The Trivialisation

I was on my intriguing hunt for a nonya delight by the name of “Tago” for my lovely donkey, that in the midst, I witness in firsthand, a significant event that epitomise Woodlands on 23 March 2008: The hunt for Mas Selamat.

Definitively, what these events revealed is how Woodlands have developed into a lacklustre town that have in the past decade, condenses into a single episode of drama, that exemplify the spirit of ingenuity in the Singaporean industry, and how to fail miserably later. Woodlands have failed, unknowingly by her inhabitants, she had failed.

What is there in Woodlands? We have Causeway Point Shopping Centre, the largest suburban mall during its heyday; Woodlands Regional Bus Interchange, the first underground bus interchange, topped up with an elevated MRT station, which were very much the pride of SMRT back in 1997 during its inauguration.

Suffice to say, I’m not a native Woodlanders, but I dare say I qualify as one, on the basis of the grassroots knowledge I gathered in the short time I was here. During my immediate formative years, our family relocated from our semi-detached along Upper Thomson area to a spastically-decorated 5-room HDB flat we rented for a period of 10 years. I’ll not go into details as to why such a decision was made; while I’ll return habitually to Upper Thomson, I’d grew accustomed to the modus vivendi of the suburb.

I was there when Woodlands MRT Station opens to the public; I was probably the first few Singaporeans to enter Causeway Point; I was amongst the first students to read books collected in the Woodlands Regional Library, I was even there to witness the materialisation of the conceptual Singapore Sports School and Republic Polytechnic.

All these – happened within a decade, as part of the package Dr. Tony Tan promised residents in the region during the formation of the Sembawang GRC (1988). Yet looking at the events today, I can’t help but to disclaim all the firsts and grandeur that Woodlands once inspired to attain, that have seemingly diluted with the departure of the veteran and well-loved politician in 2006 from the GRC.

So the problem is, how are those establishments doing in Woodlands today? Woodlands MRT Station is depilating and fallen into the cruelty of going through aging, looking nothing like the luster it was 11 years ago. The bus interchange is over-crowded and seemed nothing more than a poorly-lit underground dump that buses are forced to pass through inevitably, today. The Sports School’s hype have expired as soon as there was any hype at all, other than producing outrightly snobbish students. I have extinguished all possible excuses that shown the school had benefited the town – at all. Republic Polytechnic embodies the worst of all polytechnics in Singapore, not that I am cruel, but this general perception is repeated in words of JC students, and of other polytechnics, working professionals – inclusive of my mother, taxi drivers, and even stall holders inside the eateries of RP.

I am not meticulous enough to discover the truth behind those hearsays, but as far as personal experience has it, RP students – generally female, had difficulties to understand what dress code for schooling ought to be. In my views, tank tops or any other form of revealing clothing are not offensive to the eye, and it is the right of choice of every RP students to wear whatever their little brains desired. But that’s just me. At the end of the day, the eyes of society will judge and make noises, not mine, at least not influential enough. I was told by a taxi driver last year while being late for school, that 3 RP students – 2 females and a male, had an intimate conversation quite loudly on the taxi, about masturbation.

Of course, as a conscience but hypocritical ‘A’ level student, I expresses my utter disgust upon hearing, to satisfy the “morally upright” taxi driver, plus, I don’t want to piss him off and end up being late for school.

That incident demonstrated how a clash of views between the mainstream, and the young and seemingly uneducated, is that this town is still desolate, and unable to accept the liberal ideas of the 3 RP students. Let’s not be hypocritical, I believe we all embraces the liberalism that the 3 RP students signifies, and we’ll probably be happier if our rights are not constantly being infringed by the so-called “morally righteousness” in the elder generations.

I have grew disgusted by the retardation in development of Woodlands, and I am probably very sick by the surrendering of our rights, in other to satisfy the status quo, which then led to the lack of progress in this destitute town. I want changes, and I want it fast, just fast enough before Woodlands becomes another Marsiling.

As to why I say the hunt for Mas Selamat was the inspiration of this entry, I visited Woodlands Town Centre along Woodlands Centre Road to hunt for “Tago”. What I witnessed was the total degeneration of the area that encompasses Woodlands Town Centre, a place where most Woodlanders visit, where the former Woodlands Bus Interchange was. Today, the economy there is entirely dependent on the Malaysians, and as the hunt for Mas Selamat intensifies, the jam at Woodlands Checkpoint too intensifies. So Malaysians no longer stop by Woodlands Town Centre, instead, joins the hazardous queue towards Woodlands Causeway.

Will Woodlands eventually be so trivialised, that our economy becomes dependent on others?

So I was trying to find “Tago” that I stepped upon the fact of Woodlands – a town that have perhaps stopped to progress.

Sliv
23 March 2008