Photo gallery: Bedok Town Centre in transition
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FLOWER POWER: From birth to death, Man King Florist founder Goh Swee Meng, 55, has a stalk for every season. He and his wife Lee Hui Hiok, 52, (with their store assistant), sell flowers all year round, only closing on the first day of Chinese New Year. With the latest redevelopment, they have been given $30,000 to relocate, Madam Lee says. But they have only one wish: they want to stay. -- PHOTO: NEO XIAOBIN
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FLOWER POWER: From birth to death, founder of Joo Chiat Florist Goh Swee Meng, 55, has a stalk for every occasion. Selling flowers since the age of seven, he has overcome redevelopment and relocation to transform his father's small Flower trading store into an iconic florist in Singapore's breezy east coast. Together with his wife madam Lee Hui Hiok, 52, the couple sell their wreaths, bouquets and pots of flowers 364 days a year, only closing on the first day of Chinese New Year. With the latest redevelopment they have been given $30,000 to relocate, but they only have one wish: they want to stay. -- ST PHOTO: NEO XIAOBIN
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FLOWER POWER: From birth to death, founder of Joo Chiat Florist Goh Swee Meng, 55, has a stalk for every occasion. Selling flowers since the age of seven, he has overcome redevelopment and relocation to transform his father's small Flower trading store into an iconic florist in Singapore's breezy east coast. Together with his wife madam Lee Hui Hiok, 52, the couple sell their wreaths, bouquets and pots of flowers 364 days a year, only closing on the first day of Chinese New Year. With the latest redevelopment they have been given $30,000 to relocate, but they only have one wish: they want to stay. -- ST PHOTO: NEO XIAOBIN
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KEY FIXTURE: A typical day for locksmith Mr Tay Soon Ee starts with a 20-minute drive from his Seng Kang flat to Bedok Town Centre. And from 8am to 9pm everyday, he blends into the crowd, making the 3 by 1m space along the sheltered walkway his store. The 66-year-old self-taught locksmith has been duplicating keys in Bedok for 25 years. His humble store, in the form of a metal push cart adorned by a giant key sign, is an unmissable sight for anyone passing by the hawker centre en-route to Bedok MRT station. On the average, the father of four daughters earns $100 a day and that is enough for him to provide two of his daughters with a university education. An avid traveller, Mr Tay said that he travels overseas to places like Japan, Hong Kong or China once a year. As new malls will start sprouting out around him in 2014, he's not worried by any competition but by the prospect of key cutting being a dying trade. "Youngsters wouldn't want to do this. It's too tiring. They prefer the office as it's air-conditioned," he said with a wistful shake of his head. -- ST PHOTO: NEO XIAOBIN
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KEY FIXTURE: A typical day for locksmith Mr Tay Soon Ee starts with a 20-minute drive from his Seng Kang flat to Bedok Town Centre. And from 8am to 9pm everyday, he blends into the crowd, making the 3 by 1m space along the sheltered walkway his store. The 66-year-old self-taught locksmith has been duplicating keys in Bedok for 25 years. His humble store, in the form of a metal push cart adorned by a giant key sign, is an unmissable sight for anyone passing by the hawker centre en-route to Bedok MRT station. On the average, the father of four daughters earns $100 a day and that is enough for him to provide two of his daughters with a university education. An avid traveller, Mr Tay said that he travels overseas to places like Japan, Hong Kong or China once a year. As new malls will start sprouting out around him in 2014, he's not worried by any competition but by the prospect of key cutting being a dying trade. "Youngsters wouldn't want to do this. It's too tiring. They prefer the office as it's air-conditioned," he said with a wistful shake of his head. -- ST PHOTO: NEO XIAOBIN
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KEY FIXTURE: Self-taught locksmith Tay Soon Ee, 66, (above) has been duplicating keys for 25 years. His stall is a metal push-cart with a giant key sign. On average, the father of four daughters earns $100 a day, enough for him to provide two of his daughters with a university education.
