Serangoon Garden Village

A January 2011 update with all my posts about My Village:

Another new mall in a old neighbourhood estate. Serangoon Garden or Gardens (am not sure which is right although to me Gardens sounds better) used to be called ‘Ang Sali’ according to a colleague. which translates to red roofs. This has been a residential estate since colonial times and you guessed it, the old houses all have red roofs. Anyway the newspaper reported that there’s a new mall here which has made nearby residents upset with it’s glass panelling. They complain that the sunlight reflecting off the new soon to be opened mall is making their homes very hot. They were also not happy about the lack of privacy as shoppers would be able to look right into their homes. As a result the developers (interestingly 47 year old twins called Edward and Edmund Chye whose father owned the iconic Paramount Theatre that stood at this very lot) of the mall have placed a black film onto the glass panels of the mall making it look kinda dreary, but I guess still ok. The opening has been pushed back to early next year I think.

photo by bookjunkie

What the place looked like in 1965. Very surreal. All the streets in Serangoon Gardens have English names (British Empire) and you can find the equivalent streets in England.

I am glad I did not live then. Wouldn’t have wanted to live under the rule of imperialists (both the British and Japanese occupation). Life would have been scary, and a lot tougher too, from the stories I hear about rationing, discrimination and such during the war. During the Japanese Occupation a teacher of ours recounted to us how she saw her neighbour beheaded and his head was then stuck on a pole. It was too horrific and just beyond our imagination to even conceive of. Our generation is very much removed from the idea of war. And I think the millenium generation even more so, with their heads buried in their video games. (I am starting to sound so old and naggy, but that’s cool with me. It’s the best thing about aging!! Being entitled to be a bit naggy)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdXDxo5uvNs]

Anyway the place is so tiny and it can only hold a few shops. I am guessing that these are the shops, based on notices, that will occupy the tiny new mall:

NTUC Finest
Bakerzin
Shin Kushiya
Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf
Udders
Home Fix