SINGAPORE – No more schlepping over to the temporary digs near the bus interchange only to find the char kway teow man is not there.

Ghim Moh Market and Food Centre is back – with many original stalls among the 72 – to the cheers of residents in the area.

Re-opening on Tuesday after about a year and a half of renovations, the centre at Block 20 Ghim Moh Road has been scrubbed clean of years of grime and boasts wider walkways and better ventilation.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) said upgrades included replacement of tiles, improvements to the toilets and modifications to the roof for better air flow.

Residents and stall owners told The Straits Times they were happy about the upgrades and relieved their haunt seems like its old self.

Mr Loke Koi Choon, 62, the owner of Jiu Jiang Shao La for the last 20 years, said: “It used to be very stuffy especially on hot days but now it’s so much better. Even better is that it still looks like it always had.”

The food centre, which draws residents and workers from nearby Holland, Bukit Timah, Clementi and Buona Vista, is popular for stalls such as Jiu Jiang Shao La, a roasted meat stall, Ghim Moh Chwee Kueh, and Mohamed Faisal Seeni Eating House, a prata shop. These have all returned.

As of March 1, subsidised stall owners will have to pay a monthly fee of $192 while non-subsidised owners pay up to $1,400. Those who pay the subsidised rate were the original hawkers relocated to Ghim Moh in the early 1970s.

Mr Lew Chin Loke, the 55-year-old owner of Alexandra Village Avocado Fruit Juice, said: “I have worked at this stall for about 30 years, ever since national service. Ghim Moh is the only place I will ever work and I don’t plan on stopping.”

Before its renovation, the food centre also made news for its rat problem. None has been seen, however, since a 10-day pest control exercise saw 163 rats caught in 2014.

“The market is a lot cleaner than before and I believe that there won’t be a rat problem any more,” said Mr Tan Kheok Tee, the 61-year-old owner of Heong Huat Fishball Noodles.

They are also happy that business will pick up again, thanks to customers like 20-year-old undergraduate Kodi Ko, who said: “I’ve been eating prata here since I was four, but during the renovation, I rarely went to the temporary centre, which was cramped and stuffy.”

Customers were happy prices remained the same. A check with 10 stalls found none making changes.

“If there’s no need to increase prices then I won’t. I want my customers to be happy as well,” said Mr Ng Hock Lye, the 64-year-old owner of Hock Lye Noodle House.

At least one new stall used to be an old one. Madam Chee, 67, ran a duck rice stall with her late husband, but found it hard to continue alone. Now she has started a pancake store, Ong Pancake, with her daughter, Madam May Ong, 42.

And at least one old stall which called it quits years before has come back. Mr Yap Yew Kok, the 77-year-old owner of Lao Chao Zhou, a nasi lemak stall, opted to rent the space out to a hor fun stall 20 years ago.

But a change in rules allowing only original owners to continue operating after the revamp prompted him to set up his old nasi lemak business rather than sell his space.

Mr Yap said: “I’ve received three offers to sell but I’ve never even considered selling before and will never sell.”

domteojy@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on March 3, 2016.
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NO more schlepping over to the temporary digs near the bus interchange only to find the char kway teow man is not there.

Ghim Moh Market and Food Centre is back – with some original stalls among the 72 – to the delight and relief of residents in the area.

Reopening on Tuesday after about a year and a half of renovations, the centre at Block 20 Ghim Moh Road has been scrubbed clean of years of grime and boasts wider walkways and better ventilation.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) said renovations included replacement of floor and wall tiles, improvements to the toilets and modifications to the roof for better air flow.

Residents and stall owners told The Straits Times they were happy about the upgrades and relieved that their old haunt seems largely the same.

Loke Koi Choon, 62, the owner of Jiu Jiang Shao La for the last 20 years, said: “It used to be very stuffy, especially on hot days, but now it’s so much better. Even better is that it still looks like it always had.”

The food centre, which draws residents and workers nearby from Holland, Bukit Timah, Clementi and Buona Vista roads, is popular for stalls such as Jiu Jiang Shao La, a roasted meat stall, Ghim Moh Chwee Kueh and Mohamed Faisal Seeni Eating House, a prata shop.

These have all returned.

As of March 1, subsidised stall owners will have to pay a monthly fee of $192 while non- subsidised owners pay up to $1,400 to NEA.

Those who pay the subsidised rate were the original hawkers relocated to Ghim Moh in the early 1970s.

Lew Chin Loke, the 55-year-old owner of Alexandra Village Avocado Fruit Juice, said: “I have worked at this stall for about 30 years, ever since national service.

“Ghim Moh is the only place I will ever work and I don’t plan on stopping.”

Before its renovation, the food centre had a rat problem.

No rat has been seen, however, since a 10-day pest control exercise saw 163 rats caught in 2014.

“The market is a lot cleaner than before and I believe that there won’t be a rat problem anymore,” said Mr Tan Kheok Tee, the 61-year-old owner of Heong Hunt Fishball Noodles.

They are also happy that business will pick up again from customers like 20-year-old undergraduate Kodi Ko, who said: “I’ve been eating prata here every weekend since I was four but during the renovation, I rarely went to the temporary centre, which was cramped and stuffy.”

They were also happy prices remained largely the same.

A check with 10 stalls found none raising prices.

And at least one stall which called it quits years before has come back. Yap Yew Kok, the 77-year-old owner of Lao Chao Zhou, a nasi lemak stall, opted to rent the space to a hor fun stall 20 years ago.

