Category: Project 2 – Research

Toa payoh 1.2 ideation

This is a continuation of part 1 of my zine journey.

You can check out part 1 here: https://oss.adm.ntu.edu.sg/yuol0001/toa-payoh-site-research/

Part 2 process: https://oss.adm.ntu.edu.sg/yuol0001/398-2/

Part 3 Final: https://oss.adm.ntu.edu.sg/yuol0001/a-journey-in-toa-payoh-final/

 

one unique comment i received was:

my work and style resembled chinese propaganda

 

 

 

 

 

 

This got me thinking. Since Toa payoh was a mostly Chinese kampung, its roots were very ethnic Chinese. Many of the cultural heritages are also ethnic Chinese, most prominently the medical association, which specializes in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Thus, I came to the conclusion that the brushstroke, Chinese propaganda style is a good fit for this project.

This led me to think more about toa payoh’s personal relationship with the past. I visited Toa Payoh again and also went to heritage rich areas like Joo Chiat and Emerald hill.

All of these places have heritage signboards and avertise heritage tours.However, in comparison, Toa payoh did not have proper maintenance on the heritage sites. They just looked dreary and dead, seemingly without a link to the modern interest.

I felt that there was a lack of effort to relate and catch up to the modern world. This change in perspective compared to my last experience when i went there made me think

It seemed as if Toa payoh had become complacent in its search for regional identity, choosing to rest its laurels on its past glory and not choosing to make a big improvement about itself. As it is evidently unable to catch up yo progress, it seemed to have grumpily consoled itself wth its own heritage, creating a sleep atmosphere of a suburb stuck in the days of the “glorious past”.

Instead of creating a golden place of heritage and remembrance of the past like Joo Chiat, Toa Payoh is essentially creating a gilded state of antiquity. Inauthentic but out of necessity as it is unable to catch up to progress, and can only work with what it has– which is its heritage.

This is not wisdom, it is the feeble attempt to stroke one’s pride to cover up for current real inadequacies. It is an attempt to create some sort of heritage identity to stay relevant. It has taken out pages from the cultural preservation of joo chiat, but altogether lacks integrity or innovation.

Narrowing down from the original concept of a struggle for identity; unable to choose between the new and the old, I decide that i will introduce the background of struggle. I choose to create a zine resembling a cultural heritage tour, looking at the old parts of Toa Payoh from a modern perspective. It will be like a personal lament and sighing of Toa Payoh’s current state

Toa Payoh -Site Research

 

What i found to be interesting was the state of liminality toa payoh was in. It wasn’t a super old place full of heritage, because it was a very modern place not even half a century ago, and neither is it a modern place by today’s standards. It seems that toa payoh had been stuck in time, unable to catch up to the footsteps of the modern world, flaking away in its shadow of former glory. There have been attempts to modernist it, as seen from the beautiful new condominiums. They have a strong design sense with minimalist, sometimes even futuristic lines and curves, quite resembling the innovative strokes of popular skyscrapers. However, these stand in stark contrast to the rest of the HDBs, which are short,ugly, brown and stubbish.

The intertwining of culture was interesting too. There were purposefully erected monuments of cultural artifacts that are tended and preserved today. These are shown in the slides, in the form of the lion statue, the Chinese styled buildings, and the intricate symmetrical arches supporting the  walkways. I could see the town council’s intent to preserve toa payoh’s unique heritage. However, unlike heritage sites like Joo chiat, there has not been a very distinctive weave of culture such that it becomes a prominent and striking identity. Acts of preservation have been scattered and inconsistent, looking shabby.

It seems that Toa payoh is in a state where it is forced to create its own identity. It can either strive to be progressive and keep up with the ever changing tides, or at least give itself some semblance of modernity, or it can choose to deny progress and grasp onto its roots.

This sharp disjunction between the failure to reconcile or choose between either ideal to strive towards causes Toa payoh to lack a sense of cohesive identity. Without an identity, people have a hard time surmising toa payoh and truly understanding it.

 

This is a hard question and a challenging topic to tackle. One which even the current toa payoh cannot tackle on its own. However, this sentiment or uncertainty and a lack of identity is what i find to be key to this place. It is the issue i will choose to tackle.

 

This is part 1 of my journey to creating the zine, do join me along as I document the full journey

Part 2: https://oss.adm.ntu.edu.sg/yuol0001/toa-payoh-ideation/