The Goldsmiths of South Bridge Road

Chinatown Stories | Updated as of June 2019 The goldsmiths of South Bridge Road Many of Singapore’s traditional goldsmiths have their origins on Chinatown’s informal Goldsmith’s Row, with several still maintaining a presence on the street. If ever there was a title of the “richest” street in Singapore, South Bridge Road would have been the likely winner back in its heyday, from colonial Singapore to the late 1990s. Known informally as Goldsmith’s Row, the thoroughfare played host to a concentration of goldsmiths, jewellers and pawn shops. While there were over a dozen goldsmith shops along the street in the 60s and 70s, only four survive on South Bridge Road now: Tin Sing Goldsmith, Chan Foon Jade & Jewellery, Weng Cheong & Co. Ltd and On Cheong Jewellery. Singapore’s oldest goldsmith, Poh Kong Chye – founded in 1897 and located at 177 South Bridge Road – went into receivership in 2005. The next oldest, Weng Cheong & Co Ltd, is at 198. It was founded in 1919 by Pang Bai Wei, who is one of the four co-founders of the Singapore Chinese Gold and Silver Merchants Association, now known as the Singapore Jewellers Association. The shop has since moved to Toa Payoh Central. Then comes On Cheong Jewellery, established in 1936, at 251, and Tin Sing Goldsmiths, established in 1937, at 203-207. Not much is known of the origins of Chan Foon. Among the lot, On Cheong and Tin Sing have, arguably, received much media attention, and thus more is known about their founding and background. On Cheong Jewellery was founded by Ho Yew Ping, who migrated from Guangdong in China. The company’s name alludes to peace and prosperity. In an interview with online magazine Buro 24/7 last year, his son and current managing director, Ho Nai Chuen, elaborated: “During [my father’s] time, it was quite chaotic and there was a lot of poverty, so it became my father’s ambition to grow the business, to bring about peace and prosperity.” The elder Ho located the original shop on North Bridge Road, moving to South Bridge Road when it acquired Kwong Yik Goldsmiths in 1941. In 1949, On Cheong acquired Nan Jing Goldsmiths and was formally incorporated as a private limited company. On Cheong started out selling solid silver and gold. There wasn’t a lot of variety in its jewellery, and this mirrored the mindset of the consumer of that time. Jewellery was seen more as an investment and savings – people didn’t seem to consider design, so long as they were getting gold. In the same interview, the younger Ho said: “It’s just like trading. You buy for the value – and that’s it.” Typically, the goldsmiths’ Chinese customers would come in the morning, while their Indian clients came in the afternoon, as they were mostly textile merchants on High Street and had to close their own shops first. The samsui women (female immigrants, mainly from southern China, who worked largely as labourers at construction sites), who also formed a part of the goldsmiths’ clientele, were known to keep their gold close – they would sew “secret” pouches into their work clothes to store their precious belongings. Page 1 of 3 Chinatown Stories | Updated as of June 2019 Bonds of friendship and business While On Cheong was started by one man, Tin Sing was formed by a group of friends, including Wong Tim Hoy and Wan Seng Heng. They raised $10,000 – a huge sum in those days – from friends and suppliers, and used that as their start-up capital. A friend, who was a pastor, coined the name, which means “Heavenly Success”, as he wanted heaven to help bring success to the business. From the get go, the founders set up shop on South Bridge Road because it was the main shopping street then, akin to today’s Orchard Road. In the years since its founding, Tin Sing has moved at least three times, but each time to a unit along the same street. In Tin Sing’s early days, it had about 10 workers, with half of them being craftsmen making chains, pendants and hooks. They were all shareholders of the company – there were no employees. When the business grew, staff were hired, but even then, they were either friends or came with recommendations from trusted acquaintances. Bosses and employees had good relationships, and as the pay of a Tin Sing employee was generally the highest on the street, turnover was very low and many employees stayed on till their retirement. By all accounts, Tin Sing did roaring business in its heyday. As people believed in buying gold as a form of investment and savings, queues would be especially long during special times like Chinese New Year. On the eve of CNY, bosses could be seen returning to the shop with their families to serve customers who queued till past midnight to buy something for themselves or as gifts. An interesting trend during the time was also the giving of gold gifts to celebrities. It was recorded in a Chinese newspaper that in 1952, a Mr Lee commissioned a horse figuring worth $2,000 from Tin Sing as a gift to a Cantonese opera star. Celebrities themselves patronised the shop, including actress Li Lihua and singer Jenny Tseng. Tradition is important for shops such as Tin Sing, and till today, they honour a buy-back policy of paying 15 per cent below market price. References: Singapore Memory Project on On Cheong: https://www.singaporememory.sg/contents/SMA-58f4315b-bc69-4155-8018-ebfb92174362 The Business Times on On Cheong: http://www.asiaone.com/business/successor-wanted Wikipedia on On Cheong: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Cheong_Jewellery Buro on 3 traditional jewellers: https://www.buro247.sg/watches-and-jewellery/insiders/best-singapore-traditional-gold- jewellers.html Book on Ann Siang Hill, which mentions traditional jewellers on South Bridge: Page 2 of 3 Chinatown Stories | Updated as of June 2019 On a Little Hill in Chinatown: Singapore’s Ann Siang Hill by Kevin YL Tan, published 2018, ISBN: 978-981-09-7883-9 Page 3 of 3 .

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