Beyond the Bund: How the Shanghainese Community Shaped Colonial Singapore

Shanghainese Woodworkers

The Shanghainese were famed for their skills in making rosewood furniture. In a survey done by the Wenzhou Clan Association of Singapore in 1953, more than 90% of their members were in the woodworking industry. The majority of them came here as carpenters and they prayed to their patron saint Lu Ban (鲁班先师), who lived in the Warring States period and venerated as a master carpenter and inventor.^[13]

Chen Laichang (陈来昌) from Ningbo was one of the earliest arrivals to the Straits Settlements, arriving in Malacca in 1903 before settling in Singapore and opening a furniture shop called Wan Xing Furniture Company (万兴木器公司). He also operated a trading company, Wan Xing National Products Company (万兴国货公司), promoting goods produced and/or manufactured in China.^[14]

Shanghainese furniture makers could be found in Victoria Street, Upper Cross Street, and Orchard Road.^[15] Cheng Meng Furniture, founded by a Shanghainese entrepreneur, thrived through contract work for the British Army, Public Works Department, offices, homes, and retail businesses.^[16] Diethelm & Co. Ltd’s furniture department hired Shanghainese woodworkers. In 1963, these craftsmen worked over 70,000 hours at the furniture workroom off Balestier Road, producing locally designed furniture for the newly established Parliament of Malaysia. These included teak benches for the government and opposition parties, as well as mahogany administrative desks and chairs.^[17] In 1966, Deithelm also secured export orders from the United States, Vietnam, and Japan, which were fulfilled by these skilled Shanghainese artisans.^[18]

Between the mid-1950s and the early 1960s, there was an exodus of 400 Wenzhou woodworkers to the Netherlands. These artisans had previously lived in rundown two-storey buildings near Kallang Pudding Road, off Macpherson Road, where their carpentry workshops and business premises occupied the ground floor. Upon settling in the Netherlands, many ventured into other businesses, such as Chinese restaurants.^[19] The traditional furniture trade met further challenges in the 1970s with the influx of cheap, mass-produced furniture into the consumer market. By 1984, the furniture shops in Victoria Street had been vacated, and the Shanghainese carpenters and craftsmen who once supplied these shops with teak furniture from their Geylang and Kallang workshops had either passed away or retired.^[20]

Furniture shops along Upper Cross Street. Urban Redevelopment Authority Collection, courtesy of National Archives of Singapore.

Shanghainese Dry-cleaners

In the early 1950s, over 75% of the 70 dry-cleaning businesses in Singapore were owned by Shanghainese who had received training in Shanghai. They had a reputation for their reliability and quality of work.^[26] The earliest mention of a Shanghainese cleaner in the press was in 1918, when Ong Yiew Sun, a “Shanghai dhoby” reported the theft of fifty dollars' worth of clothing to the police.^[27] Before the war, most of the Shanghainese dry cleaners’ customers were Europeans. They were also contracted by prestigious establishments such as the former Government House, the Raffles Hotel, Seaview Hotel, and Adelphi Hotel. When the Shanghai-based 1st Battalion, Middlesex Regiment was transferred to Singapore in 1935, an additional 32 Shanghainese dry-cleaners were hired to manage the increased workload.^[28] However, the industry faced challenges over time. A lack of successors and the advent of faster and cheaper self-service machine washers, high rental costs, and expensive equipment, led to a rapid decline in the number of Shanghainese dry-cleaners.

Shanghainese Tailors

Xu Jinsheng (徐金生) was one of the earliest Shanghainese tailors to set foot in Singapore, with his apprentice Ding Ronghua (丁荣华) in 1923. The wife of the British General Manager of the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank was so impressed with his dressmaking skills that, when they were relocating from Shanghai to Singapore, she convinced him to follow them as well. Whenever Xu returned home for visist, he would bring along fellow tailors on his return trip to Singapore. Right before the war, there were about 400 Shanghainese tailors in Singapore, mostly working in Orchard Road, Killiney Road, Cairnhill Road, Stamford Road, and High Street. The tailors’ patron saint is the Xuan Yuan Emperor (轩辕黄帝), who according to legend was the inventor of farming, agriculture, clothing and music, among other things.^[21]

Most Shanghainese tailors worked in backrooms, for only a few had their own shops. Some found work at departmental stores such as John Little and Robinsons, while others worked at High Street’s Indian dressmaking shops, like Chotirmall. They would share their earnings with their bosses at an agreed rate.^[22] Being highly mobile, they would go whenever better job opportunities arose.

