Serious Good Japanese Man Survives Visit To Dangerous Yishun! GVGT!
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Wat about Yislum.? Is it worse than Geylang?
‘Happiness is a sin’: S’porean youth shares what it’s like to live in a neighbourhood with drug addicts & gangs
Farah was just 11 years old when she started noticing drug needles and blood stains around her block every day.
Farah is probably the most interesting friend I have.
Advertisement
She’s only 20 years old, but her life has been surreal.
We first met in 2016 during our time in polytechnic, and we’ve gotten really close since then.
I knew bits and pieces of her past life but never the complete story, which bugged me a lot because I was always so intrigued by her.
I mean, if you go to someone’s house and they introduce their uncle as “the former drug addict”, you’d surely want to know more too.
Farah kept telling me that her life was boring and average, but when I begged her to show me her old house near Geylang, I knew right away it would be anything but.
Dirty environment
Farah says she lived in the Geylang flat from the age of 11 to 15.
At first glance, the HDB block looks perfectly normal. It’s upon closer inspection that you realise it’s not your typical neighbourhood.
It was subtle, but the signs were there.
Rubbish strewn everywhere and the entire place reeked of cigarettes, booze and, well, garbage.
Photo by Syahindah Ishak.
Photo by Syahindah Ishak.Advertisement
Photo by Syahindah Ishak.
Photo by Syahindah Ishak.
The residents I saw there were mostly older, and the strong smell of their medicated oils formed a discomforting mix with the other already-pungent odours.
“My mother would hold her breath whenever she entered the lift because the smell was worse there,” said Farah.
Photo by Syahindah Ishak.Advertisement
I notice that the block also has a payphone. I can’t even remember the last time I saw one of those.
Photo by Syahindah Ishak.
But Farah told me that she had but an old, small Nokia phone and her house didn’t have any wifi.
One question kept running through my mind as we walked around the area: how did she end up there?
Parents divorced
It all began with her parents’ divorce in 2007, which she somehow never found out about in the few years that followed.
Farah says her mother was also struggling financially and could not buy her own house, so the broken family continued living under one roof, she and her younger sister being none the wiser.
Three years later, though, her mother married another man and got a job as an administrator, allowing her to buy her own flat — “the Geylang house”, the term Farah uses to refer to it.
That, she says, was the only place her mother could afford at the time.
Although Farah and her sister followed their mother, the initial agreement was that they were allowed to visit their father whenever they wanted to.
But soon after they moved, their mother refused to let them stay at their father’s.
AdvertisementSix people in one small house
The titular Geylang house is a one-room rented studio apartment.
Today, Farah’s grandfather lives there by himself.
Photo by Syahindah Ishak.
The corridor outside the house. Photo by Syahindah Ishak.
But back then, Farah lived there with her mother, sister and stepfather.
They also hired a helper after a while as her stepfather had two children from a previous marriage that would stay over sometimes.
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His children both had autism, so more help was needed to manage the house when they were around.
In 2013, her uncle (yes, the former drug addict) came to live with them too.
So that meant six people, all in one small, incredibly cramped one-room flat.
The cramped walkway from the kitchen to the living room. Photo by Syahindah Ishak.
The house didn’t have a bed, and there was only one bathroom.
Photo by Syahindah Ishak.
Farah shared a mattress with her sister in the room and the helper slept on another mattress beside them.
Photo by Syahindah Ishak.
Photo by Syahindah Ishak.
Her mother and stepfather slept on a mattress in the living room.
Her uncle got the couch, although he often slept in the driver’s seat of his car, with the window slightly down.
Advertisement
Since there were so many people sharing one small space, the lack of privacy and comfort led to frequent arguments.
It didn’t help that Farah, being the rebellious daughter, always had a knack for calling out her mother’s faults.
The fight would start with her mother being annoyed at little things — an out-of-place bag or Farah and her sister laughing too loudly.
It even became a recurring inside joke between the sisters.
Each time Farah and her sister started laughing, they would say to each other jokingly: “Cannot laugh so loud because mummy said happiness is a sin.”
