Another Revamp In The Works For Malay Village

Source : The Straits Times, Apr 12, 2008

The Malay Village will undergo yet another revamp in a bid to save it, its owners said yesterday.

The overhaul for the 22-ha Geylang Serai complex will be financed with the $50 million put in by investors in China and Thailand, said Mr Jeffrey Chan, the general manager of Malay Village Pte Ltd. He was responding yesterday to reports that the Malay Village has yet to find its stride - even after so many management changes in two decades.

Sources said it will be torn down and replaced with a mixed development at the end of its current 20-year lease, which expires in 2011.

Meanwhile, the place is deserted, and some business owners told The Straits Times they were making barely enough to pay the rents.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) told The Straits Times last week that the authorities were looking into redeveloping Paya Lebar, within which the village sits.

Mr Chan said he was unaware of the URA’s plans, but that Malay Village Pte Ltd had written to its landlord, the Housing Board, last week to seek a 20- to 30-year extension on its lease.

He was unable to say what form the revamp would take. All he would say was that it would still be dedicated to preserving and showcasing Singapore’s Malay heritage and culture.

Mr Chan also took pains to refute labels like ‘white elephant’ and ‘dead town’, noting that 70 of the 80 units there were leased out. He said: “We are working very hard to make this place work.”