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Every neighbourhood in Singapore has a reputation: Bukit Timah is old money, Sentosa Cove is new money, Marine Parade is for the beach lovers, Sengkang is for the young liberal middle-class families, Joo Chiat and Tiong Bahru are for the trendy expats, and Yishun is just … ratchet.
But there’s one neighbourhood I just can’t put my finger on: Canberra. And it appears no one else can either.
A fuckwarezone thread—which I stumbled across one day—was literally titled, “Canberra: Is It The New Ghost Town Of Singapore?” Three years after being posted, and over 50 discussion pages later, no one can define the place.
This is how I find myself at Canberra MRT, which resembles Changi Airport more than it does the red line. The open air nautical design of the station is striking, but it’s the only noteworthy site in the area.
If Canberra MRT were really in Australia (like it sounds), it would be considered a busy station. But by Singaporean standards, it appears to be indeed a ‘ghost town.’
I think back to the online thread, where some users have no clue the place even exists: “where exactly is this wannabe aussie named estate?”, while others have called it “Slumberra”, and that it “sounds bad” because the empty car parks there are the “new place to do in-car hanky panky.” (A colleague of mine confessed that this is in fact, true.)
Over the years, momentum has picked up on the thread as users have attempted to predict the impact new developments would have. “I used to think this is awful place but realised what a gem this place is away from the bustling yishun,” one user said. Others point out how the construction of a new sports hub set to open in the coming years and the recent opening of Canberra Plaza mall are finally putting the neighbourhood on the map.
I look across the road to said Canberra plaza, a dark, generic looking mall that stands shut and empty opposite the station. As I exit, I can count on one hand the number of cars that drive by.
It can’t be that bad, I tell myself. Canberra, with dozens of new BTOs and developments, is after all the epitome of the ‘modern Singaporean neighbourhood.’
Hungry, I take a chance at an industrial looking old coffee shop across the road, which sits next to a Hindu temple.
A stall named Zam Zam Indian Special Food catches my eye.
I start chatting with Nisha, one of the women running the family owned stall. Within minutes she introduces me to her grandma, the chef behind the delicious recipes I’m feasting on with my eyes.
Nisha tells me that her father grew up in Canberra, and that years ago it was a completely different place. There were no malls and no MRT station, but still, he only ever had good things to say about the neighbourhood.
Throughout the day, I started hearing more and more of this same narrative. Online, netizens paint Canberra as a place that has nothing, and is only set to gain from the new developments. But individuals who have lived here for decades tell a different story.
An old school friend of mine, Zoe, meets us at the eating house. She has lived in Canberra her whole life, and confesses that “as boring as it seems, it’s nice.”
A lot more at https://www.ricemedia.co/lifestyle-canberra-new-ghost-town-singapore/
But there’s one neighbourhood I just can’t put my finger on: Canberra. And it appears no one else can either.
A fuckwarezone thread—which I stumbled across one day—was literally titled, “Canberra: Is It The New Ghost Town Of Singapore?” Three years after being posted, and over 50 discussion pages later, no one can define the place.
This is how I find myself at Canberra MRT, which resembles Changi Airport more than it does the red line. The open air nautical design of the station is striking, but it’s the only noteworthy site in the area.
If Canberra MRT were really in Australia (like it sounds), it would be considered a busy station. But by Singaporean standards, it appears to be indeed a ‘ghost town.’
I think back to the online thread, where some users have no clue the place even exists: “where exactly is this wannabe aussie named estate?”, while others have called it “Slumberra”, and that it “sounds bad” because the empty car parks there are the “new place to do in-car hanky panky.” (A colleague of mine confessed that this is in fact, true.)
Over the years, momentum has picked up on the thread as users have attempted to predict the impact new developments would have. “I used to think this is awful place but realised what a gem this place is away from the bustling yishun,” one user said. Others point out how the construction of a new sports hub set to open in the coming years and the recent opening of Canberra Plaza mall are finally putting the neighbourhood on the map.
I look across the road to said Canberra plaza, a dark, generic looking mall that stands shut and empty opposite the station. As I exit, I can count on one hand the number of cars that drive by.
It can’t be that bad, I tell myself. Canberra, with dozens of new BTOs and developments, is after all the epitome of the ‘modern Singaporean neighbourhood.’
Hungry, I take a chance at an industrial looking old coffee shop across the road, which sits next to a Hindu temple.
A stall named Zam Zam Indian Special Food catches my eye.
I start chatting with Nisha, one of the women running the family owned stall. Within minutes she introduces me to her grandma, the chef behind the delicious recipes I’m feasting on with my eyes.
Nisha tells me that her father grew up in Canberra, and that years ago it was a completely different place. There were no malls and no MRT station, but still, he only ever had good things to say about the neighbourhood.
Throughout the day, I started hearing more and more of this same narrative. Online, netizens paint Canberra as a place that has nothing, and is only set to gain from the new developments. But individuals who have lived here for decades tell a different story.
An old school friend of mine, Zoe, meets us at the eating house. She has lived in Canberra her whole life, and confesses that “as boring as it seems, it’s nice.”
A lot more at https://www.ricemedia.co/lifestyle-canberra-new-ghost-town-singapore/
