as rewards or currency mean that they became associated with prosperity and wellbeing. The ancient Egyptians identified them so closely with the necessities of life that the phrase bread and beer’ meant nutriment in general ; their combined hieroglyphics formed the symbol for nutrient ( 37. Standage ) . Beer was besides used medically for both Egyptians and Mesopotamians. 9. Since beer. being boiled. was less likely to be contaminated than H2O. it had the advantage of holding ingredients dissolve easy in it. A wedge-shaped tablet from the Sumerian metropolis of Nippur. contains a list of medical formulas based on beer. In Egypt. beer’s usage as a mild depressant was recognized. and it was besides the bass for several medical mixtures of herbs and spices†¦ Half an onion mixed with bubbling beer was said to bring around irregularity. for illustration. while powdery olives assorted with beer cured dyspepsia ; a mixture of Crocus sativus and beer massaged into a woman’s venter was prescribed for labour strivings ( 38. Standage ) . 10. Egyptians believed that their wellbeing in the hereafter depended on holding a satisfying supply of strain and beer. A normal funerary offering consisted of staff of life. beer. cattle. geese. fabric. and natron. a purification agent. Scenes and theoretical accounts of brewing and baking have been found in Egyptian grave. along with jars of beer ( long since evaporated ) and beer-making equipment ( 38. Standage ) . From emperors to ordinary citizens. they were all buried with a little or big jar of beer.