Geylang is overdue for a clean-up. It used to be a quiet residential area in the 70s. As the CBD's boundary expanded, businesses were set up among the conservation shophouses that line the main roads and lorongs. This old sleepy neighbourhood changed with the times. However, with the clean-up of Keong Siak Street of its shady past, many of the operators moved to Geylang and turned it into something unrecognisable.

Today, Geylang has become a vice haven. Prostitution and gangster activities abound. It has also turned into a haven for foreign workers.

The question that I would like to pose to the relevant authorities is: Does it make economic sense for Geylang to be left the way it is? Should a district that is so close to the CBD not be put to better usage, especially in land-scarce Singapore?

The Government's effort to expand the CBD has not gone unnoticed. Old school grounds are being retrofitted and converted into office space in anticipation of increasing demand. The CBD's parameters have also grown significantly through the years. Can Singapore afford to let Geylang not be included in its plans to cater to the growing need for space as MNCs relocate their HQs and operations to Singapore?

Geylang is also a stone's throw away from the new sports hub, where the Youth Olympics will be held. Can you imagine Beijing's new Olympic village being situated next to a vice haven?

Is it time for the authorities to take another look at Geylang? If left to market forces, I fear that the changes will not be made in time for the Youth Olympics. Time is ticking.

Brendon Yam