Located near the junction of the Upper Serangoon Road and Upper Paya Lebar Road, it is a place that seems to be frozen in time, with little changes over the decades.
Built in the late 70s (unconfirmed), the shopping centre’s most famous tenant is perhaps the evergreen computer shop that sells cheap PC games for almost 20 years.
Today, the shopping centre is like a ghost town, where there are only a few tenants left in the building, which is quite an unusual scenario in a crowded Singapore. The building has been put up for sale, and after three decades, Upper Serangoon Shopping Centre may be finally undergoing a major revamp.
Even in weekends, the shopping mall is deserted with only a couple of shops opened for business.
Just outside the shopping centre, there is a classic old building equipped with spiral staircase.
Published: 22 October 2010
Updated: 03 July 2011
A Play Tat I Grew Up With Since Young…There Used To Be An Old Dispensary In Place of The Post Office Opposite It….Decades Back….Ever Since The Dept Store Oriental Emporium…and Later The Game Arcade Moved Out…Tis Place Has Slowly Start to Lose Its Patrons….There Used To B Some Bk Rental Shops Ard In The Late 90s…But Now I’ll Say The Cheap Photocopy Shops Are The Onli Reason I Still Head Back There….
like many others, i was a regular patron of the PC shop in the past…
Hi there, really like reading your posts and pictures on your blog, could I ask if yesterday.sg has linked to your posts before? I lived in Hougang for 20 years of my life, and studied in Zhonghua Secondary School. I used to go to USSC for haircut, uniform, CDs, tamiya model kits and the arcade. Thanks for this post, it sure brought up fond memories.
Thanks Shaun!
Nope, yesterday.sg hasn’t linked to my posts before
I have setup this blog just last Oct.. Wished I did it much earlier, several places such as (old) National Library, Tang Dynasty and New 7th Storey Hotel were already gone for good..
Good interesting and informative Site! Keep up the good work! Will return back again. Check out my site too! http://singaporeitinerary.blogspot.com ! Cheers!
I used to get my cross-stitch threads from a shop there!
I finished my schooling at St Josephs Convent in Hillside Drive in 1967 and the bus stop was on the same side of the post office. I remember going to Ban Cheong Jewellers with my Mum across Yio Chu Kang Road, from memory. Those were the good old days, which Paya Lebar will not see again
Jennifer Sheffield (nee Pereira)
The Tailor Shop Bside The Shopping Centre Gone Liao….
In a crowded Singapore, almost all shopping malls are full of people except this…
Sad to see it in such state
Point to note… that the interior design of the Upper Serangoon Shopping Center is almost similar to City Plaza in Geylang…and the facade is also semblance of Katong Shopping Centre
I remembered the scary tattoo shop at 2nd level, always pass by on our way to the uniform shop, n there’s this bright linkway.. n the arcade on the top floor, opposite arcade got photocopying shop.. downstairs got book shop and cafeteria that my grandma would bring me there for breakfast.. Mini carousel that my cousins n mi always love to ride.. Chinese herbal shop near the staircase at 2nd level.. Outside just beside the mattress shop is this forever changing club, always so scared to walk past at night.. But still, so many fond memories!! Thanks for this post..
I used to work at the amusement arcade cum billiards saloon. Met a lot of friends, knew a lot of wierd characters good and bad.
Sadly, even the ah bengs also avoid this place nowadays… haha
Hi, perhaps you might consider writing on the Katong Shopping Complex? I guess both are around the same type of era build?
Thanks, will definitely do that in the coming future..
The old malls such as Katong Shopping Centre was built in 1973, Queensway Shopping Centre in 1976 and Bukit Timah Shopping Centre in 1978.
The reason I chose to write about Upper Serangoon Shopping Centre first was because after so many decades, the others are still buzzing with good businesses but USSC is already like a ghost town.
Quite sad to see it in current state actually, but that’s the way of life..
tattoo shop!!!!!
Ah that place, I remember back when I was in Secondary School I used to go to the arcade there after school. Back then there were no restrictions on uniforms. And facing the arcade was a shop where we could buy console games or even rent a game for 1 hour. There was also a Manga shop on the ground floor or I should say Man Hua shop. And yes, I think ‘Ah Lim’ is still. Should visit when I have the time.
my ex-girlfriend and i used to haunt USSC to get textbooks or Maths homeworks photocopied at a shop done by a bunch of bored ah huays and ah lians, after that we’d walk around and gawk at the local people having a blast. That ex-girlfriend? yeah she’s my wife now….!
thank you for the write up! its great to see these sites and places as we no longer reside in sgp, now we have been apprised the place is called a Ponding Island?
I have very fond memories of Hainan Garden 海南园 and Choa Chu Kang, hopefully you or some of your readers will be able to post some good old pictures and stories on your website.
I used to study in Sin Min (thank god it is being preserved, now occupy by NGO The Helping Hand), and used to visit 星光戏院 and the polyclinic which was just across the Upper Serangoon Shopping Centre. Further up is a big square just behind the now defunct 光洋中学 which housed I think was 光华戏院. I have lots of good fond memories there. It was almost a dead town there when I visited that place a few weeks ago compared to hustling and bustling place a few decades before.
I bought my first used car from the company known as Leco motors here many many years ago.
They were located on the ground floor. When the boss’s wife strike it reach in a mutilmillion toto draw, they bought their own place at the grand used car mart at Ubi. They are still there today
Hi there, should do up an entry on Beauty World Shopping Centre before they do any revamp to it, since MRT lines will go through that area in future… There’s also a hawker centre located at the top floor of the mall. Don’t forget to pay the toilets a visit, classic stainless steel urinal trough!
My growing up years from 60′s, 70′s, early 80′s… what a wonderful place to grow up in upper serangoon.. between “ougang” 5th mile and 6th Mile….u had mix of middle class, kampongs with duck and chicken farms… and mangrove swamp at Jalan payoh Lai – tampines … great food all around… the Best wanton mee was a push cart cantonese guy who will push his cart from Silat Road to, Hillside drive, sometimes park it along Highland road.. in front of the huge properties along Highland road.. OH what a great Era… with estates having durian trees… waiting to run into the property at night to pick the fallen fruits…. hahahhahah… great times… and the 60′s Firecrackers during Chinese new year… brillaant…. times… then we kids will ride our bicycles to either kangar or pungool end… or take one of the those buses .. the yellow bus to go to pungool end…. oh how “romantic”…. and we had the complete mix of races….flying kite.. playing
OH what a time…
‘kuti-kuti”….
Nothing was as happy as those times in early 80s when my mom and dad brought me to ussc to celebrate dad’s payday. It was huge then… At least for me! On the way back, will stop by the durian stall opposite ussc, then wait for my uncle (uncle rahim aka aim) who sells the mee rebus to come back hillside drive village and we get to eat all the leftovers for the day. Then to the wet market every sun and i would wait and grumble for my mom and auntie to finish their groceries. Question: was the crocodile farm just further up the road really had huge crocodiles? I never had a chance to go there. Wish i had! Thanks for the memories
I think the crocodile farm at Upper Serangoon is around: http://www.singaporecrocfarm.com/Main.html
Shall check it out one of these days