The Singaporeans of the future need not trace their beginnings to us … it is this new migrants that will be Singapore.

You guys are short on knowledge/ history and the making of nations and too conceited to think you and your offsprings are the rightful Singaporeans of the future.

URL is http://www.flickr.com/groups/seletardreams/

We must stop worshiping at the alter of the false god of GDP growth. The myth of ‘growth at all costs’ has been created by the leadership (along with other myths) to feed its collective ego, disregarding the cost to the country. To say that ‘in 10 years our GDP will be comparable to those of Italy and Australia’ is laughable. Singapore is the size of a large city in those countries. We neither have the space nor the people or the depth of history to sustain an economy of that size; neither do we have a friendly hinterland as Hong Kong does.

The quality of life is suffering. Our transport policy has been a failure, witness the congestion on the roads. Jobs appear to be created for foreigners, causing social disharmony. In the meantime, Singaporeans are quietly leaving the country (the figures are never revealed).

Growth at all costs is a formula for disaster. The population has already doubled in the past 30 years and is projected to increase by another third in the next 30. The effect on the quality of life can only be imagined. Memories of Seletar airbase and other idyllic places in Singapore will remain just those – distant memories.

The only solution is to de-link civil service and ministerial salaries from GDP growth. Focus on higher value added ‘brain-work’ and forget the casinos (let the Gentings of the world have those). It is already late. The mangrove forests of Punggol and Kranji have disappeared. Thanks to the foresight of 19th century colonial civil servants, at least we have the central catchments.

Save what remains and salvage our quality of life. Stop ‘growth at all costs’.

I had a brilliant friend who migrated to Australia for precisely that reason. All the places he loved, that were inextricably linked to his memories and personal history, had been “expunged”.

People form attachments to places, places that are significant in their lives. When those places are gone and changed forever, it’s bewildering – nothing is familiar any more. You no longer have “roots”. What remains familiar become *people* – your family, your relatives, and your friends. And as they move away from this country (yes, all of you have friends who have left Singapore for all kinds of reasons – marriage, career etc.) you find yourself less and less anchored to this country.

Imagine a Singapore that , every few years, *completely* changes the way it looks. You land in the middle of the country and have to learn everything over again – everything is new. You might as well be in another country! Think about it!

And so you uproot your family and move somewhere else because Singapore feels like such an unfamiliar place anyway. You don’t recognise anything, so you feel no ties to this LAND.

The National Library is gone – my student days were spent there. My old school is gone, moved to new premises. The place I had my wedding at is gone. My first house in Singapore is gone. The jetty where I used to go crabbing is gone.

As my friend said, when he moved to Australia: “This church near my home is 200 years old, and I know it will be still here 200 years from now and you know what? That’s a really really comforting thought.”

What thou does money bring? Can money be used as food? Can money help provide real comfort for the human soul in this maddening metropolis? Can it help give us the fresh air we need?

One day, we will all be paying a very dear cost for all of our actions.

Oh they’ve learned alot by placing an ERP gantry just right at the end of the tunnel, see how scheming they can be just to trap those cars who enters it unknowingly. A very unscrupolous way of cashing out money from the mootorists.

Thanks for the link to the pictures. Wonderfully taken photos…..

Andrew

ex⋅punge   /ɪkˈspʌndʒ/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [ik-spuhnj] Show IPA Pronunciation

–verb (used with object), -punged, -pung⋅ing. 1. to strike or blot out; erase; obliterate.
2. to efface; wipe out or destroy.

sounds as scary as Nuclear ?
But i must say, this cannot be lah.
u no believe me?

I was sad too when the old national library has to go so that they can collect ERP for vehicles to go through the tunnel…And you wonder why singaporeans don’t feel a sense of belonging…here.