Simon Road Market is now a Condo

As I pay more attention to the surrounding, observing and trying to recall what it was like just few years ago, it is shocking just how much has changed in barely a decade. Previously, I blogged about how Forfar House and the old flats at Dawson were still standing nearly a decade ago but today replaced by new and upcoming premium housing. When I read about some commemorative bronze sculptures at the site of the old Simon Road market, I feared for the worst. Clearly the word "commemorative" does tell you something.

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What's Gone and Soon to Go at Margaret Drive

The last time I explored Margaret Drive, though only half of it, and Queenstown was one or two years back. This one year, I read much at Margaret Drive has changed and gone. When I shifted my workplace to Si Pai Por in April, I could no longer keep myself updated with the landmarks visible from the MRT, as it runs along from Redhill to Commonwealth station. On September 11, I thought it would be a good idea to finish my exploration of Margaret Drive, and at the same time document what is gone and is soon to go.

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Preserving Memories of Queenstown Through "Singapore Pie"

In the ensuing years after I left school, much has changed in the local education landscape, with a Curriculum and Pedagogy Review Committee formed in Feb 2004 to "conduct a comprehensive review of the teaching and learning of the Chinese Language in our schools". I'm not aware what has entered the curriculum and the textbooks, though I read some teachers are not averse to using pop songs like Jay Chou's to teach the language. On another trajectory, we find the preservation of memories and educating the younger generation about our heritage gaining momentum. In that case, allow me to make a humble suggestion, why not introduce local folk songs (xinyao) like "Singapore Pie" into the curriculum and kill two birds with one stone?

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Old Roads (1) - North Buona Vista Road

I posted this quiz almost two weeks ago, that is to guess the old road behind the foliage. It must have been a challenging quiz as despite three mundane clues and one interesting clue - the road is still around just realigned - nobody got it right. One Anon was close ("near Dover MRT") and I almost wanted to declare a winner until I realized Dover MRT was not the MRT station I had in mind for my clue. I wrote that the road is near and within walking distance to MRT, but I deliberately omitted one crucial piece of information - the station is not functional yet. The station I had in mind was the soon-to-be-opened "One-North" Circle Line station.

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