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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 hairdos. 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."
Punggol, alternatively spelled as Ponggol, is a planning area and new town situated on the Tanjong Punggol peninsula in the North-East Region of Singapore. The town directly borders Sengkang to the south and shares riverine boundaries with the planning area of Seletar to the west and Pasir Ris to the east. Bounding the town to the north and north-east is the Straits of Johor, with Coney Island included as a part of the Punggol planning area.
Orchard Road, often known colloquially as 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 of Singapore, with numerous internationally renowned department stores, restaurants and coffeehouses located in its vicinity.
LGBT activity in Singapore has frequently been a focus of social conflict. A transgender identity was recognised among the indigenous Malays. Male homosexuality was outlawed under British rule (1819-1942), despite being acknowledged among immigrant Chinese. Following Japanese occupation during World War II and the later gaining of 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. Concern over HIV arose after cases were reported in the 1980s. During the 1990s police clamped down on manifestations of homosexuality, leading to the growth of a gay movement. A statement from Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong in 2003 seemed to open the way for greater tolerance, starting a controversy that involved anti-homosexual expressions by some Churches and others.
Somerset MRT station is an underground Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station on the North South Line in Orchard planning area, Singapore. It is one of the three stations located along the popular shopping belt, Orchard Road. The station connects to Comcentre, Singapore Power Building, Skate Park, 313@Somerset, Orchard Gateway, Orchard Central, Cathay Cineleisure Orchard, Centrepoint Shopping Centre, Mandarin Orchard, The Heeren, Faber House, Orchard Point, Peranakan Place and Emerald Hill.
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 ranging from DVDs, cameras, phones, video cameras, and computer parts and servicing.
Lucky Plaza is a shopping centre located in Orchard in Singapore.
The Centrepoint is a shopping mall in Singapore which opened in 1983 as Centrepoint Shopping Centre until its renaming in 2006 as The Centrepoint.
Movement for the Intellectually Disabled of Singapore (MINDS) is a voluntary welfare organisation based in Singapore, that provides services for the intellectually disabled. Founded in 1962, MINDS is among the largest charities in Singapore, with over 600 staff and 2400 beneficiaries. Two other organisations, the Association for Persons with Special Needs and Metta School were formed as an offshoot of MINDS.
Salakau, which means 369 in Hokkien, also known as "Sah Lak Kau", is a 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's usually accompanied by techno beats. 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".
77th Street was a clothing company based in Singapore founded by Elim Chew in 1988 with a small shop at Far East Plaza, Singapore. Citing rising rents, Elim Chew closed the last 77th Street outlet at Ang Mo Kio in 2016.
Huang Na, was an eight-year-old Chinese national residing in Pasir Panjang, Singapore, who disappeared on 10 October 2004. Her mother, the police and the community conducted a three-week-long nationwide search for her. After her body was found, many Singaporeans attended her wake and funeral, giving bai jin and gifts. In a high-profile 14-day trial, Malaysian-born Took Leng How, a vegetable packer at the wholesale centre, was found guilty of murdering her and hanged after an appeal and a request for presidential clemency failed.
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.
Fraser and Neave, Limited (F&N) is a Singaporean food and beverage, publishing and former brewing and property industries conglomerate. It is owned by Thai Chinese billionaire business magnate Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi.
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 in 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.
Canberra Plaza is a New Generation Neighbourhood Centre (NGNC) built by the Housing & Development Board (HDB), the government agency in charge of public housing development in Singapore. It is one of the new Neighbourhood Centres (NCs) constructed by HDB in 10 years after the completion of Pioneer Mall and Punggol Plaza in 2004. CNN reported that Canberra Plaza will provide a "complete live-work-play-learn environment for residents and signifies Singapore's public housing for the future".