Keppel club is a part of Singapore history please don’t destroy it.

Keppel club is a part of Singapore history please don’t destroy it.

How many 116-year-old heritage establishments can Singapore boast of having?

A sense of history is what provides the links to hold together a people who came from four corners of the earth. Because our history is short and because what is worth preserving from the past are not all that plentiful, we should try to save what is worthwhile from the past from the vandalism of the speculator and the developer, from a government and a bureaucracy which believes that anything that cannot be translated into cold cash is not worth investing in.

 S. Rajaratnam, Minister for Culture (1959–1965)

Keppel Club, Singapore’s oldest golf and social club established in 1904, is as iconic as it is historic.

A “second home” to nearly 5,000 principal members, it has been bringing boundless joy to them and their family members for over a century.

Located at the doorstep of downtown Singapore, Keppel does a marvellous job of fusing the external environment with a wonderfully natural, challenging and well-designed golf course.

It is a rare one because of its natural topography, history and location. It is pity that it has only of lifespan of another 2 years before it becomes another residential or commercial development.

All the beautiful old trees, the monitor lizards, squirrels, woodpeckers, cockatoos, eagles and countless other guns and flora will soon disappear, all in the name of progress. The Club adopted the Berlayer Creek, a century-old salt water mangrove that gives life to a plethora of vegetation and bio-organism

Progress for Whom?

Once again the words of Rajaratnam is loss to the speculator and developer. To them having a golf club on this Bukit Chermin site is the least productive use of prime land in land-scarce Singapore.'

                               Overview of Keppel Club and the elevated highway

Greater Southern Waterfront Development

The whole area is slated for development into a huge mixed commercial and housing area fitting in at least 9000 units of houses. To pacify the public, HDB units will also be included. The aim is to allow people to work where they live. 

Do we really need another development?

We are in the worst pandemic the world has seen since for a century. Things are so bad that the government has to draw down from our reserves just to shore up the economy. Many business will disappear and so will be the losses in jobs. This is not the end yet as we still have no clue on how to stop the virus.

We also found out behind our prosperity and continuous growth we needed an ever growing pool of foreign workers. We did not took notice of them before. However they were crucial in our tearing down of old buildings, building new ones and finally maintaining them.

 Life will be very different once this pandemic is over. Tourism will be so badly hit for the next few years. As it is all travel related industries from airlines, hotels conference halls and shopping centers will be fighting for their survival. Even before this pandemic online shopping has already dealt shopping centers a dead blow.

Offices will not be spared too. The coming tsunami of retrenchments and job losses will see a much smaller workforce. The adaptation to telecommuting during the lockdown will accelerate a drastic drop in the need for future office space.

The world has come to a standstill. Demand will drop for many years to come as most existing properties will empty out. Disposable incomes will be significantly reduced and few will risk buying properties.

Bad fengshui for housing development at Keppel.

When we talk about good areas to live inadvertently we will point to Holland Bukit Timah, East coast, Thomson etc. Few will mention the area around Keppel Club. Historically this area has been shunned because of its topography.  This area is bounded by the hills that stretch from Mount Faber to Kent Ridge and the coastline. Only very narrow strip of land is available. There is only one road with a raised highway meant for containers traffic leading out of the area

To keep the eco system of the area as viable as possible any development will have to be set back from the sea front at a reasonable distance. So between the road and the setback area there is very little land available. That makes impossible to fit in the large areas needed for schools, food and market centres.

Another topographical feature makes construction daunting. The golf course has a narrow ridge running from one end to the other like the spine. It is good for golfing as it creates many challenges with its hilly terrain. For property developers this can be a nightmare. The ridge is too small to put enough structures but too much of soil to remove and truck away if it is to be flattened.

 Singaporeans seek to send their children to good schools as moving up the social ladder involves getting their children to such schools. This area is far from all the famous schools. They will rather sacrifice their own travel inconvenience to travel to work then their children spending hours on transport. As such there will be less demand from local families. Again it might be purchased for rental to foreigners.

                                          

 Land is scarce in Singapore so they say.

Our government has been very efficient in its efforts in acquiring land for development. However its track record in developing the land it has acquired needs much to be desired. Recently it acquired JCC and RCC, These two locations has been turned into wasted grassland where wild boars are rumoured to roam. All these courses were just redeveloped at great expense not too long ago, acquired at great expense now left to rot.

                          Jurong country club in its present state overgrown with weeds

Many other sites such as Turf city, Old Holland Road, Dover and Ghim Moh to name a few have been left vacant for far too long. In fact these are the residential areas that are really most sought after by the locals. These areas have been left vacant for more than 10 to 20 years. The Straits Times reports that the Urban Renewal Authority URA has earmarked the Turf City site of 140 hectares aka 196 soccer fields of land for residential use since 1993   Why don’t we develop all these sites without any need to tear down any more structures or communities?

                          Large tract of empty land at old Holland Road left empty for 20 years

Keppel Club as a community.

When we talk about golf clubs, the first thing that comes to mind it is a game for the rich. Keppel club has a long relationship with PSA and other GLCs. A fair proportion of its membership were actually staff of these corporations. Most members are just your run of the mill uncles, aunties and friends.

Some $14 million was spent refurbishing the golf course and clubhouse. More upgrading works were carried out in 1994. $22 million bought members a bowling centre, gymnasium, outdoor and indoor tennis courts, movie house and the Olympic-sized swimming pool.
In 2005, a Master Plan was presented to the members to further expand the facilities to take advantage of the sea view, with a sea fronting gymnasium and dancing/aerobic studio, a boardwalk offering alfresco dining, children's play area, video games arcade and roof top dining area. A new multi-storey car park was also built. As seen a lot of capital has been spend on the club.

There is no requirement that you must buy a property to enjoy all the facilities. Club membership fees is a far cry from property prices. All Singaporeans can partake in wonderful setting without costing an arm and a leg. Sports is good for health. In fact Keppel is one of the few golf clubs which many members walk on the course. The array of facilities allow many to pursuit both good physical and mental health. Few social clubs can provide such facilities, even fewer can sustain financially.

Golf is a game which is not strenuous yet thoroughly absorbing. It takes at 4 to 5 hours to finish the game and play in a group of four person. Time just flies by ever so quickly. After the game over drinks or meals it is the joy and laughter over each mistake or achievement.
Most of Keppel club members are over 60 and are retirees. With the club’s closure it will be a big loss to them.  Now they will have no “second home”. It is really a sad day.

                                      Happiness is having a drink with friends


 This Iconic club can a be mecca for golfers..
Few golf clubs in the world can boast of a 100 years history. If well publicised it would really become a golfing destination for golfers of the world.