Tekka Market and Food Centre reopens

SINGAPORE: More than 100 years old, Singapore’s Tekka Market and Food Centre officially reopened on Saturday (Sept 30) after three months of repairs and renovations.

The famous market in Little India had been closed since July 3.

Its bright blue facade now repainted a shining purple, Tekka resumed operations on Sunday (Oct 1) after work ended on the first level, chock-a-block with food and market stalls.

Work on the second level, filled with a variety of shops, ended on August 31.
The Straits Times reported pipes had been replaced to solve the drainage problem and larger fans installed to improve ventilation. Bird netting has also been installed to prevent birds from flying into the market in search of food. There is also new flooring as well as new tables and chairs. Toilets have been upgraded and there is a new smoking point. The hawkers at Tekka were happy with the renovations, said the Straits Times.

Tekka has 216 market stalls, 119 hawker stalls and 68 lock-up stalls and occupancy is 96 per cent, said a Tanjong Pagar Town Council spokesman.

Rents were waived during the repairs and renovations. The National Environment Agency, which manages markets and hawker centres, said earlier that rents would not be raised because of the work done.

Tanjong Pagar GRC MP Alvin Tan, who is also Minister of State for Trade and Industry, and Culture, Community and Youth, attended the reopening ceremony on Sept 30 and put up a post on Facebook.

“It was a day of celebrations and friendships! We’ve work so hard together to refresh our beloved Tekka Centre,” he wrote. “But we’re not quite done yet. We have a few surprises in store which we will complete in a few months to add to Tekka Centre. Watch this space!”

The original Tekka Market was built in 1915.

The market was also closed for renovation in 2008 and reopened in 2009.

Tekka Market and Food Centre has its fans, who love its hawker food. They are already looking forward to patronising its hawker stalls again, as the following Facebook post shows. The poster clearly can’t wait to savour the prata, naan, briyani, Indian teh tarik, Chinese kopi kaw and the rojak. The foodie also notes that Tekka has opened just about a month before Deepavali, the gala Indian festival. The timing couldn’t be better! /TISG