The National Library, for instance, has this "Singapore pages/Infopedia" weblink:
http://infopedia.nl.sg/googlecse.aspx?q=vanishing+trades&start=0&cx=006597985428264677513%3Akwtbk1ppw38&cof=FORID%3A11
There are short write-ups on:
* Letter/petition writers
* Trishaw riders
* Wooden-clog ["char kiak"] makers
* Parrot astrologers [like vanishing traders, this one is a strange phrase; the human astrologer uses a parrot to... oh, go read it up!]
* Five-foot-way traders [no, these are not two-and-a-half people! Find out how the term "five-foot-way" came about, and why the Hokkiens call it "gor kar kee"]
* Traditional cobblers
* Travelling hawkers [I've listed some yesterday... there's also the satay man. Note: it is so ironic for the National Library to use the label "travelling hawkers"!]
* Tinsmiths
* The karang guni man [maybe I should add in here the swill collector. Yes, this person, who usually breeds chickens for their eggs, will come around to collect your leftover food to feed his chickens. Just before Chinese New Year, he will present you with some eggs, as a gesture of thanks.]
* Barrel makers
* Indian jewellers
* Rickshaw pullers
* Joss carvers
* Dhobi shops
* Sulam (embroidery) seamstresses
* Snake charmers
* Roadside [as well as hole-in-the-wall] barbers
* Tukang urut
* Shoelast makers
* Idol carvers
* Chinese coolies [I should add the samsui women and the Indian roadwork labourers famous for their "singing-while-you-work"]
* Tattoo artists
* Knife sharpeners
* Kite makers
* Night jagas [remember the famous bank ad... "Big, strong, friendly"!]
* Chinese seal carvers
* Dialect storytellers [such as Lee Dai Sor]
* Traditional furniture makers [remember the "boo kia ee"?]
Here are two pics of a "boo kia ee", the first in the "boo" (mother) mode, and the second in the "kia" (baby) mode:
I still have my boo kia ee at home! It was used by my own kids when they were younger. My parents also have a whalebone bowl they used to feed me when I was a young whipper-snapper. What great memories!
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