I read with great disappointment the article “Wanted: Recreation ideas for Turf Club, Sembawang Shipyard, old bird park sites” (April 14).

Many middle-aged punters will miss the horse racing culture in Singapore. With the closing of the Singapore Turf Club and elimination of the local horse racing scene, it feels like a bit of our history is being erased for future generations.

What’s disappointing to me, a casual punter, is that after the Turf Club is closed, it will be used for “recreational purposes”. Isn’t this like rubbing salt into the wound, especially for people who are making a living out of horse racing now? Instead of closing the club and then asking for ideas on how to use the site for recreation, why not just keep the horse racing culture alive in Singapore?

If we have to lose parts of our history to development, then perhaps the Turf Club site should be used for housing rather than recreational purposes.

Ken Tan