Panel set up to help developers incorporate waterways into Singapore projects

Channel NewsAsia 5 Apr 08;

SINGAPORE: Singapore's water agency, PUB, has formed an ABC Waters Review Panel to help developers incorporate water bodies into their projects.

It was set up late last year together with the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and the Law Ministry. The panel also has several high-profile local architects as members.

Environment and Water Resources Minister, Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, revealed this at the launch of the S$2.5 million Kolam Ayer ABC Waterfront pilot project – under PUB's Active, Beautiful and Clean (ABC) Waters programme – on Saturday.

Dr Yaacob said: "The idea is very simple. At the end of the day, when developers develop their projects, I'm sure there must be ways in which they can integrate waterways in their design. Previously, that integration had not occurred. They saw it as a setback to have to fulfil a PUB requirement, but now we are telling them that there are ways in which that can be integrated.

"The panel will help to advise the developers on what they can do to integrate the waterways. With the enhancement, that could be a selling point. We want to explore the possibilities."

PUB will also produce a set of ABC Waters Design Guidelines to provide design ideas and technical support for professionals.

Developers who incorporate water features into projects already have a fast-track process to tap on the 'green lane'. Since it was introduced in 2006, 15 proposals have been submitted via this channel.

On the Kolam Ayer facelift project, Dr Yaacob said even though the physical infrastructure has been completed, the important factor now is the involvement of the community to take ownership and ensure the area remains clean and vibrant.

He said: "For the place to come alive, we need residents to take ownership. I'll be very happy if we can demonstrate this as a viable and sustainable project over the long term."

Chiang Heng Liang, Chairman of the ABC Waters Project Community Workshop, said: "It's up to the community, the people, the grassroots, residents, interest groups and all these people coming together to organise gatherings and meaningful activities... to interact and mingle."

Four groups have already expressed interest in helping to inject vibrancy into the area. They include Bendemeer primary and secondary schools which have adopted sections of the river to conduct river patrols and organise river clean-ups.

For a particular family, the completion of the waterfront project is worth waiting for.

Ismail Yacob, a Kolam Ayer resident, said: "It enhances the quality of life and, at the same time, beautifies our estate."

His wife, Nurashikin I Cheong, said: "Maybe during school holidays, we can come here to barbeque."

With this development completed, residents can look forward to more activities by the waterfront such as yoga and a Sunday flea market.

Subsequent facelifts under PUB's ABC Waters programme will be conducted at Bedok and MacRitchie reservoirs.- CNA/so

Stretch of Kallang River gets vibrant splash
Mavis Toh, Straits Times 6 Apr 08;

Dr Yaacob Ibrahim turned up for an event in a dragon boat yesterday.

The occasion in Kolam Ayer marked the first completed project under the Active, Beautiful, Clean (ABC) Waters programme, which transforms reservoirs, rivers and canals into recreation centres.

Hence, it was apt that the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources and Ms Denise Phua, an MP for Jalan Besar GRC, arrived by boat.

And more residents will get to enjoy waterfront living as national water agency PUB plans to implement more than 20 other projects in the next five years.

Over the past year, a 200m stretch of the Kallang River in Kolam Ayer had been given a $2.5 million makeover.

Bare concrete used to line the muddy riverbank, but an array of vegetation, lookout decks and interactive water features now provide a vibrant splash.

Said Dr Yaacob: 'Residents can soon look forward to morning exercises such as taiji, qigong and yoga by the river, right at the doorsteps of our blocks.'

The project will be managed by the Kolam Ayer community, which will organise activities such as kayaking and gardening.

Bendemeer Primary and Bendemeer Secondary schools will conduct river patrols and clean-ups.

'At the end of the day, for the place to come alive and to be kept clean, we need residents in the community to take ownership,' said Dr Yaacob.

Hundreds showed up at the launch, eager to get a feel of the water features.

Housewife Lily Ng, 40, was at the event with her three young children to try out the water wheel.

'This place is totally transformed...It used to be dirty and unkempt, now it's so attractive. Both the young and old will enjoy the water features,' she said.

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"Heart of Borneo" countries agree to five points to conserve forests

Antara 4 Apr 08;

Pontianak, W Kalimantan (ANTARA News) - Three countries that took part in the second "Heart of Borneo" (HoB) meeting -- Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam -- have agreed to implement five things to protect forest areas, conservation and production forests for the sake of future generations, a senior Agriculture Ministry official said.

