The Home of Culture:

The Lived, The Imagined, The Remembered

An investigation into the role of
Architecture, Interiors and Memory

Sheryl Beh Wei Shan

MA Architecture 20/21
Dissertation tutor: Jane Hall

Word Count: 8959 words

Keywords
Home Culture Memory Interiors Architecture

Abstract
Southeast Asia’s colonial history has led to the production of unique, hybridised culture and architecture that

are today, facing the threat of urbanisation. I am investigating the role of architecture in the production of

hybridised Chinese culture in Malaysia and Singapore. This ongoing evolution of Chinese identity will be

explored through the makings of a ‘Home’ in the unique, vernacular Chinese Shophouse typology, and the

shift towards a globalised Apartment typology.

The makings of a ‘Home’ and the evolution of Chinese identity in Malaysia and Singapore remain a daily

negotiation between political actors, social relations and urbanisation. The very concept of ‘Home’

is becoming a paradox: the traditional relationship between physical space and intangible culture, as

represented by the Shophouse when Chinese immigrants first arrived in the Straits of Malacca, has been

redefined. With globalisation and ease of travel, society increasingly seek more ‘authentic’ culture in their

architectural spaces to recapture their sense of loss of tangible space. This is being challenged by

urbanisation, whereby the Apartment satisfies aspirations of a better lifestyle yet provides people

less physical space to create a communal ‘Home’. This homogenisation too, suggesting a dissolution of

cultural identity.

Contents

List of Illustrations 4

Introduction 5

Chapter 1 / The Early making of ‘Chinese-ness’

‘Home’ in heritage Chinese Shophouses. 9

Chapter 2 / The Physical Architecture of Cultural Heritage

‘Home’ in the Apartment. 17

Chapter 3 / The Intangible Architecture of Cultural Heritage

‘Home’ in the Apartment. 25

Conclusion 30

Bibliography 33

 List of Illustrations

Figure 1 / Features of a heritage Chinese shophouse in Georgetown, Penang. Found online: https://
gtwhi.com.my/our-work/shophouses/

Figure 2 / Timeline of the evolution of heritage shophouse facades in Georgetown, Penang. Found online:
https://gtwhi.com.my/our-work/shophouses/

Figure 3 / Map of Georgetown and British town planning during the colonial era. Found in Tan, Y., 2015.
Penang shophouses. Malaysia: Phoenix Press Sdn Bhd.

Figure 4 / Sketch of the interior spaces in Seang Hin Leong - the shop of a rattan weaver whose craft and
home has been passed down for generations. Base illustration found in Tan, Y., 2015. Penang shophouses.
Malaysia: Phoenix Press Sdn Bhd.

Figure 5 / Sketch of the interior spaces in the Daily Dose Cafe - a modern heritage cafe. Base illustration
found in Tan, Y., 2015. Penang shophouses. Malaysia: Phoenix Press Sdn Bhd.

Figure 6 / Perec’s model of an apartment based on everyday rituals. Found in Perec, G. and Sturrock, J.,
2009. Species Of Spaces And Other Pieces. Brantford, Ont.: W. Ross MacDonald School Resource Services
Library.

Figure 7 / A historical image of the Golden Mile Complex, Singapore. Found online: https://issuu.com/
hohardy/docs/hohardy_history_assignment

Figure 8 / The facade of the Golden Mile Complex, Singapore. Found online: https://
www.channelnewsasia.com/news/commentary/golden-mile-complex-architecture-conservation-13600856

Figure 9 / A concept sketch by architect Tay Kheng Soon which would eventually become the design for
Golden Mile Complex. Found online: https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/golden-mile-complex-will-
not-be-same-even-if-building-kept-say-residents-shop-owners-and

Introduction

The Kopitiam1

It was a peaceful, quiet morning in a sleepy town north of Malaysia when I visited a kopitiam, a traditional

Malaysian-Chinese coffee shop. The laminated plastic menu boasted a selection of ‘Kopi’ drinks - the local

coffee. I was greeted by the welcome sight of kaya (traditional coconut jam) toast, and a bowl of half-boiled

eggs doused in soy sauce and pepper.

Instantly, there was a sense of nostalgia and familiarity: a sensation I found odd given that

1. It was my first time visiting that particular ‘kopitiam’ and

2. Despite this being the traditional breakfast of many Malaysians, it was not something that I grew up

eating often.

When Chinese immigrants first arrived in Malaysia to work during the British rule in the 1800s, many were

artisans or businessmen from the middle class.2 And hence, the emergence of the ‘Shophouse’ typology, as

will be discussed in the following chapters, was the most ideal home arrangement for them: with the ground

floor set aside for retail stores while the inner part and top of the shophouses were their homes. The

‘kopitiam’ has become a signature Malaysian coffeeshop: one that has evolved with Malaysia’s hybridised

Chinese community.

The role of these coffeeshops extended beyond demarcating a division between home and business. These

eateries were homes and social venues where families gathered and caught up with neighbours. As per

1 A traditional Malaysian-Chinese coffee shop.

2 Purcell, V., 1951. The Chinese in Malaya. London: Oxford University Press.
5

 tradition, customers are loyal to the coffeeshops that they frequented with their families from a young age.

Hence, many of these coffeeshops were scene of fond childhood memories for locals.

What intrigued me however, was how attached I felt to the traditional service I received that very morning : a

lady shouting orders to the chef in Hokkien, the rough clanging of plastic bowls and plates against the

wooden table, background chatter, the scraping of plastic chairs against the tiled floor. The exterior of this

coffeeshop was not at all identical to my earliest memories of the ‘kopitiam’ in heritage Georgetown,

Penang, but nevertheless, it felt the same. It felt like a relived memory. But most of all, it felt like home.

The Cafe

Penang has seen a recent increase in tourism after Georgetown was proclaimed a ‘UNESCO Heritage Site’ in

2008. Many of these pre-war shophouses were in a dilapidated state as they were largely abandoned by

youths in search of a higher standard of living post-colonialism. This symbol of the past has today, become

the very icon of Penang cultural identity. In fact, it highlighted a part of Penang Chinese culture that would

otherwise have gone unnoticed by the masses. Foreign investors started flooding in. Retrofitting these

shophouses into boutique hotels and cafes became a trend - one that I will discuss further in later chapters.

There was another boom of cafes. This time, Western-inspired cafes with thick card menus boasting a

selection of sourdough toasts, fusion pastas, and the internationally standardised coffee recipes.