Drug users and drug raids
Despite it all, the small house and her familial issues were the least of Farah’s problems.
Stuck in a low-class neighbourhood, crimes were prevalent.
Photo by Syahindah Ishak.
The back of Farah’s HDB block. Photo by Syahindah Ishak.Advertisement
When she lived there, however, she says she was used to seeing drug needles lying around the staircase and corridors.
Photo by Syahindah Ishak.
Apart from her uncle, Farah says many of the residents in the area were also drug addicts.
Some of them were in jail while their children stayed in the flats alone. Some hadn’t been caught.
Her uncle had just gotten out of prison when he came to live with them.
“A makcik used to update my mother on the day’s events because her sons were friends with the drug users,” Farah told me casually.
The makcik who lived next door to Farah’s family was very close to them. Photo by Syahindah Ishak.
Farah also tells me she believes she often saw officers in plain clothes roaming her neighbourhood.
She said it was easy to spot them as they were always well-groomed and wore new shirts. They also usually travelled in pairs.
Farah’s family flat wasn’t spared from the drug raids either.
Advertisement
She recalls that once, Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) officers raided her house as they suspected that her uncle had taken drugs again.
Fortunately for her, she happened to be at her father’s house at the time.
Her mother, on the other hand, was left alone to deal with the mess.
Drug addicts weren’t the only criminals living in the neighbourhood — gang members and loansharks were ever-present as well.
Many fights broke out in the area.
Nearly every night, Farah and her sister would hear the echoes of men shouting and glass bottles shattering.
The next morning, they would find blood stains at the lift lobby.
Photo by Syahindah Ishak.
Photo by Syahindah Ishak.
Photo by Syahindah Ishak.Advertisement
Photo by Syahindah Ishak.
If it wasn’t blood smeared on the walls of the block, there would instead be that familiar ‘owe money pay money’ adage crudely painted on.
The specific messages were no longer visible, although evidence of their existence remains.
Photo by Syahindah Ishak.
Photo by Syahindah Ishak.AdvertisementSuicide cases
Farah shares that the struggles of living in a troubled area like this had even worse effects on some of the residents.
Suicide attempts were frequent, she says.
Photo by Syahindah Ishak.
Farah recalls witnessing one when she was only 12 years old.
Farah says her mum barred her and her sister from walking along here as people often attempted suicide from this side of the block. Photo by Syahindah Ishak.AdvertisementHad a hard time dealing with life
Having to face so many harrowing events on a daily basis also took its toll on Farah and her family.
She went to what was considered a “good” primary and secondary school.
Most of her schoolmates were of higher socio-economic status and they were aware of Farah’s background.
Once, her classmates came over to her house to do a group project but one of their grandmothers’ kept warning them not to go to her house.
She tells me she didn’t really mind the fact that she wasn’t as privileged as her other schoolmates, but she did get envious whenever the school conducted excursions.
Her friends could all pay for the outings. She couldn’t.
Regardless of the challenges, Farah got through her school years with ease and obtained good academic results.
Ironically, she credits her experiences in the Geylang house for her success.
Her experiences allowed her to pick up useful skills, which she feels translated into her studies.
I’ve always known Farah to be a master problem solver, and I’ve never seen her back down from a challenge.
Besides that, the constant danger she was surrounded by inadvertently trained her to be cautious, observant and meticulous — skills that she feels also helped in her schoolwork.
Advertisement
Even after her family moved out from the Geylang house in 2014, Farah continued to do well in her studies.
She graduated secondary school with an L1R5 of 11 points for her O-Level exams.
Now, she tells me she’s planning to study law.
Despite her challenging childhood, Farah tells me she wouldn’t change anything about it.
Photo by Syahindah Ishak.
She also treasures the sense of camaraderie that her neighbours in her block had.
Advertisement
It was an unusual bond, but a bond nonetheless — one she tells me she will never forget.
To find happiness, even though it might be a sin.
Top photo by Syahindah Ishak.
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About Syahindah Ishak
Syahindah has an intense fear of heights so she's thankful she's short.
