tutorial 2 singapore studies

7/29/2019 Tutorial 2 Singapore Studies

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In the current era of globalisation, the mobilisation of landscapes as a tool of nation -building

in Singapore is increasingly being challenged from within as well as without.

(1) Discuss this statement in relation to:(a)National monuments;

(b)Historic districts;(c) Iconic symbols;(d)Green landscapes.

(2)Evaluate the extent to which you think these challenges are surmountable.

1a) National Monuments of Singapore are buildings and structures in Singapore that have been designated by

the Preservation of Monuments Board (or PMB) as being of special historic, traditional, archaeological,

architectural or artistic value.

The PMB is a statutory board within the Government of Singapore, under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of

Information, Communications and the Arts, and it has so far gazetted 63 buildings and structures as National

Monuments.

1st challenge - Limited land space. Singapore has an estimated population of 5 million people and Singapores

land area is approximately 700sq km. Many heritages with a rich history would have to be sacrificed to make way

for more living space for the growing population.

2nd challenge - Economic development. Besides being cleared for houses and high-rise apartments, old

historical buildings or structures have to be torn down to make way for industrial skyscrapers to support the

economy.

These two factors are closely related. Due to the limited land space and the rapid economic development of

Singapore, the Singaporean government has to choose between keeping the old heritage sites which have a rich

history or to tear them down and replace them with new structures such as offices and homes for the

Singaporean people.

3rd challenge - There will be public unrest while the government is deciding whether or not to tear down a

monument or a heritage with a rich history. Some people will oppose the idea while some would totally support

the plan.

Of these 3 obstacles Singapore faces in preserving its heritage, challenge 1 and 2 would be the biggest. As

Singapore has a very small land area, much of this area would be used for Singapore's economic development,therefore not leaving much space for the preservation of national heritage.

Both, the economic development of the nation and the preservation of national heritage are equally important. If

Singapore were to fully concentrate on its economy and set aside the preservation of its national heritage, this

will result in the future generations of Singaporeans to remain ignorant of Singapore's past. Although Singapore

will then have a good economy in this situation, much of Singapore's history will be forgotten. On the other hand,

if Singapore decides to totally concentrate on preserving our heritage and turn a blind eye on its economy, this

will greatly hinder Singapore's economic progress. Therefore, the best solution is to properly balance these 2

important priorities. Some monuments may be torn down to make way for new buildings and offices, but

Singapore must also conserve some of its national monuments and heritage sites.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singaporehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Preservation_of_Monuments_Board&action=edit&redlink=1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statutory_boards_of_the_Singapore_Governmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_of_Singaporehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Information,_Communications_and_the_Artshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Information,_Communications_and_the_Artshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Information,_Communications_and_the_Artshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Information,_Communications_and_the_Artshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_of_Singaporehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statutory_boards_of_the_Singapore_Governmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Preservation_of_Monuments_Board&action=edit&redlink=1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore


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The Singapore Conference Hall and the adjoining Trade Union House which was the former home of the labour

movement, have been gazetted as National Monuments by the Preservation of Monuments Board (PMB).

Also being gazetted are three Esplanade Park Memorials, the Lim Bo Seng Memorial, Tan Kim Seng Fountain

and Cenotaph. The Board said the Monuments were selected for their architectural merit and social-historical

significance that spans across the different communities in Singapore. Also being gazetted are three Esplanade

Park Memorials, the Lim Bo Seng Memorial, Tan Kim Seng Fountain and Cenotaph.

The Preservation of Monuments Board also gazettes smaller structures. This is to commemorate thecontributions of notable individuals to the community and the nation. Education and outreach is an on-goingconcern of ours because we can't assume that everybody is interested in architecture and heritage. So ouroutreach ranges from travelling exhibitions and school education kits and basically to highlight to youngSingaporeans who do not know the history of these buildings that these were the stories behind these buildingsand we see them as landmarks today but in the past they have played a role in the community.

b) Singapore, for example, in order to reinforce its tourism space, has become increasingly sensitive to heritageconservation, even though the country has embarked on a pro-redevelopment approach to urban renewal. Sincethe mid 1980s, a number of historic areas have been considered for conservation as part of the strategy todevelop Singapore into an international business and service centre that would be different and interesting for

visitors

Lowenthal (1979, p. 555) has contended that things worth saving need not necessarily be beautiful or historic aslong as they are familiar or well loved. A simple enough formula, it nevertheless raises the questions of wellloved by whom? and whose heritage to conserve? (Turnbridge, 1984). Since Hewisons (1987) innovative workThe Heritage Industry, several writers of heritage studies have voiced concerns over the ways in which the pastor heritage is invoked by the tourist dollar and is preserved merely in the interests of capital (Jacobs, 1992) andcommodified for commercial consumption of the tourism industry (Kirby,1985)

According to Boulding (1956), people cope with potential information overload by building simpli ed andtherefore manageable images ofcomplex real situations. It is then in relation to these simpli ed images ratherthan reality per se that behaviour and movement take place. Our purpose has been to throw light on the touristimage of the Singapore conservation areas.

Mr Rajarathnam has written that old buildings are a record of our ancestors aspirations and achievements While some must make way for progress, some, we hope, will remain to link us with our past (Liu, 1984, p. 4).With emphasis on conservation, there is a greater effort to reinforce and integrate past heritage with presentdevelopments (Kong & Yeoh, 1994; Ooi, 1994). Heritage conservation is revalorised to capitalise upon thegrowing need to preserve the past for national identity and continued economic growth

c) The Merlion (jap:) appeared in the influential anime Cowboy Bebop (episodes 18 and 24), whereits appearance in an ancient home movie offers Singaporean amnesiac bounty hunter Faye Valentine a clue toher true origins. The Merlion featured heavily in Hajime Sat's reimagining ofShinjuku in the 2005 anime, Karas.

