Tekka Centre shuts for 3 months as renovation begins

SINGAPORE: Tekka Centre, home to one of the largest wet markets in Singapore, closed its doors for renovation works on Monday (Jul 3).

The iconic building along Buffalo Road will undergo repairs and redecoration for the next three months.

Tanjong Pagar Town Council, which oversees this facelift, said works will include repainting, installing new tables and chairs, upgrading lights, adding spikes to keep birds away and refurbishing toilets and the bin centre.

To help businesses cope with the closure, the National Environment Agency (NEA) is offering temporary stalls at other hawker centres or markets in areas including Toa Payoh, Kallang Bahru and Chinatown.

SOME SHOPS UNWILLING TO RELOCATE

However, many of the 284 market stalls and 119 hawkers affected told CNA that they are not willing to set up shop elsewhere for just three months due to the cost of moving.

One such stall owner, David Joehari of Joe's Butchery, said it is not feasible for him to move as his shop requires a huge stall front, and many equipment such as chillers, freezers and a display case.

“If I move to another market, there are a lot of (temporary) renovation I have to do on my part. I have to secure my machineries, roller shutters, etc. Then when we move out to come back, I have to dismantle everything, fix back the structure and all that. These all cost money and they are not cheap,” he said.

Some business owners have decided to shut down for the duration and take advantage of the downtime.

Mr C J Low, owner of C J Low High Grade Beef stall, said: “I’m not planning to do work. I’m just going to stay at home. Maybe I’ll go out and walk sometimes, or bring my grandchildren or my wife out to eat during the break.”

Fishmonger Paandiyan Kavrarmam, who will move to a temporary stall in Chinatown, said that while she is grateful to continue her operations in another location, she is concerned about the impact on her regular customers.

“Many customers tell me, ‘you go already it's very difficult for us, it’s very far to go to Chinatown’,” she said.

SOME STALLS LEAVE FOR GOOD

For some stalls, this is the last straw in a difficult business environment.

Hawker Lim Hong Eng, owner of Grandma's Mee Siam, said several shops around her stall have decided to call it quits.

“Some of them cannot cope with running a stall anymore, and others want to let someone else take over their units," she said.

The NEA said it will be granting rental remission to the stalls during the three-month closure.

The agency added that there will not be any increase in stall rentals as a result of the renovations.

Works at level one, which houses market stalls and hawkers, is slated to be completed by Sep 30 while level two’s retail shops are expected to reopen earlier, after Aug 31.

Tekka Centre was last renovated in 2008.