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‘Happiness is a sin’: S’porean youth shares what it’s like to live in a neighbourhood with drug addicts & gangs
Farah was just 11 years old when she started noticing drug needles and blood stains around her block every day.
Farah is probably the most interesting friend I have.
Advertisement
She’s only 20 years old, but her life has been surreal.
We first met in 2016 during our time in polytechnic, and we’ve gotten really close since then.
I knew bits and pieces of her past life but never the complete story, which bugged me a lot because I was always so intrigued by her.
I mean, if you go to someone’s house and they introduce their uncle as “the former drug addict”, you’d surely want to know more too.
Farah kept telling me that her life was boring and average, but when I begged her to show me her old house near Geylang, I knew right away it would be anything but.
Dirty environment
Farah says she lived in the Geylang flat from the age of 11 to 15.
At first glance, the HDB block looks perfectly normal. It’s upon closer inspection that you realise it’s not your typical neighbourhood.
It was subtle, but the signs were there.
Rubbish strewn everywhere and the entire place reeked of cigarettes, booze and, well, garbage.
The residents I saw there were mostly older, and the strong smell of their medicated oils formed a discomforting mix with the other already-pungent odours.
“My mother would hold her breath whenever she entered the lift because the smell was worse there,” said Farah.
I notice that the block also has a payphone. I can’t even remember the last time I saw one of those.
Farah stayed in the neighbourhood between 2010 and 2014 — when, if you might recall, the iPhones 4 through 6 were launched.
But Farah told me that she had but an old, small Nokia phone and her house didn’t have any wifi.
One question kept running through my mind as we walked around the area: how did she end up there?
Parents divorced
It all began with her parents’ divorce in 2007, which she somehow never found out about in the few years that followed.
Farah says her mother was also struggling financially and could not buy her own house, so the broken family continued living under one roof, she and her younger sister being none the wiser.
Three years later, though, her mother married another man and got a job as an administrator, allowing her to buy her own flat — “the Geylang house”, the term Farah uses to refer to it.
That, she says, was the only place her mother could afford at the time.
Although Farah and her sister followed their mother, the initial agreement was that they were allowed to visit their father whenever they wanted to.
But soon after they moved, their mother refused to let them stay at their father’s.
Things only settled down after a year and they were finally allowed to freely see their father.
AdvertisementSix people in one small house
The titular Geylang house is a one-room rented studio apartment.
Today, Farah’s grandfather lives there by himself.
But back then, Farah lived there with her mother, sister and stepfather.
They also hired a helper after a while as her stepfather had two children from a previous marriage that would stay over sometimes.
Advertisement
His children both had autism, so more help was needed to manage the house when they were around.
In 2013, her uncle (yes, the former drug addict) came to live with them too.
So that meant six people, all in one small, incredibly cramped one-room flat.
The house didn’t have a bed, and there was only one bathroom.
Farah shared a mattress with her sister in the room and the helper slept on another mattress beside them.
Her mother and stepfather slept on a mattress in the living room.
Her uncle got the couch, although he often slept in the driver’s seat of his car, with the window slightly down.
Advertisement
Since there were so many people sharing one small space, the lack of privacy and comfort led to frequent arguments.
It didn’t help that Farah, being the rebellious daughter, always had a knack for calling out her mother’s faults.
The fight would start with her mother being annoyed at little things — an out-of-place bag or Farah and her sister laughing too loudly.
It even became a recurring inside joke between the sisters.
Each time Farah and her sister started laughing, they would say to each other jokingly: “Cannot laugh so loud because mummy said happiness is a sin.”
Drug users and drug raids
Despite it all, the small house and her familial issues were the least of Farah’s problems.
Stuck in a low-class neighbourhood, crimes were prevalent.
Farah even sent me a link to an article that reported the measures implemented to rid the area of crimes.
When she lived there, however, she says she was used to seeing drug needles lying around the staircase and corridors.
Apart from her uncle, Farah says many of the residents in the area were also drug addicts.
Some of them were in jail while their children stayed in the flats alone. Some hadn’t been caught.
Her uncle had just gotten out of prison when he came to live with them.
