There are some very memorable buildings and places in Singapore which holds special meaning to me, for example, certain hiding spots in your primary school, basketball court or even shops in the HDB neighbourhood will bring back the good memories.

For agarwood, there is quite a number of them but If i wanted to mention one building which relates to the agarwood trade, it would be the former AVA plant health centre, which by now, is under Npark. This Plant centre was formally called the PostHarvest Horticulture Building, it was born under the Asean-Australia Economic co-operation Programme and open in 1979.

I remember walking to this plant centre to prepare for the CITES permit for agarwood export in the early days, nowdays with a good watermark printer, you can enjoy printing the CITES permit in a DIY fashion. But the walk to this plant centre is really an enjoyable one, not easy to find by taxi uncle unless they are familiar with the neighbourhood :)

In the old days, agarwood traders will drive lorry and bring boxes of agarwood for examination and proceed with the CITES application, the people there are friendly and nice, perhaps being situated in a place surrounded by luscious greenery does help with the working mood :)





There were lots of fruit trees planted inside too, just like the good old kampung days :) Many of whom i spoke to during that time, told me that they are keen to stay at the old place compare to relocating to a new location.

Just like the old NLB building transforming to the New NLB in bugis, some places in Singapore have to give way to a bigger development to ensure greater efficiency for the bigger population. But sometimes, when you walk pass certain buildings, it's good to train your brain and recall some of the good memories and people.