An Unfinished Portrait - Bras Basah Complex
Documentary
Three pioneer tenants of Bras Basah Complex fight to keep the legacy of the complex and their family businesses going.
Bras Basah Complex – Singapore’s unofficial Book City. While the buildings and streets in the vicinity have evolved into a modern and bustling commercial district, Bras Basah Complex continues to hold on to its identity as a bastion of book culture. In more recent times however, demand for books is waning and the veneer of Book City, fading. Many of the complex’s tenants have called it quits.
Three family-run businesses - a Chinese art supplies business, a design bookstore and a Chinese bookstore – are still hanging on. As the pioneer tenants of Bras Basah Complex, their love for the building runs deep. As heirs to their family’s legacy, a sense of duty weighs heavy. In this documentary, three families take us on a trip down memory lane to Bras Basah Complex’s glory days and show us what it takes to keep a business going.