But a change in rules allowing only original owners to continue operating after the revamp prompted Mr Yap to set up his old nasi lemak business rather than sell his space.

“I’ve received three offers to sell but I’ve never even considered selling before and will never sell,” he said.

domteojy@sph.com.sg

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A churchgoer with a fetish for watching women go to the toilet set up a hidden camera in a restroom to film female worshippers – then tried to sell the videos online when he was short of cash.

Business development executive Kenneth Yeo Jia Chuan, 29, filmed 66 women in total in May and June 2011, not only at his Bukit Timah church but also at one of its offices and at another unknown location.

Yeo – who had attended the church since he was young and even worked there as a technician – would hide a pinhole camera underneath sinks and air fresheners when he went to Sunday services.

When he faced financial difficulties in June 2012, he put two videos he had prepared on a file-sharing website where he advertised them for sale at $50 to $70 each.

But before he could do so, a victim in one of the videos was alerted to it and made a police report.

Yeo was sentenced to 20 months’ jail and fined $2,000 yesterday.

He pleaded guilty to eight charges of insulting a woman’s modesty, and a count each of sale of an obscene object and possession of a pornographic film. He admitted 58 similar charges which were considered during sentencing.

The court heard that Yeo was introduced to pinhole cameras by a friend in 2011 and began experimenting with them.

In May 2011, he installed a camera in his church’s handicapped toilet and later transferred the video to his laptop – beginning his two-month campaign.

By June 2012, Yeo’s business in game card trading was failing and he owed $8,000 to investors and banks. He decided to sell his voyeuristic videos, editing the clips and cropping the films into two- to three-minute-long files, with each video featuring a victim.

Yeo got in touch with a potential buyer but was arrested before the transaction could be completed. Police later found two unrelated pornographic videos on his laptop.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Rajiv Rai asked for at least 20 months’ jail, noting that Yeo was a “persistent offender” who had “committed 68 distinct offences”.

Yeo’s lawyers Mervyn Tan and Vanessa Tan said their client was “truly very sorry for what he has done and has made positive efforts to change himself”.

Yeo sought psychiatric help and is taking medication.

A letter from his psychiatrist said he had “a very strong urge to give in to his fetish for peeping or looking at secret images of women in the toilet”. He also visited voyeuristic websites “due to his loneliness and lack of girlfriends”.

A letter from a church pastor said Yeo had worked as a technician and performed his duties well.

In passing sentence, District Judge John Ng noted that Yeo had strong support from family and friends. But the judge agreed with the need for a deterrent sentence.

amirh@sph.com.sg

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Even as the dry weather carries over from the past week into the fortnight ahead, Singaporeans will feel the wind in their hair.

This is because the north-east monsoon, which brought heavy showers in December and January, is reaching its end.

“Based on historical data, by mid- to late March, it should be calmer as inter-monsoon conditions will prevail,” said Assistant Professor Winston Chow of the National University of Singapore’s department of geography.

A Meteorological Service Singapore spokesman said that over the next two weeks, occasional windy conditions with a daily average wind speed of around 15kmh to 30 kmh can be expected. There will likely be localised, short-duration thundery showers in the afternoon on some days.

The temperature is expected to range between 24 deg C and 33 deg C on most days.

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When you are a pre-schooler from a disadvantaged family, living in a rental flat, attending classes may not be top priority.

But a three-year-old scheme piloted at two pre-schools has shown that such children can be brought back into the fold, with their parents getting more involved in their development.

So encouraging were the results that the Circle of Care scheme – piloted by philanthropic group Lien Foundation and welfare organisation Care Corner – will be extended to another seven pre-schools and two primary schools this year.

This is so that the children will have a smoother transition from kindergarten to primary school.

Care Corner and Lien Foundation said yesterday they will partner anchor pre-school operators MY World Preschool, PAP Community Foundation, Singapore Muslim Women’s Association as well as Lakeside Primary and Gan Eng Seng Primary School to extend the scheme.

The model was piloted at two of Care Corner’s Leng Kee and Admiralty childcare centres in 2013.

Teachers, social workers, education therapists and community partners worked as a team to identify the root causes of a child’s difficulties and to help on different fronts.

For instance, a six-year-old boy lagging behind was taught how to focus better and given help to develop his reading and maths skills. His mother learnt effective parenting techniques, including how to coach her son.

Early childhood expert Khoo Kim Choo, consultant for the programme, said the two centres have seen encouraging results.

Of the 76 at-risk children at the two centres, 95 per cent came from families with household incomes of below $3,000 a month and most lived in HDB rental flats. Many had jobless parents and money troubles too.

The Circle of Care team raised their average attendance from about 30 per cent to 70 per cent by working closely with their families.

But without formal collaboration between pre- and primary schools, some of the hard-won progress made by these at-risk children can be lost.

To prevent this, the team will organise workshops and school visits for the children and their parents to prepare them for Primary 1.

Social workers will also collaborate with the schools’ counsellors, class teachers and allied educators and follow the child and his parents until Primary 3.

Sharon, the mother of a seven-year-old boy helped through the scheme, said her son was affected by the family’s many problems.

But the social worker and teachers helped to resolve the issues and her son began to do better in pre-school. He entered Primary 1 in January.

Said Madam Sharon, who works as a cleaner: “The same social worker has been helping us for many years. When I have any difficulties, I call her and she will advise me.”

sandra@sph.com.sg

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