History Essay
Question: Do you think Chinatown’s unique identity is worth preserving in modern day Singapore?
Chinatown’s unique identity is worth preserving in modern day Singapore as it holds a significant historical value to Singapore. Due to the large population of Chinese immigrants and other races in 1843, the British colonial government decided to set up areas dedicated to the different races for shelter and home. One of them is Chinatown. As the years passed, Chinatown became a shelter for these immigrants and also helped the Chinese families earn money from businesses. Goods were traded and sold in Chinatown and it soon became a night market that attracted crowds of people. However, the modern day economic-centered government is starting to consider replacing these old shophouses with new buildings to accommodate for the people and to boost the industry. This has raised a lot of controversy regarding this issue about whether the government is really willing to forget and destroy the hard work of our founding fathers who toiled so hard to create a home for the Chinese, and then to know that they will be destroyed in the end just for the sake of more money. In this essay, I will show that Chinatown’s identity holds much significance in the history of our country and should therefore be preserved in modern day Singapore.
Chinatown holds huge historical value and attraction to the Chinese and to Singapore. As Chinatown was originally built for the hugely concentrated ethnic group of Chinese in 1843, the people brought and kept with it the culture and traditions of China. These traditions have been passed on over the years in Chinatown, meaning that it holds huge significance to the Chinese. To date, the goods and services they offer hold a large cultural inclination to the Chinese group in Singapore. Statistics has shown that more than 8500 Chinese people head to the temples every Chinese New Year to offer incense and prayers, showing the immense...