Singapore's Last Dhobi Shop at Block 3!

P. Suppiah Laundry (Uncle Hari & his worker)

One of the longest standing shop in St. George’s is P. Suppiah Laundry – a dhobi shop at block 3. The family has been in this business for 45 years, originally from Somerset, passing down from one generation to another. Mr Hari (Uncle Hari) who is 48 year old, has been running the shop since his father was getting old and needed help. Uncle Hari’s father was the pioneer tenant of this shop space which is still currently under rental from HDB. The family stays upstairs of the shop which makes it convenient for Uncle Hari to look after the shop. Uncle Hari has 2 other brothers but they are not interested in the dhobi business. Their father who is now 85 years old, is still very much attached to the shop. Every day, you will see him sit at his shop front, rain or shine, without fail.  

 

A common sight - Uncle Hari's father sitting at the shop front

Being a traditional dhobi shop, they still rely on traditional methods in treating the clothes. Uncle Hari shared with us that the clothes are first machine washed, and then by hand, the clothes go through the blue dye and starch process. Blue dye is believed to make white clothes whiter and coloured clothes brighter. Starch is used for easy ironing and starched garments do not get creased easily, even if worn for a few times. They used special industrial washing detergent to get rid of grease and stubborn stains, especially bulk laundry from the factories. Uncle Hari also received bulk laundry from temples and weekly laundry from some regular customers living in the community. 
 

Uncle Haris suns the laundry in the open

Clothes are ironed and hanged to cool before folding

The shop has attracted lots of media attention as it is the last dhobi shop in Singapore. It has been featured in a Vasunthum drama series, chinese documentary programme and the newspapers. Uncle Hari recalled the past in St. George’s when he used to play football with his brothers and a group of friends at St. Wilfred. The community in the past was more closely knitted. Everybody knows everybody and would say loud hellos waved at each other even from a distance. It is a pity that these are not common sights anymore. The place and people has changed that now everybody knows nobody. Even staying in the same community, some will ‘act blur’ to avoid greetings. Though some of Uncle Haris’s ‘kakis’ have moved out from St. George’s, they still come back very often to catch up. Uncle Hari has 2 children – one in the army and the other studying. When asked if any of them will inherit the business, he laughed and said he will let his children explore their interest first. He will run this shop for as long as he stays fit.  
 

Uncle Hari with his younger son

Our group in conversation with Uncle Hari