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You can literally find 20 to 30 foot massage shops side by side, floor by floor, at the People’s Park Complex in Chinatown, Singapore. Can this be the world’s highest concentration of foot massage shops?

People’s Park Complex has been around for nearly 30 years but remain a very popular shopping mall in Chinatown, Singapore. It is surrounded by other old-time popular shopping malls such as People’s Park Centre, Chinatown Point and Lucky Chinatown. These shopping malls are very popular with local bargain-hunting heartlanders of Singapore, camera-toting tourists and recently, new immigrants from mainland China.

The shops in these shopping malls are an interesting mix to cater for their varied clients. They range from traditional Chinese medicine shops, money exchange bureaus, clothing shops, shoe shops, bookshops, goldsmiths, jade shops, travel agents, electronic gadget shops, eateries and to our subject of study - foot massage shops.

You can find other large concentration of foot massage shops in other countries such as Bukit Bintang of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia or Patphong of Bangkok, Thailand but these are usually large massage shops and are found amongst various different types of shops.

At People’s Park Complex, the foot massage shops are small, and are literally next to one another, floor after floor. You can and will be accosted by massage shop proprietors literally every step of the way - calling for you to patronise their shops.

Most of these foot massage shops are small, between 2 to 4 massage chairs, with the biggest only with perhaps 8 to 10 chairs. Many shops are simply renovated, with few curtains or partitions for privacy and some even have massage chairs that seem to show much wear and tear.

These massage shops has sprung up over the last one decade, ever since foot massage became popular 10 years ago in Singapore. Many close down quickly only to be replaced by yet another similar shop. Many of these shops are staffed by middle age or old folks and their customers remain mostly middle-age and old folks and the occasional curious tourist. Most of them are relatively cheap; at about S$20-S$25 for 45mins to an hour, and they can hardly charge more due to the cut-throat competition and the basic amenities of their shops.

Will I patronise one of these shops? I doubt so; call me bias if you want but I don’t trust these shops. I started enjoying foot reflexology when I was working in China where they have raised foot massage to an art; what with foot bath, soft music, luxurious chairs and young and energetic foot masseurs who had trained for years in Chinese medical schools and understand body meridians thoroughly.

Many of the shops here look like they have been hurriedly put together, with old age masseurs who look like they just picked up the skills yesterday and reek terribly of Chinese ointment smell (tie da you). I also certainly do not fancy having my foot massaged while sitting close to a passage way where people are passing by every other minute!

If you are a curious tourist who may not have time to seek around for the best foot massage experience, you can certainly try one of these shops for that one time experience. However, if you are seeking a therapeutic experience in a soothing environment, then there are certainly better choices elsewhere.