i12 Katong — what does this name mean?

I live near a shopping centre called i12 Katong. Everyone calls it “Katong 112”.

The Katong part is obvious: that is the name of our neighbourhood. But what is “i12”?

The old sign said “I12”, and everyone read it as “112”. That made sense because the address is 112 East Coast Road. Then the sign changed to a lowercase “i12”, and it became a mystery.

Only recently did someone tell me that “i12 Katong” is supposed to be read as “I want to Katong”. 🤯

The building has an interesting history too. It opened in 1983 as Katong People’s Complex, with huge steel pipes running around the outside. The architecture was controversial. Many people thought it looked like a prison cell. The pipes were also considered bad feng shui.

This was apparently confirmed in 1994, when an unknown gunman shot a woman here. The pipes were hidden, the building was renamed Katong Mall, the feng shui improved — and success followed.