It was another morning, while sipping latte in one such cafe, to the whirring of the modern coffee machine

and a YouTube Cafe playlist when I pondered the fact that this was once one’s home. An intimate space that

has been transformed into a public space - the warmth of a home replaced with the cold, transactional hand

of business. And one that I associated with the strange familiarity of the cafes I had visited abroad.

Some modern cafes try to stay true to the past by decorating the interiors with a melange of antiques. It was

such places where my grandparents would cry out in delight upon noticing an antique fan or iron and

proceed to tell us of how they used to live in those past times. Alas, that familiarity they had towards those

objects was something that I could only imagine, not feel. Ironically, that melange of modern and old felt

even more alien to me that those modern interiors.

6

From my observations in Penang and Singapore, the increasing pace of urbanisation threatens the cultural

heritage of Southeast Asian cities, to which architectural remains are a reminder of its rich history. Modern

conservation works in these cities mainly aim to preserve the facades of buildings deemed ‘heritage’. But in

the process of adapting to an economically viable option, these buildings are typically stripped of their

interiors - the very vessel of lived memories. Instead, they are rebuilt and styled to fit a modern imagination

of how the past looked like. It is an effort I understand and support, being a member of modern society

obsessed with the idea of nostalgia. But to be nostalgic, is to remember - something that I realise I cannot.

‘Culture’ and ‘identity’ are concepts that have been shaped by socio-political dynamics since time

immemorial. Architecture is a timeless medium that both retains the legacies of the past, and projects

imaginaries of the future, and in this way links memory with imagination. From the very beginnings of the

basic shelter, to historical monuments and the cityscapes we live in today, architectural facades have evolved

with the vast range of cultures and beliefs. Architectural structures are constantly adapting to reflect

increasingly complex social hierarchies, politics and technological advancement. In contrast to that, the

interior spaces are elusive. It continues to exist as a canvas unto which we build our civilisations and culture.

Yet it constantly melds into the background of the present, and is almost impossible to document every

interior that makes up an individual’s story. It dominates an alternate realm in a timeline too long to even

conceive. And all humans can do to mark our existences in these spaces is through traces, in the form of

physical architectural fragments.

Architecture provides us with physical proof of civilisation, history, and a means of contextualising the

present moment we live in. It protects us in the infinitesimally small space that humans occupy in a timeless

landscape. And hence, the popular view of architecture as fundamental cultural identity. And a modern-day

rush to preserve architectural facades to save ‘culture’ with the coming of ‘heritage’ as a new industry in this

post-colonial era. For example, the recent increase in Shophouse conservation in heritage Georgetown,

Penang, after being recognised by UNESCO as a “World Heritage Site”.

The hybrid Chinese culture in Southeast Asia is an ongoing evolution from a history of negotiation between

ideologies, colonial history, socio-political influences, and ongoing urbanisation and globalisation. Today,

greater population densities in cities have given rise to high-rise apartments as the dominant architectural

form. This uniformity of the ‘Home’ is derived from increased marketisation of property in which similar

commercial-proven forms are incentivising property developers to create same looking high-rise apartment

structures in all cities globally. Adding to this paradox is UNESCO’s labelling of ‘World Heritage Sites’.

This being defined by UNESCO as “the designation for places on Earth that are of outstanding universal

value to humanity and as such, have been inscribed on the World Heritage List to be protected for future

generations to appreciate and enjoy.” Recognition from a global board highlights specific structures from a

nation’s history, saving architecture that would otherwise have been swallowed whole by urbanisation.

In Singapore and Penang, looking specifically at the unique Shophouse typology, I question the implications

of these actions on the production of a ‘cultural identity’. Both Singapore and Penang, despite sharing a

common origin and colonial history, package these Shophouses differently to fit their cultural narration. All

the while, both societies have a majority of the population living in a homogenised Apartment typology. The

common factor between all these buildings - Shophouse or Apartment, is that they were and are a form of a

community’s ‘Home’. But in today’s era, the friction lies between this incentivised attention towards more

unique architectural typologies such as the Shophouse to celebrate the local diversity of ‘Home’. Meanwhile,

we move towards a global sameness of the Apartment typology. These buildings both represent an

orchestrated form of cultural identification either due to government efforts, or modern consumerism culture.

Where then, is cultural heritage located?

“In today’s accelerated life we can ultimately only perceive, not remember.”3 The modern world is a

globalised stage where one is constantly surrounded by information and images aspiring new lifestyles. And

in that process, cultural memories become blurred in a sea of images. But if culture and identity is something

that can only be conceived from past architectural achievements, then would this assimilation of the ‘home’

as an architectural typology not imply the gradual creation of a uniformed, global culture?

3 Treib, M., 2009. Spatial Recall : Memory In Architecture And Landscape. London: Routledge.
8

Chapter 1 / The Early making of ‘Chinese-ness’

‘Home’ in heritage Chinese Shophouses.

Chinese culture and Heritage Shophouses in Georgetown, Penang & Singapore during the

Colonial Era

The concept of the ‘vernacular’, “when applied to architecture, refers to a housing form developed by people

in a particular place using indigenous resources and knowledge to meet local needs, climates and

topographies. It is also commonly associated with the primitive, the countryside and the exotic, and is the

handiwork of a “craftsman, not an architect” with no pretensions to “stylistic sophistication” and

“innovations from outside the region”. The ‘vernacular’ is an ‘ever-changing concept that has to continually

adapt to the changing socio-political situations of the community it is built for.”4

Such is the case of these ‘vernacular’ Chinese heritage shophouses. Shophouses refer to an architectural

typology commonly found in China and many Southeast Asian cities. These shophouses consist of a retail

space on the ground floor and family areas such as bedrooms, kitchens and dining areas on the 1st floor or

the back portion of the shophouses. Adapting to the humid tropical climate, these shophouses are known for

their long and narrow structures, pocketed with one or two skylights in the middle to allow the entry of

natural ventilation and light. These buildings formed the core of the livelihood of these immigrants- where

many shops were trade passed down through the generations.

4Chang, T. and Teo, P., 2009. The Shophouse Hotel: Vernacular Heritage in a Creative City. Urban Studies, 46(2),
pp.341-367.
9

 Figure 1

Conceptually, the Shophouse is a distinctive ‘home’ created specifically by and for Chinese immigrants in

Southeast Asia from the 1800s. And it has been evolving in parallel with the negotiation of Chinese cultural

identity amongst colonial and the host nation’s culture.

