Old Is Gold

DARK, DINGY AND grim aren't usually the criteria a househunter puts on his wish list, but for married couple Chin Sing Ping and Sharon Tay, looks didn't matter in their quest to buy a shophouse.

"We love shophouses and didn't want to move into one that was already restored and renovated," says Ms Tay, a homemaker. "We wanted one that was old so that we could redesign it to our preferences."

That was how their property agent took them to see 105 Onan Road, a dilapidated shophouse that had previously been used as a workers' dormitory. Needless to say, the couple fell in love with it.