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School mergers another blow to our heritage

Two paragraphs in Dr Leong Chan-Hoong’s commentary “School mergers: More questions than answers” (April 25) struck me as a reminder that reminiscence may soon become a lost word in Singapore.

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Rick Lim Say Kiong

Two paragraphs in Dr Leong Chan-Hoong’s commentary “School mergers: More questions than answers” (April 25) struck me as a reminder that reminiscence may soon become a lost word in Singapore.

In commenting on the demise of schools owing to their impending merger, he wrote: “Singaporean students are taught in school that remembering our past is important, but they are just about to lose a slice of theirs.”

He added: “While we must accept that change as inevitable, it is still traumatic for Singaporeans to be conscious of the loss of our distinct heritage to the ebbs and flows of globalisation and immigration.”

Looking around Singapore, however, I feel more than just the loss of schools and junior colleges. Familiar artefacts that Singaporeans had grown up with over the decades have disappeared or been replaced.

As one who works overseas and visits Singapore every other year, I notice that the “inevitable” changes because of the nation’s progress have exacted a toll on our sense of belonging and identity.

The ties many of us have to our childhood places — schools, homes, places of interest, et cetera — are being cut by these changes.

Some may argue that the memories remain, but when these memories fade with time, and places appear and disappear fast, there is not much to reminisce about eventually.

We may have Gardens by the Bay and the Esplanade for now, but might they not suffer the same fate as the Van Kleef Aquarium, Underwater World and Tang Dynasty City?

Each time I visit Singapore, something disappears. My grandparents’ residence, where I spent much of my childhood, is gone. My secondary school’s original premises have been torn down.

The shopping centre I used to visit often has been replaced with a staid new one.

Singapore must constantly change and progress in order to survive in this world. We comprehend that, but we must also remember that it comes at a cost: The loss of our reminiscences.

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