[Old Malls] Golden Mile Complex: It’s sawadee kap here

by Wan Ting Koh

IT IS a shopping mall that has withstood the years and its turbulent past.

However, it isn’t one of the usual malls owned by large developers. When it was built more than 40 years ago, in 1972, Golden Mile Complex was first known as Woh Hup Complex. The old building was eventually torn down to make way for the Golden Mile project. A name change notwithstanding, Golden Mile Complex was dubbed “little Thailand” when Thais started flocking there in the 1980s. They brought along with them a number of Thai pubs and KTVs, painting a sleazy image of the mall.

It is a part of Singapore that is nothing much like the rest of the clean, modernised nation.  Once lauded for its landmark architecture when it was first developed by Singapura Developments, Golden Mile’s step terrace structure still catches one’s eye when passing by Nicoll Highway. It was only in more recent years that it was accused of being a “vertical slum” and “a terrible eyesore and national disgrace” by former nominated MP Ivan Png Paak Liang.

And the 16-storey residential and commercial building looks as old as its age. When we visited the mall, situated between Nicoll Highway and Beach Road, we stepped into a dingy enclosure covered with worn tiles and dim lighting – nothing like your snazzy malls just a six-minute drive away at Bugis. Indeed, the tiles were so old that tenants said you could feel the effects of heavy trolleys rolling by.

One of the tenants, Mr Krish, who owns Ruessi House, a small unit selling amulets on the third floor, said of the tremors: “This is a very old building. When a trolley passes, the floor shakes and it is getting from bad to worse.” His words bring to mind the Nicoll Highway collapse in 2005. It was reported that the whole building shook from the impact of the collapse and cracks appeared, triggering fears that the building itself was unsafe.

The 1980s

While we now see a relatively sedate atmosphere at Golden Mile – Singaporean diners come by to partake of their meals at one of the many Thai restaurants, commuters wait to board one of the many bus services to Thailand or Malaysia, and shoppers drop by to get groceries – it was not always so.

Barely a decade into its existence, the Golden Mile management was plagued by debts and deficits to the extent that the Public Utilities Board threatened to cut off its water and electricity supply in March 1983. The management blamed it on low maintenance fees. It was an irony – maintenance itself seemed lacking. This was evident from the petition that angry residents took to, later in the year, to complain about the lack of general upkeep, rotting ceilings, disrupted water supplies and lift breakdowns.

Shoddy facilities were a common bugbear with the tenants and residents of Golden Mile Complex, who even had to contend with a broken down air-conditioning system for months in 1984. These problems persisted well into the year, until the management committee started appealing to sub-proprietors to pay up delayed maintenance bills or risk legal intervention.

By then, what started out as a transfer point, where Thai businessman and workers could board a bus to head home, had become an enclave. A 1985 report recorded that the owners of a travel agency, Phya travel services, which still operates today, had decided to set up a small eatery near their office at Golden Mile Towers to cater to the Thai travellers. Business was so good that they set up a bigger travel agency and restaurant at Golden Mile Complex. They also introduced a provision shop selling Thai-imported goods and a trading company – the sole distributor of Singha beer – there.

These factors let Golden Mile Complex thrive as a newfound “Little Thailand”. But then came the waves of illegal immigrants.

In 1989, crackdowns on illegal Thai immigrants began in lieu of the amended immigration act which came into effect on March 31 that year. By end March, a mass exodus of some 10,000 illegal workers had come and left Golden Mile Complex by bus, leaving businesses high and dry after a short-lived 50 per cent boost upon their arrival.

Only a few months passed however, before the workers came trickling back in with legitimate passes. Since then, business has been moderate.

How’s business?

When asked about the traffic, Mr Krish described the complex as “peaceful”. Too peaceful in fact. Said the 29-year-old: “The traffic here is not very good. I get less than five walk-ins from Monday to Wednesday. The units around mine have been vacant for very long. The tenants come and stay for a few months then they leave.”

Even his unit, for which he pays $1,100 in rental every month, was vacant for about three years before he took it up three years ago. Mr Krish relies on a loyal base of customers, comprising of Singaporeans aged 17 to 78 who buys his amulets for protection, good health and luck.

His amulet business is one of the many which dominate the third floor, along with a sprinkling of tattoo parlours. A walk around revealed some 53 vacant or shuttered units on this floor of the building, which houses 411 shops, 226 offices and 68 residential units.

