I first encounter Singaporean artist Yip Yew Chong’s paintings as I enjoy my go-to afternoon pick-me-up in the city’s Kampong Glam district.

Sitting on a bench, sipping an icy cold teh tarik in Muscat Street, with the splendid Sultan Mosque behind me, I notice a very realistic depiction of a man making the classic Malay pulled-tea drink on the wall in front of me.

Looking left, then right, and then up, sweeping my view across the large wall’s entirety, I am struck by the detail in the mural.

Straight ahead is a glimpse into the window of a cafe where the man is pouring tea between two vessels from a great height, a tray of tasty kaya toast buns sitting on the counter beside him. Another man is outside, fanning a grill full of satay, while tiny birds sit in cages hanging from the roof above. To the left, a group of children watch a traditional Javanese puppet show.

Above, Malay boats and houses on stilts sit over water, and to the right, traders go about their business in shophouses.

Immigrants from the Malay archipelago, Middle East, China and India set up shop in Kampong Glam back in the 1800s and the shops depicted in the mural feature textile and diamond trading, book printing, tombstone engraving and iron smithing.

There are two maps, one from the 1920s and 30s and the other from 2023 showing the progress made in the area between those two times. It’s a fascinating insight into this multicultural area.

As I explore Singapore, I discover more of YC’s art around the streets of Tiong Bahru, Bras Basah, Little India and on Sentosa Island.

But I find the largest collection on the walls of Chinatown.

It is 8am as I leave the Sofitel City Centre, which is a beautiful hotel in an excellent spot on the edge of Chinatown, on top of Tanjong Pagar MRT station.

I am out early to take advantage of the cooler air. The added bonus is there aren’t many tourists about, so I’ll get a chance to take photos without anyone getting in the way.

It’s about a five-minute walk from the hotel to Amoy Street hawker centre. It takes all my willpower not to make a detour for one of J2’s sardine puffs. But it won’t stay this cool for long, so I’m on a mission to appreciate the wall art before thinking about filling my belly.

Thian Hock Keng Temple

Further down Amoy Street, at the back of Thian Hock Keng temple, I find one of YC’s most impressive works. The mural runs the full length of the 40m wall, depicting the journey of early Hokkien immigrants — who made their way from China and settled in Telok Ayer and Amoy Street in the mid-1800s — continuing with pictures showing how the immigrants’ contributions shaped modern-day Singapore.

Completed in 1840, Thian Hock Keng is Singapore’s oldest temple, and is worth a stop if you have time.

To find the rest of YC’s murals I take a short walk through Ann Siang Hill Park — a former clove and nutmeg plantation — then along Ann Siang Road and Ann Siang Hill, which brings me out on to South Bridge Road.

Detective Conan

I make my way towards Smith Street where I find a painting of Detective Conan at a stall trying some durian, that love-it or hate-it tropical fruit.

I have no idea who Detective Conan is, but I love the colourful mural featuring tasty Singaporean delicacies, as well as the stinky fruit you will find for sale in many of the shops around Chinatown.

Pit stop 1

Opposite the mural is traditional Singapore kopitiam (coffee shop), Nanyang Old Coffee. This is a good place to try a local breakfast favourite or two.

Kaya butter toast dipped into soft-boiled egg, chee cheong fun (rolled thin sheets of rice noodles, dressed with sweet soy sauce and sesame oil) or chwee kueh (steamed rice cakes with a sweet and savoury preserved radish and chilli topping) would be a good place to start. Wash it down with a cup of Nanyan’s excellent kopi or teh (coffee or tea).

You can watch the world go by at tables outside the shop or sit inside and enjoy a blast of air-conditioning. There are more tables upstairs, where you will also find a quirky little museum filled with vintage coffee memorabilia.

I’m not ready for a stop yet, but this is one of my favourite places for a cooling mid-morning iced teh when I’m in Chinatown.

My Chinatown Home

Further up Smith Street, I see a mural which paints a picture of YC’s childhood.

It is based on his memories of his first home in nearby Sago Lane. The scene features his mum cooking in the kitchen, YC and his siblings playing “aeroplane chess” and his late grandmother sewing a patchwork blanket. Again, the attention to detail is amazing, from the plateful of traditional treats on the dining table, to the tiny lizard climbing the wall beside the light switches.

YC’s family had to vacate their home in 1983 when properties on Sago Lane were demolished as part of a Chinatown clean-up.

The Letter Writer

Continuing along Smith Street I come to the New Bridge Centre, where I find The Letter Writer. In this mural a man sits at a desk, writing. Sheets of red paper with gold Chinese characters are pegged on rows of string behind him. A dog peeks its head out from behind a wooden crate in the corner, while a sleeping cat is curled up on top.

Up until the 1980s, letter writers were common on the streets of Chinatown, where they would help migrants write to their loved ones back in China, as well as writing calligraphy for Chinese New Year couplets and ancestral altars.

From 1983, traditional street traders and hawkers were relocated to the newly completed Chinatown Complex. Today it’s the biggest hawker centre in Singapore, with more than 260 food stalls.

Mid-Autumn Festival

Next, a short walk to Pagoda Street, to see another mural influenced by YC’s childhood years. A family are celebrating Mid-Autumn Festival. The adults sit eating mooncakes from a table stacked with edible treats, while three children try to light a lantern. Above them, brightly coloured lanterns hang from the ceiling. I love the bemused cat sitting beside the Hello Kitty lantern on the steps nearby.

