The old Woodlands Town Centre for instance is a border town for people passing through to Malaysia or Singapore. Until 1998, the Causeway was the only bridge linking the two nations and Woodlands served as a passage for those commuting or travelling overland.

Trade in the old Woodlands Town Centre depends heavily on its border town function. General businesses include shops selling apparel and footwear, money changers offering the most competitive exchange rates, and 24-hour eating houses to fill hungry stomach round the clock.

Passport controls were implemented at Woodlands in June 1967 shortly after Singapore’s separation from Malaysia. The old customs complex was completed in the early 1970s at the junction of Woodlands Road and Woodlands Centre Road. The old Woodlands Town Centre would transform to become a pit stop for the transit.

On 25 June 2012, the Housing and Development Board announced that Blocks 1A to 6A Woodlands Centre Road were earmarked for the Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme (SERS). Residents from the 147 flats will relocate to the new replacement flats at Woodlands Drive 70 by 2016.

In 1980, the Woodlands Bus Interchange was established at Woodlands Centre Road to provide bus services for the estate and the northern corridor. It was also located strategically next to the old customs complex.

The resident population also increased with the completion of Blocks 1A to 6A at Woodlands Centre Road in 1980. The area became lively: a shopping arcade with the likes of Oriental Emporium, entertainment at the Shaw Brothers-owned Woodlands Cinema, and dining options at fast food places, the hawker centre and 24-hour eating houses.

With residents and businesses moving out of the estate, the old Woodlands Town Centre’s days of glory will come to an end.

I heard from the shop owners, the demolish work will start around May or June in 2017. For the ones, who love to shoot memories and old buildings in Singapore. You've got half year more.