UPDATE: For those you who have been following the news, Colbar will be saved - sort of - they are planning to rebuild it exactly the same a few doors away. This will happen in July. Only time will tell whether the new place will have the same feel and vibe as the old one. Anyhow, I will still send the comments to the LTA since the petition has closed, just for the heck of it.
Click here to see the this of people who have signed the petition and their comments.
Picture this: Lazy afternoon, a view of tall green trees, a greasy plate
of chips and omlette, washed down with a cold beer or iced lemon tea... and
bulldozers.
Yup, that's right.
Colbar, a quaint 50-year-old hangout in Portsdown Road, Singapore, will have
to go to make way for a new road.
pictures copyright: Singapore Press
Holdings
It's last day is July 1, 2003. The owners, whom everyone knows simply as
Mr and Mrs Lim, have appealed to extend their lease but things look grim.
Under their lease, they are not entitled to any compensation either.
The Land Transport Authority announced that it wants to build a new road
linking Queensway to the Ayer Rajah Expressway. Work on the project
has already started and a stretch of Portsdown Road has been closed.
Phase One of the project will see a flyover being built. It
starts at Normanton Park and ends at the playing field in front of Colbar.
Work is expected to take more than two years.
In Phase Two, the flyover will continue from Portsdown Road
to Queensway. No details are available.
We are petitioning to ask for Colbar and the row of
shops to be preserved intact.
We are asking the Land Transport Authority to relook its proposal for a flyover
linking the AYE to Queensway. It is currently fairly convenient to get to
Queensway from the AYE itself, about 5mins by car (no jam) to 20 mins (crazy
jam).
If this is not possible, we are asking the Land Transport Authority to relook
the design of the flyover such that the Colbar stretch, as well as the atmosphere
and spirit of Portsdown area, can be preserved.
If you haven't signed the petition, you can do so here.
The last day for the petition is March 31, 2003. After that, a copy of the
petition will be sent to The Land Transport Authority.
pictures copyright: Singapore Press Holdings
Colbar, and the two other shops
next door, a tailor's and an air-con workshop, are increasingly hard to find
pockets in Singapore unaffected
by urbanisation. The Portsdown area, formerly a military barracks for the
British colonial forces, has even been coined "little bohemia'' by
some residents. While some of us may not agree on what bohemia should look
like, it's pretty clear for all to see that Portsdown is a nice
place, no tall buildings, lots of soothing greenery, birds, crickets and
squirrels.
If you haven't been to Colbar yet, you don't have much time. Go and see for
youself what the fuss is about.
Okay, it's not much to look at, and the staff can be curt, but that's part
of its charm.
It's not pretentious. You don't have to dress up (but you can if you want
to). You don't have to flirt with the bouncer to get in.
But you know you WILL get a hearty, decently-priced, greasy meal (try the
mixed grill), and the beer WILL be cold. The iced lemon tea is
always freshly made, with two, count them, thick wedges of lemon. And the
dogs are friendly and wander about the shop.
Mr Lim says one option is for them to move and rebuilt Colbar nearby, but
we all know it won't be the same.
Read more about Colbar...
For the record, I am not related to the owners of Colbar and the two adjoining
shops, nor do I have a financial stake in them. I am not a Portsdown Road
resident either. I created this petition because I like going to Colbar from
time to time myself and have fond memories of emptying bottles of Tsing Tao
(with ice!) until it was too late and we were too drunk.
e-mail me wyjunkie@yahoo.com
