Fragment Room offers release, but is ‘not a substitute for actual mental help’: founder
One month after its opening, Singapore’s first “rage room”, The Fragment Room, seems to be a smashing success.
“We get about 10-15 groups (of one or two people) on the weekdays… On the weekends we are usually up to like 20 to 40. And 40 is our maximum,” its 23-year-old founder Royce Tan told Yahoo Singapore.
Visitors to the Fragment Room pay about $38 to smash a crate of “breakables” over a 30-minute session, while an hour-long session with an unlimited number of objects to smash costs $350.
Despite the strong turnout so far, partly credited to the intense media coverage following its launch, Tan feels he still has not reached his target consumer segment.
“My main target audience, which we have not hit yet, are high-stress individuals. Maybe working adults from 25 to 45 working, say, in the CBD where everything is very fast-paced,” said the first-time entrepreneur.
“These are people that we need to target and we want to target because I feel like they need us.”
Tan added that the challenge now is to build on the Fragment Room’s novelty value and grow its customer base. To do so, he hopes to partner with events in order to take the concept beyond its current Balestier Road shophouse location so as to reach more people.
When the smashing’s done
While Tan feels that his business offers an outlet for those looking to release their pent-up frustrations, some mental health professionals are less sure of its benefits.
Alva Huang, 28, a senior counsellor at TOUCH Youth’s Counselling Unit, said there needs to be a resolution beyond the catharsis that is offered by The Fragment Room.
“The main benefit of the idea of the Fragment Room is that it gives you a space an opportunity to release, so you reach that catharsis but after you reach the catharsis, what do you do with your cognitive side?” she said.
Huang added that the next step after achieving catharsis is important for people with anger management issues to help them deal with future instances that trigger their rage.
“How do you resolve, how do you problem-solve the situation that got you angry in the first place?” she said.
“So if this goes unaddressed, then the cycle just repeats itself and it could give us the impression that you just need to lose control and feel good,” she added.
“And that may not be the full answer to someone who has anger management issues.”
While she can see the attraction to the novel idea, Huang said she thinks that it might be beneficial for The Fragment Room to engage mental health professionals.
“Maybe they can consider working with (mental health) professionals on how to actually utilise the benefits of reaching that cathartic experience but in a managed fashion,” she suggested.
The Fragment Room’s Tan said that he is not looking to provide a service that can replace professional mental health assistance.
“Breaking things is one of the alternatives where you can just release (pent-up anger). I mean it’s not a substitute for seeking actual mental help but it is an alternative, a fun alternative,” he said.
Tan added that individuals differ in how they cope with pent-up stress and that he is looking to provide an alternative outlet for doing so.
“Some people might think that writing a diary might be better, some people might think that going running may be better but I mean to each his own,” he added. “Some people might find (breaking things) to be better.”
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