Drug raids often occurred in the area too.
“A makcik used to update my mother on the day’s events because her sons were friends with the drug users,” Farah told me casually.
Farah also tells me she believes she often saw officers in plain clothes roaming her neighbourhood.
She said it was easy to spot them as they were always well-groomed and wore new shirts. They also usually travelled in pairs.
Farah’s family flat wasn’t spared from the drug raids either.
Advertisement
She recalls that once, Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) officers raided her house as they suspected that her uncle had taken drugs again.
Fortunately for her, she happened to be at her father’s house at the time.
Her mother, on the other hand, was left alone to deal with the mess.
Blood stains from gang fights and signs from loan sharks
Drug addicts weren’t the only criminals living in the neighbourhood — gang members and loansharks were ever-present as well.
Many fights broke out in the area.
Nearly every night, Farah and her sister would hear the echoes of men shouting and glass bottles shattering.
The next morning, they would find blood stains at the lift lobby.
Even when Farah and I visited the area, I could see remnants of blood stains on the floor and in the lift.
If it wasn’t blood smeared on the walls of the block, there would instead be that familiar ‘owe money pay money’ adage crudely painted on.
The specific messages were no longer visible, although evidence of their existence remains.
Farah shares that the struggles of living in a troubled area like this had even worse effects on some of the residents.
Suicide attempts were frequent, she says.
Farah recalls witnessing one when she was only 12 years old.
Farah’s mother even forbade them from walking along open walkways because there was always the possibility of someone jumping.
Having to face so many harrowing events on a daily basis also took its toll on Farah and her family.
On top of that, Farah says she also faced some discrimination in school because of her background.
She went to what was considered a “good” primary and secondary school.
Most of her schoolmates were of higher socio-economic status and they were aware of Farah’s background.
Once, her classmates came over to her house to do a group project but one of their grandmothers’ kept warning them not to go to her house.
Farah was also one of the few students who were on the school’s Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS).
She tells me she didn’t really mind the fact that she wasn’t as privileged as her other schoolmates, but she did get envious whenever the school conducted excursions.
Her friends could all pay for the outings. She couldn’t.
Studies were never compromised
Regardless of the challenges, Farah got through her school years with ease and obtained good academic results.
Ironically, she credits her experiences in the Geylang house for her success.
Her experiences allowed her to pick up useful skills, which she feels translated into her studies.
I’ve always known Farah to be a master problem solver, and I’ve never seen her back down from a challenge.
Besides that, the constant danger she was surrounded by inadvertently trained her to be cautious, observant and meticulous — skills that she feels also helped in her schoolwork.
Advertisement
Even after her family moved out from the Geylang house in 2014, Farah continued to do well in her studies.
Farah and her family now live much more comfortably in a four-room HDB flat in the north-eastern part of Singapore.
She graduated secondary school with an L1R5 of 11 points for her O-Level exams.
Now, she tells me she’s planning to study law.
Would never change her past life
Despite her challenging childhood, Farah tells me she wouldn’t change anything about it.
She also treasures the sense of camaraderie that her neighbours in her block had.
Advertisement
It was an unusual bond, but a bond nonetheless — one she tells me she will never forget.
Farah told me she learnt to take things in her stride, and find joy even in harsh situations she found herself in.
To find happiness, even though it might be a sin.
Top photo by Syahindah Ishak.
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About Syahindah Ishak
Syahindah has an intense fear of heights so she's thankful she's short.
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- Jun 27, 2018
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CNA trying to sugar coat shit
Up Your Alley: Yishun, the heartland haven with heart
This is the second of CNA's new series to uncover hidden gems around Singapore. Write in to tell us what makes your neighbourhood special.
Up Your Alley Yishun main collage
Clockwise from left: Chong Pang City, people crossing the road near Chong Pang City, an angler teaches CNA's Try Sutrisno Foo how to fish, and cyclists at Yishun Dam. (Photos: Try Sutrisno Foo, Jeremy Long)
Bookmark
SINGAPORE: There’s a saying that goes “the more things change, the more they stay the same”, and perhaps that can be used to describe the development of Yishun so far.
