Nick raised his eyebrows. “Who is it from, and how will they ensure that they will preserve the house?”
Felicity laughed. “Come on, Nicky, no one is going to preserve this house. The developers are only interested in the land—they are going to tear it all down.”
Nick looked at Felicity in horror. “Wait a minute—how can they tear down the house? Isn’t this a protected heritage property?”
Victoria shook her head. “If this was a Peranakan-style house, or a colonial Black and White, maybe it would have heritage protection, but this house is such a mishmash of styles. It was built by some Dutch architect that the sultan who originally owned the place brought in from Malaysia. It’s an architectural folly.”
“But of course, this is also what makes it so valuable. This is a freehold property with absolutely no heritage or zoning regulations. It’s every developer’s dream! Here, look at the leading proposal,” Alix said, handing Nick a glossy brochure.
Zion Estates
A LUXURY CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY
Imagine an exclusive gated community for high-net-worth families who share in the blessings of the Holy Spirit.
Ninety-nine splendid villas, inspired by the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, ranging from 5,000 to 15,000 square feet on half-acre lots will surround Galilee, a glorious artificial lagoon complete with the world’s tallest man-made waterfall supplied only with water imported from the River Jordan. At the heart of the community lies the Twelve Apostles, a unique twelve-hole golf course designed by our faithful brother Tiger Woods, and an exquisite clubhouse—the King David—which will boast a trinity of world-class restaurants operated by Michelin-starred chefs, along with Jericho, sure to become Singapore’s most decadent spa and state-of-the-art health club.
Come to Zion—live abundantly and be saved.
Nick looked up from the brochure in disbelief. “Are you seriously telling me that these people are the front-runners? A luxury Christian community?”
“Isn’t it inspired? It’s Rosalind Fung’s company—your mother goes to her Christian Fellowship Banquets at the Fullerton. They’ve offered us $3.3 billion, and they will throw in a villa for each of us!” Victoria said breathlessly.
Nick was barely able to hide his disgust. “Auntie Victoria, in case you’ve forgotten, Jesus served the poor.”
“Of course he did. What’s your point?”
Felicity chimed in. “Jesus said, ‘To grow rich is glorious.’?”
“Actually, Deng Xiaoping, the late Communist leader of China, said that!” Nick shot back. He got up from the table abruptly and said to Rachel, “Let’s get out of here.”
As they got into Nick’s father’s vintage Jaguar XKE convertible and sped down the driveway, Nick turned to Rachel. “Sorry, I lost my appetite sitting there with my aunts. I just couldn’t stand listening to them one minute longer.”
“Trust me, I get it. Where are we going?”
“I thought I’d take you to my favorite restaurant for a proper lunch—Sun Yik Noodles. It’s a little café that’s been around since the 1930s.”
“Fantastic! I was just starting to get hungry.”
Within fifteen minutes they had arrived in the Chinatown neighborhood, and after parking the car, they strolled down Club Street with its picturesque old shop houses toward Ann Siang Road as Nick began to fill Rachel in on the place.
“It’s a total hole-in-the-wall, and they haven’t even changed the Formica tables since the fifties, I bet. But they have the best noodles in Singapore, and so everyone comes here. The former chief justice of the Supreme Court used to eat lunch here every day, because the noodles were so addictive. You’re gonna die when you taste these noodles. They are hand-pulled egg noodles, and they have this incredible, perfectly chewy texture to them. And they serve it with braised chicken that’s been simmering for hours in this garlicky gravy. Oh man, the gravy! I wanna see if you think you can possibly replicate it. We’re here after lunch rush, so we probably won’t have to wait too long for a ta—”
Nick stopped dead in his tracks, staring at a fa?ade across the road that had been covered by a metal construction fence.
“What’s wrong?”
“This is it! Sun Yik Noodles! But where is it?”
They crossed the street and came to a small sign that was glued to the metal sheeting. It read:
TORY BURCH
Opening Summer 2015
Nick ran in to the shop next door, and Rachel could see him gesturing frantically to the baffled salesman inside. A few moments later, he came outside, his face registering nothing but shock.
“It’s gone, Rachel. No more Sun Yik. This area has become so trendy, the original owner’s son apparently sold the building for an insane amount of money and decided to retire. And now it’s going to be a friggin’ Tory Burch boutique.”
“I’m so sorry, Nick.”
“What the fuck!” Nick yelled, kicking the metal sheeting angrily. He sank down onto the pavement and covered his face with his hands despondently. Rachel had never seen him look quite so upset before. She sat down next to him on the pavement and put her arm around his shoulder. Nick sat there for a few minutes, staring off into space. After a while, he finally spoke.
“Everything I love about Singapore is gone. Or it’s disappearing fast. Every time I’m back, more and more of my favorite haunts have closed or been torn down. Restaurants, shops, buildings, cemeteries, nothing is sacred anymore. The whole character of the island I knew growing up is almost completely obliterated.”
Rachel simply nodded.
“Sun Yik was such an institution, I thought it would always be safe. I mean, I swear to God, they had the best noodles in the whole world. Everyone loved it. But now it’s gone forever, and we can never ever get that back.”
“I don’t think people ever realize what they’ve lost until it’s too late,” Rachel said.
Nick looked into her eyes with a sudden intensity. “Rachel, I have to save Tyersall Park. I can’t let it be torn down and turned into some grotesque gated community that only allows in millionaire Christians.”
“I’ve been thinking the same thing.”
“I thought for a while that I would be okay with everything. I thought I wouldn’t care if I didn’t inherit the estate as long as someone in the family got it and maintained it properly. But now I know I’m not.”
“You know, I’ve been wondering all along if you were really okay with losing the house,” Rachel observed.
Nick considered what she’d said for a moment. “I think part of me always resented Tyersall Park in a subconscious way, because everyone always associated me with the house, and I could never detach from it when I was younger. I think that’s why Colin and I became such good friends…I was always ‘the Tyersall Park Boy’ and he was always ‘that Khoo Enterprises Boy.’ But we were just boys.”