Why I Left Lucky Plaza After 8 Years. A Filipino Singapore Story

This essay is composited from multiple anonymised FIS reader stories. No single person is depicted; names and identifying details have been removed. The voice is "I" for narrative honesty, but it reflects a pattern many kababayan have shared with us.

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The first Sunday I missed Lucky Plaza, hindi ko napansin. I had a date with my SG boyfriend. We went to East Coast Park. I texted my Lucky Plaza barkada, "Sorry, busy ako today." Sabi nila, "Ok, next week."

Next week ay laging bago, dumating. Pero hindi rin ako pumunta.

After 8 years of every Sunday, 8 years of taking the MRT to Orchard, eating Jollibee with the same group of kababayan, doing remittance at Western Union, getting my hair done at the Pinay salon, buying Tide and bagoong. I quietly stopped.

This is the essay I never wrote and shared on Facebook, kasi hindi ko alam paano ipaliwanag without sounding ingrata.

Why I started going to Lucky Plaza in the first place

Year 1 sa Singapore. Bagong dating, walang kakilala, walang malapit na kababayan. I went to Lucky Plaza dahil wala akong ibang choice. Doon ako natutong sumakay ng MRT (kasi may kababayan akong sumama). Doon ako natutong magpadala ng pera. Doon ako nag-spend ng Christmas Eve nung wala akong pamilya kasama.

It was a lifeline.

What changed

Around Year 5, slowly, and then all at once.

• Nag-evolve ang life ko. I had Singaporean colleagues. I learned to get around SG without a kababayan guide. My boyfriend became my partner. My friend network spread.
• The Lucky Plaza routine started feeling… repetitive. Same restaurants, same gossip, same drama tungkol sa kasama sa probinsya. Hindi nawalan ng love, pero parang naging "small" yung world ko kapag laging Lucky Plaza.
• May ilang tao na hindi maganda ang energy. Ang Lucky Plaza ay may sariling crab-mentality crowd. Successful ka? "Asa ka pa." Single ka pa? "Magpa-Pari ka na." May mga araw na mas judged ako kaysa supported.
• And honestly. I got tired of being only "the Filipino" sa group ko. Lucky Plaza was the only space na kababayan lang. Sa SG, marami akong roles. Lucky Plaza forced me into one.

The quiet shift

I started going every other Sunday. Tapos once a month. Tapos kapag may mga kababayan na talagang importante (lola visiting, friend's birthday).

I didn't announce it. Hindi ko ginawang "kontrobersya." Just gently faded.

What I miss

The truth: a lot.

• The smell of adobo from the food court at noon.
• The way a stranger kababayan smiles at you when you make eye contact in the hallway.
• The Sunday Mass at Sacred Heart and the lunch after.
• The feeling of "ah, I am home" pagdating mo doon, even when SG outside is foreign.

I still go back. Maybe 4-5 times a year. For specific things, birthday, Pasko, padala emergencies.

But I am not the same person who needed it every Sunday.

What I learned

A few things, for kababayan reading this:

1. It is okay to outgrow Lucky Plaza without resenting it. It was the right home for you when you arrived. It can be a place you visit, not where you live.

2. The kababayan who stopped going are not "lost" or "ashamed of their roots." They've found different mixes. Many of us, myself included, are raising kids who speak both Tagalog and English, who eat both adobo and chicken rice, blended rather than torn.

3. The kababayan who still go every Sunday are not "stuck." They've found a real community there that works for them. Don't judge either direction.

4. Loneliness sa SG is real even if you stop going to Lucky Plaza. Saplotin mo ng ibang community structures: church, sports group, kabarkada, work-friends.

A note on the broader pattern

Hindi lang ako. Maraming kababayan sa SG ang quietly nag-step away from the Lucky Plaza Sunday routine after 5 to 10 years. Some do it to focus on family. Some to study. Some to escape drama. Some after getting PR, when the center of gravity shifts.

That's normal. That's not abandonment. That's growing in place within the SG-Pinoy story.

Going every Sunday and feeling fed? Wag mong pakialaman ang sinasabi nila online. Stay. Drifting and feeling guilty? Wala kang dapat ipangamba. Both are valid Pinoy-SG lives.

The Lucky Plaza will still be there, kapag bumalik ka, by choice, hindi by default.

Related reading

• Where Filipinos gather in SG (beyond Lucky Plaza)
• Filipino restaurants in Singapore directory
• Filipino Catholic Masses in SG

Last reviewed 15 May 2026. This essay is a composited piece based on multiple anonymised reader contributions, no single individual is depicted. Opinions reflect personal experience and are not professional psychological or sociological commentary.

Hero image: thematic editorial reuse from FIS Lucky Plaza coverage.