Another one bites the dust

In my honest opinion, we are losing our Singaporean heritage and identity bit by bit as our country morphs into a thriving metropolis in an attempt to keep up with the rest of the modern world. Modernisation is just not a good enough excuse in my books to remove old architecture only to make way for more contemporary ones.

So far, we have lost the National Theatre, Van Kleef Aquarium, the blocks of flats at Outram Park, Taman Serasi hawker centre (previously opposite the Botanical Gardens), Satay Club and most recently the old National Library to make way for that silly (and absolutely redundant) tunnel along Stamford Road!

Another location that looks set to join these pieces in the history books will be the tiny hawker centre at Labrador Park. Tucked away in a corner of Pasir Panjang just as you make a right turn from Alexandra Road is a small, unassuming hawker centre that is known only to people frequenting that area. Looking like something that was left behind from the 1960s, this edifice greets you as you turn into Labrador Villa Road while you make your way to Labrador Park.

Famous for its nasi padang as well as other Indian and Malay fare, this place is popular during lunch with the office crowd working in the area. However, come end August, this hawker will cease operation as the National Environment Agency has decided to shut it down. Most of the hawkers we spoke to have no intention of carrying on their business, citing old age and higher rental at relocation premises being the main reasons.

I recall those days when I was still living in Telok Blangah, my friends and I would stop here for a bandung on the way into Labrador Park to ‘catch spider’, climb trees and try to make sense of the random concrete structures we came across (little did we know then that these were actually WWII monuments). Labrador Park has sicne then been revamped into a new swanky seaside chill out place, complete with BBQ pits, playgrounds and even restaurants and a spa at the top of the hill. If my memory serves me correctly, they probably reclaimed some land as well when restoring the surroundings.

Anyway, there we were having a little meal of nasi padang, nasi bryani and mee goreng before finishing it off with some goreng pisang. There’s nothing like a dirty, old and smelly hawker centre to add some flavour to your otherwise unexciting meal!

Kids will soon have to grow up in Singapore with only shopping malls, mobile phones and the internet. They will soon not know how it feels to graze their knees while climbing trees to pluck rambutans, or their hearts pulpating with excitement as they rummage through undergrowth for spiders to catch.

Major bummer.