Place identity of Holland Village

Shops in shopping mall (bread talk)

Holland Village has been swept by changes in recent years. Most of what remains of its old unique charm and past has now been eclipsed by urban renewal, changing its atmosphere and identity. Its physical identity has been eroded to quite a great extent. In the past, it was the locals who would come to Holland Village to hang out and relax. However, urban renewal has forced the place to keep up with the fast-paced development and the place is now being promoted as a tourist attraction. New food outlets cater to the expatriate community, but shops selling Singaporean fare are now a dying breed in Holland Village.

The government has decided to conserve a row of pre-war shophouses in Holland Village, which adds a sense of nostalgia and charm to the place.

2-storey shophouse in Holland Village

However, many banks and restaurants are now located in the 2-storey shophouses and these shophouses have long lost their function: the upper storey is merely used as an expansion of the premise downstairs. The shophouses have become so commercialized that they have lost their meaning, thereby eroding much of the place’s tangible identity.

Chain of banks that occupy the shophouses

One landmark of Holland Village is a wooden windmill that sits atop the Holland Village Shopping Centre. Mrs Tjoa says of the windmill, “Whenever my friends come to Holland Village, they must definitely take a picture with it (the windmill)!” Indeed, the non-functioning windmill is essentially a tourist attraction. It was only erected five years ago after the building managers decided to do Dutch-themed revamp of the place. Thus, this so-called landmark of Holland Village was not part of its rich past.

Windmill atop shopping centre

Holland Village Market and Food Centre 

With Holland Village becoming more and more westernized, the Holland Village Market and Food Centre serves as a common space for locals to gather - reminiscent of the past. However, ever since the food centre was upgraded in 2006, one of the market stallholders, who has been running a stall there for 32 years, laments that business has been down by 50%. This is because while the food centre has been expanded, the size of the market has decreased, and hence many of his regular customers have patronized other larger markets nearby. Mrs Tjoa also says that she has not visited the food centre after renovation as often as she used to as the prices have increased.

As can be seen, this food centre and market has defeated its purpose as a common space for locals, since many choose not to patronize it anymore after renovation, weakening the sense of community. This is even more evident in the government’s efforts to make the food centre “tourist-friendly”.

Signboards outside the food centre educating tourists on
food choices, by the Singapore Tourism Board

With so much effort to turn the place into a tourist attraction, much of the tangible and intangible identity has been compromised.

Sense of Community, Intangible Identity
The sense of community in Holland Village is also rather weak. Shopkeepers say that they receive customers of different races, but the vast majority of customers are either locals or expatriates. When I checked out the area, I spotted a few expatriates dining at the food centre, but the locals and the expatriates did not interact with each other at all.

Mrs Tjoa, who patrionises Holland Village everyday, noted that the shops are always changing owners as the rental in Holland Village is very high. Hence, it can be observed that the sense of community in Holland Village is not strong due to the frequent change that is taking place.

Residents whom I spoke to all welcomed the change that has been taking place in Holland Village. With the new circle line MRT station, they find the place more convenient, accessible and vibrant. On the other hand, shopkeepers, even those who have been were working in Holland Village for over 30 years, were nonchalant about the place’s change in identity. As the owner of Jim’s Art, a home décor shop located in Holland Village Shopping Centre, put it, “We just follow the customer’s preferences. Whatever changes come our way is fine with us, as long as we can adapt to it.” Perhaps because the identity of Holland Village is constantly changing, that it is better for shopkeepers not to have too much attachment to the past, or it would be difficult to keep the business alive in this ever-changing place.

In conclusion, the once-strong place identity of Holland Village is eroding, and with the fast-paced development of Holland Village, a new identity is taking its place. Intangible identity of Holland Village is relatively weak, and more can definitely be done to strengthen this identity. (see suggestions to enhance identity)