On the first two floors, tour agencies, Thai discos, pubs and eateries occupy the main atrium, coupled with fashion boutiques and remittance services. Some examples include Thai Cuisine Corner, Supawadee Trading, Dee Tongue Thai, and Baanthai Kitchen. On the second floor, with around 12 units vacant or shuttered, the popular Thai Supermarket, Yen Investments Pte Ltd, sells imported food products from Thailand such as cuttlefish crackers, coconut milk, tom yum paste and Thai glutinous rice. Only unique to Golden Mile are authentic Thai fried banana fritters (Kluay Kaeg) and sweet potato balls, both sold at $2 per pack. We also found at least 15 eateries selling dishes such as Tom Yum Soup, Thai curry vermicelli and pork collar rice, with prices ranging between $6 and $30.

The services have drawn a mainly Thai clientele who tend to linger on the first floor, where we did not find any vacant units. The building’s fourth to ninth floor comprised mainly private companies while above those floors were residential units.

Mr John Ainsworth, an Australian who works in the oil industry, said he frequents Golden Mile once every two weeks for grocery shopping. He usually accompanies his wife, who is Thai.

When asked to describe Golden Mile, he said, “it is a clone of Thailand, reminiscent of downtown Bangkok” which “caters to those with a low income and budget shoppers who are cost conscious”. However, he, like Mr Krish, is pessimistic about the mall’s outlook. “In 10 years, a developer may turn this into apartments,” he added.

Eventful past

Adding to the list of troubles that have plagued Golden Mile’s past is the spate of fire incidents. In 1995, a fire broke out in its canteen, injuring three people. Another fire in 2010 badly burnt an office unit on the eighth floor. In October 2014, a fire caused 200 occupants to evacuate the building. Just last December, a fire broke out in the early morning before shops opened, resulting in the evacuation of 20 people who were waiting for the buses.

Asked about this, another tenant who wanted to be known as Mr Cheok, said he seemed to recall another fire that happened just mere weeks ago, though it wasn’t reported in the media. His tailor shop, Kim San Tailor has been standing in a quiet corner of the first floor for over 30 years, and is currently wedged in between two bustling eateries. It is the last tailor shop left amongst the eight to nine tailor shops that used to be there a decade ago before they made way for the eateries. Mr Cheok, who was reading the newspaper when we entered, claimed in Mandarin that while business was “okay”, he was simply operating his shop there just to “spend time”.

But while businesses like Mr Cheok’s seem to be marginalised, the others owned by Thais seem to thrive on the social networks they form. When we visited on a weekday evening, a group of Thai tenants on the second floor had just gathered around a table in the corridor for dinner. One of them, Mrs Parinchard Kin, 42, is a shop assistant at Boon Han Trading. The store has been selling luggages for the past three years. Recently, however, she noticed that Thai customers no longer buy travel bags as often as they used to.

Mrs Parinchard, who is a permanent resident, added that Thais generally preferred to shop here rather than in town as the items are much more affordable. A shirt or dress goes for an average of $22 while a massage service goes for $35 for half an hour to $80 for two hours. Hairdressing services go for $20 to $150.

But all is not sedentary in the mall. Golden Mile Complex is seedy in both appearance and reputation. Quiet by day, the place has a vibrant and, some might say, shady, nightlife which stretches into the wee hours of the night. Fights frequently break out between drunk patrons of the pubs. A graduate from SIM RMIT Marketing, who gave his name as Mr Long, heard from his friends that Golden Mile was “quite dangerous” at 3am in the morning. That didn’t stop him for dropping by in the day for Thai BBQ buffet and Thai beer though.

Others came for different reasons. Ms Norita, a human resources recruiter, said that she attends Zumba classes at 1Fiesta on the fourth floor every week and was aware of a popular Muay Thai gym which her friends attend there. The 28-year-old has been coming by for the past four years, though she said that others might be less comfortable with going to the mall, perhaps due to its reputation.

En bloc attempts

Still, the moderate business that the complex has been raking in hasn’t stopped owners from attempts to pull the plug on it by putting it up for en bloc three times, in 2003, 2006 and 2009. According to 2009 reports, pamphlets proposing to tear down the complex and Golden Mile Tower, located next to it, to make way for “Asia’s tallest building” were circulated around, .

Some will be sad to see it go. Mr Goh, 48, the owner of Trinity Mobile on the first floor for five years, summed up his feelings in one sentence: “We will be sad, we have been here for so long. There is some sentimental value here.”

 

This is the second of a four-part series on old malls. Read about City Plaza here.

Additional reporting by Cindy Co, Glenn Ong, Vishnu Preyei and Claris Ng.

Featured Image by Najeer Yusof.

If you like this article, Like The Middle Ground‘s Facebook Page as well!

For breaking news, you can talk to us via email.

 

The post [Old Malls] Golden Mile Complex: It’s sawadee kap here appeared first on The Middle Ground.

- Wan Ting Koh