Goodbye, Rochor Centre
Progress is a relentless mantra in Singapore.
Earlier this month, I visited Rochor Centre, another soon-to-be casualty of Progress. Rochor Centre is one of the 3 iconic HDB estates that will be giving way to the new North-South Expressway and the Ophir-Rochor development programme. (The other 2 are Dakota Crescent and Blocks 1-4 East Coast Road in Siglap.)
Many microcosms of our history have been demolished to make way for our modern city-state. When I was a child, people of my grandparents' and parents' generation would indulge in nostalgia and reminisce about things, foods, places they'd grown up with that were disappearing or had disappeared. As a child and later an adolescent, I didn't quite understand it. But as an adult, I find myself doing the same.
At first, it was those plastic mugs, small milk cartons, KinosDing Dang Doraemon, neon-coloured ice pops, Hiro chocolate cake, hopscotch, five stones, chapteh, sand playgrounds, public coin phones, cassette tapes and Walkman, bulky TV sets, video tapes and video players. Then A&W, Emporium, Yaohan, Daimaru, SBC television and TIBS buses. And then mama shops that sold everything and old uncles wheeling street-carts selling ice cream sandwiched between wafers or bread. My favourite was the raspberry ripple which I would scuff down on the way home from school.
Last year, I bid farewell to Funan. (Thank heavens DollzInc will still be around, just in a different location.) This year, it's farewell to Rochor Centre, another tangible piece of Singapore's short but colourful history.
One of the hot-button topics in present-day Singapore is the difficult question of national identity. I think Rochor Centre is a microcosm of that which makes up our national identity.
Those colourful facades hint of Singapore's progress and past. Rochor Centre is one of Singapore's oldest public housing estates. It originally housed 567 households and 183 shops - many of its initial residents had been relocated from the Kampong Bugis area, and it later housed tenants relocated from Blanco Court.
Back then, those areas had been compulsorily acquired, and the residents relocated. In a way, it is ironic that the same fate has now befallen Rochor Centre and its residents. (I have some criticism regarding the compulsory acquisition of property in Singapore, especially the valuation of the to-be-acquired property and compensation, both legal and non-legal aspects. But that is a debate for another time and place.)
Rochor Centre was completed in 1977 as part of the HDB's urban renewal plan. ("Urban renewal" is really an euphemism for gentrification.) It was designed in a podium-and-tower style, like other public housing estates built during the same period. Rochor Centre was originally white-washed and came to acquire its technicolour coat when it was upgraded in 1994.
Before and at the time Rochor Centre was built (before I was born), the surrounding area had a colourful reputation. The Rochor Canal was once a transportation waterway that gave rise to cattle trade in Little India, and kampongs used to line the Canal. There used to be roadside food stalls, bazaars and transvestite cabarets along the original Bugis Street, and the notorious Johore Road.
Further, from what residents and former residents have said, it sounded like the kampong spirit was alive within the colourful facades of Rochor Centre.
The 4th storey void deck was a communal space where the residents gathered for barbecues, games and other recreational gatherings.
Most of the households were relocated to Kallang Trivista, and it seems the residents are pleased (and intent) on keeping the communal spirit alive.
The courtyard at Rochor Centre's ground floor was also a communal space for the estate's residents and shop tenants.
To be honest, it was difficult to see all that now, with the place deserted, save for a few loitering folks, and homeless people. There was a time when the central courtyard, the 3 floors of shops, and the 4th storey void deck was alive and bustling with people.
Today, it was like a ghost town. And it's frightening how cold and derelict a place becomes when almost all its residents have moved out.
Of course, I also went to look for the SG50 Community Quilts which had been put up to commemorate Singapore's 50th National Day. The series of 8 panels of superimposed photographs by Ivan Tan, Juliana Tan and Samuel He are, sadly, no longer in tip-top condition. Some were torn at the corners and had some form of graffiti on them.
For the school classroom mural, the corners were torn and someone had spray-painted over the eyes of most of the students in the mural.
Still, the scenes depicted evoked a sense of nostalgia in me, reminding me of my secondary school days. And I couldn't help but laugh at the hand gestures of some of the students. Very much like the kind of things we used to do as adolescents.
Across from the classroom mural was the community swimming pool, also mostly in good condition, save for the torn corner. No graffiti however!
Finally, I also dropped by the MRT lift, where the lift area was made to look like an MRT station. Not in the best condition. I have to confess - there was actually spray-painted graffiti on the doors but I removed them with PhotoShop. Well, I just hated how they spoiled the whole look.
I took a ride down from the 4th storey on the MRT lift, and made my way across the road to Sim Lim Centre. The carpark offers a great view of Rochor Centre.
Also, an awesome video showing a bird's eye view of the place has been made and shared on Facebook.
