land.... wish I had taken some pictures before the fire consumed
it 
100-year-old building thought worthy of conservation but...
Gutted by fire, this grand old dame had to
go
By Desmond Ng
November 04, 2006
IT is another historic building which has disappeared from
Singapore's ever-changing landscape.
But this time, it wasn't due to lack of effort.
A fire this year all but razed the former Eng Wah building along
Jalan Besar Road.
With a history spanning over a century, the building was earlier
earmarked by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) as a historic
property in an area rich with old world charm and strong heritage
value.
It is understood that cinema operator Eng Wah rented the building
to be used as its office in the mid-1900s.
Today, it's just a flattened plot.
Two bulldozers were in the process of demolishing the building when
The New Paper visited the site earlier last month.
HEARTBREAKING
For the nostalgic, it must have been heartbreaking to see the
three-storey building being torn down.
There was rubble, steel wires and broken pieces of wood
everywhere.
The walls and ceiling on the third floor were black with soot,
probably from the fire.
Passerby Wilson Chua, 59, was shaking his head and taking pictures
of the site when The New Paper was there.
He was having breakfast at a nearby coffee shop when he saw the
wretched state of the building.
The retiree then decided to take some pictures as a keepsake.
Said Mr Chua in Hokkien: 'I think the building was quite popular
for its architecture in the olden days.
'In view of the damage to the building caused by the fire and for
safety reasons, we reluctantly agreed to drop the building from its
conservation study and approved the owner's application to demolish
the building for future redevelopment.' -- A URA spokesman
'It was probably one of the oldest in this area. It's so sad that
they're tearing it down.
'I took some pictures so that I can remember it.
'We should try to conserve more of such old buildings instead of
tearing it down.'
But the building was gone when we visited the site again on
Tuesday.
When URA exhibited its Identity Plan in 2002, the Jalan Besar
cluster was earmarked as a historically significant area with many
unique buildings with history and architecture that should be
conserved.
Called the Old World Charm, the aim of this plan was to evoke a
sense of national identity and belonging among Singaporeans.
Unfortunately, before the study could be concluded, the building
caught fire in January this year.
According to URA, the engineers' report submitted by the owner
stated that the building was badly damaged and had become
unsafe.
'In view of the damage to the building caused by the fire and for
safety reasons, we reluctantly agreed to drop the building from its
conservation study and approved the owner's application to demolish
the building for future redevelopment,' said a URA spokesman.
For now, the redevelopment plan for that site is still
uncertain.
According to a Building and Construction Authority permit pasted on
the building, the site belongs to the estate of a Mr Lee Seng Choh,
and was administered by a Mr Lee Cheng Kee.
We tried to contact the latter but a relative said he was out of
the country.
GY Chow Consulting Engineers, which was supervising the demolition,
said they were employed by the owner to tear down the building by
the end of last month.
A member of the staff, who declined to be named, said: 'I don't
think the owner has any plans to develop the place yet.'
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