From the 1800s to the 1900s, Penang and Singapore were both part of the Straits Settlements - a former

British crown colony on the Straits of Malacca.5 Their status as important colonial port-cities attracted many

immigrants, including the Chinese. Especially after the boom of the tin industry in the 1800s. They brought

along with them, the Southern Chinese Shophouse typology- as a symbol of ‘home’ amidst foreign land. As

Treib states in Spatial Recall - Memory in Architecture and Landscape, ‘the built environment is both a

personal and communal memory bank, for it stores the knowledge and memories of the community’. To even

begin associating meaning on a particular space in a foreign city, is to begin with the most intimate

architectural space : that of home. The home - the vessel of lived experiences built upon communal

memories and traditions.

5 Encyclopedia Britannica. 2021. Straits Settlements | Asian history. [online] Available at: <https://www.britannica.com/
place/Straits-Settlements> [Accessed 5 April 2021].
10

During the British colonial era, ethnic segregation and the subsequent production of the multiracial spaces of

‘home’ in Georgetown was due to economic divisions of labour depending on the different races.Singapore,

on the other hand, became the seat of colonial government in 1867. Consequently, the expansion of the

British ‘urban town grid’ pushed the ‘Chinese area’ westwards towards Tiong Bahru.6 Regardless, these

shophouses evolved to fit into Southeast Asia’s mosaic of cultures: eventually signifying the assimilation of

the Chinese into these multiracial communities in the forming of a ‘Malaysian’ or ‘Singaporean’ identity.

Architectural forms are continually evolving in response to local changes and international influences.

During British colonialism in Singapore and Penang, this is exemplified by the evolution of the Shophouse

facade. The increase of cultural encounters in Southern China due to international trade birthed this eclectic

facade of classical Chinese and Western elements.7 For example, elements such as wrought-iron and

Renaissance-style pilasters. At the time, western aesthetics were considered ‘high art’. Artisans were

commissioned to adorn facades as a symbol of wealth and high social status. But it was this shared memory

and idealisation of class aspirations that the Chinese brought along with them in the re-implementation of

these facades in the Straits Settlements. In analysing the evolution of shophouse facades - a symbol of a

family’s status - the role of the facade as an actor in a theatre of social, economical and ideological debate

represented the evolution of Chinese heritage culture. And the ongoing technological advancements and

cultural interactions of the Chinese community in Southeast Asia. For example, the ‘Straits Eclectic Style’ is

described as an ‘eccentric mix of new technologies and newfound wealth and ways to spend it with an

underlying cultural form’.8 The most lavish of all facade styles- this particular ornamentation came with the

rise of wealthy Chinese merchants in the past.

6 Goh, D., 2014. Between History and Heritage: Post-Colonialism, Globalisation, and the Remaking of Malacca,
Penang, and Singapore. TRaNS: Trans-Regional and -National Studies of Southeast Asia, [online] 2(1), pp.79-101.
Available at: <https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/trans-trans-regional-and-national-studies-of-southeast-asia/
article/between-history-and-heritage-postcolonialism-globalisation-and-the-remaking-of-malacca-penang-and-
singapore/35674CFC127BC80D81A186EFA672C7C6> [Accessed 5 April 2021].
7 Tung, K., 2018. Chikan’s Arcade Buildings: The Hybrid and Civil Architecture of Lingnan. Architecture and Culture,
6(2), pp.329-351.
8 Tan Yeow Wooi, pg 14
11

 Figure 2

‘Home’ then, went beyond the architectural facade: it was a marker for cultural familiarity on foreign soil. It

was a set of relations: in this case, the familiar socio-political structures of these immigrants. And with it,

their culture, traditions and way of life in an established ‘Chinese part of town’. As analysed in A

morphological study of traditional shophouse in China and Southeast Asia, shophouses in Southeast Asia

were ornamented with more European

Mediterranean features9. This being

proof that the Chinese in Southeast

Asia were exposed to more Western

influences. The Shophouse too, became

the connecting social element that

reflected shared class aspirations in the

making of a communal identity.

In contrast to the changing facades, it

was the interiors - the vessels of

Figure 3
tradition, memory, and lived

experiences that were less analysed and documented. These interiors that hosted a specific way of life were

kept constant over the years as a cultural link to their origins for the immigrants to truly feel at ease in a

foreign land. In Georgetown, the whole ‘Chinese area’ itself was an interior: as their children, trade, and food

spilled onto the streets. It was like a small, yet familiar representation of China. The shophouses themselves

9Han, W. and Beisi, J., 2015. A Morphological Study of Traditional Shophouse in China and Southeast Asia. Procedia -
Social and Behavioral Sciences, 179, pp.237-249.
12

 formed a wall - both a physical and ideological boundary that preserved this essence of home amidst foreign

culture.

After the British left, Penang became part of the independent federation of Malaya in 1957. Singapore

separated in 1965 and became an independent city-state. Both islands underwent urbanisation and

industrialised throughout the 1970s to 1980s. But no attention was paid to these shophouses, until it faced the

imminent threat of urbanisation.

Heritage & Shophouses in Georgetown, Penang & Singapore in the post-Colonial Era

During my time in Singapore, in a yearning to immerse myself in ‘culture’, I visited Chinatown - where

many conserved shophouses were concentrated. An MRT station led me directly to the entrance of

Chinatown. The area was almost designed like a food court, but curated such to re-create the experience of

the street : Colourful, intricately maintained facades lined a walkway that had been ornamented with road

signs. Tables and chairs filled half the walkway alongside the multi-coloured line of restaurants advertising a

range of cuisines from different parts of China - many of which I was unfamiliar with. In the centre of it all,

big white structures held aloft glass canopies to shade the ‘street’ from rain.

The experience was rather surreal: it was almost too colourful, too clean, too orderly. It felt more marketised

rather than spontaneous.

In the case of Georgetown, Penang: as a Malaysian native, I have never lived in a shophouse my entire life.

The sudden attention trained on Georgetown really came about with its recognition as a UNESCO Heritage

Site. This led to a boom of boutique hotels and trendy cafes in the area. This also brought to light, the

intangible heritage of the local artisans who have been continuing their craft for generations. All these

crafting the eclectic Georgetown of today: a mix of trendy shophouse cafes and weathered workshops or

traditional coffeeshops. These shophouses became a big part of my adolescent weekends as it became the

norm to visit for a cup of coffee - latte, an international recipe. One also present in the shophouse cafes in

Singapore.

