A few hundred years ago, my colleague penned an article, inscribing how VivoCity’s Daiso outlet was due to close down.
And it seems that the news got kind of hot.
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Which is kind of great, even if we’re technically profiting at the expense of others’ misery. But hey, that’s how the world spins.
So anyway, if you’re one of the 2.6K readers who shared the article on your own page, you might be interested to know that…
Bukit Merah Public Library will be taking over the discount store’s spot.
The deets
According to the mother of all local libraries, National Library Board (NLB), Bukit Merah Public Library will be moving into VivoCity as early as end-year 2018.
Currently located at Bukit Merah Central (a stone’s throw away from Bukit Merah Community Centre), the relocation would mean that the library will move out of its heartland area into a mall that’s effectively surrounded by zero HDB estates.
And it seems that residents didn’t really take kindly to it.
Transcript (lest you can’t see):
“The National Library Board (NLB) intends to relocate the Bukit Merah Library (BML) to new premises within a shopping mall Vivocity by late 2018.
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“Please keep Bukit Merah Library in its current premises. It presently serves the heartland estates surrounding it: Bukit Merah Central, Redhill, Lengkok Bahru, Jalan Bukit Merah, Tiong Bahru. Contrasting with Vivocity which has virtually no HDB estates within a 1km radius. I will be gathering signatures, and present them to Member of Parliament Sam Tan and the NLB.”
Incidentally, the petition has garnered near 1,000 signatures so far.
But it seems that…
Efforts might’ve been futile, as the NLB seems to have its mind set on the relocation. The last we checked, posters by the library board declaring that there’s a “Library coming soon” are also stickered across the temporary instalment.
The move seems to stem from NLB’s efforts to promote reading, with the relocation planted in an area with other community facilities and shopping malls near major transport nodes. In short, it’s like renting a shop in a popular area as compared to an ‘ulu’ area:
More human traffic.
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Though you’ve got to wonder if anyone would want to read a book before heading to Sentosa #justsaying
To all those petition signers
Do not be distressed, for NLB has not left you in the lurch. Not totally anyway.
According to NLB, Bukit Merah residents will still be able to access reading sources and services at various ‘touchpoints’ in the area. Should you be interested, here’s a full list of the touchpoints.
Additionally, there will also be books and computers provided for residents, as well as the conduction of mass borrowing services at these locations.
So rest assured, ardent BMPL fans, all is not lost.
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I think.
There’s an old saying in Chinese…
“If the old stuff doesn’t leave, the new ones can’t come in.”
Although admittedly BMPL isn’t exactly new, but hey.
At least there’re more places for you to crash in when you’re tired out from exploring Vivo, or after a hot day in Sentosa. 😉
Don’t tell the librarian I said that.
(And remember to cover your face with a book when you’re sleeping, because sleeping isn’t allowed in a library. My boss says one.)
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