The festival is held on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month (usually in September or early October). And while it is officially known as the Mid-Autumn Festival, it is more commonly called the Lantern Festival and the Mooncake Festival by locals.

Chinatown Market

I head for Temple Street and take in the three-storey depiction of a bustling wet market, soy sauce shop, hairdressers and traditional kopitiam. Looking up, I notice real windows from which paintings of realistic laundry hang on drying poles.

From the side of a window, a woman waves to a man on the top floor who is pouring from a giant pot of tea, which cascades into two cups below.

A cat watches from the roof of the five-foot way — these sheltered walkways in front of shophouses were introduced by Sir Stamford Raffles in the 1820s to provide pedestrians shade and shelter from the rain.

Clog Maker & Kitchenware Shop

On the building opposite there’s a mural paying homage to Lau Choy Seng, a Chinatown shop which sold handmade wooden clogs and kitchenware from 1948.

The painting shows a man sitting, making a wooden clog. Bunches of the red wooden shoes hang from hooks on the wall and more fill shelves behind him. His wife sits among piles of kitchenware on the other side of the shop. An appetising meal is set on the table nearby.

Wooden clogs were traditionally worn in Chinatown’s kitchens, bathrooms and wet markets (the extra height of the sole helped keep feet dry) but by the 1980s, rubber sandals had become more popular. Lau Choy Seng’s clog-making business closed but its kitchenware business, which sits in the store behind this mural, is still run by the same family today.

Cantonese Opera

Further down Temple Street, I find an entertaining scene. The mural was inspired by YC’s time growing up in Chinatown in the 1970s and 80s, when operas were staged on the streets around the area. He would attend the performances with his aunt.

In this mural, the audience perch on wooden crates and stools, mesmerised by the brightly clothed actors performing on the stage in front of them. In the wings, a performer perfects her make-up and another accepts a tiffin box from an Indian man who is delivering the food containers by bike. Off to one side of the stage, children queue for ice-cream and on the other side, a rojak seller peddles his wares.

My favourite detail on this mural is the cute little boy sitting on a real letterbox that’s attached to the wall. He holds a letter addressed to Yip Yew Chong in his hand.

Pit stop 2

It’s getting warmer and I’m starting to flag. I’m tempted to stop off at Ya Kun Kaya Toast, which is just around the corner on South Bridge Road, opposite the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple & Museum. I’ve been told by many locals that this popular coffee chain serves the best takeaway coffee in the city.

I’ve eaten many portions of kaya butter toast in the South Bridge store and I always take a jar or two of Ya Kun kaya home with me. It’s the best I’ve found, and there are no artificial ingredients in it, only sugar, eggs, coconut milk and pandan (just as it should be).

My stomach is starting to rumble, but one more stop will reap rewards, so I plough on.

Last stop, Mohamed Ali Lane, where I discover a trio of delightful murals that bring to life the traditional trades of the craftsmen who once peddled their wares in the area.

Paper Mask And Puppet Seller

This mural was inspired by Yeo Ban Kok, who handcrafted and sold masks in Chinatown in the 1980s.

In the painting Yeo stands by a bicycle that’s topped with two dozen colourful traditional paper masks and puppets. A sign in the middle of the bike reads ‘Paper faces earn a living for Ban Kok.”

The Lion Dance Head Maker

Mr Lee works on an ornamental lion’s head outside the shophouse, while two children — one Chinese and one Indian — play drums beside him.

The painting is based on a shop which traded in Ann Siang Hill in the 1980s. These intricate symbolic heads were once made by hand and used in traditional Chinese lion dance performances.

Mamak Store

Abdul Kadir ran a mamak (provisions) store in Sago Lane when YC was a child. Abdul taught YC his first Tamil words. In the painting Mr Kadir sits on the well-stocked shop counter with a rattan fan in his hand looking slightly bored, but perhaps it’s just the humidity getting to him.

A calendar with the store name hangs on the wall to the right. Above that, beside a string of magazines, I spot a brochure for the Heritage Collection on Chinatown.

The mural is painted to the left of a real door which is one of the entrances to a boutique aparthotel of the same name. Set inside heritage shophouses, rooms at the aparthotel start from $S91 ($100) per night (for a 12sqm studio with no window) going up to $S170 ($186) per night (for a 20sqm premium loft).

The Window

This collection of paintings shows how different tenant families lived together harmoniously in the same shophouse, regardless of race, religion or language.

Looking out the windows above Mr Lee I see Mrs Kadir and Mrs Lee. Mrs Lee has laundry, as well as a fish, hanging out to dry, while Mrs Kadir has a bedspread and a pair of shoes out to air. She is carefully lowering a basket on a string to her husband on the floor below.

A cat and a pigeon look on from the ledge under the windows.

You can dig deeper into the history of Chinatown’s residents at the Chinatown Heritage Centre, which is set in three restored shophouses across three levels on Pagoda Street. Inside you’ll find the original interiors of its 1950s shophouse tenants, with fascinating stories of how the residents lived. It doesn’t look very exciting from the outside, but trust me, it’s well worth a look.

As is this wonderful art trail. Amazingly, Yip Yew Chong has no formal art training; he is an accountant by trade. He painted many of his murals at weekends, while also working as the financial director for a British-based company in Singapore. In 2018 he left his job to focus on his art full-time. I hope he’ll be painting more of his memories of Singapore for me to find next time I’m here.

But for now, it’s a five-minute walk to Maxwell Food Centre, so I know where my next stop is going to be.