S$2m upgrade of Yuhua Village facilities a drawcard for residents

SINGAPORE — Madam Yee Yuat Meng, 70, has lived in Jurong East for 32 years and does qigong with friends every morning near the Yuhua Village market and food centre. These days, they may also try the new equipment at an exercise corner a stone’s throw away.

Residents held a completion ceremony yesterday for the Remaking Our Heartland programme for the Yuhua Village neighbourhood centre, which took more than a year and was funded by the Housing and Development Board to the tune of about S$2 million.

The upgraded facilities include a new entrance marker, new floor tiling, pavilions, bicycle racks and exercise equipment.

Residents’ feedback, such as the wish to retain the familiarity of some landmarks, were taken into account, said Yuhua grassroots adviser Grace Fu. New public benches were located with existing ones, for instance, so as not to disorientate residents.

“I’m so happy to see facilities for the elderly to exercise and to just gain mobility. The set of facilities we have here, the equipment, are very suited for elderly residents,” said Ms Fu, who is also the Culture, Community and Youth Minister. “The facilities are very close to the hawker centre and wet market. So I hope that as they come by walking through the parks to the wet market and to the hawker centre, they’ll stop by to do some exercises.”

Mdm Yee welcomed the improvements and said: “The walking experience and greenery here is good ... The only thing is there’s no shelter (at the qigong area), and we’ve got to run for shelter when it rains.” Neo Chai Chin