Ambins along the Five Footway: Baweanese Ponthuks at Everton Road

Ambins along the Five Footway: Baweanese Ponthuks at Everton Road [SOLD OUT]

Thank you for your support for this event! If you would like to be included in the waiting list, please email your request to babahouse@nus.edu.sg

Wednesday, 17 October 2018
6.30pm – 8.00pm
NUS Baba House

Programme:
6.30pm – 7.00pm: Refreshments
7.00pm – 8.00pm: Talk

Limited to 60 pax

The neighbourhood surrounding the NUS Baba House tends to be associated with affluent Chinese merchants, but it was also home to a close-knit micro migrant community – the Baweanese. Baweanese migration into Singapore started in the 19th century, tied to an indigenous ethos referred to as merantau. By the early 20th century, as Singapore’s reputation as a hub for entrepot trade along with the tales of its prosperity from earlier migrants spread, Baweanese migration to the city intensified. To ease the day to day difficulties of their fellow migrants, namely finding accommodation and employment, the community saw the need to come together to set up an institution called the ponthuk.

This talk will briefly trace the migration of the Baweanese into Singapore and the areas they settled in the city during the early 20th century. It will also illuminate the nature of the ponthuks along Everton Road – a vernacular form of dwelling articulated in the interaction with a non-traditional building typology; a shophouse.

About the Speaker

Hadi Osni is a postgraduate student at the National University of Singapore (NUS). He completed his Bachelor of Arts (Architecture) with Honours, in 2017, with a heritage focus under the General Studies Programme. Hadi was also awarded the second prize in the 2017 Berkeley Essay Prize Competition with an essay titled “The Baweanese Pondok: Tampilung”. Hadi researches on vernacular architecture in Pulau Bawean and its spatial continuities as a result of migration in Singapore and Malacca in the early 20th century.

Maintaining Heritage Series
The Maintaining Heritage series was developed as part of the NUS Baba House’ interest in the varied dimensions and perspectives of heritage and the heritage eco-system in Singapore. Talks presented as part of this series seek to generate awareness of conservation, urban development, architectural history, and evolving cultural practices and policies. The 2018 series of talks focuses on the history and urban development of the Blair Plain Conservation Area, of which the NUS Baba House is nestled within.

Upcoming programmes in October 2018 from the Maintaining Heritage Series:

• 24 Oct - Sepoy Lines and Traces by Ms. Vithya Subramaniam

Image: Ponthuk Tampilung (circa 1950s) at 40 Everton Road in the past viz-a-viz present. Graphic and photo courtesy of Hadi Osni