THE folks in Bedok have money.

Drive by the town centre and you cannot miss the sight of four banks squatting side-by-side in a row of shophouses.

They have big signs imploring you to invest or save and their premises are a credit to spiffy use of space.

The four banks are UOB, DBS, Maybank and Stanchart.

One suspects that quite a good number of Bedok folks manage to park a fair bit of their money with them each month.

After all, there is not much to fritter away, shopping or eating, in Bedok itself. There is no fancy mall, you see.

The town centre is still a warren of rows of old-fashioned shops. 

They do house some familiar names like Watson’s, Poh Heng and Hang Ten but the majority of the minimally-furnished shops sell humble stuff, from confectionery to shoes to electronics.

The display of goods spills over into the walkway, bargaining is not frowned upon, and the shop assistants actually ask you to come in to browse.

So even as a third mall is about to open in nearby Tampines, and other heartland town centres boast their Toa Payoh Hub or AMK Hub or Compass Point, there is no such equivalent in Bedok.

Why, there is not even a cineplex too, with the closures of the Princess and Changi cinemas ending the escape route to fantasy, gongfu and romance. 

You can, of course, jump on the train to get to nearby Tampines to satisfy your lifestyle cravings, as a recent story in Sunday Times of the new mall in Tampines revealed.

It is not that Bedok has stood still because there is no room to grow and that building a mall would mean tearing the guts out of the town centre.

Consider the vast expanse of land next to the bus interchange which has remained fallow for years and years. Only grass and trees have taken root, and the tranquility is only very occasionally broken by the raucous sounds of a getai stage.

Could a mall come up in this space? 

One would think so.

But then again, do Bedok folks really need a mall - given that many of the would-be tenants are unlikely to be any different from those already taking up space in other malls?

The reality is that, a new mall is not likely to give Bedok any refreshing character.

But given the way things stand, Bedok can claim to be unique.

Call it old-world; call it an anachronism.

But in a world of constant change, that surely cannot be a bad label to hang on to.

And given fewer temptations to splurge, residents can save a fair bit each month too.

Don’t believe me? 

Why do you think the four banks are there? 

Do you think Bedok needs a mall? Leave your comments here.