13

 Figure 4 Figure 5

Despite the fact that both of these islands share a century of cultural evolution and hybridisation during

British colonialism, the presentation of these Shophouses today in the overall advertising of the city’s

‘heritage’ differ. The cultural signification of these Shophouses as once, part of a distinguishable ‘home’

constructed upon shared traditions, has shifted to merge with the overall hybrid Singaporean or Malaysian

national identity, or even nationally-imagined identity. ‘Heritage’ today, has become part of a ‘branding

strategy’ to further market or commercial objectives which creates a homogeneity of diversity. It has become

necessary to promote an economically viable ‘national identity’. It is now up to governments or private

enterprises to assign unique, marketable identification by highlighting specific meanings and myths to form a

new global ‘culture’.10

The phenomenon of apartment living in Southeast Asia was and continues to be driven by the increased

pressures of urbanisation. Post-independence, Georgetown, the historical city centre of Penang, fell to ruin

and economic decline as many left in search of better lifestyles. Efforts to revitalise the historical town only

came about with the boost of the tourism industry with Penang’s recognition as a World Heritage City.

Singapore on the other hand, as an attempt to build a city of Asian values in the 1990s and 2000s, sought to

modernise. This led to a boom of public apartment housing as the most space-efficient solution of housing

people post-Independence.By 1965, 23 per cent of the population had been relocated into public housing

flats. In the meantime, the historical city centre was divided into ‘distinct multiracial zones’. This leading to

10 Calhoun, C. and Sennett, R., 2008. Practicing culture. London: Routledge, pp.116-123.
14

the well-known ‘Chinatown’ of today: the result of a government plan to turn Singapore into a global city,

and hence modernising these ‘ethnic-themed precincts’ as a ‘cultural tourist attraction.11

The Shophouse here, ceases to simply be an architectural typology: for it has become the key instrument that

governments or private enterprises can use in the production of an imagined national culture. While the

Singaporean government was quick to orchestrate the shift of the community’s ‘home’ to that of public

housing flats, many of the shophouses are still locally-owned. And in today’s increasingly competitive global

market, these shophouses have long been integrated as part of the cultural economy of Singapore’s branding.

In contrast to that, Georgetown, Penang, which is still today a melange of modern hotels and cafes with

artisans still living in their original shophouse, needs ‘heritage’ to survive. As reported by the George Town

Heritage Action Group, ‘at least 236 properties are owned by foreigners or foreign companies’. Due to the

high maintenance cost of these shophouses that many locals cannot afford, many are forced to sell their

properties to investors and are moved to apartments.12 Georgetown is a delicate balancing act of tourism and

conservation: and in this context, the funds from tourism is necessary to keep up with the cost of

conservation. This comes to show that ‘heritage’ is an idea that people consume - a marketable idea that can

ensure the survival of communal history.

Innovation as a creation of identity

In a wholly technologically urbanised and marketised world, the heightened cultural interactions and

hybridisations today make it a huge challenge to distinguish one’s identity. As Harvey states, in modernity’s

insatiable craving for ‘newness’, cities and culture are “in a constant process of ‘creative destruction’. Old

ideologies and infrastructures are torn down and new ones instituted in their place.” Whether one argues that

the Shophouse is a social engineering tool in the production of a hybridised Chinese culture, or a poignant

typology from shared traditions that should be left alone, it is still part of a ‘package of culture’ that the

11 Goh, D., 2014. Between History and Heritage: Post-Colonialism, Globalisation, and the Remaking of Malacca,
Penang, and Singapore. TRaNS: Trans-Regional and -National Studies of Southeast Asia, [online] 2(1), pp.79-101.
Available at: <https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/trans-trans-regional-and-national-studies-of-southeast-asia/
article/between-history-and-heritage-postcolonialism-globalisation-and-the-remaking-of-malacca-penang-and-
singapore/35674CFC127BC80D81A186EFA672C7C6> [Accessed 5 April 2021].
12NST Online. 2021. Heritage buildings in foreign hands | New Straits Times. [online] Available at: <https://
www.nst.com.my/news/2017/02/210060/heritage-buildings-foreign-hands> [Accessed 6 April 2021].
15

governing body can market to the world as an ‘identity’. Because culture, in the end, exists upon ‘four

architectural pillars of praxis: rhetoric, image, symbol and ritual.’13

As exemplified by the historical evolution of shophouse facades, to the interior spaces, to the very

representation of the Shophouse, ultimately, architecture serves as a physical manifestation of a society’s

aspirations and culture. Or as an anchor to which every individual can attach their own personal memories

unto ingrained communal traditions. Socio-political structures, ideologies, and the economy are so closely

intertwined in the making of a ‘cultural identity’, that it is impossible to separate the change of the role of

‘heritage’ in the narrative that is a hybridised Chinese culture. And in revitalising these shophouses - that too,

is part of a new social narrative.

But does culture really lie only in architecture? For the very nature of ‘Chinese-ness’ still remains

ambivalent. Perhaps the role of architecture and its typologies is merely to serve as an arrangement of walls

that protect us from nature and time - an arrangement determined by social factors in every specific era. Or

perhaps it is merely a way of helping us assign meaning to the spaces we live in. And in doing so, prevent the

dissolution of spaces into the void of interiors of the everyday.

13 Calhoun, C. and Sennett, R., 2008. Practicing culture. London: Routledge, pp.116-123.
16

 Chapter 2 / The Physical Architecture of Cultural Heritage

‘Home’ in the Apartment.

‘Home’ as a physical construct

As Juhani Pallasmaa puts it in Space, Place, Memory and Imagination : The Temporal Dimension of

Existential Space, architecture is a form of externalising human memory, “because they articulate the past

while projecting unforeseen realities.”14

Boundaries and cultural identities blur beneath the web of cities looking increasingly towards foreign

technologies, architecture and investments as a form of nation branding for economical growth. Economic

growth begets societal aspirations; begets cultural evolution. With architecture being a physical, marketable

manifestation of traditions and societal ideals, the built environment inevitably becomes the ethnic markers

of identity. This leading to the concept of the ‘Apartment’ - a universally understood architectural typology.

Or in this context, symbolising the modern homogenisation of ‘homes’ or what an ideal ‘lifestyle’ should

look like.

I draw upon many of Perec’s observations on family and culture through Parisian apartments in the 1960s as

a way of conceptualising the present. Because despite being from a wholly different culture and time, his

observations show that there exists a thread to which the general idea of ‘home’ is constructed upon. The

‘home’ is a transnational idea that goes across time and space.

