Lai Chun Yuen Opera House



Singapore during the late 1800s was a bustling international city. During this period of colonial Singapore, many Chinese immigrants moved into Singapore due to their own population boom back in China and they were looking for better economic opportunities. The streets were full of activities as the different communities had started to take root in their own settlements. These communities brought to Singapore cultural activities such as operas, circuses, gambling and economic activities such as stock and commodity trading.

The architectural history of Singapore likewise flourished during this period to accommodate to the increased demand from the ever-growing, cosmopolitan and wealthy population. Buildings were built to provide housing, amenities and entertainment for various classes of elites and workers.

Background
The Cantonese opera house, located on Smith Street, was built in the 1887. Its surrounding streets are Temple Street and Trengganu Street. It was owned by Lin Dingxing and subsequently, Loh Ghim. Opera performances to the Chinese have religious significance as they believe it entertains the gods and spirits. Hence, people from all dialects visited the opera house.

The opera house was designed in the style of a traditional three levels Chinese teahouse with balconies. There are small tables on the first level for the audiences. The stage was located on the second floor. This was designed by Regent Alfred Bidwell from Swan and Maclaren and his portfolio includes Raffles Hotel and Stamford House. His works are prominent as he considered the usage of the buildings for the clients and clientele. The opera house was able to accommodate 834 audiences. It was a well-frequented opera house as it provided a form of entertainment for the immigrants. The popularity of the opera house is evident by its twice daily plays.

The shop houses surrounding the opera house are also three stories high, there are Baroque-style shop houses as well as Chinese-style shop houses in this area. The Baroque-style shop houses were probably designed or inspired by Henry Richard in 1886 as he designed the neighbouring Sago Street's shop houses in 1886. These shop houses provided a form of lifestyle for the locals as they could do their commercial businesses right beneath their homes. The theatre had also brought businesses to the owners of the shop houses as the audiences would frequent the area.

The architecture design followed that of Chinese buildings – decorated corbel brackets, architrave tie ends, steps and door nail studs. Other opera houses, such as Heng Wai Sun and Heng Seng Peng Opera Houses, which were located mainly on Wayang Street in Singapore, could not be compared to Lai Chun Yuen as well. Even though “Wayang Street” was “Theatre Street” translated from Malay, it was not the hub of the entertainment business. The main entertainment district was on Smith Street. Lai Chun Yuen Opera House was able to attract many famous Cantonese performers such as Leng Yuen Hung, Ma Si Chang and Hung Sin Nui in the early 1900s. Famous performers could earn up to 450 to 700 dollars a day, which was a hefty sum for that era. According to a visitor, no other places in Singapore could be compared with the Lai Chun Yuen Opera House.

However, the place was the epitome of vice as Smith Street was the red-light district back then. There were private cubicles designed for discreet activities and opium smoking was a common sight in the theatre. The Chinese considered opium smoking normal and in 1848, Singapore has 15,000 Chinese opium smokers. This represented one-third of the adult Chinese population.

Ironically, the theatre would sometimes be used for fund-raising activities for campaigns such as “Canton Flood Relief Fund”. These activities were huge successes as they were able to hire famous performers. Hence, the Opera House was able to raise funds from the public tickets and by auctioning off performer’s items, which were well received.

Geography
Trengganu Street was a crowded and busy street filled with market and street vendors. This street was meant for Teo Chews but it was frequently visited by all dialects due to the opera house. This street was called “the cross street of Kreta Ayer” in Chinese, referring to its strategic location in Kreta Ayer. Later, the street was also given the nickname “hei yuen wang gai” meaning “theatre side street” by the Chinese. The shop houses along this street had housed Malay families during the war and during which, the families sold exotic “tonic dishes” using animals like lizards and crocodiles. Today, Trengganu Street is the heart of tourist belt in Chinatown and it is the most photographed street. It remained crowded and bustling till this day.

The other neighbouring street of the Opera House is Temple Street. The name of the street used to be Almeida Street, named after Joaquim d’Almeida, whose father owned some plots of land at the junction of Temple Street and Trengganu Street. It was changed to Temple Street by the Municipal Commissioners to avoid confusions as there were other streets named after d’Almeida. The “Temple” in Temple Street refers to the oldest Hindu temple in Singapore, the Sri Mariamman Temple which was built in 1827. Likewise, the Chinese had nicknamed the street “hei yuen hau kai”, meaning “theatre back street” as Temple Street runs through the back of the opera house.

