New buzz in Farrer Road after all the noise and dust settle

SINGAPORE - For nearly a decade, noise and dust have been a feature of life in the Farrer Road area, a prime-district neighbourhood where flat dwellers rub shoulders with bungalow owners.

The area's privatised HUDC estate Farrer Court was sold in a record deal in 2007 and torn down; the MRT Circle Line was extended to the area in the mid-2000s and the Empress Road market boarded up for a facelift in 2008.

But the dust is finally settling. The market reopened in 2008, Farrer Road MRT station opened in 2011 and the D'Leedon condominium, designed by famed architect Zaha Hadid and located at the old Farrer Court site, will be ready by next year.

The works have freshened up the Farrer Road precinct - not to be confused with Farrer Park, though both are named after the same British colonial official.

Over the past several years, many mum-and-pop shops like hair salons and provision shops have made way for "new kids" on the block that cater to a younger clientele.

These include at least eight education centres as well as businesses selling children's clothes or offering art lessons for kids.

The newcomers sit next to shops that go back 30 to 40 years, including a tailor, a Malay barber and a florist.

About 1.5 years ago, Ms Kit Leng Wah, 42, opened GrayMatter Education Centre at Block 3, Queen's Road.

She said: "Being in close proximity to a transport node is convenient for both my teachers and students.

"Although other centres have mushroomed here, we each have different target groups. This brings more people to the area and lowers marketing costs for us," she added.

Within walking distance from the MRT station are schools such as Nanyang Primary, St Margaret's Secondary and Little Oaks Montessori Kindergarten.

Guru Kids Pro opened at Block 4 last month to offer critical thinking programmes for four- to 12-year-olds.

Owner Katherine Law, 42, said: "I have been looking to open in this area for the past 10 years, but things were too quiet.

"Now, there is the new condominium coming up and rent is affordable. More education centres will increase the vibrancy of the area," she added.

In the same block is Kalas Kids, which opened last week. It sells organic clothes from Scandinavian brands for children up to six.

Its owner, Ms Vivian Chang, 39, said: "I like the neighbourhood, it is a safe environment for children. At about 5pm, you see residents start to come down for their evening walks and children playing on the pavements."

Some of the old shops have leased out part of their space.

Madam Annie Au, 69, who runs Kwanly Dressmaking & Tailoring Institution, has rented out half her shop to her niece Jace Ng, 41, who opened Artz Graine five years ago to train three- to 20-year-olds in art.

Even neighbourhood evergreen Westlake, the 40-year-old restaurant known for its braised pork buns, plans to roll out a fast-food concept that caters to children from the middle of next month.

Its manager Robert Lim, 64, said: "No one was interested in this place previously. But now there are many kids around as we are surrounded by education centres."

Residents and business owners have mixed feelings about the changes.

Retired information technology director Greg Chia, 55, said it was good to have more buzz in the area as "it will bring more people and boost variety".

But the drilling and pounding in recent years have also hurt business in Empress Road Market and Food Centre.

Mr Tew Chin Huat, 74, who has been selling tofu, bean sprouts and noodles for almost 40 years, lost many regulars when Farrer Court was torn down.

He said in Mandarin: "The MRT station did not help my business. My customers are mainly residents. Maybe the new condo might bring more people here."

However, business has started to pick up for Mr Michael Tse, 57, owner of Ah Wing's Wanton Mee at the food centre.

"After the Farrer Court flats were demolished, business was quiet for a while, but it has gotten better. We do not have a shopping mall here to attract people, but on the weekends, people from the churches come here to eat."

One church in the area, the Catholic Church of St Ignatius in King's Road, said the size of its parish has grown "slightly", partly because of the MRT station.

Few may know that the area used to have a kampung near the junction of Farrer and Holland Road called Lorong Jodoh.

Kampung residents moved to flats in the area in the 1970s.

One of them is Madam Yap Feng Moi, 61, who works at Westlake and lives in a three-room flat with her husband, mother-in-law and two of her six daughters.

In the early 1970s, they paid $11,000 for their home.

A three-room flat in Queen's Road is worth more than $400,000 now.

Madam Yap, who has said she will not sell her flat, added in Mandarin: "More education centres have opened here, but it remains a very peaceful and quiet neighbourhood."

This article was first published on June 6, 2014.
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