now

the best part of joo chiat is that it has 2 sides to it. one one hand, there are shophouses exuding the old world charm of Singapore in the 1960s and 70s. and on the other, swanky cafes and eateries, offering the modern worker a welcome reprieve from a hard day at the office. the mix of new and old buildings and architecture reflects both joo chiat's heritage and modern styles.

 to show that singapore does share a common culture, a peranakan, edmond wong, planned to create a peranakan street in singapore since the peranakan culture has unifying elements which are shared by all singaporeans. the Little Nyonya hit drama series by Mediacorp boosted the number of supporters of the online petition to create the street.

following the peranakan theme in joo chiat, 112 katong recently opened a peranakan-inspired golden village cinema. the cinemas have peranakan designs and even offer sampling of the much-acclaimed peranakan cuisine! everyone goes to cinemas, and as 112 has one of the only cinemas in the east, people of all races will go there and have a chance to be exposed to the peranakan culture.

references:
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1111820/1/.html http://peranakan.org.sg/news/article/heritage-town-joo-chiat/ http://behance.vo.llnwd.net/profiles5/103649/projects/2870987/707aa8f5189580bdd52d31f6d5f0c366.jpg