I went to pick up an amp yesterday. Turns out the seller is an Indian expat, selling it cheap because his company was closing down locally and moving to China (where everything is cheaper). He declined to move to China, so he might be moving back to India to find work.
Turns out also that he was staying at the Grangeford. Its been no stranger to the news recently. When it got sold en bloc a couple years ago, its neighbours Horizon were incensed that their own en bloc fetched only half that of Grangeford. Horizon then sued its MC for what it alleged to be a hasty sale, introducing all sorts of pretty interesting arguments. It turned out to be a record series of lawsuits by various parties, involving almost all the major firms here.
Anyway, I was in Horizon about a year or two ago. Its old but pretty well maintained, some of the apartments are quite quaint in a 1970s way, with pretty groovy design (like a circular living room - very space age). In contrast, when I saw it yesterday, the Grangeford is pretty run-down and some parts look like an old 3 star hotel thats seen better days. Great location, but the seventh month is here and some areas can look creepy at night.
So Grangeford was again in the news because its master tenant illegally partitioned its units to pack in even more tenants. I checked out for myself what remained of the partitions yesterday -- the contractors came in and removed them but the foundations remained. It was quite funny -- basically the bedrooms and master bedrooms became a unit each, and they partitioned the living room and what was left of any common space into 2 tiny coops just big enough for a bed and a small cupboard (hence turning a unit into a 5-bed dorm of sorts). My guy paid $1,300 monthly for his master bedroom, which I think is a bad deal considering you can get a slightly smaller room at a brand spanking new condo in the fringes (Novena etc) area for the same price. Or a shared HDB nearer to his workplace, with all the amenities in the area. I don't even know where he got his meals, he can't possibly walk out to Taka every day for dinner.. no wonder he's moving!
So.. foreign talent, companies outsourcing to China, en bloc sales, overcrowding in coops, unrealistic rental rates.. wonder where we'll go from here?