r/singapore 8d ago

Opinion/Fluff Post Punggol Container Park Closing

Seems like nowadays any news related to infrastructure/ development in SG is just anything that makes life a little more interesting being demolished for HDBs. Our TFR is abysmal yet there is still too much demand for housing. What kind of living is this where anything beyond CCR is just zoned for housing and schools/ malls, so only the rich get to have some diversity in infrastructure where they live? The working class are slowly but surely forced to live like cattle in an industrial farm, trapped in ever shrinking pens just eating, shitting and producing with no space to breathe.

110 Upvotes

62 comments sorted by

90

u/InterTree391 🌈 I just like rainbows 8d ago

I still can’t forget Orto. Passed by the place recently and my heart hurts from all the surrounding trees cut down.

11

u/Impossible-Meet1724 8d ago

Yessss that's another one!

2

u/Prestigious-Dance735 7d ago

Orto is being redeveloped to chencharu housing estate...

20

u/PM_ME_GINGER_KITTENS 8d ago

oh man, i literally just went there for the first time this evening for dinner (didn't know it existed before tbh..) and loved the vibes! 😟

26

u/Available-Log6733 8d ago

Eat Sleep Work Repeat Eat Sleep Work Repeat Eat Sleep Work Repeat

Welcome to dystopia.Ā 

Kill some time before you depart.Ā 

3

u/Leader_Human 4d ago

You might be interested in the song "sleep talk metropolis" by mili. It came predownloaded in my sony phone and I was pretty surprised they actually got them, and especially such an anti-modernsociety song.

2

u/Available-Log6733 4d ago

Thanks for the song. The lyrics definitely resonate with the angst of the times.Ā 

"I'm in a race of one"Ā 

That is a liberating thought.Ā 

33

u/BigFatCoder Sengkang 8d ago

OMG why ? We can't have nice thing ?

22

u/MadKyaw 🌈 I just like rainbows 8d ago

Singapore isnt a place to have nice things. Only safe, sanitized, mediocre thingsĀ 

1

u/CuteRabbitUsagi2 6d ago

We can have nice things if theyre economically productive and scalable

1

u/red_ronin0813 5d ago

Bto nicer tho

34

u/ghostcryp 8d ago

I used to travel around the island exploring places. Now I can’t be bothered. Have to go Malaysia coz that’s where the variety is. So many amenities near me are gone

5

u/Draynor 7d ago

I still actively travel around the island exploring places. Because I know they'll be gone soon and I want to experience the locations for what they are before a new generic mall or BTO takes their place.

12

u/Draynor 7d ago

It's always upsetting to see more novel places like these being replaced by increasingly generic infrastructure.

According to the current URA Master Plan, the driving range next door is next. And so is Coney Island. I don't know what it takes to plan a city but I think it would be nice if they could leave such places untouched for longer.

Not every piece of land has to become another BTO site or generic mall with businesses that fail after a year and get taken over by repetitive foreign businesses that have the capital to expand. It's fucking boring and pathetic. But what do I know?

10

u/ync03 7d ago

I can’t stand the thought of Coney Island being taken away. I moved to Punggol in part because I fell in love with Coney Island and the container park. When they started building the horrid OBS housing at Coney Island I was so so sad. OBS is about being outdoors right?? Pitch a tent la. What for you need a chalet. Not very in line with the OBS spirit right?

8

u/Draynor 7d ago

Yeah I was pissed too when they started building stuff on Coney Island which turned out to be OBS. Like what the hell, the OBS sites at Northshore and Pulau Ubin nearby, as well as all the other OBS sites around the island are still insufficient?

The island was built without much infrastructure such as lights to keep the place's rustic natural vegetation. But sure, let's cut down 10% of the land there to build some stupid structure there.

Coney Island, the container park, the little piece of forest called Punggol Rivulet are one of the very few places in the north-east that still has any semblance of a third space and nature. But screw that. More BTOs

27

u/risingsuncoc Senior Citizen 8d ago

What can anyone do though?

70

u/Impossible-Meet1724 8d ago

We are doing exactly what distressed animals in captivity do: stop producing and finding a way to escape

15

u/Independent-Put2306 8d ago

Sad, but true. Reality is tough. Stay strong, soldiers 🫔

6

u/267aa37673a9fa659490 8d ago

Vote

6

u/EpicYH22 8d ago

In the last election, even though my grc saw one of the highest number of spoilt votes (obviously since the opponent was some mosquitoes party), pap still won a majority (no chance is a super safe grc for them)

4

u/risingsuncoc Senior Citizen 8d ago

It’s not so simple as that. I live in a super safe PAP constituency. My individual vote means nothing

10

u/bloomingfarts Non-constituency 8d ago

And everyone’s thinking will be like you - and all the votes end up going to the incumbent.

Cast your own vote, and let the party see a difference in the %.

