Friday, June 02, 2006

[RealEdge] TodayOnline Forum : Spare Seletar's soul the bulldozer


  This story was printed from TODAYonline
 
 
  Spare Seletar's soul the bulldozer

Once gone, the olde worlde charm of the air base can never be replaced

Friday • June 2, 2006

Letter from Jayandran Sandra Alison

I think it is time for Singaporeans to sit up and do something before one of the last remaining pieces of pre-World War II history is flattened by the bulldozers. The place I'm referring to is Seletar air base.

Having grown up in Seletar Hills, I had many friends living in the base and had many opportunities to spend time in this very interesting place, which for a kid was heaven on earth.

The unique thing was that the houses do not have fences, which meant neighbours could visit each other freely, dogs and cats included.

There was a spirit of togetherness. Later on, this military camp was de-militarised and the residential area was spruced up — not too much, just enough to retain its beauty and charm — and houses were rented out to people who could appreciate the historical buildings, the majority of them being the "arty" set and expatriates.

Even now, a drive through long and winding roads with quaint names such as Regent Street and Lambeth Walk will yield bucolic scenery, lovely old black-and-white bungalows and sprawling greenery.

The lush beauty of this place will be forever lost once the Jurong Town Corporation builds its mega aerospace facility.

When I first read about it, I had naively thought that only the existing Seletar Airport and its immediate surroundings were affected and that they would leave the residential area alone.

But after reading the article, "It's time to break camp" (May 31), I realised to my horror that they only plan to retain some of the houses and old buildings.

How can I put this strongly enough? There is a beautiful, unique and wonderful enclave that exists in this ulu (remote) part of Singapore.

It may not seem "world class" to many Singaporeans as it is "old" and many would think it is no loss for Singapore, but I say leave the area alone. Nowhere else here do we have a community living in such an expanse of old buildings, and adding to the quaint charm of the place.

We are always lamenting that Singapore is turning into a concrete jungle, that we have lost so much of our heritage through reckless rebuilding.

I feel we have already sacrificed too much in recent years, for example, the former National Library building, the National Theatre, the old Colbar (which was sacrificed for an expressway) as well as countless other old buildings that have simply fallen into disrepair.

If we allow the bulldozers into Seletar, in the name of progress and for economic reasons, I fear we will be losing part of our soul in the process.
 
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// posted by Shajahan @ 9:03 AM


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