For those who are not residents here, it’s easy to dismiss Yishun as the subject of #OnlyInYishun and “Make Yishun Great Again” jokes after a series of unfortunate or unusual events got it featured in a Netflix trailer for Stranger Things.
The northern town has undergone transformation by leaps and bounds. It was once the site of pig and vegetable farms and once had the image of being infested with malaria-carrying mosquitoes. It later became the first neighbourhood in Singapore to have a cineplex when Yishun 10 opened in 1992.
Yet for people who have lived or still live in Yishun, it’s not the edgy reputation or the constant change that makes them fond of the place. Rather, it is the strong ties between residents and kampung spirit that have withstood the test of time.
One long-time former resident, Alfred Siew, tells CNA: “My former neighbour, she is still here. She hasn't changed except for growing older. The people you know, the people you grow up with. People move out, I’ve moved out - but the links are still there. When I go back, I see my neighbour and my kids greet her as (I did) when I was a kid myself. These things won’t change.”
READ: Up Your Alley - Hidden gems around Singapore's Chinatown
And Alfred’s not the only one who has expressed this sentiment.
Time and again, people we spoke to in Yishun - from residents to business owners - speak of relationships forged over the years that have kept them from moving elsewhere. This episode of Up Your Alley features some of the places and people that help make Yishun the home that many look to return to:
CHILL OUT AT CHONG PANG CITY
Chong Pang City is the place most Yishun residents refer to when they mention Chong Pang - and it’s a place that embodies the can-do spirit of earlier generations as it was the merchants and shopkeepers who pooled their resources to create that shopping area.
Bounded by Yishun Ave 5, Sembawang Road and Yishun Ring Road, it houses a sprawling hawker centre next to a wet market. From fruit stalls to beauty salons, these shops draw crowds to the foot of four-storey blocks that act as guard walls around the mini maze within that is Chong Pang City.
Up Your Alley Yishun Chong Pang Collage
Clockwise from left: People cycling past a Chong Pang City gateway, a makeshift vegetable stall at Chong Pang City, a man buying banana at Chong Pang City, a crowd of people buying fish at Chong Pang Wet Market at the break of dawn. (Photos: Try Sutrisno Foo)
Many will say the area’s charm is its old-town vibes, while others name-drop it as the place to be to meet friends from all over Yishun.
Sakdiah Abdul Latif, who runs a nasi padang stall at Block 101, can attest to this. A simple stroll through Chong Pang City will see her stop by friends from all parts - a jewellery store owner, her fish supplier from the nearby wet market, the lady tending to a vegetable stall.
“If you’re from Chong Pang, it’s hard to go far from this place. I have one customer who sold their home and moved away, only to move back to Chong Pang in a matter of three years. So you always see the same people,” Mdm Sakdiah said.
Up Your Alley Yishun Buying and selling vegetable at Chong Pang Wet Market
People buying and selling vegetable in the early morning at Chong Pang Wet Market. (Photo: Try Sutrisno Foo)
Up Your Alley Yishun Buying and selling fish at Chong Pang wet market
People buying and selling fish at Chong Pang Wet Market. (Photo: Try Sutrisno Foo)
And because almost everyone is a familiar face, it is an easy thing to help one another when the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic hit, she recounted.
READ: A young man learns his father’s ‘magic’: The story of Yishun’s Indian spice store
“The market became really quiet. But stall owners helped each other stay afloat by cutting prices where we could, or sometimes even not charging people.”
Up Your Alley Yishun People near fruit stalls at Chong Pang City
A woman cycles past a man on checking his phone among the early morning crowd near fruit stalls outside Block 102 at Chong Pang City. (Photo: Try Sutrisno Foo)
Not immune to change, Chong Pang City is slated for a major facelift. Plans to rejuvenate the area will see the nearby Chong Pang Community Club and Block 102 turned into a new community centre with features such as swimming pools, a gym and an upgraded hawker centre.
Asked for her thoughts for these new plans, Mdm Sakdiah said: “This means I have to be prepared when plans for the rest of Chong Pang reaches Block 101. People here are excited about the changes, but worry about friends who will have to relocate their businesses.”
