welcome world

chua mui hoong wrote about the transformation of sentosa and the marina bayfront area into places that didn't feel like home anymore but to impress foreigners. this globalisation is inevitable as singapore strive to be a metropolis for the world.

but how can we become one without losing what is local and familiar? and without the world intruding into our home?

i realised that was exactly how i felt when cityvibe came up at clementi. as much as i like having the convenience of subway, mos burger and sakae sushi at my doorstep, i also have an uncomfortable sense that "urbanisation" has crept into the estate that i grew up in. somehow, this mall with its colourful led facade built on the previous site of clementi and commonwealth cinema gave a different buzz to the previously sleepy town central.

when the world intrudes into your private corners, you experience a sense of dislocation. your mind spins into confusion when childhood haunts are replaced by gleaming spaces...

 and this will continue unabated with clementi mall slated to open next.

credit: the straits times