Smith Street was also given nicknames by the Chinese. The most common nicknames were “hei yuen kai” which means “theatre street” and “gu chia chui hi hng poi” which means “theatre street in Kreta Ayer in Hokkien. The street was most probably named after Sir Cecil Clementi Smith, who was the Commander-in-chief of the Straits Settlements. The street was filled with no fewer than 25 brothels on the street. However, Lai Chun Yuen was the main landmark on Smith Street.

Transformation
In the late 1920s, movies were invented and introduced to the world. This had greatly impacted Lai Chun Yuen’s business as people preferred “talking films” as compared to opera shows. The increased in cinema halls in amusement parks like the Great World City was a competition to the opera house. The owner of the opera house wanted to include a movie room to ensure the opera house’s survival but eventually the opera house was rented to the Shaw Brothers and the opera house was renamed Sun Seng Theatre.

However, the business did not last long as the theatre was bombed during World War II. Much of the building was destroyed and the building was only repaired after the war. After the restorations, the building was used for a merchandise shop and then a warehouse for street hawkers as there was a need for jobs back then. In recent years, the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation (Singapore) occupied the building before the current Santa Grand Hotel. A brief interview with the hotel manager, Christine Hoo, revealed that the hotel leases the building from the Royal Holdings. The hotel reflects the Concept Plan as the area is zoned for commercial purposes. The reason for this is probably due to Singapore Tourism Board’s push for place-making initiatives, such as festivals, in Chinatown. As such, Chinatown is one of the major tourist destinations in Singapore and hence, there is the demand for a hotel. The strategic location of hotel is often praised by the hotel guests. As the Lai Chun Yuen Opera House is located within the current Kreta Ayer Conservation Area, its surroundings buildings has not changed much, in fact, they are all conserved for adaptive reuse. The street names have also been kept. For example, the five-foot way the area is still used by vendors (Figure 10), just like the past. However, instead of market vendors selling food, these vendors sell souvenirs and they are frequented more by tourists than locals.

Current building
Changes were made to the interior of the building. The small cubicles used for private activities back in the opera days have been converted into hotel rooms, escalators were built for ease of moving between floors and steel structures were installed from ground to ceiling to maintain the building as well as to prevent potential injuries from the old building.

The biggest change to the hotel is that the stage on the second floor has been torn down and replaced by a sitting area in the hotel for the guests. This was done as the current owner of Lai Chun Yuen felt that he should use the space in the hotel. The hotel has artifacts and paintings from the Chinese opera. However, the artefacts were not from the original Lai Chun Yuen Opera House, but bought and designed by the current hotel owner, Opera House Hotel. There are also information boards all around the hotel educating the guests on Chinese opera. As such, numerous curious guests and passer-by have also approached the manager to enquire on the history of the hotel. Although this is most attention that the opera house would receive – passing curiosity. Despite scholarly and news articles written on it, it is still not widely known or recognised.

The hotel does not hold opera plays. They used to hold Chinese arts performances but it was hard to recoup the costs due to the high cost of inviting performers and most of the time, people did not appreciate the opera plays. Interestingly, Mediacorp visits the hotel occasionally to film Chinese New Year Music Videos or shows.

Besides, Kreta Ayer People’s Theatre also commemorated Chinese arts performances since its formation in the 1960s. The theatre is located at the nearby Kreta Ayer Road and numerous shows, including Chinese opera, are played there. Hence, Chinese arts have not been lost in transition.

Conclusion
From this, we can see how the use of buildings or streets evolves over time to suit the changing needs of the people. Lai Chun Yuen opera house has been an icon of entertainment, a storage place for the merchandisers, an office for a foundation and now it is a home for tourists away from their homes. Although it no longer serves its purpose of an entertainment house, it still has significance.

Also, a building cannot exist on its own. This changing use for the needs of the people can be seen in the surrounding streets as well. This connection between the building and the streets is important as it gives life to Chinatown.

As people’s needs continue to change over time, these places may be used for other purposes in the future. However, I hope that people will not be aware of this building and not forget its rich history.