Up Your Alley Yishun Chong Pang City Food Centre
The afternoon crowd at Chong Pang City Food Centre. Stalls in this food centre will be relocated to a new community centre when it is ready in 2027. The space which the food centre currently occupies will be turned into a community plaza in 2028. (Photo: Try Sutrisno Foo)
Baron Ang, a 29-year-old third-generation fishmonger, chimed in: “It will be interesting to see how the new plans will affect the community spirit we have in Chong Pang right now. Hopefully this kampung spirit will stay, even as some stalls move to the new place.”
S$2.80 LAKSA AT BLOCK 928
Up Your Alley Yishun the queue for Block 928 Laksa
The lunchtime crowd eating laksa at Block 928 Yishun Central 1 and the long queue in the background. (Photo: Try Sutrisno Foo)
First time in Yishun and on the look out for a cheap and savoury meal? This laksa stall at Block 928 Yishun Central comes highly recommended.
Hidden somewhat in the maze of heartland shops next to Northpoint City, this laksa joint is a crowd favourite. Hardly surprising when you find out one bowl of laksa there costs just S$2.80.
Up Your Alley Yishun Laksa Collage
Clockwise from left: A man and child ordering laksa, laksa ingredients, the queue for laksa during lunchtime, a small bowl of Laksa. (Photos: Try Sutrisno Foo)
While price plays a part in drawing new visitors to the stall, it’s nostalgia that keeps customers coming back for more, said Bina Neo, who heads operations with her sister, Mdm Tan Ngak Siok.
READ: Our top 3 picks for a bowl of luscious, lemak laksa in Singapore
Ms Neo can be said to have watched her customers grow up having operated the business since the 1990s. “I have customers who have eaten this laksa since their primary and secondary school days. So they have memories attached to both the laksa and the shop,” she said.
Keen to get a bite? Be prepared to wait for at least 30 minutes during peak periods like lunch time.
LOWER SELETAR RESERVOIR
Up Your Alley Yishun Rob Chang reeling in a peacock bass
Angler and Yishun resident Rob Chang reeling in a peacock bass, an invasive freshwater fish species commonly found in water bodies in Singapore. (Photo: Try Sutrisno Foo)
Lower Seletar Reservoir is the first sight that greets commuters on the MRT as they travel down from Yio Chu Kang into Yishun. The reservoir came into being when a dam was built at the mouth of the Seletar River in 1983.
Beneath the train tracks lies one of three legal fishing spots around the reservoir. (The other two areas are the fishing deck along Yishun Ave 1 and the new Rower’s Bay Park, closer to Yishun Dam.) And this is where anglers like Rob Chang can be seen nonchalantly casting their fishing rods into the water and waiting patiently for a tug on the line - usually by a peacock bass, snakehead or tilapia.
Up Your Alley Yishun A peacock bass caught at Lower Seletar Reservoir
A peacock bass caught by an angler at Lower Seletar Reservoir. (Photo: Jeremy Long)
Mr Chang, who lives 10 minutes away by bicycle, spends three days a week fishing at this reservoir. As a long-time regular at the reservoir, he also notes a change in the profile of anglers at the fishing spot: “It used to be just me and other hobbyists along the banks. Now I see more school-going kids taking up fishing.”
He added: “It's nice to see that they know about the fishing spots and are enjoying nature and the outdoors in our urban city.”
Up Your Alley Yishun Men at the end of Heritage Bridge at Lower Seletar Reservoir
Two men chatting at the viewing deck at the end of the Lower Seletar Reservoir's Heritage Bridge. (Photo: Try Sutrisno Foo)
These fishing enthusiasts aren’t the only ones who enjoy going to the reservoir.
Up Your Alley: Yishun, the heartland haven with heart
This is the second of CNA's new series to uncover hidden gems around Singapore. Write in to tell us what makes your neighbourhood special.
