4. Effects of Globalisation

It is evident that Chinatown has overgone a drastic change over the years. Chinatown, is being marketed as a tourism attraction in Singapore. Tourism manifests globalization prominently due to its global movement and scale. Many tourists visit Chinatown as it is now a tourist attraction.

In the past, Chinatown was just a poor and small settlement. The shophouses and houses were built in brick and tiled, each house should have a veranda or covered passage five feet wide to provide an open space where the dwellers in the crowded houses could have fresh air and also where food hawkers could operate. The houses and shophouses were built in neat rows and in the centre was an air-well open to the sky. This served for the collection and storage of water for ventilation and light.

As years go by, more and more tourists come to Chinatown as it is a tourist attraction which sells good food, clothes and many other souvenirs. Chinatown also has a Heritage Centre which displays exhibits of Chinatown in the past. This evidence shows that Chinatown has changed due to globalization. Globalization has also resulted in Chinatown having a bigger range of products sold. Nowadays, the products mostly come from China and Malaysia, but some also come from other countries as well.

This is one of the results of globalisation. As Singapore has developed relationships with other countries around the world, more trade opportunities appear. And with the advancements in technology, transporting goods from one part of the world to the other has become so much more convinient and quicker. In the past, goods had to be transported by ships. Now, there are jet carriers that can cover a longer distance faster than the ships in the early days. With the shorter time span, the food would take a longer time to go bad after reaching the country. This improves international trade.

Globalisation has also invited more foreign workers to Chinatown. As more shops and restaurants open, jobs like shop assistants and waiters will become available. Though most of them are locals, we have spotted some foreigners working in Chinatown during our fieldtrip. Another example is a Belgium shop that opened up in one of the shops in Chinatown. Though it seemed out of place in a lane selling Chinese goods and tourist soveniors, this only proves that shops are expanding across countries and that globalisation is occuring.

The TinTin shop is a Belgium shop in Chinatown.