Perec’s novel, Things, gives a detailed material account of a young couple’s everyday life in an apartment in

Paris. In Perec’s “France of the 1950s and 1960s, the emergence of the ‘new middle classes’ was a symptom

of the staggering changes taking place within homes, within working environments and within global

14 Treib, M., 2009. Spatial Recall : Memory In Architecture And Landscape. London: Routledge, pp.16 - 40.
17

 relations.”15 Instead on focusing on elements such as language and bloodline in the determination of cultural

identities, Perec’s observation largely focuses on using space as an inventory for everyday rituals and items

that make up the social relations and culture of a society. In this novel, this young couple’s life merges into

the formlessness of French middle-class society as a whole. They are fed images of the upper-class’s

comfortable lifestyles via L’Express - a lifestyle magazine. In detailing the specificities needed to achieve

this ideal lifestyle, such as “thick bathrobes and elegant accessories”, this magazine was a form of

“emphasising the gap between dream and reality”. This resulting in new imaginaries of class and cultural

identities.

During the British colonial era, such a concept was evidenced through the aesthetic melange of shophouse

facades: as an attempt in building a cultural identity that could live up to Western aspirations. Architecture

has certainly been moulded over the years to societal ideals: such as the Golden Mile Complex being a

modern stake for ‘Asian identity’. Similarly, in today’s modern era, information transfer is faster than ever

through social media and the Internet. Shophouse facades today are being fashioned to colourful, intricate

ornaments of selective eras. The apartment, however, remains as elusive as our daily lives - one that could be

leading to increasingly uniform global cultural and lifestyle aspirations.

For example, in Species of Spaces and Other Pieces, Perec compartmentalises everyday life into apartment

spaces. The Apartment is reduced to a specific, spatial arrangement of rooms “that correspond to slices of

time and the associated activities” - as depicted in this perfect fictional model of the usage of the rooms as a

mundane daily ritual.

Figure 6

Wilken, R. and Clemens, J., 2018. AFTERLIVES OF GEORGES PEREC. [Place of publication not identified]:
15
EDINBURGH UNIV Press, pp.104-119.
18

In general, this usage of space is something people from any era and any culture of the world can relate to.

Except for the specificities of certain spaces, such as the ‘hanging of coats’ in the entrance hall being a

foreign element in a traditional Chinese household.

By presenting the Apartment solely as an interior determined by everyday activities, it already paints a

picture of a homogenised ‘home’ that stretches across all of humanity. Perec tries to disarticulate this

physical concept of an Apartment to one that is built based on social relations, with rooms such as

“Monsieur’s study, Madame’s boudoir”16. Relations that are perhaps more unique to every family in their

cultural narration. This model is only a small part of Perec’s detailed inventory of his observations based on a

“defacaded” Parisian apartment.

Culture then, as this analysis shows, lies not in the actual spaces itself, but how a household populates such

spaces with objects significant to each culture. Objects that may even differentiate between different

households of similar cultures. The ‘Home’ is a reflection of every family’s consumerism culture.

Spatialised ‘Home’

The makings of ‘Chinese’ culture in Southeast Asia is a continuous negotiation of identity influenced by the

dominant culture of the region, politics, economy, social relations and colonial histories. Today, the majority

of both Singaporean and Malaysian communities are living in the global typology of apartments and houses.

The ‘Home’, once a vernacular, unique Shophouse has shifted into the global typology of the Apartment. In

investigating what exactly, constitutes to a ‘home’, the various physical and cultural relations are

conceptualised through the global typology of an Apartment.

During my year in Singapore, the impending removal of the Golden Mile Complex - an iconic Brutalist-style

building with a terraced facade - was the talk of the town. Located in an extremely central location, the

massive structure was built in the early 1970s as ‘part of a postcolonial urban renewal program’ called the

‘Golden Mile district’.17 Not only was it imagined to be a luxury condominium and office space, it was also

part of a post-colonial movement to create an efficient Asian city. It was part of Singapore’s early attempt “to

16Perec, G. and Sturrock, J., 2009. Species Of Spaces And Other Pieces. Brantford, Ont.: W. Ross MacDonald School
Resource Services Library, pp 27-36.
17 (Golden Mile Complex: Not Just Another Space | Singapore Policy Journal, 2021)
19

 seek common values shared by the diverse communities of Singapore to help preserve their Asian identities

in a period of globalisation.”18

Located just beside the office I was working in, many locals referred to the place as ‘Little Thailand’, where I

should visit for ‘authentic Thai food’ or for Thai groceries. These detached statements constructed my first

impression of the building as one ‘filled with Thai immigrants’. It created a sterile, almost derogatory

impression.

It was intriguing however, to hear how passionately the architects and artists discussed the removal of the

Golden Mile Complex bringing the disappearance of another piece of Singaporean culture. They despaired at

yet another apartment - one filled with fond memories of the many residents residing in it, a way of life -

being once again, swept away by modernisation. This begging the question: When is a building old enough

to be considered ‘heritage’? Adding to this paradox was an encounter with an artist’s work in defence of the

Golden Mile Complex. He depicts an imaginary future for the Complex in the preservation of cultural

memory in the form of heritage Chinese Shophouses. The majority of Singaporeans are Chinese, and this

could have influenced the use of a Chinese-related architectural typology.

Figure 7 Figure 8

A few months later, petitions won the battle and the building was to be conserved as a significant part of

Singaporean culture. On the condition that developers would have to redevelop the interiors, but retain the

18Trivivit, K., 2021. 1: Win, Lose or Draw: The Case of Golden Mile Complex as Transnational Social Space in
Singapore. [online] Academia.edu. Available at: <https://www.academia.edu/
11411653/1_Win_Lose_or_Draw_The_Case_of_Golden_Mile_Complex_as_Transnational_Social_Space_in_Singapor
e> [Accessed 7 April 2021].
20

signature stepped facade.19 After this debate to conserve the building was won, it suddenly became the

highlight of ‘Singaporean culture’.

As a foreigner, the impressions I was left with regarding ‘Little Thailand’ or the ‘Golden Mile Complex’

differed greatly. On one hand, it was regarded in a derogatory light. For example, the description of the

Golden Mile Complex as a “vertical slum” and “terrible eye sore and a national disgrace” as stated by

Professor Ivan Png, a Nominated Member of Parliament (Tenth Parliament Singapore, 2006: n.p.).

While articles such as “The Disappearance of Little Thailand — Multiple Cities, 2021” highlight the unfair,

and limited stakes of these immigrants on the property due to the fact that most of the property owners were

Singaporeans. Interviews with the Thai residents revealed intimate facts such as the ‘strange scents’ of the

complex being the smell of home. Or how walking through the market reminded them of Thailand.20 But

most crucially: how do these actions affect the identity of the Thai community - especially those who were

born and raised in Singapore, and identity as a Singaporean?

The makings of ‘Chinese’ culture in Southeast Asia is a continuous negotiation of identity with the dominant

culture of the region, the communities’ political, economical and social situations, as well as colonial history.

