Peranakan Pride
A new gallery on Orchard Road offers insights into Straits Chinese heritage.
Add BT as a preferred source
Tay Suan Chiang
SITTING SMACK IN the heart of Orchard Road, Emerald Hill is a living reminder of the thriving Peranakan enclave that existed even before this area became a shopping hotspot.
Circa 1800s, the conserved shophouses still retain their ornate style and are home to wealthy homeowners and renters in this gentrified neighbourhood. If you don't know anyone who will let you check out their house, then head over to the newly opened Peranakan Gallery which traces the 500-year-old history of the Straits Chinese population in Southeast Asia.
The Gallery - located on the other end of Orchard Road at Claymore Connect - has been designed to resemble a Peranakan home, complete with an ornately-carved pintu pagar or privacy screen placed in front of the home's main entrance.
Copyright SPH Media. All rights reserved.
