Andrew Loh
Tekka Mall is no more. It has been renamed “The Verge”.
As I stood there watching the workers remove the old name and replacing it with the new one, I was saddened that yet another part of our heritage is being consigned to the memory bin. Soon Tekka Market, which is just across the road and currently undergoing a $12.9m facelift, will also be renamed.
Tekka, meaning “foot of the bamboos” in Hokkien, is along Serangoon Road in Little India. The newly-named The Verge has two buildings. The main building will be refashioned into an IT, lifestyle and F&B hub while the other, called Chill @ The Verge, is targeted at the younger set with its entertainment and F&B outlets.
As the workers took down the old “Tekka” signboard, no one seems to pay it any mind. One can’t blame them, seeing how so much change is going on in Singapore at the moment. Go anywhere nowadays and you will inevitably come across a construction site, or an HDB upgrading programme being carried out, or some road works being done – downtown or in the heartlands. From the ION in Orchard, the two Integrated Resorts, the refurbishment of Tekka Mall and Tekka Market, the “expunging” of Seletar Airbase and its quaint colonial era houses, to the soon-to-disappear Kampong Buangkok, Singapore seems to be in a frenetic race to install the new and remove the old.
While Singapore chases after economic development and all that it brings, such as jobs, one wonders if this should be at the expense of erasing our history. The recent debate over Minister Mentor Lee’s remarks on learning Chinese, or Mandarin, and the gradual eradication of our dialects and their attending traditions, cultures and history, shows that Singapore is undergoing more than just physical changes. They are emotional ones too.
What effect do all these have on the national psyche of our people, I wonder. Would we end up being good in building businesses and making money, but have no roots at all to our past? That things in Singapore have to always be new and shiny, and anything that taints this image should – nah, must – be dismantled and replaced?
Tekka Market has been around for decades. The older folks, especially, have fond memories of the place. Indeed, my grandparents and parents used to mention “Tekka” to me, even though I did not know why it was such a special place to them. There is something really heartwarming whenever I hear the elderly relate stories of these places (which may have since been demolished) and observed how these are so intricately-linked to their life experiences.
When The Verge officially opens later this year, I won’t be celebrating it. My thoughts will be on those elderly Singaporeans who shall no longer utter the name “tekka” and how this means that another part of our heritage has been erased – even from our lips.
Change, indeed, has come to Singapore.
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And PAP still has the cheek to ask why Singaporeans migrate?
Stop destroying the remaining homeliness Singapore has.
Hm, I am not too sure to say what I want to say – if it is Tekka Mall a privately-owned building then its the owners right to name it whatever they choose fit [notwthstanding the preservation policy or stance of the govt].
Of course, one can also add various comments and opinions here. But strictly speaking if the govt dont own Tekka Mall then its the owners decision. [Why should the private sector care that much about preservation)
Nevertheless, the government ought to promote preservation even if Tekka is privately owned.
“Hm, I am not too sure to say what I want to say – if it is Tekka Mall a privately-owned building then its the owners right to name it whatever they choose fit [notwthstanding the preservation policy or stance of the govt].”
Of course you are right. If you start to sell everything that used to be public, of course it will become private. some private stuff are not so totally private as it may have some public taste in it (substance over form).
Just an analogy, you protect your own turf (those very quite private places) but you let the turf that other common people treasure to be fought about.
Sigh…..I really think our culture has already been thrown out of the window when PAP forced us to learn Mandarin many years ago. Just look at places that contribute to our unique identity, like Little India & Chinatown, both are so commercialised & almost every shops are selling the same stuff like chopsticks & calligraphy!! I wonder why tourists would wanna come to Singapore to see a concrete jungle when they have that in their own country.
I just feel so empty whenever I passed by St Anthony’s Boys’ School, SJI, the National Museum, CHIJ Victoria Str & the old National Library, which is now a tunnel for the government to collect ERP! When has all our heritage gone to? I remember when I was growing up in the 70s, I have Malay, Chinese, Indian, & Eurasian friends; I could speak Hakka, Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese, Hainanese, English, Malay & a little Tamil cos the community was so closely knitted!! All the mixing & matching made us unique & & yet all of us kids spoke fairly good English!!
I really dont know what sort of culture I will pass to my kids; perhaps I will just tell them that MONEY is the only culture he should know!!
i feel that ss supermarket price has increase much higher.
