Deep Dive Podcast: Should we preserve heritage businesses which are not viable?
We can't be selfish and say we want a heritage business to stay but do nothing about helping to preserve it, say our guests on this week's Deep Dive.
CNA's weekly news podcast takes a deep dive into issues that people talk about at dining tables and along the office corridors. Hosted by Steven Chia and Crispina Robert.
Jump to these key moments:
- 04:00 What is a heritage business?
- 09:36 Should heritage businesses receive subsidies?
- 13:06 Businesses need to evolve
- 15:06 The issue with rent
- 19:36 How far can grants help businesses?
The closure of Thambi Magazine Store after 80 years was met with shock and sadness. But is it unrealistic to expect heritage businesses to survive in a competitive, ever-changing world?
Steven Chia and Crispina Robert speak to Singapore University of Social Sciences' Dr Lye Kit Ying and Edmond Wong, a third-generation business owner of Kim Choo Kueh Chang.
Here's an excerpt from the podcast.
Crispina Robert:
Speaking about support, when Thambi Magazine (Store) closed, there was a lot of shock and people were really upset. And then suddenly, he had so many people visiting his store. Some commentators online were saying that that's a little bit hypocritical, because only when the store is closing, and then you're getting all sad and upset. But you didn't go and buy a single thing from him all these years he was there. So when you talk about support, do you also mean that we have to support or we should be aware that, hey, this is special, we need to support?
Edmond Wong:
That's where I think the government, (together) with the National Heritage Board, they're doing a very awesome role in terms of trying to identify heritage businesses and giving them the platform to spread awareness and giving them the airtime to share their stories.
Crispina Robert:
Do you think people should purchase and step up and support their own heritage?
Steven Chia:
Actually to be fair, Thambi is a magazine store. Would we classify him as a heritage business?
Crispina Robert:
Yeah, he's been around for 80 years.
Steven Chia:
So simply because he's been in that corner for 80 years...
Crispina Robert:
But it is (a) part of Holland Village. That's the heritage of the place, right?
Steven Chia:
So therefore, he should remain just because he was part of the original infrastructure or (one of) the original tenants?
Crispina Robert:
I think so.
Dr Lye Kit Ying:
That's something I do raise with my students in class. Should we force a group of people or a business or even a community to stay stagnant, even at great economic costs, just for our own satisfaction? To feel good, or to feel less guilty? Because we must understand that heritage is living and breathing. And the people who are preserving and conserving heritage are living and breathing as well. We need to understand that we can't be that selfish and say, okay, you stay there, so that I have my sense of place and identity. But you don't make money.
