Residents concerned about vice activities at Tanjong Pagar Plaza, MP aims to ‘refresh’ retail mix

Businesses involved in vice activities affecting reputation of Tanjong Pagar Plaza, says MP

The high concentration of massage parlours and beauty salons in Tanjong Pagar Plaza (TPP) is causing concern, as some of these establishments are engaging in vice activities.

Several residents have expressed fears that this would affect the building’s reputation, said the area’s MP Foo Cexiang in a Facebook post on Saturday (20 Sept).

Parents ‘uneasy’ when children pass by these establishments

Mr Foo, an MP for Tanjong Pagar GRC, noted that there are also several pre-schools in TPP, with parents feeling “uneasy” when their children go past the massage parlours and beauty salons.

While the majority of these businesses operate legitimately, a few of them are “casting a bad light” on the building, he pointed out.

This results in reputational harm as residents, customers and potential businesses are turned away, he said, adding:

When the reputation of TPP is affected, it will affect the overall business viability of the other tenants, which in turn will affect the residents who depend on this mall to meet their daily needs.

Police have conducted vice raids in Tanjong Pagar Plaza

The police have conducted checks and raids on several of these massage establishments in recent months, Mr Foo said.

Those found guilty of engaging in vice activities have been dealt with, and the police will ramp up enforcement action.

However, action is usually taken only against the masseurs and business owners, but not the shop owners, as they are less likely to be complicit in the vice activities.

Thus, the shop owners may just rent their units to other business owners in similar trades, Mr Foo added.

Only such businesses can afford high rental

The MP explained that it’s “not so straightforward” to address the long-standing problem, as although TPP is owned by HDB, it has “limited regulatory levers” over a significant number of the shop owners in the building.

This is because these owners bought their shops from HDB in the 1990s for leases of about 80 years, he said.

As they want to maximise their rental income, only a handful of businesses can afford to pay such high rent — massage establishments and beauty salons, among others.

This is due to the “relatively low footfall” in the building, Mr Foo added.

MP aims to ‘refresh’ Tanjong Pagar Plaza retail mix

In an effort to find a solution, Mr Foo intends to “refresh the retail mix” in TPP, he said.

This week, he met representatives from the police, HDB, TPP Traders Association and Town Council to discuss a strategy.

Firstly, he asked the police and the Ministry of Home Affairs to consider increasing their upfront regulatory levers over such establishments.

He also asked HDB and the Ministry of National Development to consider buying back the leases of shops. This is “so that HDB is better able to curate the trade mix of shops and respond to resident needs”, he added.

To that end, he has already raised a Parliamentary Question about this for the upcoming Parliament sitting.

Finally, the TPP Traders Association will think about drawing potential businesses to open in TPP, “potentially some lighter F&B outfits”, so that the complex will have a better retail mix to attract more customers.

Transformation will take several years

But Mr Foo warned that the process will not be swift, with the transformation likely taking “several years”.

They are, however, “determined” to achieve this, with support from stakeholders and residents, he said, adding:

It is time to refresh Tanjong Pagar Plaza!

Also read: 20 arrested for illegal activities in Geylang & Joo Chiat, hair salon found giving unlicensed massages