03/10/2026
The cat is out of the bag. This building which houses us is undergoing en bloc, and we have to move. To many people, it may not sound like a big deal. It’s just a move, right? People move every day. Businesses move all the time.
Somewhere at the back of our minds, we always knew this day would eventually come. But after being here for around 35–36 years, there is no denying the attachment and bond we have with this space. Attachment : the cause of agony!
When I first received the news, I felt anguish, disappointment, anxiety, and honestly a lot of fear. What would become of us? What would Hock Siong look like after this?
But as time passed, acceptance slowly started to take its place. After many, many coffees and discussions with B2 at Alchemist, excitement somehow began finding its way into this cocktail of anxious emotions too.
What is loss? What is moving? We at Hock Siong move things every single day. The impermanence of life.
When I think back, we survived a warehouse fire and closure of our Sungei Kadut warehouse. So I think we should be able to survive this too.
Growing up, this address was where I spent most of my waking hours. We are here almost everyday, probably more than my landlord. (Yes, we are just tenants)
There were many, many happy hours here, but also some really sad and difficult ones. It was where I learnt some of life’s greatest lessons, where I grew up, and met some of the best people I know. But perhaps most importantly, this space gave us a livelihood and a place for us to build our community.
It helped my dad support my grandparents, my aunt and uncle, raise the 4 of us, and provided a living for all our Hock Siong boys and girls, feeding an even bigger nucleus of families beyond our own.
It became a vessel that held our aspirations. For my dad, his passion for Asian art and objects. For my sisters and me, our grit, stubbornness and desire to keep fighting, evolving and rising above whatever came our way.
It was the people we met along the way. The encounters, conversations, friendships, arguments, struggles, laughter and little moments that slowly moulded us into who we are today. This building merely contained them for a while. It is a container that held our memories, but it does not own them.
And in the next few months, I’ll be sharing some of the stories, events and experiences connected to this address and that have left an impact on me. I’ll also share(whenever circumstances allow) bits and pieces of what comes next.
Our new space, our potential possibilities and definitely our new anxieties.
🌳Brillyn, the Hock Siong gardener