Shaw Tower, at 35 storeys, was completed in 1976 along Beach Road.
In 2018, the management of the skyscraper gave notice to tenants to move out in two years for redevelopment. Demolishment started early this year and it is almost complete.
Another urban landmark in Singapore will go into the night.
Shaw Tower in 2005.
Shaw Tower as of August 2021.
“If we’re interested in building a strong society with tight-knit communities, we should be paying special attention to the way we preserve and rebuild communities if we have to move them.”
A CNA Insider article on the impact of relocation on Dakota Crescent’s senior citizens.
A sober reminder that when urban resettlement takes place, it is lives - not digits on a spreadsheet - that are irrevocably affected.
And the little things do matter - like the negative effect of not having the original community centre move with the elderly to the new site, or not catering a large enough void deck for gatherings and funerals, or failing to take into account how a simple 10-minute walk to key amenities can be a monumental challenge for an 80-year-old with weak legs.
As Singapore ages in both infrastructure and population, more old estates will undergo redevelopment and resettlement, and more senior citizens will have to uproot and move. Hopefully, the authorities will learn from the mistakes made at 52 Cassia Crescent.
I’ve always been fascinated by this nondescript building next to Aljunied MRT Station on the East West Line.
Ending just a couple of metres from the MRT station, the row of shophouses lining Lorong 25A Geylang is perhaps the closest building next to an aboveground MRT station in Singapore. At platform level, the third floor of the building looks close enough to jump from the tracks.
Before the East West Line was laid down in the 1980s, Lorong 25 and Lorong 25A Geylang were connected to each other. Below is a 1984 street directory map of the area, with the connection between the two roads in the red box.
The same area in 2021 is indicated by a red box below.
The link between Lorong 25 and Lorong 25A has been expunged, together with the buildings that used to lie along the road. It is possible that Lorong 25A itself was spared, hence the closeness of its row of shophouses to Aljunied MRT Station today.
Newer MRT lines such as the North East, Circle, Downtown, and Thomson-East Coast lines are entirely underground. However, the upcoming Jurong Region Line, with 24 stations due to open from 2027, will be aboveground. Let’s see if there is a building closer to any of these stations.