SOUVENIR SHOP

This is the place to pick up a memento or souvenir for your loved ones back home. From intricate handmade crafts such as bookmarks with shophouse carvings to traditional toys of yesteryear like kuti-kuti and 5 stones, and even autobiographies by former Chinatown residents, you will be sure to make an interesting purchase here at our gift shop.

Popular items!

The Samsui Women are a remarkable group of women from Samsui county in Guangzhou province in Southern China, who travelled to Singapore in the early twentieth century to seek their fortunes. Many of them performed menial jobs in the early construction industry in their signature navy blue outfits and bright red headgear, which were meant to protect their hair as they worked. They carried rocks, dug holes and conducted physical labour that defied their small physical stature. The Samsui Women were an important part in Singapore’s history.

Adopted at the age of three by a majie (celibate maid) working in a leisure house, Si Jing gives an insider's expose of life in this house of decadence in Singapore's Chinatown in the 1930s. It was a world characterised by opulent surroundings, boisterous merry-making, and majies working for leisure houses and courtesans. There, she was subjected to intense physical and mental abuse, only to be returned by her foster mother to her impoverished family when the war broke out.

This book is a rich tapestry interwoven with the raw emotions of a girl struggling to break out of her living nightmare and vivid accounts of life in Old Chinatown.
Officially launched on 12 July 2002, in conjunction with the opening of the Chinatown Heritage Centre. An exhibit, known as See Cheng's cubicle, has been reconstructed based on the author's memories of her life in Chinatown.


Since 1949, Rediffusion touched the lives of many Singaporeans through her cabled radio station - Redi Gold. Whether it was through dialect stories told by the legendary 李大傻 (Lei Dai Sor), 黄正经 (Ng Chia Keng), 王道 (Ong Toh) or the different types of music that was aired during that era, Rediffusion is iconic in every Singaporean's heart and homes. Families gathered daily and bonded around their wooden Rediffusion box, listening to news, music and stories that were part of their everyday life.

Take home a piece of history with this CD compilation of the best by 李大傻 (Lei Dai Sor).

These mugs are hand painted with various meaningful Chinese characters which means Trust, Gratitude, Wealth and Mercy.