Documenting Peace Center (Singapore) with the Ricoh GR IIIx – Peace Lost with time

Background

Due for demolition soon in 2024, with almost all ex-tenants and inhabitants exiting the building since December 2021 and the building now (mostly) inaccessible to the public, Peace Center is a sad shadow of the mall that saw its peak during the 1980s to 2000s and largely forgotten by many.

Today, instead of a camera review, I would like to take us for a visual walk around the now mostly abandoned Peace Center, in its last stages of being prepped for demolition.

Let us start this last visual journey documenting the heart and guts of this 46 year old (in 2023) mall before its demolition.

Armed with the Ricoh GR IIIx, an unexpected opportunity appeared for a friend and me to explore last breaths of this once majestic and buzzing mall sitting on prime land in the middle of Dhoby Ghaut, Singapore and I guess, the rest is this documentary themed article.

For the sake of documentation, all photos of Peace Center shared here were taken in October 2023, two years after the successful en-bloc sale of the building.

A quick history of Peace Center

Built in 1977, a good near half century 46 years ago, Peace Center started out well as an education themed hub situated in the middle of a well-to-do neighbourhood.

Well known as the centre for private schools and printing shops. it was common to see students patronising businesses (especially printing shops) to print all sorts of materials, including whole textbooks due to the infancy of the internet back then and obviously, less strict copyright laws.

Well-known schools, such as Informatics and BMC later joined the foray in the 1980s to 1990s before changing economic conditions saw these businesses leaving to be replaced by shady businesses like KTVs, pubs and bars in the late 1980s to 2010s, with Peace Centre at one point to be known as the “KTV Capital” of Singapore.

During this era, the students disappeared and were replaced by the inviting smiles of beautiful hostesses and patrons, Peace Center no longer was as ‘peaceful’ as it was, with sounds of entertainment and songs flowing into the wee hours.

Fast forward to after the 2010s, with increased police enforcement and crack-downs, the sounds of reverly and singing dwindled to be replaced an assortment of shops drawn by cheap rents and well, catering to a dwinding crowd with the owners finally decided to sell the building off to be demolished and re-developed, only to succeed on their 5th attempt.

The Ricoh GR IIIx

The honest reason why I chose the Ricoh GR IIIx was because this is a camera I bring along nearly on a daily basis and it was in my hands when the opportunity came.

Having said so, the fact that the GR IIIx is one of the very few high-end fixed lens larger sensor cameras in the most compact package makes it really suited for photographing the dim insides of Peace Center, more so that when the images are processed right, are able to give one this gritty feel highlighting the history and aged soul of the building.

*pictured is the GR IIIx Urban Edition, which I had to seek help to purchase from overseas as the local distributor just could not find me a set even when I really wanted to support local 😑.

Though very compact, the Ricoh GR IIIx houses a very capable APSC sized sensor, approximately 10x larger in area c.f to the newest iPhone 15.

I was initially concerned a 40mm focal length might be too tight but that worry soon evaporated as I was snapping away trying to maximise the photo-time available.

For the ones worried that the 40mm ƒ2.8 lens is not fast enough, the built in 3-axis stabilisation works well to balance out any camera shakes, even when I was shooting in mostly dim conditions at lower shutter speeds in a building where most shops had shuttered.

Quite a few shops literally had abandoned their wares too

Interestingly, especially among the upper floors one can still find a few shops still with wares un-removed, which I assume was abandoned.

Some may disagree, but I do find the graffiti littering the corners and splashed across the walls quite interesting and attractive to look at, probably because they give a nice character to this otherwise drab facade.

*edit (3 Nov 2023): I was told that some of the graffiti were likely commissioned by a company who took up the space for an event.

Trying to find the nooks and crannies of the building, I soon realised the journey ended here at this door going from the third to the fourth floor.

Conclusion

Thank you for your time in joining me on this visual journey.

Leaving the building, I did chance upon some posters of a Halloween themed event here coming up, if you are keen on this type of excitement, maybe this is something you can explore.

Disclaimers:

1. I sourced around for good write-ups regarding Peace Center for this article to be factually correct and useful. This piece by Gary Lit for the New Straits Times was useful amongst others and helped me with the initial writing.
2. All images shared were photographed with my personal copy of the Ricoh GR IIIx Urban Edition.
3. All images were shot in DNG format and post-processed in Lightroom CC Classic to my preferences.
4. I was not paid in any form for this review, especially by Peace Center and Ricoh Singapore.
5. Just in case, I did not break any laws entering this building.