More Migrant Workers Visiting Recreation Centres As Services Grow

Many spending rest days at such centres, leaving old haunts in Little India quieter

- Wong Yang

For almost 10 years, Indian construction supervisor Selvan Kasi would spend his Sundays hanging out in Little India, meeting friends, buying spices and snacks, and remitting money back home to Tamil Nadu.

But that changed shortly after he moved to a dormitory near Woodlands Recreation Centre in 2012.

The 43-year-old spends his rest days now at that recreation centre in Woodlands Industrial Park. Like Little India, the football field-sized space has an array of minimarts, food stalls, phone shops, remittance services and other stores that cater to migrant workers. At the back of the centre, there are sports facilities where they can play games like volleyball and sepak takraw.

But perhaps the greatest draw is that the centre is just a 10-minute walk from Mr Kasi's dormitory.

There is a growing number of migrant workers like Mr Kasi, who are turning to dedicated recreation centres for their essential and leisure needs, because of the convenience these places provide and the range of amenities and activities they offer.

All the nine migrant worker recreation centres here saw year-on-year increases in average monthly visitors from 2020 to 2024, according to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM). Figures provided by MOM showed each of these centres drew an average of over 80,000 monthly visitors in 2024.

Of the 15 migrant workers The Straits Times spoke to, 10 said they frequent recreation centres more today, compared with five years ago.

Said Mr Kasi: "I gather with friends who also live in the north (at Woodlands Recreation Centre) now because it is much closer to where we live than the Tekka area. We can also get the Indian groceries we need, top up our SIM cards, and run other errands here, too.

Today, I go to Little India only once a month to meet friends who live farther away."