As previously seen, establishing a ‘home’ was the first step in building and defending ethnic identity on

foreign soil. Historically, that being the vernacular Shophouses. Today however, most of the Singaporean

population live in public housing flats. Or most poignantly, the case of the Golden Mile Complex- a

remaking of a ‘Thai home’ in Singapore to one that fits into the system of ‘Singapore’ today. Even in Penang,

Georgetown is engaged in daily negotiations between foreign investors and retaining local identity as more

youths are moving into apartments in search of a better lifestyle. In this shift from a unique ‘Chinese’

typology to that of a globalised ‘Apartment’ typology, we see this interesting pattern of revisiting the past as

a form of cultural invention:

Much like the era of Shophouses, the facade, here being that of modern apartments - albeit being a melange

of aesthetic inspirations gleaned from Pinterest - represents the urbanisation of a city. This has to be coupled

with facades of old, such as the shophouses or the known ‘terraced facade’ of the Golden Mile Complex, in

19NG, M., 2021. Golden Mile Complex to be conserved, with incentives to attract developers in future en bloc sale:
URA. [online] The Straits Times. Available at: <https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/golden-mile-complex-to-be-
conserved-with-incentives-to-attract-developers-in-future-en> [Accessed 18 March 2021].

20Multiple Cities. 2021. The Disappearance of Little Thailand — Multiple Cities. [online] Available at: <https://
www.multiplecities.org/home/2018/10/14/the-disappearance-of-little-thailand> [Accessed 18 March 2021].

21

the overall package of a unique identity. What remains a mystery however, is the evolution of the interiors of

the ‘home’ which once again, remains largely overlooked.

‘Home’ as an object

In the case of heritage shophouses, the main ‘objects’ that were highlighted as an ethnic marker would be the

ornamentation of the facade. These ornamentations symbolised the entire Chinese community as a whole,

with nuances and elements unique to each era and family in accordance to social status.

That is not so different in the case of the Golden Mile Complex. The complex was designed by Singaporean

architects Gan Eng Oon, William Lim and Tay Kheng Soon during “an era of widespread experimentation in

architecture and urbanism” during the post-war period. Influenced by the Metabolist movement in Japan to

quickly “solve the urgent demands for high-density living”, this complex was designed to be a “self-

contained ‘vertical city’.”21 The Complex was also an ambition to create an Asian identity in the rebuilding

of Singapore in the post-war era. Physically, its facade became a way of registering Singaporean identity to

the world. On top of that, it was also a way of moulding cultural production: this new form of space was to

orchestrate Singapore’s new societal living aspirations. However, this ideological production of a new form

of ‘home’ deteriorated with the

Golden Mile Complex’s fall from

grace. A lack of maintenance led it

to be described as a “vertical slum”

and “national disgrace” by a

Member of Parliament in 2006.22

Figure 9

21Dpa.com.sg. 2021. DP Architects. [online] Available at: <https://www.dpa.com.sg/projects/goldenmilecomplex/>

[Accessed 8 April 2021].
22Trivivit, K., 2021. 1: Win, Lose or Draw: The Case of Golden Mile Complex as Transnational Social Space in
Singapore. [online] Academia.edu. Available at: <https://www.academia.edu/
11411653/1_Win_Lose_or_Draw_The_Case_of_Golden_Mile_Complex_as_Transnational_Social_Space_in_Singapor
e> [Accessed 7 April 2021].
22

 For example, this excerpt from Pattana Kitiarsa’s research:

On Sundays, as many as 5,000 Thais may visit the complex as it has money services open seven days a

week, enabling them to send cheques home. The complex is also the terminal for buses linking Hat Yai and

Singapore. Many locals and foreigners consider the complex dangerous—full of thieves, brawlers, and

killers, and keep away. They see it as dirty, with Thai workers sitting on the floors and footpaths while they

drink (Wuth Nontarit 1996)23

Similarly to the arrival of Chinese immigrants in the Straits of Malacca 200 years ago, Singapore’s rapid

expansion in the 1970s attracted many Thai immigrants in hopes of a better life. The Golden Mile Complex,

then considered a ‘failure’ was gradually revived with the coming of Thai immigrants in the 1980s. Thai

business flourished in the Complex. Like many other enclaves in Singapore where Indonesian or Philippine

workers would gather, the Golden Mile Complex became the meeting and entertainment place of Thai

immigrants.

Education and the ability to speak English play an important in the social ladder of Singapore. The social

status of these Thai construction workers left them marginalised by Singaporean society. Shunned from the

general society, these “low-levelled” immigrants turned to the Golden Mile Complex, equally shunned by

society, as a ‘home’. Moreover it became described by the Thai community, as “the only public space in

Singapore where they can truly feel at ‘home’.”24

I remember, during late Friday nights in the office, the building vibrated with unfamiliar music blasting from

the Karaoke rooms. It was a surreal experience that differed greatly from my previous holidays in Singapore,

when I only experienced the image that Singapore generally offers to tourists - that of Marina Bay Sands or

Gardens By The Bay. But to the Thai community, weekends in the complex was reenacted the “festive

atmosphere of Thai rural villages.” It was an explosion of “noise, drinking sprees, abundant meals, urinating

23Kitiarsa, P., 2006. Village Transnationalism: Transborder Identities among Thai-Isan Migrant Workers in Singapore.
SSRN Electronic Journal, [online] Available at: <https://ari.nus.edu.sg/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/wps06_071.pdf>.
24Kitiarsa, P., 2006. Village Transnationalism: Transborder Identities among Thai-Isan Migrant Workers in Singapore.
SSRN Electronic Journal, [online] Available at: <https://ari.nus.edu.sg/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/wps06_071.pdf>.
23

 or spitting in public, or even having a fight”. All these were a part of a normal village way of life in rural

Thailand. 25

Here, the physical architecture of the Golden Mile Complex - the object - disappears from the narration of

this cultural negotiation. While ‘home’ is typically regarded as an intimate space, such as the Apartment, and

the ‘Town’ being a separate concept, here, ‘home’ encompasses the whole village way of life in the Complex.

Perec’s model of a space being divided by activities is thrown into disarray by this whole interplay of rituals

that make up a cultural identifier for Thai immigrants in this vast space.

Despite it all, developers are asked to develop its interiors. Again, architecture remains - as a physical

reminder to some, a legacy of what Singaporean culture could have been; and to others, simply a communal

bank of cultural memory. What happens then to the home of those unable to use architecture as a means of

constructing a ‘home’?

