Chinatown. January 2016
I have never really been a huge fan of Chinatown in Singapore. Too many people, too much traffic, too touristic, too... many things. That being said, it is the only part of Singapore that still looks like any other large, crowded Asian city with the exceptions of Orchard Road on Sundays (when it is flooded with domestic servants) and Little India on that same day (when it is flooded with laborers) [see: Little India]. Singaporean friends had occasionally dragged me to Chinatown over the years for various specialty dishes and, of course, the best dim sum in town is there [see: dim sum]. Overall, however, I avoided the place.
For people who don't know Singapore, the place was wholly a British creation. [see: Sultan Mosque] People were needed to work there, so the British "imported" Chinese people to be the merchants and shop owners and become the economic heart of the city. Tamils from India were brought for grunt labor because they worked tirelessly in the tropical sun. The true locals, the Malays, were largely ignored and occupied the margins of society. In British Singapore, everyone lived in their own areas, hence with such a huge Chinese population, there sprung up a Chinatown. Now THAT is history. Singapore these days is majority Chinese, so the perplexed looks of visitors as to why there is a "Chinatown" in a city-state that is mostly Chinese is understandable. Nonetheless, even for Chinese Singaporeans, Chinatown is something nostalgic - back to the days of grandparents and earlier. Chinatown remains "Chinatown" on a mostly Chinese island.
Then Brian moved to Chinatown.
Let me back up. Brian had just been made partner at the law firm K&L Gates and with his new status, he wanted a life upgrade and deservedly so - he had paid his dues and waited overly long to break through to the partner level. He also had outgrown and got tired of his small apartment behind Selegie Road at the base of Mt Sophia. Although I loved that area, I agreed, this new job deserved a move. The real estate vultures were set into motion and our friend in that business, MS, found us a place "we just had to see" in Chinatown (or rather on the back edge of it). I was dubious, but never turn up your nose at something without looking first.
What had come open on Pearl's Hill City Park's edge, just where the busy CTE went underground into the downtown area, was a penthouse suite in Landmark Tower. One of the original luxury flats in Singapore, it was old, but the location simply could not be beat. Brian could have walked to work if need be (he didn't). After seeing the place with its own pool, garden areas and stunning city views, I told Brian it was a must see. Brian, too, at first flat out rejected it until I convinced him to see it. He quickly agreed - places like this just didn't come up in Singapore very often. After a short discussion, we decided to take the plunge. Brian signed the lease. It was the last place I lived in the Lion City.
In the short time Brian lived there I made a little more peace with Chinatown. There was a great nasi padang [see: nasi padang] place nearby that I loved to take my lunches at and all kinds of services existed nearby (Chinatown really was great that way). I had my favorite Chinese snack places on the walk home from the MRT as well. Yes, Chinatown was still too much humanity to wade through before reaching the edge of the park and breaking into that green zone where the Landmark was located. However, once home, it was, hands down, one of the most amazing places either of us had ever lived. It was like falling into then out of heaven repeatedly.
Our good friend, GW, a senior home care giver, agreed to come and clean once a week and generally make sure the place didn't get out of control during my long absences when back in Milford. It took some time to get that old flat repaired and set up for living, but we (really, I) managed it with the help of friends and many trips to Ikea as well as a nursery which helped the outdoor decks become little urban jungles. Over the course of a few months, it slowly became an amazing place to live.
Most unfortunately, this is also where life began to unravel for Brian with its follow on affect on me. For that reason, Chinatown has never really escaped my disdain. Maybe I knew from the beginning it was a place of bad news for me. While it lasted though, the glory days in Chinatown were like living in a movie, but as with all movies, they ultimately are just fantasy -- and they end.
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