Category Archives: General

Six local buildings added to national monuments list

Posted on 11 Nov 2009 | Comments Off on Six local buildings added to national monuments list

Another six buildings will be preserved as national monuments.

They are Church of St Teresa, Command House, Keng Teck Whay temple, the former Raffles College, the former St James Power Station, and Bowyer Block at the Singapore General Hospital.

Acting Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts, RADM (NS) Lui Tuck Yew, in announcing the latest buildings to be gazetted on the National Monuments, said the six preserved buildings will help enhance Singapore’s community spaces and make the city even more distinctive.

The Church of St Teresa was officially opened in 1929, and serves the religious community in the area, and is a landmark in the heartlands of Kampong Bahru.

In the same area is the former St James Power Station which was Singapore’s first municipal operated power station. Built in 1926, it generated electricity until the late 1970s.

Not too far away, is the Singapore General Hospital where Bowyer Block stands with its distinctive Clock Tower. It is one of the few original hospital buildings from 1926 and was named after Dr John Herbert Bowyer, the former Chief Medical Officer who died during the war.

In the central business district, is the Keng Teck Whay temple that stands beside Thian Hock Keng. It was established in 1831 by 36 members of Hokkien Chinese heritage.

Over at the Bukit Timah area, hailing from Singapore’s colonial past, Command House formerly known as ‘Flagstaff House’, once served as the official residence of 16 successive General Officers Commanding (GOC) Malaya, and its notable residents include Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten.

Nearby is the Former Raffles College which was officially opened in 1929. It was the first institution for higher learning in Malaya and produced many eminent political and economic leaders for Singapore. The institution evolved into the to the National University of Singapore now based at Kent Ridge.

RADM (NS) Lui said Singapore is committed to preserving its built heritage to leave a lasting legacy for future generations and celebrate the social memory of these places.

“We need to keep our history and heritage alive and relevant to our future” he said.

RADM (NS) Lui was speaking at the launch of Resonance – Songs of our Forefathers, a book on Singapore’s built heritage and history captured through the camera lens of photographers such as property developer Kwek Leng Joo.

The project was initiated by architect and former Chairman of the Preservation of Monuments Board, Alfred Wong.

Source : Channel NewsAsia – 11 Nov 2009

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Initial steps towards creating smart cities

Posted on 11 Nov 2009 | Comments Off on Initial steps towards creating smart cities

AS world leaders prepare for the United Nations’ Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen next month, it’s an appropriate time to assess what cities around the world are doing to reduce their carbon emissions.

Cities everywhere are preparing for a more sustainable future by optimising their infrastructure, their man-made and natural systems to minimise environmental impact and improve the quality of life. Lessons learnt in one locale may be of help to a different municipality in another part of the world. The first steps towards creating smart cities are being taken today.

# Singapore, Brisbane and Stockholm are all working to reduce both traffic congestion and air pollution through intelligent transport solutions, including predictive tools routing vehicles to avoid areas of traffic congestion.

# Rotterdam will adopt a monitoring and forecasting system for the management of water and energy to create the first ‘Smart Delta City’: A city that uses real-time information to manage infrastructure and operations related to the effects of climate change in a complex natural water system.

# In New York, almost 80 per cent of carbon dioxide emissions come from heating, cooling and providing electricity to buildings, which is more than double the US average. New York wants to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from city-owned buildings by 30 per cent within the next eight years and by 30 per cent from all buildings by 2030.

# China is spending the equivalent of billions of dollars to introduce high-speed trains and add over 40,000km of track to its rail network between now and 2020. Its goal is to create a transportation system to move people and goods and fuel economic development without increasing car or truck traffic. China expects to have more high-speed passenger rail than the rest of the world combined in the next five years.

Sustainable city development projects are cropping up across Asia, particularly in countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, China and India. These address areas ranging from energy consumption and renewable energy production to environmentally friendly buildings, sustainable transportation systems, waste recycling and water management.

Sustainable Cities 2009 is a premier event within the Singapore Energy Week taking place this month. International authorities, developers, architects and urban planners will gather to discuss key issues and trends, regional legislation and policies, investment opportunities, green technological discoveries and solutions associated with developing the sustainable cities of the future.

Sustainable Cities will showcase several existing and future projects, such as the Mata de Sesimbra in Portugal, the City of Edmonton in Canada, the Tianjin Eco-City and the Dongtan Eco-City in China, the BedZED in London, the Waitakere Ecocity in New Zealand, the Masdar City in Abu Dhabi, and more.

Source : Business Times – 11 Nov 2009

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