Some six years after motor-workshop owners were first told that they would have to relocate from Sin Ming Industrial Estate, they will finally have to make the move to a nearby multi-storey complex from January next year, even if some of them are not looking forward to it.

Those who are reluctant remain undecided on whether to relocate or to wind up their businesses, even though they have already balloted for their replacement units at the new location, AutoCity, which is still in Sin Ming.

Mr Ng Kee Huat, 64, who is thinking of winding down the family business, said that he would have to fork out about S$5,600 a month for rent at the new place — excluding miscellaneous fees for rubbish collection, for instance — and this is more than the S$4,000 or so he now pays at Sin Ming Industrial Estate. Mr Ng and his two brothers own Sin Koek Seng, which provides car spray-painting services, and the shop has been in business for about 40 years.

“We’ll collect the keys (at AutoCity) first and if the final costs are really too high, we’ll return the unit to the Housing and Development Board (HDB),” Mr Ng said in Mandarin. “Of course, it would be a pity. The new building is pretty, but business has been bad.”

The relocation of Blocks 11 to 21, 27 and 34 in Sin Ming Industrial Estate was first announced in 2010, and the move falls under the HDB’s Industrial Redevelopment Programme. The relocation was supposed to happen in the third quarter of this year, but there was a delay.

Chinese daily Lianhe Zaobao reported yesterday that the owners can move in about two months’ time. A HDB spokesperson said that the keys for the replacement units would be given out from mid-January next year and the tenants would have three months from the start of their new tenancy to vacate their current premises.

The vacated sites have been zoned for residential use, while Block 34 has been set aside for business use.

Most of the workshop owners told TODAY that they were concerned about the higher rental fees at AutoCity, the loss of drive-in customers, and the hefty costs of dismantling and shifting their existing equipment to the new complex.

The 50-year-old owner of Leong Auto Trading and Transport Services, who wanted to be identified only as Mr Teng, said that the workshops may see fewer drive-in customers because not many would want to circle around a few floors in the new complex to look for car workshops.

Tenants in the affected blocks who got their current premises before January 1998 would receive an ex-gratia of S$48,000 per unit and up to a six-month waiver in rent at AutoCity.

Even so, Mr Nelson Koh, 62, the owner of Yong Thye Seng Spray Painting and Auto Repair Workshop, said that he would still have to spend tens of thousands of dollars to relocate, renovate and buy new equipment. He intends to end his business because it has been tough trying to hire more manpower.

Mr Winson Ow, 48, managing director of CS Racing Autolab, hopes to continue his business for the older employees and partners working with him, but the higher rental fees are a concern. He pointed out that the rent at privately owned multi-storey complexes in Kaki Bukit, for instance, may be cheaper at about S$2,000 to S$3,000 a month, he said.

Others, such as Mr Saber Tan, 40, who took over his business from his father and is director of Eng Shing Mechanical Works, is giving himself three years at AutoCity.

“I’ll try it out. We might be able to hold out for a while through Government schemes such as the PIC,” he said, referring to the Productivity and Innovation Credit Scheme where eligible businesses get tax deductions or allowances for spending incurred in selected activities.

The cost of rent is not the only concern for some workshops moving to AutoCity. Mr Jason Tan, 44, operations manager at Lai Huat (Meng Kee) Motor, said that the layout of the new building could be better. Each new unit sets aside rooms for workers, but Mr Tan does not need such quarters in all three units that his firm will be occupying, and he cannot do anything about the design.

He also noted that the balloting process for the new space could have given older tenants priority in selecting adjacent units.

While the motor workshops prepare to face the impending move and changes, at least one business is unlikely to worry about traffic from customers.

New Ubin Seafood Restaurant, a popular eatery at Block 27, has set its last day of operations on Nov 13, before it moves to Hillview Avenue near Upper Bukit Timah.

On its Facebook page, it said that it “has been / are already in touch with all those whose reservations are affected”, and will likely open in that same week at the new location “subject to operational readiness”.

Source:
courtesy of TODAY

by SIAU MING EN

If you have any stories or news that you would like to share with the global online community, please feel free to share it with us by contacting us directly at [email protected]