Edwin Thumboo cemented the iconic status of the Merlion as a personification of Singapore with his poemUlyssesby the Merlionin 1979. Due to Thumboo's status as Singapore's unofficial poet laureateand the nationalisticmythmaking qualities of his poetry, future generations of Singaporean poets have struggled with the symbol ofthe Merlion, frequently taking an ironical, critical, or even hostile stand - and pointing out its artificiality and therefusal of ordinary Singaporeans to accept a tourist attraction as their national icon. The poem "attractedconsiderable attention among subsequent poets.

Ultimately, if the proliferation of meanings and ways of engaging the Merlion seemendless, this is arguably afunction of its very nature. Poet and critic Colin Tan notes, what is most remarkable about the Merlion as anostensible national icon is this very versatili ty of the sign: its reproducibility, relocatibility and resizability.It is a vacuum of meaningliterary artists undertake to represent (279).

However, in their anxiety to impose a meaningon the Merlion that would make it palatable to Singaporeans as anational icon, some poets are in danger of doing what Kirpal Singh calls collapsing subject & predicate as[theMerlion] coalesce[s] the lion with the maid (6-7). In doing so, they are also forgetting that the Merlion is theproduct of an institutional apparatus centered on utility, and yet, as themanufactured sign of the nation,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowboy_Bebophttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinjukuhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karas_(anime)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Thumboohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iconichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personificationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poet_laureatehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poet_laureatehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poet_laureatehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personificationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iconichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Thumboohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karas_(anime)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinjukuhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowboy_Bebop


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d) Enhancing our urban environment

5. Improve air quality by reducing ambient PM 2.5 (fine particles) levels to an annual mean of12g/m3 and capping ambient SO2 (sulphur dioxide) levels at an annual mean of 15 g/m3.

6. Reach a park provision of 0.8ha per 1000 persons and increase skyrise greenery by 50ha. Parkconnectors will be lengthened from 100km to 360km.

7. Increase blue spaces by opening up 900ha of reservoirs and 100km of waterways for recreationalactivities.

8. Increase accessibility and convenience for pedestrians and cyclists by expanding our coveredlinkways and cycling networks.

Building capability and expertise

9. Build Singapore into an international knowledge hub in sustainable development solutions.

Building an environmentally responsible community

10. Achieve a community in Singapore where environmental responsibility is a part of our people andbusiness culture.

the Park Connector System was initiated in the eighties and was envisaged as a network of naturecorridors and paths that would link each major park. This would provide a seamless green connection.These paths have thus far, been built along existing drainage reserves but have lost their naturecorridor component due to the lack of space. A consolidated Park Connector System can meanderthrough administrative boundaries, such as drainagereserves, road reserves, housing estates,

industrial estates and other areas of interest, with adjacent public or private land contributing to anature corridor planting scheme and even sharing of footpath and lighting facilities. The current greenmantle is largely formed by thousands of street trees. Expanding the road infrastructure and bringingdevelopments closer to the road reserve are developments that will decimate parts of the greenmantle. As planting strips and green buffers along streets become narrower, or even none existence,there is a need to look towards adjacent land uses to borrow land and integrate planting, screeningand footpaths. Private and public residential estates, industrial estates, governmentinstallations, etccan be brought together to use their land adjacent to roads to replace lost road side planting strips.Skyrise greening is another area where maximisation of land is considered important in Singaporescontext. In the future high-density urban condition, buildings will be multi-tiered high risedevelopmentslinked together by sky bridges at different levels and multi-level basements. In this multi-layered9scenario, greenery on buildings and sky bridges will have to be well integrated into the environment.Greenery is important in softening the hard and hot environment and to influence the micro-climate. Itis important that greenery continues to be viewed as an essential ingredient in creating a livable urbanenvironment. Greenery contributes a vast intangible value to the economic, social and health of cities.As such, government agencies and developers must begin to look towards shaping a new landscape:the Integrated Landscape. Trends in thinking indicate three main strategies which should guide thisnew landscape: Local Identity, Eco-design, and Consolidation. Achieving this requires a change inplanning models, methods of current urban development and adoption of a landscape design ethic.The new landscape has to attempt to define a landscape identity for Singapore. A good beginning isto recapture our Local Identity, through identity planting. Analysing the geological, topographical,soil, climatic, vegetation, cultural and social patterns will help identify the various landscape zonesthat exist within the island. This will enable different planting strategies and plant palettes to bedeveloped for each zones natural environment and character. Carefully managed, these zones willgradually establish a more socially valuable and readable macro -scale landscape over the next thirtyyears, in contrast to homogenous landscapes or borrowed identities from other cultures. Eco-designis an approach to utilising existing topography, natural systems and plant material as tools to helpsolve sustainability issues and maximisation of land use. Such an approach retains the essence of a


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site and does not allow a standard manicured solution to be enforced upon it. It can in many instancesprovide cheaper alternatives to standard hard engineering solutions. Some examples of how plantingmaterial can be used are described below. Precise placement of large masses of tree groves inconjunction with the local climate, topographical pattern, 8water bodies and urban massing can affectwind circulation and temperature patterns. This will be useful in highdensity urban areas where windtunnels or wind barriers are common phenomenon. Re-modeling architecture massing, existing

topography and drainage patterns can allow rainwater and surface run off to be collected in numerouswater retention ponds, to be recycled. Such ponds can easily be created within each localcommunitys open space network, and also contribute as a recreational amenity. Terrestrial andaquatic plant material can be used to filter the water and integrated into the open space plantingscheme.

tutorial 2 singapore studies

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