Raffles Place has gotten much quieter these days.
I was in the area a couple of weeks ago, and as much as it wasn't the first time since Phase Two began, I have to admit the quiet and silence were more deafening than I expected it to be.
A Raffles Place devoid of people, especially during noontime, is not something one gets easily used to.
Especially if you're familiar with the typical office worker lunchtime crowd.
This place used to be packed with people.
From the Robinson Road side to the Circular Road side, from the Change Alley/Clifford Centre/Hitachi Tower side to the UOB Plaza side, this place used to be filled with footfall criss-crossing all directions. Add to that the newspaper vendors, the ice-cream vendors, the roadshow people and the people giving out flyers, there was never a time (on weekdays) that this place was silent.
Office workers would come out in droves of groups in four or five armed with umbrellas and purses, sipping away at cups of boba tea they held in their hands.
The courier guys, the delivery guys, the support staff, the visitors- they added to the mix.
They're still out and about today- the courier guys, the delivery guys, the visitors, the support staff, and the like- but you'd be glad to find a group of two, or three heading out for their meals.
Everyone's mostly alone.
And everyone seems to prefer a takeaway.
I see paper bags holding plastic food containers dangling from their hands.
I see sandwiches and wraps and those tapao paper packet meals through the thin plastic of the plastic bags they hold carefully in their hands.
Even the groups- no more do they stand around discussing where they should go for their meal. No more do they hang around at corners chatting leisurely with each other whilst waiting for a tardy colleague to arrive. Now they walk with speed and purpose to their pre-decided destination for their meal, and with the same speed and purpose, walk back.
It's all changed very much, I have to say, and a very different sight from that which I once used to see.
There was a time I used to hang out at the Starbucks near Chulia Street, and the place was always full of people during midday. Mostly the lanyard-wearing office workers heading out for lunch or errands, but there were people out and about in Raffles Place for whatever purpose as well.
But the Starbucks today has gotten way, way quieter than what it used to be. Those who used to come for a solo cuppa at the alfresco seating area aren't coming to the office anymore, those who used to have their meetings or do their work at the cafe aren't here anymore, and because Starbucks no longer does those 1-for-1 Venti-sized deals, the snaking queues for Frappuccinos and to-go macchiatos are also gone.
Even the Maison Kayser next door- the one that sells healthy meals, clean foods, greens, salads, interesting breads, really huge quiches and large-sized puffs- is seeing much lesser footfall.
Yep, the whole area's changed.
And it is unfortunate, make no doubt about it, but as the commerce of Raffles Place and Shenton Way has seen the country through two centuries, whether it be a quiet place at midday, or a quiet place at evening peak rush hour, the finance, the trade, and the business, will still stand.