25Kitiarsa, P., 2006. Village Transnationalism: Transborder Identities among Thai-Isan Migrant Workers in Singapore.
SSRN Electronic Journal, [online] Available at: <https://ari.nus.edu.sg/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/wps06_071.pdf>.
24

Chapter 3 / The Intangible Architecture of Cultural Heritage

‘Home’ in the Apartment.

Home and culture as a space in the mind

“To live is to pass from one space to another, while doing your very best not to bump yourself.”

- Georges Perec, Species of Spaces, pp. 6

That was precisely what I did during my years studying abroad, moving from room to room, apartment

building to apartment building. And yet all these spaces, despite being miles away from home, were still to

me, a ‘home’. Especially so when I was surrounded by a community of other Malaysians. Malaysian Chinese

culture is onto itself, a diverse culture driven by the nuances in politics and economies of the different states.

This probably being a reason why we, amongst ourselves, would state the region we were from, and with

pride, the food our region was known for (food is an important cultural marker for Malaysians). Even so,

during festivities such as Chinese New Year, there is an understanding that eating together is still a cultural

ritual that encompasses all - a ritual that would make any place feel like ‘home’. This, I argue, is a ritual built

upon cultural consciousness and memory. And simply by reliving this memory in a foreign space, is to relive

a fragment of ‘home’.

Beyond the physical, material domain of the ‘home’, there exists the temporal, spatial reality of culture.26

Culture is an everyday fictional construct largely made out of memory. Our everyday existence is one that is

26 Treib, M., 2009. Spatial Recall : Memory In Architecture And Landscape. London: Routledge. pp.23-25
25

constantly “moulded by the human capacity of remembrance, fantasy, and imagination.” Where “the

experienced, the remembered, and the imagined, constantly fuse into each other.”27

As explained in The Art of Memory, memory requires places (also known as loci) and images (imagines) to

function. An individual’s memory requires one to remember, and manipulate these images in a mental space.

This was a memory technique used by classical orators to deliver speeches with unerring accuracy. First, one

would have to possess, in one’s mind, “a series of loci or places”. In this case, architecture was and remains

the most common mnemonic place system. In classical times, the speech was to be remembered in a series of

images or imagines. These images had to be ‘placed’ onto the specific spaces one remembers of a building.

When the speech was to be delivered, the “ancient orator” had to “move in imagination through his memory

building to the various image deposits whilst he is making his speech.”28

Hence, as previously discussed, architecture is ultimately an important canvas in the building of a cultural

identity. But without the ‘images’ placed unto these architectural structures, culture cannot exist. And hence,

the whole concept of the ‘home’ too disappears from existence.

The building blocks of Chinese culture in Malaysia

The Malaysian or Singaporean Chinese is sensitive in identifying as a ‘Malaysian’ or a ‘Singaporean’ ,

differing from (as local slang goes) ‘Mainland Chinese’. As Tan Chee Beng words it: “The pride of being

local is not new nor merely political. It is a natural development of local consciousness.”29

Malaysia has been my home since the day I was born, and naturally my identity as a Malaysian Chinese was

a consciousness ingrained into my being. And like my peers, it is what we identify as despite the different

‘Apartments’ across time and space. But at what point did the Chinese community, known as ‘Overseas

Chinese’ up until the second world war, truly assimilated their cultural identity to that of their host countries?

In the beginning, Chinese migrants in Malaya fully intended to return to China after achieving their financial

goals. However, the rise of communism and its subsequent political changes in Southern China in the 1950s

27 Treib, M., 2009. Spatial Recall : Memory In Architecture And Landscape. London: Routledge. pp.23-25
28 Yates, F., 1997. The Art Of Memory. London: Pimlico. pp.3.
29 Suryadinata, L., 1997. Ethnic Chinese as Southeast Asians. New York: St. Martin's Press, pp.25.
26

hindered the return of these migrants. As previously illustrated with the Shophouses, most of the Chinese

labourers had already organised themselves into communities complete with social, political and economical

structures by the late nineteenth century. But it was only towards the second world war, when a “general re-

orientation away from China”30 began as many started identifying as ‘Malayan Chinese’.31 It was then “inter-

ethnic political bargain” began. When, as a way of preserving cultural identity, the Chinese community had

begun negotiating rights for the preservation of the Chinese language, secular Chinese education, political

rights as citizens of Malaya and so on. Today, with Singapore as an exception, Malaysia has one of Southeast

Asia’s highest concentration of ethnic Chinese, making up 30% of the local population. To this very day, this

political bargain persists in the making of Chinese identity in Malaysia.

While racism and political bias still exist, these cultural separations have largely amalgamated to form what

is now described as the ‘multi-ethnic’ society of Malaysia. Even this shift in Georgetown from heritage

shophouses to the uniform typology of the Apartment - this homogenisation of an architectural typology -

seems to also represent this new formation of a ‘Malaysian culture’.

In Malaysia, ambivalent factors such as bloodline and food form the ethnic markers in the making of a

‘home’ in Malaysia. While the ability to speak Mandarin was a very important characteristic in the past,

language competency can hardly be an identifier in contemporary Malaysia. For example, this excerpt from

Chee Kiong Tong’s Identity and Ethnic Relations in Southeast Asia: Racializing Chinese-ness:

I think the biological part comes first, being born of Chinese parents. Second is the practicing

of Chinese culture. The food aspect, I think, is one thing that binds all Chinese. Food,

I consider the most important. Certain Chinese traits, such as, family togetherness, practice

of Chinese festivals, are also important. Religion will not define Chineseness. I would

disqualify clothes too. Chinese do not wear cheongsam anymore.32

30Tong, C., n.d. Identity and Ethnic Relations in Southeast Asia. Springer Dordrecht Heidelberg London New York,
pp.103.
31Tong, C., n.d. Identity and Ethnic Relations in Southeast Asia. Springer Dordrecht Heidelberg London New York,
pp.90 - 92
32Tong, C., n.d. Identity and Ethnic Relations in Southeast Asia. Springer Dordrecht Heidelberg London New York,
pp.97.
27

In this digital age of heightened cultural encounters and rapid information transfer, heterogeneity of

education, language competency, and even material availability has only served to blur cultural identities.

The ‘home’ then, becomes a symbol of a unified material culture as we constantly consume ideas and

lifestyle perceptions of how one should aspire to live. Much like Perec’s novel Things which utilised the

lifestyle magazine L’Express as a medium, social media and the Internet play the same role. Except in this

century, class and cultural aspirations are no longer confined to specific regions for they question the making

of ‘identity’ and ‘home’ on a global stage. Even in Malaysia itself, the increase in English-educated Chinese,

some of whom are unable to converse in Mandarin, makes us turn to bloodline in ethnic identity.

