This small mural at the corner of Arab Street (123A) and North Bridge Road depicts a traditional Mamashop and a Money changer. For a change, I painted the mural in monochrome, so that it can focus on the portraits in a more artistry and poetic style.
Mr Hamid ran the mamashop at that exact spot. He sat at the busy five-foot-way all day and night manning the store selling snacks, drinks and newspapers. In his teens, he arrived in Singapore from Chennai, India, in 1952 to take over his grandfather’s mamashop. He believed the shop was at the same spot for over a hundred years. He rented a living space directly upstairs, reachable via the ladder which still exists today. A few years ago, he fell ill and returned to Chennai upon persuasion from his grandchildren there. He passed away a few months after his return.
All these stories were told to me by various people who knew him for many years. As they passed by the mural when I was painting it, they spotted “him” and that ignited our conversations. Many of them are long time shopkeepers and residents of Kampong Glam. As words and photos of his portrait spread in their whatsapp chat groups, more came by. Many of them call him “the old man who always sit here”.
Similarly, when the money changer portrait appeared on the wall, various people stopped by and told me about him. They said he was the earliest operator of the money changer shop at that exact spot more than 50 years ago. The shop has evolved and moved into the shopping mall just across the road. A few of the past and current staff came by to say hello.
A young lady came by. She told me “he” looks exactly like her grandfather. She was teary eyed and choked with emotions. She said “thank you sir for painting my grandfather”.
