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Tanjong Pagar GRC MP Foo Cexiang said businesses engaging in vice activities cast a bad light on the shopping centre.
SINGAPORE – Tanjong Pagar GRC MP Foo Cexiang has vowed to push for a refresh of Tanjong Pagar Plaza (TPP) amid concerns over vice activities at some beauty and massage parlours there.
In a Facebook post on Sept 20 , Mr Foo said he had received feedback from residents about the concentration of such shops at the shopping centre, especially around children.
“There are several pre-schools in the plaza and parents are uneasy whenever their children go past these shops,” said Mr Foo.
To address the issue, Mr Foo said he has had meetings with the police, Housing Board , Tanjong Pagar Plaza Traders Association and town council to discuss ways to refresh the retail mix there.
According to checks by The Straits Times , there are at least four pre-schools and tuition centres at TPP, which is about a five-minute walk from Tanjong Pagar MRT station .
ST visited the shopping centre on Sept 22 and saw around 17 units on the ground floor offering beauty and nail care services, while four others featured massage services.
They made up more than a third of the roughly 60 units open on that floor.
Of the more than 30 units on the second floor, around 20 of them were hair, beauty and massage parlours.
Inside one beauty parlour, there was a single cushioned seat near the door, with the rest of the salon behind curtains. Outside, two women were talking, pausing at times to invite men walking past to enter their shop.
Ms Mikaela Ng, an employee at a Korean food stall on the ground floor, said it was a common sight to see older men enter the massage parlours in the evening.
“I’ve even seen men enter beauty and nail salons, especially on the second level. There’ve been times when the female salon employees bring different men to our shop and ask these men to buy food for them,” said Ms Ng, 30, who has been working in TPP for a year.
“There are too many massage and beauty parlours here, so I think it’s quite obvious what some of them do here,” she added.
Mr Foo said in his Facebook post that businesses engaging in vice activities cast a bad light on the shopping centre.
“When the reputation of TPP is affected, it will affect the overall business viability of the other tenants, which in turn will affect the residents who depend on this mall to meet their daily needs,” he said.
Mr Ga Chun, 23, who works in his family business selling pastries at the mall, said the oversaturation of beauty and massage parlours has been an issue for years.
“There are many massage and beauty salons here now, but previously, there were actually many more, so things have improved slightly,” he said.
“But it must be quite uncomfortable for some residents because there’s a pre-school and a tuition centre on the second floor which are surrounded by these salons.”
Mr Foo said the police have conducted checks and raids on massage shops at the shopping centre, including several in recent months, and that action has been taken against those involved in vice activities.
Moving forward, the police will increase checks at TPP, he added.
He has also asked the Ministry of Home Affairs and the police to consider increasing their upfront regulatory levers over such establishments.
In another move, he has asked the Ministry of National Development and HDB to consider buying back leases from owners of shops that have been sold so that HDB can better curate the retail mix.
“I have raised this as a parliamentary question in the upcoming sitting of Parliament,” he said.
Mr Foo said the traders association agreed that having a better retail mix will benefit shops at the shopping centre, as it will attract more customers.
The association will think of potential businesses that can be brought to TPP, including some food and beverage shops.
Mr Foo explained that the issue of the retail mix is not straightforward, and goes back to the 1990s .
A significant number of shops at the shopping centre were sold by HDB in the 1990s on 80-year lease s, said Mr Foo, adding that HDB has limited regulatory control over these shops.
Given the relatively low footfall at TPP, only a small range of businesses – such as massage establishments and beauty salons – can afford to pay higher rental fees to shop owners who want to maximise their rental yield.
He noted that when police catch businesses that conduct vice activities, action is taken against the masseurs and business owners who are found to be complicit.
Shop owners are not implicated as they are much less likely to be complicit, said Mr Foo. The shop owners may then find new business owners of similar trade to let their shops to, he added.
“It is therefore not so straightforward to address the issue, which is why it has been such a longstanding problem. But enough is enough,” said Mr Foo.
“This transformation will take several years – but we are determined to do it with the support of all stakeholders and our residents.”
[SRC] https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/enough-is-enough-mp-vows-refresh-of-tanjong-pagar-plaza-amid-concerns-over-vice-activities
