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By TOH YONG CHUANSENIOR CORRESPONDENT
A NEW overhead bridge willlink the popular Geylang Seraimarket to a new civic centreand mall, Wisma Geylang Se-rai, which would in turn belinked to the Paya Lebar MRTstation hub.
The connection will improve“the flow of people from oneend of the Paya Lebar area toGeylang Serai and back...which will liven up the area”,Mr Tan Chuan-Jin, MP for thearea, said yesterday.
The link could be in the formof covered walkways or even anunderpass. While details havenot been firmed up, the physi-cal links will certainly be there,he said.
Mr Tan, who is ManpowerMinister and the anchor minis-ter for Marine Parade GRC, dis-
closed the plans to improve pe-destrian traffic after a visit tothe market yesterday.
His comments came oneweek after Prime Minister LeeHsien Loong gave the assur-ance that the upgrading of theGeylang Serai area will be donewhile retaining its special Ma-lay character.
By 2017, the five-storey,10,000 sq m Wisma Geylang Se-rai will be built on the site ofthe now-defunct heritage at-traction Malay Village.
Besides shops and cafes, thenew mall will house a communi-ty club, the South East Commu-nity Development Council(CDC) office, a Malay heritagegallery, and arts and culturegroups. The developmentproject is headed by South EastDistrict mayor and Minister ofState for National Develop-ment Mohamad Maliki Osman.
A construction tender is ex-pected later this year.
When The Straits Times vis-ited the site yesterday, it foundno sheltered path between PayaLebar MRT station and the pop-ular market, which is morethan 600m away.
Those walking from theMRT station have to cross thebusy five-lane traffic junctionbetween Sims Avenue and Eu-nos Road 8, walk along an un-shaded area along Sims Ave-nue, before turning into Gey-lang Serai – a walk of about 10minutes.
Stallholders at the marketare looking forward to the im-provements.
“It will improve business,”said Mr Oli Abdul Latiff, chair-man of the Pasar Geylang SeraiMerchants’ Association. “Peo-ple can come directly to themarket to eat after shopping.”
Yesterday, the associationhosted a nasi briyani lunch for5,000 people to celebrate themarket’s 50th anniversary. Or-ganiser Rahmat Sawie saidshops and stalls at the marketchipped in by sponsoring food,drinks and labour.
One sponsor was HanifaaFrozen Food managing directorM.H. Iqbal, 46, who provided650kg of mutton. His fatherwas a roadside butcher beforemoving into the market in1964. The business has since ex-panded but the butcher stall isstill there.
He declined to reveal thecost of the mutton, saying: “Itdoesn’t matter. It is part of giv-ing back to the community.”
By TOH TING WEI
CHEERED on by a crowd of 12,000, Indian nation-als S. Sasikumar and E. Pandirajan are living thedream of playing tournament cricket here in Singa-pore.
Working for construction firm Dragages, the twobatsmen had a ball of a time at the Singapore Con-tractors Association (SCAL) Cricket Challenge.
And yesterday, Mr Sasikumar and Mr Pandira-jan, along with their colleagues, emerged topamong 32 teams at the competition held at SCALRecreation Centre in Soon Lee Road.
The event started on Labour Day and resumedyesterday with a crowd providing loud cheers in therain. Facing the workers of Eng Lee Engineering inthe final match, captain Pandirajan led his team-mates to a 36-22 victory, outscoring their opponentby 14 runs to clinch their first title in the champion-ship.
Mr Sasikumar, 28, was awarded the Best Playeraccolade while victory was especially sweet for27-year-old Mr Pandirajan, who combined battingduties and coaching the team.
Mr Sasikumar said: “Our company has support-ed and sponsored our jerseys and equipment. Andour superiors have helped us a lot throughout.
“It is like a small family here when we play to-gether, and workers from other companies also joinus sometimes.”
The event is into its fifth year, and SCAL presi-dent Ho Nyok Yong is hoping to grow it further.
“Over two days, 32 teams is the maximum wecan accommodate, but we are thinking of addingone more day next year to allow for more teams toparticipate,” Dr Ho said.
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Mr Govindasamy Saktivel proudly holding up the ball as heand fellow Dragages players celebrate the team’s victoryin the tournament final yesterday. ST PHOTO: ONG WEE JIN
Connection will improve flow ofpeople and liven up area: Minister
Foreign workerswin big in cricket
BOOST FOR BUSINESS
It will improve business.People can come directly tothe market to eat aftershopping.
– Mr Oli Abdul Latiff, chairmanof the Pasar Geylang SeraiMerchants’ Association
Geylang Serai market tobe linked to MRT station
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