While Yishun has a pretty infamous reputation in Singapore due to all the odd things that happen there, I think we can say that there are still some highlights within the neighbourhood.
No, I’m not kidding. You can see for yourself in this video here:
Regardless of whether you live in Yishun or not, you probably know ORTO, a 24-hour leisure park that boasts various facilities such as a prawning area, trampoline park and a tortoise museum.
And for the foodies out there, you’ve probably tried, or at least heard of the various food and beverage (F&B) establishments within the park as well.
But for those who’ve grown fond of getting your Thai Boat Noodle fix from ORTO, here’s some bad news.
After opening its doors 500m away from Khatib MRT station in 2014, it seems like ORTO’s days at Yishun will be coming to an end.
Recently, the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) told The Straits Times that ORTO, which is located at 81 Lorong Chencharu, will have to vacate its current premises when its tenancy expires next year.
Prior to ORTO, the lease was held by Bottle Tree Park, its former name. Bottle Tree Park began operations in end-2006.
With the SLA’s extension, the final date for the tenancy expiration will be on 30 June 2023. The original lease ends this December.
And apart from ORTO, another establishment will be forced to move away as well.
The establishment is Ground-Up Initiative (GUI), a non-profit organisation located near ORTO at 91 Lorong Chencharu.
Land to be Used for Residential Development
With a spanning over 5.15ha, ORTO is situated in a 70ha-large plot of land between Khatib Camp, Sembawang Road, Yishun Avenue 1 and Yishun Avenue 2.
After Chencharu was announced as a new housing area by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) in June, it was decided that this particular plot of land will be used for residential use.
Apart from ORTO, a nearby plot of land will also be used for residential development.
The plot of land, which is 70ha in size, is located northwest of ORTO. Land preparation works for around 40ha of the land have begun.
However, there will also be parts of the land that will not be developed for the time being.
For now, the areas that will not be developed include 11 sites that house aquarium fish export centres.
SLA also revealed that these centres recently had their leases renewed for ten years. The original leases of these sites lapsed between July 2020 and March of last year.
ORTO’s Tenants and Their Thoughts
With 14 tenants located within the park, most of ORTO’s tenants are F&B establishments, while there are also other businesses such as a trampoline park as well as those offering prawning and fishing activities.
Another tenant of ORTO is The Live Turtle and Tortoise Museum, which might sound familiar if you’ve been to Chinese Garden in Jurong in the past.
After moving from Chinese Garden to ORTO at the start of 2019 due to renovation works at the original location, the museum’s owner explained that they thought the museum would be able to stay put for around 15 to 18 months.
Connie Tan, the owner of the museum, mentioned that she heard of news regarding ORTO’s lease not being renewed after its lapse in mid-2020.
She then told The Straits Times that she is currently in contact with the relevant authorities to hopefully rehouse the museum’s animals, in a nearby site. The museum currently houses around 600 animals.
As for the F&B establishments, Tasty Loong’s chef-owner Pung Lu Tin explained that his restaurant will continue its operations in ORTO until the lease expires.
He also shared that he has not decided to relocate the restaurant yet as the business has yet to recover from the financial hit it took due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
As for ORTO itself, spokesman Clifford Loh told The Straits Times that ORTO is a unique site in Singapore, and expressed his hopes for the park to remain in Yishun for “a few more years”.
He then revealed that ORTO will be taking over operations at 27 West Coast Highway from December this year.
The new premise, which is a two-storey commercial building, is located near Haw Par Villa MRT station.
GUI’s Thoughts About Moving
When speaking to The Straits Times, GUI’s executive lead Cai Bingyu mentioned that GUI is in contact with the authorities to obtain a new site to relocate to.
And for those who aren’t familiar with the non-profit organisation, GUI mainly harps on sustainability and community building through farming, crafts and cooking programmes.
Similarly, he also expressed his wishes for the non-profit to operate in a new green plot of land, and that it can continue being located in Yishun due to the bond it has built with the community.
The bond first began in 2009, when volunteers chipped in to help GUI start a natural soil-based farm from scratch.
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Mr Cai also shared that GUI has been struggling financially as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic as it could not conduct educational programmes for both schools and corporate clients.
GUI also shares some produce from its farm with others in Yishun through corporate social responsibility workshops.
While the team working at GUI is aware of the challenges they may face in trying to secure the necessary funds for them to build another facility and keep their operations running, Mr Cai also said that the team thinks that what they are doing is worth it.
According to him, $2 million will be needed to complete the initial phase of building a new facility for GUI, which includes setting up basic facilities and services for the team to continue conducting programmes.
Despite the financial struggles, the team also agreed that they would like to continue doing what they do, allowing them to benefit the environment and community.
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