Tong Mern Sern Antiques

Top choice in Chinatown & the CBD


An Aladdin’s cave of dusty furniture, books, records, woodcarvings, porcelain and other bits and bobs (we even found an old cash register), Tong Mern Sern is a curious hunting ground for Singapore nostalgia. A banner hung above the front door proclaims: ‘We buy junk and sell antiques. Some fools buy. Some fools sell'. Better have your wits about you.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Chinatown & the CBD attractions

1. Pinnacle@Duxton

0.1 MILES

For killer city views at a bargain S$6, head to the 50th-floor rooftop of Pinnacle@Duxton, the world’s largest public housing complex. Skybridges…

2. Singapore City Gallery

0.23 MILES

See into Singapore's future at this interactive city-planning exhibition, which provides compelling insight into the government's resolute policies of…

3. Seng Wong Beo Temple

0.24 MILES

Tucked behind red gates next to the Tanjong Pagar MRT station, this temple, seldom visited by tourists, is dedicated to the Chinese City God, who is not…

4. Buddha Tooth Relic Temple

0.27 MILES

Consecrated in 2008, this hulking, five-storey Buddhist temple is home to what is reputedly a tooth of the Buddha, discovered in a collapsed stupa …

5. Siang Cho Keong Temple

0.33 MILES

Small, Taoist Siang Cho Keong Temple was built by the Hokkien community in 1867–69. Left of the temple entrance you’ll see a small ‘dragon well’: drop a…

6. Baba House

0.35 MILES

Baba House is one of Singapore's best-preserved Peranakan heritage homes. Built in the 1890s, this beautiful blue three-storey building was donated to the…

7. Sri Mariamman Temple

0.37 MILES

Paradoxically in the middle of Chinatown, this is the oldest Hindu temple in Singapore, originally built in 1823, then rebuilt in 1843. You can't miss the…

8. Al-Abrar Mosque

0.39 MILES

Incorporated in a row of shophouses, Al-Abrar Mosque is one of the oldest mosques in Singapore. At prayer times worshippers often spill out onto the…