Earlier this month, I visited Rochor Centre, another soon-to-be casualty of Progress. Rochor Centre is one of the 3 iconic HDB estates that will be giving way to the new North-South Expressway and the Ophir-Rochor development programme. (The other 2 are Dakota Crescent and Blocks 1-4 East Coast Road in Siglap.)
 |
| Akihiko Zack at Rochor Centre, Singapore |
Many microcosms of our history have been demolished to make way for our modern city-state. When I was a child, people of my grandparents' and parents' generation would indulge in nostalgia and reminisce about things, foods, places they'd grown up with that were disappearing or had disappeared. As a child and later an adolescent, I didn't quite understand it. But as an adult, I find myself doing the same.
At first, it was those plastic mugs, small milk cartons, Kinos
Last year, I bid farewell to Funan. (Thank heavens DollzInc will still be around, just in a different location.) This year, it's farewell to Rochor Centre, another tangible piece of Singapore's short but colourful history.
 |
| The void deck at Rochor Centre |
One of the hot-button topics in present-day Singapore is the difficult question of national identity. I think Rochor Centre is a microcosm of that which makes up our national identity.
Those colourful facades hint of Singapore's progress and past. Rochor Centre is one of Singapore's oldest public housing estates. It originally housed 567 households and 183 shops - many of its initial residents had been relocated from the Kampong Bugis area, and it later housed tenants relocated from Blanco Court.
Back then, those areas had been compulsorily acquired, and the residents relocated. In a way, it is ironic that the same fate has now befallen Rochor Centre and its residents. (I have some criticism regarding the compulsory acquisition of property in Singapore, especially the valuation of the to-be-acquired property and compensation, both legal and non-legal aspects. But that is a debate for another time and place.)
 |
| The surrounding Bugis area |
Rochor Centre was completed in 1977 as part of the HDB's urban renewal plan. ("Urban renewal" is really an euphemism for gentrification.) It was designed in a podium-and-tower style, like other public housing estates built during the same period. Rochor Centre was originally white-washed and came to acquire its technicolour coat when it was upgraded in 1994.
Before and at the time Rochor Centre was built (before I was born), the surrounding area had a colourful reputation. The Rochor Canal was once a transportation waterway that gave rise to cattle trade in Little India, and kampongs used to line the Canal. There used to be roadside food stalls, bazaars and transvestite cabarets along the original Bugis Street, and the notorious Johore Road.
 |
| The void deck at Rochor Centre |
Further, from what residents and former residents have said, it sounded like the kampong spirit was alive within the colourful facades of Rochor Centre.
The 4th storey void deck was a communal space where the residents gathered for barbecues, games and other recreational gatherings.
Most of the households were relocated to Kallang Trivista, and it seems the residents are pleased (and intent) on keeping the communal spirit alive.
 |
| The central courtyard at Rochor Centre |
The courtyard at Rochor Centre's ground floor was also a communal space for the estate's residents and shop tenants.
To be honest, it was difficult to see all that now, with the place deserted, save for a few loitering folks, and homeless people. There was a time when the central courtyard, the 3 floors of shops, and the 4th storey void deck was alive and bustling with people.
Today, it was like a ghost town. And it's frightening how cold and derelict a place becomes when almost all its residents have moved out.
 |
| SG50 Community Quilts |
Of course, I also went to look for the SG50 Community Quilts which had been put up to commemorate Singapore's 50th National Day. The series of 8 panels of superimposed photographs by Ivan Tan, Juliana Tan and Samuel He are, sadly, no longer in tip-top condition. Some were torn at the corners and had some form of graffiti on them.
 |
| SG50 Community Quilts - the school classroom scene |
For the school classroom mural, the corners were torn and someone had spray-painted over the eyes of most of the students in the mural.
Still, the scenes depicted evoked a sense of nostalgia in me, reminding me of my secondary school days. And I couldn't help but laugh at the hand gestures of some of the students. Very much like the kind of things we used to do as adolescents.
 |
| SG50 Community Quilts Murals |
Across from the classroom mural was the community swimming pool, also mostly in good condition, save for the torn corner. No graffiti however!
 |
| SG50 Community Quilts - the MRT lift |
Finally, I also dropped by the MRT lift, where the lift area was made to look like an MRT station. Not in the best condition. I have to confess - there was actually spray-painted graffiti on the doors but I removed them with PhotoShop. Well, I just hated how they spoiled the whole look.
 |
| Rochor Centre at dusk |
I took a ride down from the 4th storey on the MRT lift, and made my way across the road to Sim Lim Centre. The carpark offers a great view of Rochor Centre.
Also, an awesome video showing a bird's eye view of the place has been made and shared on Facebook.
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