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Town leaves ‘rustic’ label in the dust, leaving some anxious

SINGAPORE — For a long time, Potong Pasir’s name was practically a byword in Singapore for words such as “quaint” and “rustic”.

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SINGAPORE — For a long time, Potong Pasir’s name was practically a byword in Singapore for words such as “quaint” and “rustic”.

But in the past four years, those qualities have changed considerably. An NTUC FairPrice supermarket and a Singapore Post outlet have rolled into the neighbourhood, bringing convenience to residents who once had to buy groceries from provision shops and use postal services provided by a bookstore that doubled up as a post office.

For the first time, residents also have a POSB branch and even a gym in the heart of the town.

Covered walkways have gone up and nearly all Housing and Development Board blocks have lifts that stop on every floor. A mixed-use development comprising a condominium and mall located behind the MRT station is currently under construction.

Potong Pasir’s residents have long gone by without such amenities, which are deemed standard fare in other housing estates. But although they are not complaining about the added convenience provided by the upgrades in infrastructure, the extensive makeover has presented some downsides.

Drilling and clanking noises from ongoing construction work have become part of everyday life; so too the dust coating the floor tiles in homes. Small businesses are feeling the heat as their earnings take a hit, with demand falling as more people shop at the newly opened supermarket. Already, at least one provision shop has had to fold.

The changes to the neighbourhood came about after a watershed General Election (GE) in 2011, in which the People’s Action Party’s (PAP) Sitoh Yih Pin won the single-seat ward on his third attempt, by a razor-thin margin of 114 votes over the Singapore People’s Party’s (SPP) Lina Chiam.

The seat had been held for 27 years by Mrs Chiam’s husband, Mr Chiam See Tong, after he defeated the PAP’s Mr Mah Bow Tan in 1984.

But in 2011, Mr Chiam ventured out of Potong Pasir to lead an SPP team to contest in the Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC and failed to dislodge the PAP team led by Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen.

In next week’s poll, Potong Pasir, which is the smallest of 13 single-seat wards, with 17,389 registered voters, will see a straight fight between Mr Sitoh and Mrs Chiam, 66. The constituency’s boundaries have remain unchanged.

During his tenure, Mr Chiam, who is now 80, ran a tight ship with the town council’s funds, in order to carry out upgrading work in the estate, which included major rewiring work, building interaction parks and linkways, as well as repainting and reroofing public housing blocks.

He ran a tight ship because, apart from a barrier-free access project in 2011, Mr Chiam did not receive funds from the Community Improvement Projects Committee, which can be tapped by all PAP-managed town councils. That was why new amenities would come with plaques or signboards, stating the date of completion, and also to signify their pride at what they managed to do for residents despite having limited resources.

Today, few of these quirks remain, after an extensive upgrading project spearheaded by Mr Sitoh.

When TODAY visited the neighbourhood last month, an old signboard for the Potong Pasir Neighbourhood Park beside Block 136 was still standing. But the park, which had been demolished, was in the midst of being rebuilt.

During a press conference last month, Mr Sitoh presented an evaluation of his performance as the Potong Pasir’s Member of Parliament (MP). Since the 2011 GE, he has completed more than 120 projects and programmes for its residents, he said.

While covered walkways have been built, car parks on Potong Pasir Avenues 1, 2 and 3 have been refurbished under the Neighbourhood Renewal Programme. Forty-eight housing blocks have been retrofitted with lifts that stop at every floor, a project under the Lift Upgrading Programme that had cost the town council a whopping S$8.7 million.

About 900 flats on Lorong 8, Toa Payoh were identified to benefit from the Home Improvement Programme and the Enhancement for Active Seniors scheme.

More high-rise condominiums line the horizon and new amenities have brought much convenience to residents. The S$7 million Potong Pasir waterfront lining a 400m stretch along Kallang River was opened two months ago.

Mr Sitoh’s manifesto for the next five years lists another 22 projects, including lift upgrading for a final eight blocks in Potong Pasir.

Residents whom TODAY spoke to said life in the neighbourhood has become easier since the infrastructural improvements.

Before the supermarket opened last year, residents could buy groceries only from the wet market or provision shops around the neighbourhood. If they wanted more options, they would have to traipse to the nearby Nex mall in Serangoon or to Toa Payoh.

“In the past, if I wanted to buy meat, I would have to go to the wet market very early in the morning,” said Madam Lim Lian See, a 64-year-old retiree. “Now that there’s an NTUC FairPrice supermarket, I can go anytime I want.”

But businesses in the neighbourhood such as Xin F&K Medical Hall, which doubles up as a provision shop, said they have seen their earnings fall after the supermarket opened.

“We’ve been affected. The supermarket offers promotions for pioneers. We can’t do that because our profit margin is already very low,” said Mr Hoe, a 50-year-old shop assistant. He estimated that the store’s takings have dropped by about 3 to 4 per cent over the past year.

Residents’ other bugbears include the inconvenience brought about by the ongoing construction.

Full-time national serviceman Leroy Lee, 21, felt that the new sheltered walkways were a perk, but noted that many paths were also blocked because of the ongoing upgrading works.

Retiree Lilian Tan, also lamented about the hassles that have come with the construction work: “It’s a construction junkyard, with all the drilling and building. It’s so inconvenient and dusty now.”

The Block 122 resident added that even though the car park in her estate had been rebuilt because of concrete spalls, the number of lots in it remains limited.

“Every time we come back, we have to circle round and round to find a parking lot. A multistorey carpark would have been better,” said Mdm Tan, 67.

Food choices are also limited compared with those offered in coffee shops and fast food joints, pointed out housewife Liew Yoke Mui, 55. She hopes to see more dining outlets opening in the neighbourhood.

Despite the physical changes, residents said the “kampung spirit” remains strong in Potong Pasir. Beautician Sun Jing Xuan, 36, felt that the small estate stands out from other towns because it is “more intimate”.

“When I go to the coffee shop, all the neighbours will say ‘hi’. It’s heartwarming,” she said.

Her husband Charles Lim, 48, gave another example of the strong neighbourly ties: Knowing that his father-in-law does odd jobs, neighbours would often ask him to collect their newspapers or paint their walls, and pay him when the job was completed.

Reflecting on the SPP’s loss of Potong Pasir in the previous GE, Mr Lim, who is a tour guide, mused that the town’s changing demographic might have been a contributory factor.

“There are many new residents here now, and they’re unlike the older generation who supported Mr Chiam for so long,” he said.

School bus attendant Mary Yee, 57, felt that Mrs Chiam lacked the prominence of her husband, and said residents might be less familiar with her.

Four years after stepping down as MP, Mr Chiam’s name remains synonymous with Potong Pasir.

“Whenever I take taxis home, my driver tends to associate my home with Mr Chiam,” said engineer Low Jun Wei, 29. “I feel quite proud of that.”

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