Shanghainese tailor See Kwei Sung was entrusted with a special task in 1953: to dress Elizabeth Choy, wartime heroine of Singapore, for Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation. He created an oyster-grey satin cheongsam embroidered with three purple-toned Chinese dragons and the Chinese characters “Long Live the Queen; may there be universal peace 女皇万岁 天下太平”.^[23] By the 1980s, these Shanghainese tailors had become a “vanishing trade”, lacking successors and facing competition from fast fashion. Despite this decline, there were classes organised specifically on Shanghainese dressmaking for non-Shanghainese tailors. Some shops adapted to changing times: one turned to selling Chinese porcelain and curios when the tailor could no longer sew, while Shanghai Kwei Sung Tailor turned to selling tourist souvenirs when business waned in the late 1970s.^[24]

One exception is CYC Shanghai Shirt Company, founded by Shanghainese tailors Chiang Yick Ching (CYC), and his wife, Mdm Foo Ah Neok in 1935.^[25] The company remains famous for their custom-made shirts and corporate wear even to this day.

General view of tailors in a shop. Ministry of Information and the Arts Collection, courtey of National Archives of Singapore.

Chotirmall along High Street, c.1945. David Turner Collection, courtesy of National Archives of Singapore.

Other Shanghainese Trades

Historically, the majority of Shanghainese in Singapore belonged to the working class, with just a small number of businessmen among them. When they arrived, they would typically seek out friends and relatives for accommodation and jobs. Although they were closely identified with carpentry, tailoring, and dry-cleaning, Shanghainese immigrants were also involved in a diverse range of other trades.

The Shanghainese established various enterprises in Singapore, including trading companies such as Kiauw Hin & Co. Ltd. (侨兴国货有限公司) that sold national goods. At one point, the piano industry in Singapore was monopolised by the Ningboese. Some optical shops were also opened by Shanghainese. Chinese bookshops such as The Shanghai Book Company (上海书局) founded in 1925 by Shanghainese Chen Yoh Shoo (陈岳书) and Wang Shu Yang (王叔旸) played a major role in nurturing generations of students by providing Chinese textbooks and reading materials.^[29] Before the war, The Commercial Press (商务印书馆) was affiliated with Zhejiang, and Chung Hwa Book Co (中华书局) was associated with Jiangsu. These bookshops were popular social gathering spaces for Shanghainese from the cultural and educational fields.^[30]

Lea Hin Company established since 1935 by Ningbonese Woo Kai Lea (胡嘉烈), was not engaged in a traditional trade associated with the Shanghainese. It dealt primarily in kerosene stoves, pressure lanterns, pressure oil tanks and burners under their "Butterfly" trademark. The company has since diversified into other businesses and is still flourishing today.^[31] The prominent Shaw Brothers, also from Ningbo, built a formidable movie empire in Singapore. By 1965, they owned 19 cinemas in the country.^[32] In 1957, they established the Shaw Foundation, which has since distributed over US$150 million to support education, welfare, medicine, arts and heritage initiatives.^[33]

Shanghainese enclaves gradually disappeared with urban redevelopment. Traditional businesses either diversified into new ventures or ceased operations as their owners retired. Clan associations continue to play an active role in unifying the Shanghainese through various activities.

Today, the descendants of the original Singaporean Shanghainese families continue to excel in their own fields, creating new Singaporean Shanghainese stories alongside a new wave of Shanghainese migrants. These diverse narratives contribute to the evolving tapestry of Singapore’s colourful cultural landscape.