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Centrepoint Kids were groups of youths who used to hang out at shopping centers in Singapore during the mid-1980s. This term came about after the demolition of the old Cold Storage supermarket building and construction of The Centrepoint in 1982-1983, after which a growing number of teenagers went there to "hang out."
Seen as public nuisance, they were labelled the "Centrepoint Kids." By 1986, some were sociologically studied with a focus on their personal and family backgrounds. Other similar moral panics that appeared in the Singapore media include the McDonald Kids (early 1980s), the Far East Plaza Kids (1980-3; re-lapse in mid-1990s), the Daimaru Kids (1983-6), and the Marina Square Kids (early 1990s).
Most kids started off in Far East Plaza in the early 1980s before migrating to Centrepoint when the building was completed. During its peak period, membership reached above 2000 members (checked through sub-grouping). In a survey done in December 1985 by a group of volunteers headed by Vincent Lam, a police officer with the Singapore Police Force, the youngest Centrepoint Kid interviewed was 10 years old and the oldest was 23 years old.
They were easily identified by their outlandish outfits and avant-garde hair styles. While some of the youths had been found committing crimes such as smoking, glue-sniffing, fighting, and shoplifting, most were only there to make friends. However, shopkeepers complained that the youths were blocking passageways at shopping centres and frightening away potential customers.
Lam set up an organisation (later named "Youth Challenge") to cater to the needs of the so-called "Centrepoint Kids" and resigned from the police force to concentrate on his efforts to nurture them into socially responsible citizens. Lam managed his social efforts with a team of volunteers, and his successful efforts were highlighted in AsiaWeek, a regional Asian magazine published in Hong Kong.
To educate students about social responsibility, Lam visited more than 100 schools to talk about the danger of falling into "street gangs." Some school principals had even issued orders forbidding students from forming or joining such groups. Lam's passion for helping the "Centrepoint Kids" was noticed by the Commissioner of Police in Singapore and the Police Commission nominated him for the "Outstanding Young Persons of the Year Award."
Yaohan Co., Ltd. or Yaohan; Chinese: 八佰伴) was a Japanese retail group, founded in 1930 by Ryohei Wada and his wife Katsu Wada. Initially a single shop, it was expanded by their son Kazuo Wada into a major supermarket chain with most retail outlets located in Shizuoka prefecture, south of Tokyo. It was incorporated in 1948 and listed on Tokyo Stock Exchange. The store was far more established and notable outside Japan, due to restrictive laws in Japan that made it difficult to set up new businesses, such that by the time it opened its first store in the Tokyo metropolitan area, the company was already in a state of decline due to accumulated debts from over-expansion.
Orchard Road, often known colloquially as simply Orchard, is a major 2.5 km (1.6 mi)-long road in the Central Area of Singapore. A famous tourist attraction, it is an upscale shopping area, with numerous internationally renowned department stores, shopping malls, restaurants, and coffeehouses located in its vicinity. It's a popular hotspot in Singapore, especially at night, attracting trendy urban youth.
Causeway Point is the seventh largest suburban shopping mall in Singapore. It is operated by Frasers Property. Causeway Point is located in the town centre of Woodlands, a town in the north of Singapore. Completed in 1998, it is located beside the Woodlands MRT station and the underground Woodlands Bus Interchange. It has 250 retail outlets spread over five floors and a basement.
There is a long history of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender activity in Singapore. Male homosexuality was outlawed under British rule, despite being acknowledged among the local population. Following Japanese occupation during World War II and the country gaining independence, homosexuality and transvestism were visible as a street scene, and from the 1970s were catered for in some nightclubs. In that decade also, Singapore became a centre of gender-reassignment surgery.
Somerset MRT station is an underground Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station on the North–South Line in Orchard, Singapore. It is one of the three stations located along the popular shopping belt, Orchard Road.
Counter-terrorism in Singapore is a series of detection and prevention measures to minimize the damage caused by terrorism. These measures involve the participation of all levels of society, including defence, internal security, border and infrastructure security, civil defense, and gives special focus on areas such as medical readiness and psychological preparedness.