“Food is the thing that unites all Malaysians.”33

When analysed closely, Malaysian Chinese culture is quite diverse. Memory and culture are both very

situational concepts - both of which function atop a series of images manipulated by the socio-political

structures in a given location. There exists a range of ‘traditional dishes’, dialects and accents across the

different regions of Malaysia. For example, the northwest states of Kedah, Perlis and Penang Chinese are

culturally distinct from other Chinese Malaysians. The group of Penang Hokkien especially, are the core of

Malaysia’s food capital, and take immense pride in their local dialect, food, and heritage shophouses of

Georgetown. To call a region ‘home’ is to take account of not just the architecture, but the traditions and food

that support the physical infrastructures in the creation of an identity. In this case, culture is also something

that is based on an individual’s personal narrative, family traditions, and subjective interpretation of these

pre-given ‘images’ of culture. And how that individual interpretation may fit into wherever one is located in.

Based on my observations, while this regional pride is translated across various ‘homes’ in the world, these

specificities are not as important as the ritual themselves when looking to be included in a community. For

example, during Chinese New Year in London, despite my other Malaysian peers originating from different

parts of Malaysia with slightly different traditions, these details were not as important as recognising the

general importance of the ritual of eating together in this occasion. On foreign soil, it boils down to

recognising a ritual of general importance to a specific culture that makes a ‘home’.

33Tong, C., n.d. Identity and Ethnic Relations in Southeast Asia. Springer Dordrecht Heidelberg London New York,
pp.106.
28

In our everyday lives and encounters, these experiences are constantly conjuring ‘images’ in these ‘places’

that we visit. And all these are what a person is constantly re-interpreting based on economical influences

and a cultural consciousness. For any city or architecture across time and space, the Apartment becomes or

ceases to be a ‘home’ depending on the existence of such images. The ‘home’ itself is fiction. A negotiation.

29

Conclusion

The making of Chinese culture in Southeast Asia, as demonstrated in the previous chapters, is a daily

negotiation that exists in a timeless domain separate from the physical architectural productions of space. It

dominates a more linear timeline parallel to the confusingly dynamic timeline of physical architecture in the

name of ‘heritage production'. Heritage itself is not part of a past that can be preserved as a separate entity -

for it is present in the everyday. The hybrid Chinese communities in Malaysia, Singapore and other Southeast

Asian cities all contain nuances that make them unique to their specific locations. For example, food and

bloodline being the main ethnic markers in Malaysia’s multiracial society. Or public housing being a big part

of the cultural narration of Singapore. The production of these varied cultural identities are built upon

different communal memories of heritage that are so deeply intertwined in the socio-political, economical

and ideological relations of every unique location. In a macro-scale, heritage and cultural identity are

timeless concepts that cannot be constrained to a specific time in history. For whatever the typology of the

‘Home’, the social relations between an individual, family, and society are what makes up the image of a

‘Home’. These intimate traditions and rituals that are carried out within the home are the culmination of

familial traditions and memories of the past that are constantly determining the evolutions of the present

urban fabric and our everyday lives. A unified cultural image has to be orchestrated when presenting a

nation’s cultural identity as to be easily understood or distinguished by outsiders. But beneath that facade,

heritage itself is a personal narrative, an interior space influenced by one’s journey, social relations and

memories that make up one’s unique identity.

As Homi Bhabha claims in the Locations of Culture, “the borderline work of culture demands an encounter

with ‘newness’ that is not part of the continuum of past and present. It creates a sense of the new as an

insurgent act of cultural translation.”

30

Culture and the social complex of ‘Home’ is an ongoing conversation between an individual’s memory in

relation to society as a whole. An overall cultural consciousness is ingrained into us from the moment we are

born - rituals such as eating together on specific occasions being an ethnic signifier in foreign land. Whether

it is the case of heritage Georgetown, and its delicate balance of commodifying culture to ensure its survival,

or Singapore’s early plans to divide and economise their ‘heritage city’, these are still occurrences that form

the narrative of these nations’ cultural evolution in a post-colonial era. Capitalism, and consumerism have

always been a part of the whole process. Today more so than ever with the ever-increasing pace and

dynamics of 21st century modernity. Growing populations, international mobility, urbanisation and

digitisation are challenging the concept of the ‘Home’, which has always been about the relationship

between tangible ‘space’ and intangible ‘culture’.

Ultimately, architecture simply provides the foundation to which we are able to attach the images that make

up memory; the images that enable the symbolism and rhetoric required for ‘culture’ to function.

Architecture defends humanity not just against nature, but also the infinite void of time. It provides for us a

means of producing space as an inventory of objects to which we can assign meaning to. But the actual act of

living, the subconscious memories that determine nuances in celebrations and rituals are the ingrained

traditions that we, as individuals, will bring along with us and assign to the spaces we choose to live in. For

the ‘Home’ is one dominated by intangible aspects, such as, I quote: “The Chinese have never had a concept

of identity, only a concept of Chinese-ness…”34

In this digital age when the Internet is the main driver of ‘cultural image production’, ‘cultural heritage’ is

perhaps simply a guide to how an individual may interpret one’s identity through this mountain of

information. Be it through a series of ‘Homes’ and apartments throughout the world, or memories stored in a

digital archive, the world is at a heightened point of multi-cultural interaction. The sense of physical being

and belonging is more readily converted into intangible ‘culture’ and disseminated globally via the Internet.

Cultural identity becomes a challenge as market forces and constant information exchange create even more

pressures on defining the ‘Home’ in more uniform ways.

In short, the concept of ‘Home’, as explored through the evolution of Chinese culture in Penang and

Singapore, is becoming a paradox: the traditional relationship between physical space and intangible culture,

34 Suryadinata, L., 1997. Ethnic Chinese as Southeast Asians. New York: St. Martin's Press, pp.113.
31

as exemplified with the Shophouse, has been redefined. Society want more traditional or authentic culture in

their architectural spaces to recapture their sense of loss of tangible space as people become more

physically rootless through mobility and ease of travel. This is being challenged by urbanisation, whereby

the Apartment satisfies aspirations of a better lifestyle yet provides people less physical space to create a

communal ‘Home’. Ironically, this intangible culture of ‘Home’ in an economically driven world

is becoming more uniform and therefore less authentic. Ultimately, it boils down to the economy, the

political institutions of that specific geography, and the social relations that point to the true production of an

individual’s identity and ‘Home’ in this formless continuation of the present.

32

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