Three businesses getting disrupted right now.

 

Every time a semester winds down, I take stock of possible futures and think about the possibility of getting into new businesses with the skills I have developed. As it is too early to discuss the plans I hatched, I'd like to speak briefly about three businesses being massively disrupted.

a) Cinema business

Last year, when I figured out that Cathay Cinemas was not filming Deadpool and Wolverine, I knew that something was up. So, I was unsurprised that Cathay would have to shut down a few outlets, with Westmall Bukit Batok being the latest casualty. I doubt the issue is limited to just Cathay cinemas. 

Why does Gen Z or Gen Alpha need to visit a cinema when they can just watch a movie on Netflix after waiting for a while. Another issue is that recent superhero movies that consistently draw crowds are no longer as consistent as before, with Captain America drawing primarily a neutral reaction from audiences. 

I will continue to visit cinemas, but I will probably watch more Chinese movies in 2025 than Hollywood fare. 

b) Nightlife business

You have to admire Gen Z for figuring out how unwise drinking in the evenings is. 

I do engage in nightlife, but I'm a horrible customer; after paying a cover charge, I drink two bottles of soda water before hogging the Jap karaoke machine for the next 3 hours. What's recently new is that transport via taxi home is so expensive, it is cheaper to skedaddle home at 11.30pm, so there's public transport.

If everybody thinks like this, the nightlife scene is doomed, and we will see many watering holes leaving the market. If Singapore loses its vibrant nightlife, it will affect our tourism industry.

I hope it is not too late to lower alcohol taxes; I know of down-to-earth proprietors who do such work to put food on the table, and they are twice damned due to liquor taxes, and CDC vouchers cannot be spent in their establishments. 

c) Books

Of the three businesses, this one hurts me the most. I went to Kino today to observe the number of shelves vacated for a new cafe. The book space given up was quite significant, and even the finance and investment section now seemed much more minor. 

The situation in Singapore is that there aren't a lot of bookstores left to close down. The curation of bookstore shelves expands the selection of books I buy every month, although I buy a significant amount of physical and e-books every month. Game stores and bookstores are also great places to meet new friends - I would chat with anyone to find out what genres they like reading. 

The issue is that Ngee Ann City does not need a new cafe, given that there's a Paul and Killiney Kopitiam there. Still, I'm open-minded about whether Kinokuniya will build a cafe as a social space for book lovers. 

Book lovers must prepare for the eventuality that major bookstores like Kinokuniya may leave the CBD area and flee to the suburbs. In the worst case, you may even need to go to JB Tsutaya Books if you miss shopping for books in a big store. 

The $100 culture vouchers should be useable for locally published works, but most folks will buy assessment books with them. 

As my generation gets older, we would have to accept that the businesses we love will eventually come to an end. Gamers my age have seen the heartbreaking loss of Leisure Craft, Comics Mart and Borders. While many of these businesses are retail outlets where we buy stuff, these shops are also social spaces. 

I hope that in the grander scheme of things, the younger generation will have newer spaces to mingle and trade with each other.