Singapore, 7 July 2009 – The upgraded Geylang Serai Market is slated to resume business progressively, starting from 13 July 2009. This follows a facelift under the National Environment Agency’s (NEA) Hawker Centres Upgrading Programme (HUP), where it took 40 months and cost $18.2 million.
An iconic building designed to commensurate with the ethnic and cultural significance of its vicinity, the upgraded Geylang Serai Market seeks to simulate the rustic quality of the old Malay “kampong” houses. The intricate Malay motifs and structures such as the sloping roofs are reminiscent of the traditional house. The entrance lobby with an integrated drop-off porch is also designed as a welcoming area for visitors similar to the function of a Malay verandah. Besides these, decorative elements such as louvers and timber panels have also been applied in the design, which is synonymous with the features of Malay architecture.
The two-storey Geylang Serai Market is built at a larger site along Changi Road. It consists of 162 market produce stalls and 34 lock-up stalls on the first storey and 63 cooked food stalls and 106 lock-up stalls on the second storey. The upgrading works bring about a more spacious layout and enhanced ventilation as well as improved fire safety features. All cooked food stalls have been retrofitted with a new mechanical exhaust system to improve the ventilation of the centre.
To cater to a greater influx of patrons, NEA has also increased the total seating capacity by more than 100%. Patrons can now look forward to a more pleasant and refreshing environment blended with the rustic Malay charms for their marketing and dining needs.
Stallholders will be resuming business progressively at the hawker centre starting 13 July 2009, depending on the progress of renovation works of the individual stalls.
The NEA currently manages 109 hawker centres. To date, 74 hawker centres have been upgraded under HUP. Some hawker centres that are currently undergoing upgrading include Tekka Centre, Blk 628 Ang Mo Kio Ave 4 and Blk 270 Queen Street.
More information on HUP is available at:
http://app.nea.gov.sg/cms/htdocs/category_sub.asp?cid=235