There was a press article about Newstead earlier this year, saying that the household name electronics retailer was heading into liquidation, with creditors, rent and staff salaries owing.
Now, I don't wish to speak of its liquidation, nor of its hows and whys, for this is not an article of business discussion nor is it intended to be a case study for Business Administration. There will be those, I'm sure, casual or formal, but no, I don't wish to look at the facts, and neither do I wish to analyse.
Everything has its season, and whether this be good or bad, I should only like to say that whatever it might be, it is, unfortunately, business, which though we wish it never to come to pass, it sadly does, and as much as we don't seek it, we can only hope for the best that might come out of it.
If there's one thing about this whole business of Newstead, it is that it made me think of Funan the IT Mall.
Not the mall that stands now nearly finished, but the mall that once stood in her place, the mall that once used to be, with her pink façade, her seven floors, her IT shops, and her McDonalds on the ground floor.
This was the mall we went to if we wanted to purchase a computer, a laptop, a printer or a scanner. This was also the mall we went to for all the accompanying paraphernalia- hard drive, flash drive, thumb drive, SD card etc etc.
But Funan wasn't only about the IT.
Even though Challenger occupied the top floor, Harvey Norman occupied the basement, and there were numerous IT shops scattered all over the different floors, there was also a food court on one of the upper floors, there was a Royal Sporting House on the second floor, and you got a KFC, a Subway, a Pastamania, Qi Ji and a Guardian Pharmacy on the first floor,
These are memories now, for we don't know what the new retail mix in the new Funan will be, but if there's one thing I am sure, it is that our experiences in the old Funan won't go away.
Whether it be buying a computer from the Challenger, whether it be sharing a muffin with The Parents at the McDonalds, or even, accompanying an elderly lady as she had fish soup in the food court above, I guess, these are the scenes that will certainly remain.
If there's one thing about this whole business of Newstead, it is that it made me think of Funan the IT Mall.
Not the mall that stands now nearly finished, but the mall that once stood in her place, the mall that once used to be, with her pink façade, her seven floors, her IT shops, and her McDonalds on the ground floor.
This was the mall we went to if we wanted to purchase a computer, a laptop, a printer or a scanner. This was also the mall we went to for all the accompanying paraphernalia- hard drive, flash drive, thumb drive, SD card etc etc.
But Funan wasn't only about the IT.
Even though Challenger occupied the top floor, Harvey Norman occupied the basement, and there were numerous IT shops scattered all over the different floors, there was also a food court on one of the upper floors, there was a Royal Sporting House on the second floor, and you got a KFC, a Subway, a Pastamania, Qi Ji and a Guardian Pharmacy on the first floor,
These are memories now, for we don't know what the new retail mix in the new Funan will be, but if there's one thing I am sure, it is that our experiences in the old Funan won't go away.
Whether it be buying a computer from the Challenger, whether it be sharing a muffin with The Parents at the McDonalds, or even, accompanying an elderly lady as she had fish soup in the food court above, I guess, these are the scenes that will certainly remain.