25-year-old Joo Chiat Complex gets a makeover

Source : Straits Times - 17 Jul 2008

Shop owners hope business will improve after upgrading is completed next month

IN AN attempt to compete with Singapore’s shiny new mega malls, the 25-year-old Joo Chiat Complex in Geylang Serai is getting a makeover.

Shop owners in the centre, which specialises in Malay baju, textiles and crafts, are eager to see the dim atrium, worn washrooms and old floors spruced up.

The sterile grey walls and monotone tiles are on their way out. As are the old awnings, which are making way for fire-resistant canopies.

The building is also getting neon signs, a CCTV security system and a better air-conditioning system, a Housing Board spokesman said in an e-mail message to The Straits Times on Monday. The HDB owns the centre.

The upgrades, which started in March and are expected to be completed next month, were welcomed by most shop owners.

‘The complex is so old that people would rather shop at VivoCity. The interior is dark, the lights are dim, everything is rusty,’ said curtain seller Jimmy Saw, 50, who has been running the family business there for 25 years.

‘I hope more young people will come and business will improve.’

With the fasting month of Ramadan starting in September, shop owners hope sales will pick up. Malay-Muslim crowds traditionally throng the complex to stock up on food, festive cookies and traditional baju kurung to celebrate Hari Raya, which falls on Oct 1 this year.

Renovations to the Joo Chiat Complex were the result of an appeal by shop vendors, said the HDB spokesman. HDB and Marine Parade Town Council will foot all costs.

The HDB hopes the complex, with its 200 shops and offices, will remain attractive to shoppers, the spokesman said.

Shop owners still have one main grouse though. They say the walls in the toilet are not full-length, causing water from one cubicle to flood others. The HDB has said it would look into the matter.

Joo Chiat Complex Traders Association secretary David Ang, 50, hopes the HDB will also cut rent by 10 to 20 per cent. He said the vendors have to close early at night because of the upgrading works, costing them money.

Another vendor, Mr Osman Al-Khatib, 55, who sells religious books, hopes rent will not be raised with better facilities.

On the wish list of Madam Mahani Ramadan, 45, are cleaners to help keep the complex spick and span.

‘We have to walk out of the complex to throw our own rubbish in the bins. The bins are always overflowing with leftover food which smells bad,’ she said.