Up Your Alley Yishun main collage
Clockwise from left: Chong Pang City, people crossing the road near Chong Pang City, an angler teaches CNA's Try Sutrisno Foo how to fish, and cyclists at Yishun Dam. (Photos: Try Sutrisno Foo, Jeremy Long)
Bookmark
SINGAPORE: There’s a saying that goes “the more things change, the more they stay the same”, and perhaps that can be used to describe the development of Yishun so far.
For those who are not residents here, it’s easy to dismiss Yishun as the subject of #OnlyInYishun and “Make Yishun Great Again” jokes after a series of unfortunate or unusual events got it featured in a Netflix trailer for Stranger Things.
The northern town has undergone transformation by leaps and bounds. It was once the site of pig and vegetable farms and once had the image of being infested with malaria-carrying mosquitoes. It later became the first neighbourhood in Singapore to have a cineplex when Yishun 10 opened in 1992.
Yet for people who have lived or still live in Yishun, it’s not the edgy reputation or the constant change that makes them fond of the place. Rather, it is the strong ties between residents and kampung spirit that have withstood the test of time.
One long-time former resident, Alfred Siew, tells CNA: “My former neighbour, she is still here. She hasn't changed except for growing older. The people you know, the people you grow up with. People move out, I’ve moved out - but the links are still there. When I go back, I see my neighbour and my kids greet her as (I did) when I was a kid myself. These things won’t change.”
READ: Up Your Alley - Hidden gems around Singapore's Chinatown
And Alfred’s not the only one who has expressed this sentiment.
Time and again, people we spoke to in Yishun - from residents to business owners - speak of relationships forged over the years that have kept them from moving elsewhere. This episode of Up Your Alley features some of the places and people that help make Yishun the home that many look to return to:
CHILL OUT AT CHONG PANG CITY
Chong Pang City is the place most Yishun residents refer to when they mention Chong Pang - and it’s a place that embodies the can-do spirit of earlier generations as it was the merchants and shopkeepers who pooled their resources to create that shopping area.
Bounded by Yishun Ave 5, Sembawang Road and Yishun Ring Road, it houses a sprawling hawker centre next to a wet market. From fruit stalls to beauty salons, these shops draw crowds to the foot of four-storey blocks that act as guard walls around the mini maze within that is Chong Pang City.
Up Your Alley Yishun Chong Pang Collage
Clockwise from left: People cycling past a Chong Pang City gateway, a makeshift vegetable stall at Chong Pang City, a man buying banana at Chong Pang City, a crowd of people buying fish at Chong Pang Wet Market at the break of dawn. (Photos: Try Sutrisno Foo)
Many will say the area’s charm is its old-town vibes, while others name-drop it as the place to be to meet friends from all over Yishun.
Sakdiah Abdul Latif, who runs a nasi padang stall at Block 101, can attest to this. A simple stroll through Chong Pang City will see her stop by friends from all parts - a jewellery store owner, her fish supplier from the nearby wet market, the lady tending to a vegetable stall.
“If you’re from Chong Pang, it’s hard to go far from this place. I have one customer who sold their home and moved away, only to move back to Chong Pang in a matter of three years. So you always see the same people,” Mdm Sakdiah said.
Up Your Alley Yishun Buying and selling vegetable at Chong Pang Wet Market
People buying and selling vegetable in the early morning at Chong Pang Wet Market. (Photo: Try Sutrisno Foo)
Up Your Alley Yishun Buying and selling fish at Chong Pang wet market
People buying and selling fish at Chong Pang Wet Market. (Photo: Try Sutrisno Foo)
And because almost everyone is a familiar face, it is an easy thing to help one another when the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic hit, she recounted.
READ: A young man learns his father’s ‘magic’: The story of Yishun’s Indian spice store
“The market became really quiet. But stall owners helped each other stay afloat by cutting prices where we could, or sometimes even not charging people.”
Up Your Alley Yishun People near fruit stalls at Chong Pang City
A woman cycles past a man on checking his phone among the early morning crowd near fruit stalls outside Block 102 at Chong Pang City. (Photo: Try Sutrisno Foo)
Not immune to change, Chong Pang City is slated for a major facelift. Plans to rejuvenate the area will see the nearby Chong Pang Community Club and Block 102 turned into a new community centre with features such as swimming pools, a gym and an upgraded hawker centre.
