Letter from Sandra Jayandran Today Online 17 Nov 11;
I refer to reports about the construction of the North-South Expressway (NSE) and the buildings that will be affected, in particular Rochor Centre ("Paving the way for a smoother ride", Nov 16).
The building, with its unique architecture and quirky colours, is to me a cheerful sight along that stretch of road. Areas like this on the fringe of the city add colour and life to our city state.
In fact, the whole Rochor/Beach Road and Bugis area is slowly being transformed into yet another upmarket area that I feel this country does not need.
We already have the whole of Orchard Road, all the way to the City Hall area, for the likes of tourists and locals to shop and dine in style. Why this need to always keep meddling with areas that are working well and, organically, have become part of people's lives?
What's next, I wonder: More "upgrading" for other historic areas? What about the older parts of Beach Road like the food centre and Golden Mile Complex? Will these parts of town be deemed too "unglamorous" and need to be refurbished?
I cannot help feeling that the authorities are too keen to bulldoze buildings that have little economic value, all in the name of increasing traffic flow and speeds. The same can be said of the removal of tombs from Bukit Brown cemetery, which the authorities say is necessary in order to build a road to ease traffic congestion at Adam/Lornie roads.
We need to seriously reconsider ways to improve the public transport system, rather than falling back on building more roads, in the process ruining our landscape and losing our history.