The architecture of Singapore displays a range of influences and styles from different places and periods. These range from the eclectic styles and hybrid forms of the colonial period to the tendency of more contemporary architecture to incorporate trends from around the world. In both aesthetic and technological terms, Singapore architecture may be divided into the more traditional pre-World War II colonial period, and the largely modern post-war and post-colonial period.
Sim Lim Square, commonly referred to as SLS, is a large retail complex in Singapore that offers a wide variety of electronic goods and services including cameras, phones, video cameras, and computer parts and servicing.
Lucky Plaza is a shopping centre located in Orchard in Singapore. Built by developer Far East Organization, Lucky Plaza was completed in 1981 and has proven to be one of the most successful shopping centres in Singapore.
Capital punishment in Singapore is a legal penalty. Executions in Singapore are carried out by long drop hanging, and usually take place at dawn. Thirty-three offences—including murder, drug trafficking, terrorism, use of firearms and kidnapping—warrant the death penalty under Singapore law.
The Centrepoint is a shopping mall in Singapore which opened in 1983 as Centrepoint Shopping Centre until its renaming in 2006 as The Centrepoint.
Salakau, which means 369 in Hokkien, also known as "Sah Lak Kau", is a Singaporean street gang or secret society based in Singapore. The numbers 3, 6 and 9 add up to 18, which was the name of an older gang; the number signified the 18 arhats of Shaolin Monastery. As one of the oldest and most prominent gangs in the country, they are known to take part in many illicit activities such as narcotics, extortion, prostitution and white-collar crime — and many of their members have been in and out of prison for violent attacks and rioting. They have a renowned gang chant sung in Hokkien that is usually accompanied by techno beats, particularly the song "Million Tears". It was reproduced for Royston Tan's teenage gangster flick 15, albeit with direct references to the gang edited out.
Sungei Road is a road in Singapore situated between Serangoon Road and Jalan Besar and runs along the Rochor Canal. The area around Sungei Road formerly housed affluent Europeans and Asians, and many ornately designed buildings were built there. Since the 1930s, the road has been synonymous with Sungei Road laksa and the Thieves' Market, the largest and oldest flea market in Singapore, where locals can shop for old bric-a-brac or second-hand goods. The market was permanently closed on 10 July 2017 for "future residential development use".
Metro is an Indonesia based chain department store selling cosmetics, apparel and fashion accessories. Founded by Ong Tjoe Kim in 1953, Metro currently has 12 outlets located across Indonesia and 2 in Singapore.
Far East Plaza is a shopping centre in Singapore, located in the heart of the Orchard Road shopping belt at Scotts Road. It opened in 1982, with main anchor Metro departmental store opening in 1983. Metro had since closed down in 2002.
Orchard Towers is an 18-story office building in Singapore located on the corner of Claymore Road and Orchard Road. Construction was completed in 1975. The first five floors are a combination of bars and retail outlets with the remainder leased as offices. During the day the building functions as a retail and office style building, but the building is best known as a landmark entertainment complex famously described as the "Four Floors of Whores" or simply the "Four Floors". In addition, one of the towers houses 58 freehold condominium residential units.
Thomson Plaza, formerly unofficially called Thomson Yaohan, is a suburban shopping mall located along Upper Thomson Road, in Singapore. Opened in 1979, Thomson Plaza is best known for having a Yaohan departmental store in the 1980s and 1990s.
Gardenasia is a Singapore nature-based events company under landscaping and horticulture group Nyee Phoe (NPG). It was co-founded by Kenny Eng and originally set up as the sales arm of Nyee Phoe Flower Garden. The three divisions under the NPG are Nyee Phoe Flower Garden, Petals & Leaves and Gardenasia.
Frasers Property is a Singaporean multinational real estate and property management company that develops, owns, and manages properties across the globe. It owns and manages properties in the commercial, residential, hospitality, retail, and industrial and logistics sectors. Headquartered in Singapore, it trades on the main board of the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited (SGX-ST). It also sponsors real estate investment trusts (REITs), including one stapled trust, two of which are also listed on the SGX-ST.
Wee Li Lin is a Singaporean director known for directing the feature films Gone Shopping and Forever, as well as several short films, such as Centrepoint KidZ.