Hidden in a corner of a quiet residential neighbourhood at Rosyth Road, it is easy to miss the Tee Seng Store. Stepping into the store, a village style sundry shop, has one taking a step back some 4, 5 or perhaps even 6 decades back in time.
The shop is set in a stand alone building – much like the village shops of old. Little changed since the 1950s, the inside of the store is fitted out with wooden ventilation grilles, louvres, doors and even wooden framed glass cabinets and is very much reminiscent of the shops in the countryside that for many a parched National Serviceman out in the field, were a lifeline.
Mr Ang Lu Heng, the proprietor of the store – who started work in the shop in 1955 and has run it since 1960.
The shop, owned by Mr Ang Lu Heng who is in his 70s, is possibly last of its kind in Singapore – there are several other “traditional” sundry or provision shops but not with a village shop like setting. It probably will be a matter of time before it becomes forgotten, much like the other reminders of the gentle days of Singapore that have been lost.
Filed under: Changing Landscapes, Forgotten Places, Photography, Reminders of Yesterday, Singapore
