13) Rumah Bebe

Former Tay Buan Guan Shop, now Rumah Bebe, 113 East Coast Road 

Address         : 113 E Coast Rd, Singapore 428803 
Opening hours : Tuesday - Sunday, 0900hrs - 1830hrs

Tay Buan Guan:

This is how Tay Buan Guan looks like in the past.

Source: https://timesofmylife.wordpress.com/2008/01/16/my-old-katong-final-pt-other-lost-landmarks/

TBG is a four-storey building. You will be surprised that it all started as a travelling vendor, selling goods loaded in boxes that are tied to a pole. After lots of hard work and savings, Mr Tay Leck Teck, the founder of TBG, was able to purchase a bicycle to carry out his business. His entrepreneurship, thriftiness and hardworking character then allow him to rent a shophouse. It expanded from a humble shophouse to a four-storey shopping centre and it eventually became one of Singaporeans’ favourite shopping malls in the past. TBG is likely to the first supermarket established in the East in 1948. This shop includes a Chinese emporium, pharmacy, costume jewellery shop and other departmental stores which sell an array of products that is not readily available anywhere in Singapore. There is also a roof garden on the third level. However, as newer shopping centres like Parkway Parade come into existence nearby, TBG’s business suffers a great blow. The shop eventually folds up in 2000 after persisting for 52 years.

Rumah Bebe:

Now, it has been transformed into a shop called “Rumah Bebe”, which means Bebe’s House, a Peranakan Heritage Home. Even though the structure of TBG is no longer the same, there are still evidence around to confirm that it is the TBG building previously. The two side pillars, for instance.

Source: https://timesofmylife.wordpress.com/2008/01/16/my-old-katong-final-pt-other-lost-landmarks/

Source: https://timesofmylife.wordpress.com/2008/01/16/my-old-katong-final-pt-other-lost-landmarks/

This Peranakan Heritage House house Peranakan arts and crafts, acting as a store-cum-museum house. Interested visitors can even try out the Peranakan costumes, the custom-made kebaya / batik sarong and the cooking style of the Peranakan.

UNFORTUNATELY, when we visited the shop, it was closed. One lesson that we learned is that most shops like the Chin Mee Chin Confectionary, as well as majority of the Peranakan shops will not be opening on Mondays and Tuesday.

References:

"Rediscover the East: Katong and Joo Chiat," Urban Development Authority, accessed July 28, 2016,

https://www.ura.gov.sg/uol/publications/lifestyle-reads/walking-maps-trails/East/joo-chiat.aspx

"Tay Buan Guan Supermarket," National Library Board Singapore, 2003
http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_613_2005-01-28.html?s=tay%20buan%20guay

"Times Of My Life," My Old Katong Final Pt. - Other Lost Landmarks, accessed January 16, 2008,
 https://timesofmylife.wordpress.com/2008/01/16/my-old-katong-final-pt-other-lost-landmarks/