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History of Read Bridge. Cha Chun Tau. Singapore River's Party Bridge 柴船头

August 29, 2020, 8:27 pm
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 Read Bridge 2006
Read Bridge which spans the Singapore River connecting the north and south banks at Clarke Quay, is truth be told, not a pretty bridge nor any architectural marvel. Neither is it the oldest, youngest, longest or anything. The 280 metres short bridge's only credential is it is at Singapore River's most happening place, the party central of Singapore River since the turn of the century till today.


Map of Singapore 1870. Image credit: National Archives of Singapore
Map of Singapore 1878. Image credit: National Archives of Singapore
It is unclear when the first bridge spanning the Singapore River at Clarke Quay was built. The wooden bridge is visible in maps of Singapore of the 1870s.

Tan Tock Seng 1840. Image credit: National Archives of Singapore
It was known then as Tok Sing Bridge in honour of Tan Tock Seng, Kapitan China of Singapore, wealthy merchant, philanthropist and community leader from Malacca. (It was also known as Merchant Bridge as it serves mainly traders on both sides of Singapore River.)

Raffles Town Plan 1822. Future Read Bridge marked in green. Image credit: Wikipedia
In Raffles' vision for Singapore known as the Raffles Town Plan or Jackson Plan, the area across Clarke Quay was designated the Chulia Campong. Tamil Muslim Chulia lightermen, traders, money changers were settled here. It was later named Kampong Malacca as traders from Malacca also settled here. The first mosque in Singapore, Masjid Omar was established in Kampong Malacca in 1820.

Tok Sing Bridge connected Kampong Malacca with South Street in Clarke Quay. As the bridge led into Kampong Malacca from South Street in Clarke Quay, locals called it 甘榜马六甲桥 or Kampong Malacca Bridge in Teochew Chinese. Often it was simply shortened to Malacca Bridge in conversation.

Read Bridge 1904. Image credit: National Archives of Singapore
In 1889, Tok Sing Bridge was demolished and replaced by Read Bridge which had higher clearance for boats to pass underneath.

William Read 1886. Image credit: National Archives of Singapore
It was named after William Henry Macleod Read who was a prominent Scottish resident in Singapore (1841 - 1887), and Consul for the Netherlands (1857 - 1885). In 1854, Read meditated between the warring factions during the Teochew-Hokkien Riots of 1854.

Read Bridge 1908. Image credit: National Archives of Singapore
Read Bridge 1911. Image credit: National Archives of Singapore
South Street and North Street in Clarke Quay were renamed Read Street soon after Read Bridge opened for traffic in 1889.

Read Bridge 1985. Image credit: National Archives of Singapore
Locals call the southern head of Read Bridge (where Jumbo Seafood Riverside Point is today), "Cha Chun Tau" which means "timber boat jetty"柴船头 in Teochew Chinese.

Twokow passing under Read Bridge 1980. Image credit: National Archives of Singapore
Logs from Indonesia were offloaded from twakow lighters here.

Read Bridge was also known as Green Bridge because the barriers on the bridge were once dressed in green paint.

Read Bridge 2006. Image credit: Wikipedia
In 2008, Read Bridge was included in the Urban Renewal Authority's conservation programme. However, Read Bridge is not included in the list of National Monuments of Singapore (which included Anderson Bridge, Cavenagh Bridge and Elgin Bridge).

The charm of Read Bridge and "Cha Chun Tau" is not in its architecture. The short 280 metre span is plain ordinary looking. The beauty of Read Bridge is the intangible cultural heritage it represents.

Map of Singapore 1923. Image credit: National Archives of Singapore
The maze of streets around Cha Chun Tau and nearby Ellenborough Market, many of which no longer exist, were chock a block with traders, hawkers, and full of the sight, sounds, and smells of life.


Storyteller @ Read Bridge 1960. Image credit: National Archives of Singapore
Every evening, lightermen, rickshaw men, hawkers gathered around a storyteller. Popular storytellers can command a 100 member audience. They told stories from Chinese mythology, legends, literary classics (e.g. Water Margin, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Journey to the West) and the latest martial novels (武侠小说).

Each session lasted the length of a joss stick's burn time (about 20 minutes). Audience who sit on wooden stools provided by the storyteller were obliged to pay for the session (about 5 cents in the 1960s). Those who stood around to listen were not obliged to pay.

Teochew, Hokkien and Cantonese mother tongue storytellers faded away with Mandarinisation which began in the late 1970s. (Source: Singapore Infopedia)

Leng Hiang Tua Temple 1970s. Image credit: National Archives of Singapore
Mass dinner celebrating the birthday of a Deity at Leng Hiang Tua Temple at Cha Chun Tau in the 1970s. Read Bridge is in the background.

Image credit: National Archives of Singapore
Image credit: National Archives of Singapore
Medium from Leng Hiang Tua Temple leading devotees in a ritual at Cha Chun Tau.


Image credit: National Archives of Singapore
Mobile tid bits hawker at Angus Street in Cha Chun Tau in 1986.

Image credit: National Archives of Singapore
Wayang (Teochew opera) stage and street hawker stalls at Angus Street in 1980. Two Teochew opera troupes were based here. Cha Chun Tau was also the birth place of Singapore bak kut teh.



Party life still goes on at Read Bridge today.



The nearest MRT station to Read Bridge is Clarke Quay MRT station.


Please share your memories of Read Bridge and Cha Chun Tau by leaving a comment. Thank you.
References:
Singapore River Walk

Singapore 1890. Image credit: National Archives of Singapore

Date: 29 Aug 2020
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