SINGAPORE: News that Raffles Town Club’s lease will expire in 2026 raises questions about the future of country clubs in Singapore. Many have leases expiring sometime between 2030 and 2040, including Orchid Country Club, whose lease will not be renewed after it expires in 2030.
Country club membership is one of the “5Cs” that upwardly mobile Singaporeans desired in the 70s and 80s. The other 4Cs stand for cash, car, credit card and condominium.
However, the aspirations of young Singaporeans have evolved over the years. Material possessions, along with expensive and exclusive country club memberships, are no longer the only indicators of success and social status.
With country clubs no longer appealing to the new generation of Singaporeans, can the land that they occupy be put to better use?
It is not unusual for authorities to let leases lapse and to rezone land to benefit the wider community. In 2020, the land occupied by 191 private terrace houses at Lorong 3 Geylang was returned to the state when the lease expired. The land was slated for new public housing development.
The Raffles Town Club site will also make way for future residential development.
TRADE-OFFS IN LAND USE ARE INEVITABLE
Land supply is highly inelastic in Singapore. There is a limit to how much more land can be reclaimed; thus, optimising land use and making trade-offs is inevitable and necessary.
When the Ministry of Law announced the lease expiry dates of several golf clubs in 2014, it said that although many Singaporeans enjoy golfing, the activity is land-intensive. It argued that the number of golfing sites would have to be reduced over time to make way for housing and public infrastructure.
Currently, golf courses take up about 2 per cent of Singapore’s total land area. That is a significant proportion of the 7 per cent of the land set aside for community, institution and recreation facilities, as per Singapore’s 2030 planned land use.