“Youngsters wouldn’t want to do this,” he says. “It’s too tiring. They prefer the office as it is air-conditioned. -- ST PHOTO: NEO XIAOBIN -
MEE FIRST: Madam Annie Tan, 53, started helping out at her mother’s lor mee and prawn noodle stall at Bedok Hawker Centre in 1980. Before Bedok MRT station opened in 1989, the bus interchange next door was a hive of activity, with factory workers coming to eat at all hours, she recalls. Her 12-year-old nephew Kelvin Tan (behind her) helps out once a week, but she is uncertain who will take over when she and her brother both retire. -- ST PHOTO: NEO XIAOBIN
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MEE FIRST: Madam Annie Tan, 53, started helping out at her mother’s lor mee and prawn noodle stall at Bedok Hawker Centre in 1980. Before Bedok MRT station opened in 1989, the bus interchange next door was a hive of activity, with factory workers coming to eat at all hours, she recalls. Her 12-year-old nephew Kelvin Tan (behind her) helps out once a week, but she is uncertain who will take over when she and her brother both retire. -- ST PHOTO: NEO XIAOBIN
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MEE FIRST: Madam Annie Tan, 53, started helping out at her mother’s lor mee and prawn noodle stall at Bedok Hawker Centre in 1980. Before Bedok MRT station opened in 1989, the bus interchange next door was a hive of activity, with factory workers coming to eat at all hours, she recalls. Her 12-year-old nephew Kelvin Tan (behind her) helps out once a week, but she is uncertain who will take over when she and her brother both retire. -- ST PHOTO: NEO XIAOBIN
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SOLE SURVIVOR: When the Geylang shoe factory that employed him shut down in the late 1990s, Mr Wong Chung Siu, 64, struck out on his own as a cobbler at this spot in Bedok Town Centre. Armed with a penknife, a millstone, some glue and a hammer, he fixes anything from Bata loafers to Bally business shoes. None of his three children are interested in the trade, and as the years stretch before him, he knows his days in Bedok are numbered. -- ST PHOTO: NEO XIAOBIN
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SOLE SURVIVOR: When the Geylang shoe factory that employed him shut down in the late 1990s, Mr Wong Chung Siu, 64, struck out on his own as a cobbler at this spot in Bedok Town Centre. Armed with a penknife, a millstone, some glue and a hammer, he fixes anything from Bata loafers to Bally business shoes. None of his three children are interested in the trade, and as the years stretch before him, he knows his days in Bedok are numbered. -- ST PHOTO: NEO XIAOBIN
FLOWER POWER: From birth to death, Man King Florist founder Goh Swee Meng, 55, has a stalk for every season. He and his wife Lee Hui Hiok, 52, (with their store assistant), sell flowers all year round, only closing on the first day of Chinese New Year. With the latest redevelopment, they have been given $30,000 to relocate, Madam Lee says. But they have only one wish: they want to stay. -- PHOTO: NEO XIAOBIN
FLOWER POWER: From birth to death, founder of Joo Chiat Florist Goh Swee Meng, 55, has a stalk for every occasion. Selling flowers since the age of seven, he has overcome redevelopment and relocation to transform his father's small Flower trading store into an iconic florist in Singapore's breezy east coast. Together with his wife madam Lee Hui Hiok, 52, the couple sell their wreaths, bouquets and pots of flowers 364 days a year, only closing on the first day of Chinese New Year. With the latest redevelopment they have been given $30,000 to relocate, but they only have one wish: they want to stay. -- ST PHOTO: NEO XIAOBIN
FLOWER POWER: From birth to death, founder of Joo Chiat Florist Goh Swee Meng, 55, has a stalk for every occasion. Selling flowers since the age of seven, he has overcome redevelopment and relocation to transform his father's small Flower trading store into an iconic florist in Singapore's breezy east coast. Together with his wife madam Lee Hui Hiok, 52, the couple sell their wreaths, bouquets and pots of flowers 364 days a year, only closing on the first day of Chinese New Year. With the latest redevelopment they have been given $30,000 to relocate, but they only have one wish: they want to stay. -- ST PHOTO: NEO XIAOBIN