Asked for her thoughts for these new plans, Mdm Sakdiah said: “This means I have to be prepared when plans for the rest of Chong Pang reaches Block 101. People here are excited about the changes, but worry about friends who will have to relocate their businesses.”
Up Your Alley Yishun Chong Pang City Food Centre
The afternoon crowd at Chong Pang City Food Centre. Stalls in this food centre will be relocated to a new community centre when it is ready in 2027. The space which the food centre currently occupies will be turned into a community plaza in 2028. (Photo: Try Sutrisno Foo)
Baron Ang, a 29-year-old third-generation fishmonger, chimed in: “It will be interesting to see how the new plans will affect the community spirit we have in Chong Pang right now. Hopefully this kampung spirit will stay, even as some stalls move to the new place.”
S$2.80 LAKSA AT BLOCK 928
Up Your Alley Yishun the queue for Block 928 Laksa
The lunchtime crowd eating laksa at Block 928 Yishun Central 1 and the long queue in the background. (Photo: Try Sutrisno Foo)
First time in Yishun and on the look out for a cheap and savoury meal? This laksa stall at Block 928 Yishun Central comes highly recommended.
Hidden somewhat in the maze of heartland shops next to Northpoint City, this laksa joint is a crowd favourite. Hardly surprising when you find out one bowl of laksa there costs just S$2.80.
Up Your Alley Yishun Laksa Collage
Clockwise from left: A man and child ordering laksa, laksa ingredients, the queue for laksa during lunchtime, a small bowl of Laksa. (Photos: Try Sutrisno Foo)
While price plays a part in drawing new visitors to the stall, it’s nostalgia that keeps customers coming back for more, said Bina Neo, who heads operations with her sister, Mdm Tan Ngak Siok.
READ: Our top 3 picks for a bowl of luscious, lemak laksa in Singapore
Ms Neo can be said to have watched her customers grow up having operated the business since the 1990s. “I have customers who have eaten this laksa since their primary and secondary school days. So they have memories attached to both the laksa and the shop,” she said.
Keen to get a bite? Be prepared to wait for at least 30 minutes during peak periods like lunch time.
LOWER SELETAR RESERVOIR
Up Your Alley Yishun Rob Chang reeling in a peacock bass
Angler and Yishun resident Rob Chang reeling in a peacock bass, an invasive freshwater fish species commonly found in water bodies in Singapore. (Photo: Try Sutrisno Foo)
Lower Seletar Reservoir is the first sight that greets commuters on the MRT as they travel down from Yio Chu Kang into Yishun. The reservoir came into being when a dam was built at the mouth of the Seletar River in 1983.
Beneath the train tracks lies one of three legal fishing spots around the reservoir. (The other two areas are the fishing deck along Yishun Ave 1 and the new Rower’s Bay Park, closer to Yishun Dam.) And this is where anglers like Rob Chang can be seen nonchalantly casting their fishing rods into the water and waiting patiently for a tug on the line - usually by a peacock bass, snakehead or tilapia.
Up Your Alley Yishun A peacock bass caught at Lower Seletar Reservoir
A peacock bass caught by an angler at Lower Seletar Reservoir. (Photo: Jeremy Long)
Mr Chang, who lives 10 minutes away by bicycle, spends three days a week fishing at this reservoir. As a long-time regular at the reservoir, he also notes a change in the profile of anglers at the fishing spot: “It used to be just me and other hobbyists along the banks. Now I see more school-going kids taking up fishing.”
He added: “It's nice to see that they know about the fishing spots and are enjoying nature and the outdoors in our urban city.”
Up Your Alley Yishun Men at the end of Heritage Bridge at Lower Seletar Reservoir
Two men chatting at the viewing deck at the end of the Lower Seletar Reservoir's Heritage Bridge. (Photo: Try Sutrisno Foo)
These fishing enthusiasts aren’t the only ones who enjoy going to the reservoir.
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