Latest
-
Shopping in Singapore? | How West Mall Made the MRT, Library, Cinema and Everyday Shopping One Bukit Batok Routine
West Mall opened beside Bukit Batok MRT in 1998 and became a classic Singapore town-centre mall: groceries, food, cinema, library and practical services built…
-
Shopping in Singapore? | How Causeway Point Made Woodlands Regional Centre the Shopping Heart of the North
Causeway Point opened beside Woodlands MRT in 1998 and became the retail anchor of Woodlands Regional Centre, giving northern families a large mall integrated…
-
What Was Orchard Road Before Orchard Road? | Nutmeg Plantations, Cemeteries, Bungalows and the Road Before the Shopping Belt
Before the shops, Orchard Road ran through nutmeg estates, Chinese, Jewish and Malay cemeteries and a suburb of bungalows and Peranakan terraces.
-
Shopping in Singapore? | How Jurong Point Turned Boon Lay MRT Into a Western Singapore Shopping Destination
Jurong Point opened beside Boon Lay MRT in 1995 and grew with Jurong West into a giant transit-linked mall serving residents, workers, students and…
-
Shopping in Singapore? | How IMM Went From International Merchandise Mart to Singapore’s Outlet-Shopping Destination
IMM began in 1991 as International Merchandise Mart, a permanent trade-showroom concept. It survived by reinventing itself as a consumer mall, home-retail centre and…
-
What Was Newton Before Newton? | Nutmeg Plantations, Syed Ali Road, the Railway and the Eight-Road Circus Before the City Neighbourhood
Newton was nutmeg land, then a railway stop from 1903 to 1932; Newton Circus was built on the station grounds in 1933 and the…
-
Shopping in Singapore? | How Tampines Central Turned Sogo, Century Square and Tampines Mall Into a Regional-Centre Retail Model
Tampines became Singapore’s first Regional Centre in 1991. Sogo arrived in 1993, Century Square in 1995 and Tampines Mall in 1996, creating a mall…
-
Shopping in Singapore? | How Northpoint Became Singapore’s Pioneer Suburban Mall — and Then Northpoint City
Northpoint opened in Yishun in December 1992 as Singapore’s pioneer suburban retail mall. Twenty-five years later it grew into Northpoint City, integrating 400+ shops…
-
Shopping in Singapore? | How Parkway Parade Brought Orchard Road-Scale Shopping to Marine Parade and the East
Parkway Parade opened in December 1983 as Singapore’s first regional shopping centre, bringing Isetan, Funworld and large-scale family shopping to Marine Parade and the…
-
Shopping in Singapore? | How Thomson Plaza Brought Yaohan, Swensen’s and Barrier-Free Family Shopping to Upper Thomson
Thomson Plaza opened in 1979 on a former rubber-factory site and helped define the suburban family mall: Yaohan, Singapore’s first Swensen’s, neighbourhood retail and…
-
Shopping in Singapore? | How Holland Village Grew From a Military Market Into Magazines, Antiques, Food and Nightlife
Holland Village grew from military housing and a wet market into one of Singapore’s quirkiest retail enclaves: family shops, magazines, batik, antiques, food, bars…
-
Shopping in Singapore? | How People’s Park Complex Turned Chinatown Bazaar Culture Into Singapore’s First Atrium Mall
People’s Park Complex brought Chinatown’s dense merchant culture into a radical 1973 mixed-use building with Singapore’s first shopping-centre atrium. This is how bazaar logic…
-
What Was Novena Before Novena? | Hospitals, a Jewish Cemetery, Kampong Chia Heng and the Church That Named the District
Novena takes its name from the novena devotions begun in 1949 at the Church of St Alphonsus; before that it was Thomson Road, Teochew…
-
Shopping in Singapore? | How Sungei Road Thieves’ Market Turned Junk, Army Surplus and Second-Hand Goods Into a Retail Culture
Sungei Road was Singapore’s oldest flea market: second-hand electronics, tools, army surplus, records, books and salvaged objects spread across canvas sheets until the market…
-
Shopping in Singapore? | How Change Alley Became the Bargaining, Money-Changing and Souvenir Bazaar Between Raffles Place and the Sea
Old Change Alley packed money changers, watches, pens, shoes, textiles and souvenirs into a narrow lane between Raffles Place and Clifford Pier. This is…
-
Shopping in Singapore? | How City Plaza Became the Wholesale Fashion Mall Behind Singapore’s Blogshop Era
City Plaza on Geylang Road, completed in 1981 by most accounts, is a freehold mall whose clothing wholesalers have supplied bargain hunters, resellers and…
-
Shopping in Singapore? | How Beauty World Went From Wartime Amusement Park to Market, Fires and a 1980s Mall
Beauty World began as a Japanese Occupation amusement park, became a chaotic post-war market in 1947, burned repeatedly and closed in 1983 before its…
-
What Was Balestier Before Balestier? | Sugar Plantations, Villas, Film Studios and the Road Before the City Fringe
Balestier was Joseph Balestier’s sugar plantation from 1835 to 1848, then villages, villas, Singapore’s first public housing estate and a film studio.
