When I first visited, this was the depressing sight that greeted me. I thought they were going to demolish the block of flats and along with it, the dragon.
Turns out I was wrong.
When I recently visited, an old auntie who lives in one of the flats asked me for help. She couldn't open her padlock. Her key was faulty and in the end, I had to walk her round the block to her back door.
She told me that the block had been turned into rental flats for low-income families, and she is paying around $400 per month for her apartment.
I had a peek into some of the flats. The living room and kitchen are small, the bedrooms tiny.
Toa Payoh is prime estate, and this block stands at the exit of the expressway, It is very near the MRT station, bus interchange and town centre. I wondered why they decided not to demolish. Renting out can't be as lucrative as rebuilding and don't tell me it's altruistic, I don't believe it.
They don't do altruistic on prime land.
My conclusion was the suspicion that it's for fengshui reasons. I imagine this block to be like a fortress. Its looming size is the first thing you see when you come off the highway to enter Toa Payoh. And the dragon is like the guard to the town.
Maybe it's just my imagination. For whatever reason, I'm just glad the playground survived. They seem to have cleaned it up, even the sand looks white and new. Hopefully, the dragon is here to stay.
Turns out I was wrong.
When I recently visited, an old auntie who lives in one of the flats asked me for help. She couldn't open her padlock. Her key was faulty and in the end, I had to walk her round the block to her back door.
She told me that the block had been turned into rental flats for low-income families, and she is paying around $400 per month for her apartment.
I had a peek into some of the flats. The living room and kitchen are small, the bedrooms tiny.
Toa Payoh is prime estate, and this block stands at the exit of the expressway, It is very near the MRT station, bus interchange and town centre. I wondered why they decided not to demolish. Renting out can't be as lucrative as rebuilding and don't tell me it's altruistic, I don't believe it.
They don't do altruistic on prime land.
My conclusion was the suspicion that it's for fengshui reasons. I imagine this block to be like a fortress. Its looming size is the first thing you see when you come off the highway to enter Toa Payoh. And the dragon is like the guard to the town.
Maybe it's just my imagination. For whatever reason, I'm just glad the playground survived. They seem to have cleaned it up, even the sand looks white and new. Hopefully, the dragon is here to stay.
6 comments:
i suppose they are trying to build new rental housing in more ulu places.. but as of now,hdb has also built a few blocks of old pple studio apartments opp redhill mrt. tat area is mostly rental 1/2 room flats even though 4 rms there easily fetch 500k. (i think bm is the only place with a resale mkt for 1 rm flats..)
tpy (which is on ave 30k cheaper than bm for 4/5 rms) has many of these small rental apts as well. the blocks opp the new dbss dev... think the peak (up to 700+k for 5rm).. is all 1/2 rm. i noe cos my aunt lives there.
i think that 1)these are very old estates, too many old pple, hard to chase everyone out at one go. 2) even if they do manage to do 1) and build many 4/5/exec, the mkt for these flats isn't really THAT big. mainly cos they are too expensive, and at that price you can get a cheap condo. some expensive areas like bm, central, marine parade dun even have a resale mkt for exec in fact. so if they insist on building more they'll end up with surplus which'll drive the house prices there down or just be left empty..
wah.. sibei long this comment..
Very evocative shots.
i really like this set of photos... - turtle in blue, back and white
Your train of thought makes a lot of sense, i've heard many stories about fengshui dictating how a building is constructed here.
I like to think the dragon is really keeping the neighbourhood safe.
I love old playgrounds! Looking forward to seeing more shots of them!
I love old playgrounds. Just something about it.. bring back fond memories. Nice shots!
Man you have serious feet feetish! Hahahaha
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