Let's just hope the eager government doesn't decide to send the wrecking ball to the historical Queenstown library. What community history do we have left, when all these are gone and all that's left is a plaque on some new shiny building?
To remember this place, here's some photos from Flickr shutterbugs of Margaret Drive. I only do this because their shots are so much nicer than mine :) Click on the links to see their photos.
Blk 6C by Royale wif Cheese
Margaret Drive and Queensway by ah__ling
Photodocumentary of Blk 6C by hidesphotography
Margaret Drive by hsalnat
Margaret Drive Food Centre by eve+line and others
Margaret Drive & Queenstown Library by davidktw
Margaret Drive by xtemujin (Check out the lion statues)
For some, it's hard to say goodbye
05:55 AM Dec 04, 2009
Today Online (source)
by Esther Ng
SINGAPORE - They have seven more months to live in their flats, and even though they have secured swish new abodes in Dawson Estate, the residents of Margaret Drive would rather stay put.
"I've lived here for 40 years. I'd rather not move if I could," said Madam Tan Kah Tian, 73.
"The new place is as cramped as a dog kennel," piped in her friend, 76-year-old Madam Liao.
It is a common refrain among residents.
Blocks 6C, 39A and the 40-year-old food centre at Margaret Drive will go under the wrecker's ball in July next year - all part of plans to rejuvenate Dawson Estate.
Block 6C looks like a slum, with windows and doors of shops boarded up, save for six businesses among them, including a provision shop, a plastic-bag wholesaler and a skateboard shop.
Located just opposite the Fishermen of Christ Fellowship and Church of Our Saviour - where the cinemas Golden City and Venus used to be - the 16-storey block with a row of shops on the ground floor was a hive of activity in the 1970s.
"Even without looking at my clock, I could tell when it was 6pm or 7pm just by the noise from cars exiting the cinema and traffic trying to get in," said retired primary school teacher Chua Khong Leng.
According to Mr Chua, 73, the "piecemeal" closure of the estate's amenities has hastened its demise.
"The closure of the wet market inconvenienced the residents. Then a few years later, Ta Chong emporium was torn down and along with it went the banks, post office and Crown Restaurant."
Those were the days
Back in the '70s, Margaret Drive was a bustling town centre. There was a food centre, a community library, Mont D'or cake shop, the cinemas, a bowling alley, as well as the emporium and restaurant that Mr Chong mentioned.
Some residents remember the squeals of children playing catch or hide-and-seek, or piggy-backing the stone horses.
Now, the only sign of activity is youth practising their moves in the afternoons at the open space in front of Mr Eddie Goh's skateboard shop, Go Sports, or students from Queenstown Secondary School patronising the roadside ice-cream vendor or Mr Alaudeen Mohammed Yasin's provision shop.
"When I set up shop in 1990, we got funny stares from the other shopkeepers, but they saw the kids weren't doing any wrong and left us alone," said Mr Goh. "Some of the old residents liked having them around as they looked out for the old folks and added life to the estate."
By the 1990s, Margaret Drive was an ageing town as many of its young had grown up, got married and moved to bigger flats in newer housing estates.
The 56-year-old Mr Goh admits that he will miss the cheap rents of $1,200 per unit - he has three units - but will operate his business from a shophouse he bought in Holland Close.
Mr C K Chua, 54, who has lived in his three-room flat since 1969, was at a loss for words trying to explain his reluctance to move out of the neighbourhood. He said wistfully: "It's quiet and the people are friendly. Besides, can you get unobstructed views like this when the morning sun greets you as you open your front door?"
From Mr Chua's 10th floor unit, condominiums along River Valley glisten in the distance. Those were not there 30 years ago, nor the new Queenstown flats, he said.
His father, Mr Chua senior, 91 and formerly from the Royal Army Medical Corps, pointed out a rectangle slot at the bottom of the flat's door that the postman used to drop mail through.
Over at the food centre, stallholder Mr Lee, 65, who sells butterfly pancakes and sesame balls, said he has been working at his stall for 40 years.
"I'll still carry on working even after I move out," he said.
While most are nostalgic about the neighbourhood, resident K K Chong, 36, is among the few who are upbeat about the estate's rejuvenation.
"My parents bought this flat when we heard it was slated for HDB's Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme, and now we're moving into a four-room flat in Dawson."
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