Breathless in the city
Since independence, Singapore has been in a race to stay ahead, and in more ways than one. The city state boasts an impressive Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate which not a few others envy.
But more and more Singaporeans are beginning to question if this is the only ends towards which they are striving – propping up the numbers even as income disparity increases, and perhaps more importantly, whether the physical city itself is having its life strangled out of it.
A visit with history - behind-the-scenes
On 24 October, several members of publichouse.sg and some friends paid a visit to the Bukit Brown Cemetery, off Lornie Road. Part of the cemetery - 5% - is earmarked to be redeveloped, and some 10,000 graves will be exhumed and the remains relocated, to make way for the construction of a road.
The late afternoon visit by us and our friends was a very pleasant one, with the afternoon sun hidden mostly by the clouds and with a gentle breeze blowing through the area.
What's worth saving in Singapore?
The familiar red-brick National Library at Stamford Road went; the National Stadium has gone, and they have been many others.
With each clang of the pile driver we’ve felt a tug in our hearts, as something that held memories and meaning bites the dust.
Not all development is bad of course, and some of it is absolutely necessary for progress. We get a better standard of living, better health and hygiene, a stronger economy and are able to participate meaningfully in the modern world.
Current biodiversity in Singapore
The Nature Society of Singapore (NSS) held a conference on the 16th of October entitled "Nature Conservation for a Sustainable Singapore", which preceded a weeklong Climate Change symposium. All content presented at the conference will be published next year.
A great variety of topics were covered in the three sessions of the day. The first session addressed the problems and issues faced by vulnerable and endangered species in Singapore. The second covered education, eco-tourism and legal issues and the third, habitat conservation and management.
We will be bringing you snippets of the sessions each week.
Re-imagining the Rail Corridor
The ‘Re-imagining the Rail Corridor’ exhibition, put together by the Friends of the Rail Corridor, in association with the Nature Society of Singapore, and supported by URA, opened this morning at the URA Centre. Visiting the exhibition was Minister of State (National Development) Mr Tan Chuan-Jin.
PUB's actions called into question
Mr Wong Kum Seng, a former civil servant, is upset and frustrated. His pleas to the Public Utilities Board’s (PUB) Catchment and Waterways Department (CWD) over the closure of access to a drain behind his house have been in vain. As a result, he has had to consider taking legal action against the authorities to force them to keep access to the drain open.
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