Magical Spaces

I do agree that the ‘magical spaces’ in Singapore have gradually dminishing. In the wake of the en bloc fever and urban development, our memories and identity have collectively gone down with the wreck ball on iconic buildings and the destruction of our homes. It is indeed aptly put in a poignant statement by Cherian George that we will not grow old in the place where we grew in. My issue against the prevailing notion of en bloc and destruction of old structures might be a personal one, but it invariably has occured to me our society has increasingly inethical, depriving old folks of their homes and coercing people to efface their own homes, for the sake of making money. Besides, en bloc does not bear the promise of better housing prospects because many found that their pay outs from the sales neither befit the size or type of the new homes. Hence, what is the good en bloc and demolition of old architecture?

A couple of months ago i got kicked out of Kim Lin Mansion and I’m really gutted. I lived on the top floor (yes five flights of stairs to negotiate every day, god forbid we have to use our legs these days!) 49E, block G. It was bloody cheap for the location, Grange Rd and was an apartment of considerable size, a rare find in Singapore today. The new breed of condo carefully gift wraps the boxed in feeling, making sparking, shiny new small seem more appealing than good old fashioned ‘space’.

My bedroom alone could have fitted in x2 of the modern master rooms you get bedazzled with, it was bright with high ceilings and i felt like i could breath which is more than you can do in so many of the same, same but NOT different condos.

My old home had feeling, a history; it made me feel like I was part of something that had gone on before my time. It had beautiful mosaic flooring in the stairwell surrounded by patterned 1970’s tiles, fantastic, warm and colorful. I particularly enjoyed the rising and falling sun forming patterns though the tiles, playful sunbeams making delicate and intricate shadows on the landing floors.

I’m miffed, and saddened not just about being booted out of my home which i loved very much but about the ever readiness Singapore has to bash down anything that has dollar signs painted over it. The debate on heritage and the lack of it is a real one that Singaporeans should take more seriously.

Coming from England a country steeped in historical narrative, and being brought up in a 500 year old cottage, i myself am a true advocate of keeping rather than chucking and I have a real appreciation of past craftsmanship in all its oddities. If the government is so short sighted that they only categorize shop houses as heritage then Singapore has little to look forward to, this city state will move with the times yes but at what cost? Culture is derived from heritage without heritage there are no roots, with no roots we have nothing to hold onto aka a soulless nation.

What a shame that people find it hard to contemplate that there is important architecture to be conserved from every decade, not just pre 1950’s.

This country needs to learn to conserve and I mean at all levels, from my experience Singapore is one of the most un-eco friendly developed nations that I have come across. With the current world environmental crisis on our hands, a lot is being done to add to but not remedy the situation here! Oh sorry I take that back, someone is trying, I got asked to supply my own carrier bag in Fairprice supermarket the other day as part of their new environmental initiative to cut down on polluting carrier bags – hallelujah! This means someone apart from me has noted that you don’t need two carrier bags for every 3 items you buy from the shop!

In the 4 years I have lived here I have also played witness to the ever disappearing green spaces in and around central Singapore. The urban landscape is fast transforming into a grey concrete jungle, ironically replacing the real jungle that once inhabited this island. Gone is the small but oh so needed greenery of Orchard rd next to Arcadia, in its place yet another mega shopping mall looms destroying what little parkland we have here. This is just one of the numerous areas up for development, at every turn I am faced with billboards selling the green land that currently gives much needed balance to our cityscape.

Make sure you keep your eyes wide open and be careful not to blink because you might miss what little is left, so much of the past will fall and be gobbled up by the money making developers catering for the hungry consumers who are also unfortunately YOU.

The only way to try and stop all of this is to make a noise, get onto your local council and petition against the current trend of forgetting the past whilst being to eager to move forward without really thinking about the consequences of a heritageless nation in the future.

Do this now before it’s too late, do it before all the Kim Lin Mansions have been made en bloc, do it before this country becomes a homogenous, bland spectacle of what your government deems as progress.

Fortunately for me I still get to live in the past in a very well preserved apartment in Tiong Bahru. Lucky me, but for how long?

I’m from London and last year I wrote a chapter in a book about Shakespeare which was all about magical spaces (the book is called “The Bard & Co”). Since then I’ve been refining my interest in this area and delivering a few workshops to interested parties.

I’m interested in how we can create magical spaces out of those everyday places - waiting rooms, bus stops, classrooms, public parks, meeting rooms, libraries, canteens, railway stations etc. This isn’t about re-creating a magical space from our past or necessarily creating brand new spaces. This is about stewarship and intention.

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