I don’t see why this is a big deal. It is a name change to a shopping mall. To extrapolate this to a loss of national heritage is stretching it. Brewing up another storm in the teapot?
I would be really concerned if the entire Little India area gets torn down and made into malls like The Verge-Tekka Mall- Whatever.
In any case, this is a lousy name. I am sure most people will still refer to the place as Tekka Mall.
“I would be really concerned if the entire Little India area gets torn down”
What makes you think that this will not happen in the future. did you know the name change before it was done.
Even if the whole place (a reasonably prime area) is going to be torn down, do you think we have the necessary platform / strong citizen culture to prevent it and your concern to be assuaged.
I think historical building is not important in sg from the perspective that
new citizens or immigrants or PRs will not have sentimental attachment to it.
We are welcoming new citizens from all over the world whoever wants to apply can apply.
now even got entreprenuer pass. can bring dependents also. So, these people would not know the history and are not affected.
I heard they call it the ‘Verge’ because it is located at the verge of Little India… so I guess next time they should rename Mustapha Shopping Centre the “Core”.
Under the rule of PAP, Singapore seems like a poor excuse for a country. It lacks soul & heart. It’s all about chasing papers & greens (bills, not nature) here.
11) pugdragon on March 23rd, 2009 3.57 pm
But if this is true for majority of singaporeans, they would have changed the system right or get some new faces into the parl to balance a bit more right?
you may be belonging to the minority population?
no offence, lets look at my rationale. I think it makes sense.
/// 10) Zefly (aka Joshua Chiang) on March 23rd, 2009 3.44 pm
I heard they call it the ‘Verge’ because it is located at the verge of Little India… so I guess next time they should rename Mustapha Shopping Centre the “Core”. ///
So, that building at the other end will be called “Fringe”.
Little India will be called the “Kaur”
And the red light district will be called “Hard Core”
;)
I hope LKY name can be taken off , from Singapore List of Heritage, in future. Certain names are just not worth preserving because they are there to destroy other memorable names except their own.
I’m quite sure the Tekka Market moniker will live on, even if it is renamed The Verge.
People of my generation born in the 70s and 80s still know it as Tekka. Even the younger teens as well.
Will the word PAP be changed to something else too? I can’t wait for something like this to happen. It sounds to old and wicked.
I think the Verge sounds great (westernised) and apt. Coming up next: the Brink, the Chasm.
well said, smallvice 585!
yap, singapore’s heritage IS on the Verge of disappearing altogether.
this is singapore.
money is more important than history. history can’t buy you food to eat, money can.
The ghosts of my ancestors paid me a visit last night. They told me how out of place they feel in present-day Singapore. There was no mass rapid transit during their time, let alone cars. Everyone got about by foot, or by bullock carts if they had enough money to buy a beast of burden of their own.
I was also told that they lived in attap huts. None were so high that they could not climb onto the roofs if they had to, which they did from time to time in order to make some repairs.
Before they left, they asked me to drive my car into the sea so that they can feel more at home in the Singapore they had come to know and love. They also instructed me to destroy my HDB flat, so that the landscape could be restored to something more familiar to them.
aiyoyo
why got such change huh?
shouldnt this tekka be considered heritage?
aiyoyo
Actually, naming a mall “the verge” doesn’t sound good to my ears. The verge of what??
I wonder if anyone remembers the “Naming Marina Bay… Marina Bay…”
http://www.singapore-window.org/sw05/050722af.htm
Hi, remember Tekka Mall in 2009.
Well it is now 3 years after they have change the name to THE VERGE.
l am a tenant now who has rented shops by the lure of their beautiful sales kit and now l am on THE VERGE of collapse.
They have just changed the locked on my shop’s doors.
They have changed Knight Frank to Premas on 1st July 2010.
l have written to this new management and the landlord Corwin as well for 1 whole year calling for meetings to resolve outstanding issues.
Do you know till the day they locked my out of my shops, l was never granted a meeting. In fact, l do not even know how this group of premas’ staffs look like.
They just simply ignore all your faxes to them.
Their way of dealing is simply get their lawyers to reply and states what they like ignoring your claims.explanations or just about anything you want to say.
They simply do not bother.
Take a stroll to The Verge and you can see what they advocates in 2009 and now.