PlayPan social movement that rejuvenated Peace Centre finds new home at Far East Square
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PlayPan hopes to turn the Glass Dome space at Far East Square into a community hall where events focused on social impact can take place on a more ad hoc basis.
ST PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR
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SINGAPORE – The social movement that took over and rejuvenated the historic Peace Centre mall in October 2023 – and postponed its demolition – now has a new space to call home.
Almost a year after leaving the Sophia Road landmark in January,
Dubbed the Glass Dome and situated in the heart of the Central Business District, the venue had been vacant for around four years before PlayPan moved there in November.
Speaking to The Straits Times at a celebration on Dec 6 to mark the big move, PlayPan founders Gary Hong and Yvonne Siow said they had no intention of continuing a long-term physical version of the movement.
Mr Hong, 51, said: “Peace Centre was just meant to be a passion project to prove to the public that there are social movements like this... but when we saw the Glass Dome for the first time, we couldn’t believe such a nice place could be so underutilised.”
The Glass Dome at Far East Square mall had been vacant for around six years before social movement PlayPan moved there in November.
ST PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR
Despite calling the space a “utopia”, Mr Hong said preparing the Glass Dome – which boasts 8,176 sq m of space across two floors and is more modern than the 1977-built Peace Centre – to be a home for PlayPan’s activities was “not easy”.
“It was quite untouched for a while, so there were a lot of things to take care of, like the electrical system, water leakages and pests.”
While PlayPan’s Peace Centre iteration
PlayPan also wants to target the corporate demographic with its new venue, encouraging companies to give back to the community.
Many familiar PlayPan tenants are set to return to the new venue in the coming months, including thrift store Resurrack and art collective DPLMT.
Like before, PlayPan will charge vendors rent on a case-by-case basis, though it will always be below market rate, said its founders.
With the Glass Dome registered as a non-profit, PlayPan is able to use the space without paying rent under the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s Community/Sports Facilities Scheme. It will still have to pay service fees, though Far East Square has waived this for a period to allow PlayPan time to make the new community project sustainable.
But the founders said other refurbishments and utility bills have still cost them “an arm and a leg”, adding that they are paying out of their own pockets for these expenses.
Another change with PlayPan 2.0 is the fact that Ms Siow has left her job to run the movement full time. She said she has given herself six months to “make it work”, before considering other options for PlayPan.
PlayPan founders Gary Hong and Yvonne Siow at a celebration on Dec 6 to mark the social movement’s big move to the Glass Dome.
ST PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR
To mark the move, and usher in the Christmas season, PlayPan hosted an evening of revelry at the Glass Dome, gathering many of its previous vendors, partners and supporters.
Muslim-owned business Los Tacos SG served up Mexican tacos at its live station – its second at an event hosted by PlayPan and first at the Glass Dome.
Such events help small businesses grow, said Los Tacos SG founder Rudy Marwan.
“Most home-based businesses are stuck at home and don’t have exposure and (there is) no one to hold their hand to grow the business,” said the 34-year-old.
“We hope to set up more live stations in future; we love events and meeting people.”
Of the new venue, Mr Rudy said: “The space is really cool. It’s literally a glass dome. It’s air-conditioned too – a very suitable venue to hold events.”
Mr Rudy Marwan, founder of Los Tacos SG, which served up Mexican tacos at its live station at PlayPan’s celebratory event at the Glass Dome on Dec 6.
ST PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR
Creative collective DPLMT used to hold art workshops at Peace Centre, and its murals decorated the walls of the old building.
“I’m very thankful that we had an opportunity to work with PlayPan. It spurred us and widened our horizons,” said DPLMT co-founder Mohamed Iqbal, 39.
Mr Iqbal said he hopes to bring art market Artpaca – a five-month-old collaboration between PlayPan and DPLMT – exhibitions and mural painting workshops to the dome.
“Hopefully, we can rally the art community here. Peace Centre brought a sense of nostalgia, but this new space was an empty sandbox,” he said.
“We’re bringing in people who want to do good, so let’s see how that bears fruit. Hopefully, it’ll bring more people to come in to have fun.”
And fun is exactly what drives PlayPan’s Mr Hong and Ms Siow to continue propelling the movement.
“What we want to do is refresh the human spirit,” said Ms Siow.
“We need a place where we can all be happy together, right? And when that kind of energy radiates, then a lot of good things can happen.”
Correction note: This story has been edited for clarity.
