HUMANS OF LIANG COURT
Click on the pictures to dig right into their stories!
MASA
Hairstylist at Barber Minami
Masa is the only Japanese hairstylist at Barber Minami. He has been living in Singapore for almost 7 years but only joined the shop 2 years ago. He worked at Shunji Matsuo before and many Japanese customers will ask for him; even when he was working for other salons, he was popular among the customers too.
He said that he never heard of Liang Court prior to finding a job offer online; Barber Minami was specifically looking for a Japanese hairstylist.
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A lot of salons in Singapore are run by younger people. Here, there are older, more experienced stylists which is a first for me. They are very kind people so it feels like I have a family here. They are also very skillful after working here for so many years. Some of our customers have even been coming here since 20 years ago.
Naoko is a shop assistant at the photo studio, Mamarazzi. She is from Osaka and started working there about 1 year ago. As a Japanese, she feels comfortable working in Liang Court because she is surrounded by her culture. It makes it easier for her to understand and interact with her customers. Although not all of them are Japanese, around 50% of them are.
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My most memorable experience here would be how once, there was a customer who came here for a maternity shoot. She came back again after she gave birth with her baby. And again when it was the baby's birthday. It was very lovely and heartwarming.
NAOKO
Shop Assistant at Mamarazzi
Hsiao Hsiao is a Chinese migrant worker who came to Singapore 5 years ago in search of better job prospects. She is currently part of the senior staff team at Pecori Japanese Restaurant.
When asked about her favourite memory in Liang Court, she mentioned how there was once when a Japanese regular asked her manager for their famous milk pudding recipe. The customer was about to leave Singapore and her manager decided to divulge the recipe to him so that he can attempt to re-create it back at home.
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I feel a sense of pride and achievement when I see our customers enjoy our food- It makes me really happy.
HSIAO HSIAO
Senior Staff at Pecori Japanese Restaurant
Cherri is the chief hairstylist at Barber Minami who worked there since 1996. She is very work-centric and has only learnt a few sentences of Japanese in order to ‘fluff’ her customers. She says that the Japanese customers usually understand English so it is not necessary for them to learn Japanese. The barber even has translated catalogs for their customers to browse through the different types of hairstyles.
The term 'mini Japan' was given by the people. Last time, when we opened our doors, 99% of the patrons were Japanese; We rarely saw a local. It was only in the recent 5 or 6 years that we noticed an influx of locals, resulting in a mix of foreigners and locals. Many Japanese returned back to their country due to the high cost of living in Singapore. Many companies have also moved out, diving into other investment opportunities in countries like Penang, Malaysia, Vietnam.
CHERRI
Hairstylist at Barber Minami
Cindy is another hairstylist who has worked at Barber Minami for the past 20-30 years. She enjoys interacting with her customers and learning about their unique stories. Moreover, she has made long lasting friendships with the barber shop's loyal regular customers. These loyal customers are the shop's main source of income and they provide huge support to the hairstylists.
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Now all Liang Court has is edible products – bread, cake, etc. – all these are useless. Who would want to patron these shops? Last time, Liang Court used to have everything, now we have nothing. We have a Japanese mart and Japanese restaurants, but these are everywhere; they are not unique to Liang Court anymore.