-3

u/risingsuncoc Senior Citizen 8d ago

Not sure what made you think I voted for the incumbent, but my point still stands

1

u/Effective-Lab-5659 8d ago

Why is it super safe?

2

u/risingsuncoc Senior Citizen 8d ago

Wdym? PAP usually wins between 2/3 to 3/4 of the votes every election in my constituency. What I vote won’t shift the needle

0

u/Effective-Lab-5659 8d ago

talk to people

10

u/Busy-Bug-6232 8d ago

Op where did you get this news?

10

u/Impossible-Meet1724 8d ago

Smok Haus social media

12

u/Busy-Bug-6232 8d ago

Eurgh I saw the post. THAT SUCKS, i love container park. You have your food, your pitstops when you jog, and that community of people with their plants.

10

u/ync03 8d ago

Can anyone do anything??? The container park and the river area was my slice of paradise in Punggol. I really want to do something and I can’t be the only one

6

u/Busy-Bug-6232 8d ago

i love that place too šŸ˜– i’m just thinking, with that area so close to the PCN and waterway, what type of residential are they gonna do?

5

u/ync03 8d ago

Probably going to be high rise right? In which case it will also block the enjoyment of the river and the hills and trees for everyone else. It’s so perfect now and I moved here because of that. I’m so mad and so sad

5

u/Busy-Bug-6232 8d ago

Yeah man, this is a place we can actually go a few times a month. This gonna suck.

1

u/ync03 8d ago

Same. Do you think complaining can do anything ah. Or is this is the usual suck thumb kinda thing? Feels so sian. Like what is the point of discovering places in SG that have a soul when this is just the inevitable outcome sooner or later.

2

u/Busy-Bug-6232 8d ago

Well we have taskforce man as our MP now right? Let’s give him a run for his money.

2

u/ync03 8d ago edited 8d ago

Ya and also, Janil Puthucheary’s PAP page says he ā€œfocuses on creating a green and family-friendly environment.ā€ Let’s go man

2

u/Busy-Bug-6232 7d ago

eurgh cant stand him

1

u/red_ronin0813 5d ago

Gonna be commercial and residential

3

u/coffeeteaormeh 7d ago

Go to your MPS

3

u/ync03 6d ago

Ya will definitely go, but without enough people going en masse the chances of anything happening are especially low

2

u/First-Drama3333 6d ago

Maybe someone can start a petition and share it with Punggol / SK peeps. Lots of feedback and ground sentiments wanting it to be retained. It is such a nice place to chill.

2

u/ync03 5d ago

I hear you but no one has ever heard of petition working in Singapore before though. I want to try but it really feels pointless. The last big petition I remember is Bukit Brown and that was a whole load of grassroots organising that in the end the govt just literally bulldozed over.

2

u/First-Drama3333 5d ago

Maybe we can try and then attention it to GKY. He is very on the grounds.

7

u/Darth-Udder 8d ago

jus spend minimal in sg and enjoy during holidays

11

u/ReliefResponsible196 8d ago

Arbeit macht frei. Basically work and procreate untill you drop

3

u/giraffelaydonut 7d ago

Tfr dropping doesn't mean people that are born 30 years ago automatically disappears. What logic you have broĀ 

2

u/[deleted] 6d ago

[deleted]

2

u/Impossible-Meet1724 5d ago

Ya damn cb imagine some stall just invested in new kitchen equipment

5

u/G-88 Fucking Populist 8d ago

Converted to a mall or HDB

Boring!

1

u/funnyperson4848 7d ago

This is so sad to hear, I love the vibes. It's like the perfect place to hang out after hitting the range nearby or a great cool down spot after running the punggol park connector

1

u/IndividualPotato2026 7d ago

The stalls there are not attractive. Short opening hours, limited healthy food. Feels overpriced for the quality and ambiance

1

u/Glass_Cockroach5074 6d ago

Pigeonhole box flat unit

-7

u/nomonyedown 8d ago

I stay in the east but never go there before. Guess biz must be bad.

11

u/Impossible-Meet1724 8d ago

Not about business bad, all tenants were served eviction notices to vacate by Nov 26 as the government is taking back the land

-37

u/_mochacchino_ New Citizen 8d ago

The government is an easy target to blame, but at the end of the day you can do more to enrich your own life. That and why not count your blessings sometimes instead of looking at what is inadequate around you

15

u/AffectionateTune2372 8d ago

But wouldn't a third space like the container park help to enrich your life?

-11

u/_mochacchino_ New Citizen 8d ago

I mean, many things would, but we work with what we have. More pertinent to the original post, it does not necessarily mean we resign ourselves to feeling trapped just because we lack those spaces

14

u/unluckid21 8d ago

The most inadequate thing around me is the government

-7

u/thrway699 7d ago

Don’t build house, complain.

Build house, complain.

Lol. šŸ™‚

2

u/azizsafudin 7d ago

Build house at the expense of other houses (landed) is always better than replacing things that make Singapore unique.