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.