KEY FIXTURE: A typical day for locksmith Mr Tay Soon Ee starts with a 20-minute drive from his Seng Kang flat to Bedok Town Centre. And from 8am to 9pm everyday, he blends into the crowd, making the 3 by 1m space along the sheltered walkway his store. The 66-year-old self-taught locksmith has been duplicating keys in Bedok for 25 years. His humble store, in the form of a metal push cart adorned by a giant key sign, is an unmissable sight for anyone passing by the hawker centre en-route to Bedok MRT station. On the average, the father of four daughters earns $100 a day and that is enough for him to provide two of his daughters with a university education. An avid traveller, Mr Tay said that he travels overseas to places like Japan, Hong Kong or China once a year. As new malls will start sprouting out around him in 2014, he's not worried by any competition but by the prospect of key cutting being a dying trade. "Youngsters wouldn't want to do this. It's too tiring. They prefer the office as it's air-conditioned," he said with a wistful shake of his head. -- ST PHOTO: NEO XIAOBIN
KEY FIXTURE: A typical day for locksmith Mr Tay Soon Ee starts with a 20-minute drive from his Seng Kang flat to Bedok Town Centre. And from 8am to 9pm everyday, he blends into the crowd, making the 3 by 1m space along the sheltered walkway his store. The 66-year-old self-taught locksmith has been duplicating keys in Bedok for 25 years. His humble store, in the form of a metal push cart adorned by a giant key sign, is an unmissable sight for anyone passing by the hawker centre en-route to Bedok MRT station. On the average, the father of four daughters earns $100 a day and that is enough for him to provide two of his daughters with a university education. An avid traveller, Mr Tay said that he travels overseas to places like Japan, Hong Kong or China once a year. As new malls will start sprouting out around him in 2014, he's not worried by any competition but by the prospect of key cutting being a dying trade. "Youngsters wouldn't want to do this. It's too tiring. They prefer the office as it's air-conditioned," he said with a wistful shake of his head. -- ST PHOTO: NEO XIAOBIN
KEY FIXTURE: Self-taught locksmith Tay Soon Ee, 66, (above) has been duplicating keys for 25 years. His stall is a metal push-cart with a giant key sign. On average, the father of four daughters earns $100 a day, enough for him to provide two of his daughters with a university education.
“Youngsters wouldn’t want to do this,” he says. “It’s too tiring. They prefer the office as it is air-conditioned. -- ST PHOTO: NEO XIAOBIN
MEE FIRST: Madam Annie Tan, 53, started helping out at her mother’s lor mee and prawn noodle stall at Bedok Hawker Centre in 1980. Before Bedok MRT station opened in 1989, the bus interchange next door was a hive of activity, with factory workers coming to eat at all hours, she recalls. Her 12-year-old nephew Kelvin Tan (behind her) helps out once a week, but she is uncertain who will take over when she and her brother both retire. -- ST PHOTO: NEO XIAOBIN
MEE FIRST: Madam Annie Tan, 53, started helping out at her mother’s lor mee and prawn noodle stall at Bedok Hawker Centre in 1980. Before Bedok MRT station opened in 1989, the bus interchange next door was a hive of activity, with factory workers coming to eat at all hours, she recalls. Her 12-year-old nephew Kelvin Tan (behind her) helps out once a week, but she is uncertain who will take over when she and her brother both retire. -- ST PHOTO: NEO XIAOBIN
MEE FIRST: Madam Annie Tan, 53, started helping out at her mother’s lor mee and prawn noodle stall at Bedok Hawker Centre in 1980. Before Bedok MRT station opened in 1989, the bus interchange next door was a hive of activity, with factory workers coming to eat at all hours, she recalls. Her 12-year-old nephew Kelvin Tan (behind her) helps out once a week, but she is uncertain who will take over when she and her brother both retire. -- ST PHOTO: NEO XIAOBIN
SOLE SURVIVOR: When the Geylang shoe factory that employed him shut down in the late 1990s, Mr Wong Chung Siu, 64, struck out on his own as a cobbler at this spot in Bedok Town Centre. Armed with a penknife, a millstone, some glue and a hammer, he fixes anything from Bata loafers to Bally business shoes. None of his three children are interested in the trade, and as the years stretch before him, he knows his days in Bedok are numbered. -- ST PHOTO: NEO XIAOBIN
SOLE SURVIVOR: When the Geylang shoe factory that employed him shut down in the late 1990s, Mr Wong Chung Siu, 64, struck out on his own as a cobbler at this spot in Bedok Town Centre. Armed with a penknife, a millstone, some glue and a hammer, he fixes anything from Bata loafers to Bally business shoes. None of his three children are interested in the trade, and as the years stretch before him, he knows his days in Bedok are numbered. -- ST PHOTO: NEO XIAOBIN
Bedok Town Centre is undergoing a dramatic makeover as part of a Government project to revitalise ageing estates in the east.
An air-conditioned bus interchange, shopping mall, luxury condominiums and an integrated sports complex will all be built there by 2015.