-
Shopping in Singapore? | How Bras Basah Complex Became the City of Books, Art Materials and Xinyao
Bras Basah Complex, completed by HDB in 1979 and opened in 1980, gathered the old Bras Basah booksellers under one roof and became Singapore’s…
-
Shopping in Singapore? | How Queensway Shopping Centre Became the Sports Shoes, Jerseys and Printing Mall
Queensway Shopping Centre opened in Queenstown in the mid-1970s with over 200 shops and Singapore’s first public escalators, then became the island’s sports mall.
-
Shopping in Singapore? | How Golden Mile Complex Became Little Thailand — and What Was Lost When the Community Dispersed
Golden Mile Complex began as a bold 1970s mixed-use megastructure. Thai workers and merchants later turned it into Little Thailand — a food, grocery,…
-
Shopping in Singapore? | How Peninsula Plaza Became Little Myanmar Through Food, Remittance, Travel and Community
Peninsula Plaza opened as a modern downtown electronics mall in 1979. By the early 1990s it had become Little Myanmar — a retail, food,…
-
What Was Toa Payoh Before Toa Payoh? | Swamps, Kampongs, Squatters and the HDB Model Town
Toa Payoh was swamp, gambier estates and kampongs before HDB cleared it in the early 1960s and balloted the first flats of its first…
-
Shopping in Singapore? | How Lucky Plaza Went From Orchard Road Luxury Mall to Singapore’s Filipino Sunday Economy
Lucky Plaza began as a glamorous Orchard Road vertical bazaar. It became something more unusual: a Filipino retail and social hub built around remittance,…
-
Shopping in Singapore? | How Geylang Serai Became the Market, Ramadan Bazaar and Hari Raya Shopping Heartland
Geylang Serai shopping grew from street hawkers and Malay household demand into a market, food centre, textile hub and one of Singapore’s defining Ramadan…
-
Shopping in Singapore? | How Changi Airport Turned Duty-Free Waiting Time Into Jewel and a Retail Destination
Changi shopping grew from duty-free transit retail into something far larger. This is how passenger waiting time, luxury, local gifts, dining and Jewel turned…
-
Shopping in Singapore? | How Katong–Joo Chiat Built a Retail Culture From Shophouses, Bakeries, Provision Stores and Peranakan Food
Katong–Joo Chiat shopping grew from neighbourhood trust: bakeries, provision shops, flowers, shophouses and Peranakan food businesses that became destinations because locals kept returning.
-
What Was Bishan Before Bishan? | Peck San Theng, Kampong San Teng and the Cemetery Before the New Town
Before the HDB town, Bishan was Peck San Theng, a Cantonese cemetery founded in 1870, with the village of Kampong San Teng beside it.…
-
Shopping in Singapore? | Arab Street, Hajj Pilgrims, Textiles and the Merchant Culture of Kampong Glam
Kampong Glam shopping grew from pilgrimage, regional migration and specialist trade. This is the history of Arab Street textiles, Bussorah Street, perfume oils, crafts,…
-
Shopping in Singapore? | How Chinatown Went From Coolie Lodging and Street Hawkers to Tailors, Markets and Heritage Retail
Singapore’s Chinatown shopping culture grew from immigrant necessity: lodging, food, medicine, tailoring, pawnshops, markets and street hawkers. This is how Kreta Ayer and Pagoda…