A Singaporean permanent resident and his company have been fined a combined S$400,000 (roughly US$314,000) after carrying out unauthorised renovations on a conserved pre-war shophouse in Little India (one of four gazetted historic districts in Singapore subject to its strictest conservation rules), destroying irreplaceable 1913-era architectural features including ornate façades, timber doors, glazed ceramics, and an entire rear service block. Manickam Nagarajan, 54, who purchased the property at 32 Desker Road in October 2022 with plans to convert it into a co-living development, proceeded with demolition work without obtaining the required approvals from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), which discovered the works following a tip-off in January 2023. The URA described the damage as an "irrevocable loss of heritage value," noting that authentic historic materials cannot be recovered or replicated, and said this marks the first prosecution for unauthorised works on a conserved building since penalties were strengthened under the Planning Act in 2017.