Joel Tan, Top Story, Youth Focus - Thursday, October 23, 2008 9:27 - 25 Comments

TOC Youth Week: Get out of town

Joel Tan / Writer

The minute something interesting and distinctive begins to develop in the heart of town, we pull out our guns and go “shoot the eyesore”.

A few weeks ago, I opened up the Lifestyle section of the Straits Times on Sunday to read some food reviews, when I chanced upon an article by Cara Van Miriah. Titled “Oh my, is this Orchard Road?” (ST 5^th October 2008), the article examines the “infestation” of our beloved shopping belt by buskers, foreign workers, touters, makeshift stalls and other such miscreants, all of whom the article suggests tarnish the image Orchard Road has (ostensibly) built up for itself as a swanky, world class shopping belt.

Some Singaporeans chimed in, asking ‘how can Orchard Road be a world-class shopping haven and rival other major cities such as Tokyo when it is a free-for-all zone for anyone to hawk their stuff?’, perhaps in reference to the “particularly irksome”, “cacophonous” strains of buskers trying to make a living amidst the noise of nearby roadshows. Continue…