Lease for S'pore Turtle & Tortoise Museum to be extended but owner hasn't confirmed new location

There's more time for the musuem, but they still need to find a new home.

Guan Zhen Tan | Jeanette Tan | March 20, 2018, 10:07 AM

You might remember Connie Tan, owner of the Live Turtle and Tortoise Museum, who recently wrote an anguished Facebook appeal to, and actually got a response from, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong:

Here's a quick recap in case you're just joining us:

  • Tan has for the past 16 years plus situated her collection of turtles and tortoises, a global novelty that she started with her late father, at Chinese Garden.
  • She was first told about plans for redevelopment for the area her museum occupied in 2011, and that her museum would be affected by these plans and would have to move.
  • Her search for a new location for her turtles and tortoises yielded little fruit, and the deadline given to her to move out of the premises was set for March 30, 2016.
  • This was then extended to March 31, 2018.
  • In May 2016, the National Parks Board (NParks) had also facilitated a visit to Kusu Island to see if it would be a suitable replacement location for the museum — Tan said no, though.
  • Saying she was at her wits' end earlier this month, Tan wrote a pleading Facebook post to PM Lee, who responded the next day to assure her that the various government bodies were looking into her situation.
  • Tan had set a last day of March 18, 2018, before she would close her museum for good.

And now, just under a fortnight later, Tan bears good news for folks concerned about the fate of her museum, turtles and tortoises: the lease for the museum premises will be extended, and so she would not have to close that day.

This after NParks said, in a statement jointly issued by them and two other stat boards (the Urban Redevelopment Authority and the Singapore Land Authority) that they were studying the redevelopment project timeline to see if they could give Tan more time to find a good place.

So the latest we have is this Facebook post from Tan:

And following a flurry of visitors who thought Sunday was her last day, she also posted:

So, we suppose, the state of play regarding the museum at the moment is:

  • NParks is waiting to hear from Tan about how long she will need to find a new location.
  • Tan has not confirmed her museum's new location or when she will be moving.
  • She's looking at Sungei Tengah, but is concerned the authorities will not allow the change in the purpose of use of the space she is looking to take over.

The end — for now.

Related article:

Top photo via Live Turtles and Tortoises Museum Facebook page

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