Our Documentary Report - The Last Dhobi Shop in SIngapore

The Story Behind ‘Dhoby Ghaut’

Places in Singapore are usually named after significant persons and traditions that existed in the past.

Likewise, Dhoby Ghaut was named after the Indian tradition of washing clothes by the river. In Hindi, ‘Dhoby’ referred to washermen while ‘Ghaut’ referred to the steps along a river. Before Dhoby Ghaut MRT Station was built in 1987, people used to wash their clothes in the Stamford Canal.

In the past, Dhobi shops were commonly found in Singapore. However, such shops started to close down , with only one shop, “P. Suppiah Laundry”, remaining in Singapore.

“ 50 years ago, I opened my first shop at Norris Road. After moving a few places, I finally settled down here,” said Mr. Suppiah. Now, Mr Suppiah’s son , Mr Valakan has taken over the business because his father was getting older and had chest pains.

Demand for traditional laundry among the Indian community was still high .Because of the guaranteed quality of laundry, especially for Sarees and the affordable prices for such quality services .

“We charge $1.50 to iron and $2.50 to wash , dry and iron clothes.” said Mr. Valakan.

As the only dhobi shop left in Singapore, he wished that his business can last as long as possible.

By: Siti Nurulain Juli

In Search of The Last Dhobi Shop in Singapore

On 16th May 2013, Ain, Sin loi and I headed down to St. George’s Road, hoping to find the last dhobi shop in Singapore.

We approached a shopkeeper of a provision shop and asked for directions. Surprisingly, he knew where the shop was because it was getting more popular. The shop has received a lot of media attention ever since people found out that it was the last dhobi shop in Singapore.

Finally, we reached the shop but could not find anyone there although it was opened. Just as we thought that it will be a disappointing trip, the boss appeared.

His name was Mr Valakan and he was 49 years old. We introduced ourselves, told him about our project and asked if he could answer our questions. He was willing, but due to his busy schedule, he asked us to come down on Saturday.

The shop’s employee, Mr Thamdayuthap, assisted us by explaining the process of washing  and the history of the shop. He asked us to come back after 30 minutes because the older boss, Mr Suppiah would be there at the shop.

We interviewed Mr Suppiah, aged 85, who started this business. It was very interesting to listen to him and his experiences.

It was definitely inspiring to see how they were dedicated and passionate towards their business.

By: Meitri Parikh

Dry Cleaning VS. Traditional Laundry

In the past, there was a balance between dry cleaning and traditional laundry shops. As years passed by, traditional laundry shops began to close down and made way for increasing number of dry cleaning shops.

Nowadays, people usually send their clothes to the dry cleaning shop. This is probably because it is conveniently found all over Singapore. On the other hand, there is only one traditional laundry shop in Singapore hence not many people may be aware of its existence.

For traditional laundry shop, the regular customers are mostly Indian, who usually send their traditional clothes such as dhotis ( men’s garments) and sarees (women’s garments). This is because such traditional clothes require skill and technique to iron. In contrast, for dry cleaning ones, customers are of all races and they usually send casual clothes like shirts, sweaters, skirts.

The major difference between dry cleaning and traditional laundry shop is the price. Prices are much lower for traditional ones as compared to the dry cleaning ones. For example, it costs $2.50 to wash, dry and iron a saree in the traditional ones while it costs around $10 to wash it at the dry cleaning ones.

So, will traditional laundry shop cease to exist one day?

By: Guan Sin Loi