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When a powerful government agency, the Singapore Tourism Board, explores the idea of publicly-supported renewal of the city-state''s so-called Chinatown district, it goes through an elaborate process of community consultation. Yet when the plan is announced to improve Chinatown to create an important tourist destination, a relatively obscure non-profit historic preservation group virtually derails the plan through a campaign based largely on one major article its key members contribute to the Straits Times, Singapore''s leading newspaper. The case raises the questions of what constitutes effective community consultation and of why and how an advocacy group -- which the Tourism Board has ostensible consulted during its planning process -- was able to be so effective.