Speaking at a press conference here on Friday, the ministry`s director of forest areas and nature conservation (PHKA), Nur Hidayat, said the three countries had committed themselves to implementing five points agreed on during the four-day Heart of Borneo meeting in Pontianak from April 1 to 4.

The five points had to do with space layout, utilization of protected and conserved forests in accordance with their types or qualifications, processing of forest products based on conservation principles as not all forests are included in the HoB, conducting activities designed to make use of the existing potentials by avoiding tree-cutting, making efforts to save and maintain forests in line with their function or increase the local communities` role in conserving forests, Nur Hidayat said.

He said the HoB covered a total area of 200,000 square km of which 57.1 percent was located in West Kalimantan, followed by Malaysian 42.3 percent and Brunei Darussalam about 0.6 percent.

Nur Hidayat further said though the three countries had agreed to the five important points to save the HoB, Indonesia also stressed the need to make various efforts to raise the prosperity level of people living in HoB areas by making use of forest potentials without destorying the forests and their ecosystems.

A member of the Indonesian delegation, Fathan A Rosyid, said the forests in the HoB area were a source of living to people in Kalimantan and the world in general. More support from many sides was also needed to protect the forests from illegal logging.

He said Indonesia needed to be strongly committed to the conservation of forest areas as only 30 percent of the country`s forests were conservation forests. The rest were forests that could easily be sacrificed for the opening of plantations or be converted into industrial forest estates.

"The use of HoB area has been included in the national space layout, so what is important is how to manage the forest areas in sustainable ways," Fathan said.(*)

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Endangered turtle 'like Viagra', thus slaughtered

news24.com 4 Apr 08;

Gaza - A rare giant sea turtle caught on a beach near Gaza City was slaughtered and eaten by Palestinian fishermen who said its blood was an aphrodisiac, among other therapeutic qualities.

As the turtle's throat was slit on Thursday night in front of a crowd, one fisherman said a sip of its blood was "as good as Viagra", referring to the popular anti-impotence treatment.

Children were later seen using a part of the shell as a surfboard.

Based on a description of the turtle's size and shell, Yaniv Levy, an Israeli expert on sea turtles, said he believed it was the endangered Leatherback turtle. Leatherbacks normally weigh between 300-500kg, he said.

"It's very rare. We don't know a lot about the Leatherback's population in the Mediterranean ... All we know is that they're here and they are under threat," Levy said by phone

He said up to three Leatherbacks reach the Israeli coastline each year. Israel pulled troops and settlers out of the Gaza Strip in 2005 but continues to control its coastline, air space and major goods crossings.

A Reuters cameraman said the fishermen collected the giant turtle's blood and gave it to children suffering from trauma and adults with back problems.

"I call it a super turtle. That's the biggest turtle on earth today. It can dive up to one kilometre," Levy said.

"It's unfortunate of course to see such a rare animal being slaughtered. It's such a unique opportunity to learn about these guys," he added.

Israel tightened a cordon of the impoverished Gaza Strip in June after Hamas Islamists seized control of the territory from rival forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement.

A smaller Leatherback was caught off the Gaza coast last month but the turtle was released after fishermen discovered it carried a tag classifying it as an endangered species.

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Climate change threatens Australia's koala: report

Reuters 5 Apr 08;

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's unique tree-dwelling koalas may become a victim of climate change, new research reported on Saturday shows.

Australian scientists say that eucalyptus leaves, the staple diet of koalas and other animals, could become inedible because of climate change.

"What we're seeing, essentially, is that the staple diet of these animals is being turned to leather," Australian National University science professor Bill Foley was quoted as saying in the Weekend Australian.

"Life is set to become extremely difficult for these animals."

Increased carbon dioxide reduced nitrogen and other nutrients in eucalyptus leaves and boosted tannins, a naturally occurring toxin, greenhouse experiments by James Cook University researcher Ivan Lawler found.

This sharply reduced the levels of protein in the leaves, requiring koalas and other animals to eat more nutritionally-poor eucalyptus leaves to survive.

"The food chain for these animals is very finely balanced, and a small change can have serious consequences," the newspaper quoted Dr Lawler as saying.

Koalas and greater gliders, a large gliding possum, depend entirely on eucalyptus leaves for food. Some other marsupials, including brushtail and ringtail possums and many wallaby species, feed extensively on the leaves.

Many insect species also feed exclusively on the leaves.

(Reporting by Michael Byrnes; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)

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Dengue situation in Upper Paya Lebar, Singapore worsens

Channel NewsAsia 5 Apr 08;

SINGAPORE: The dengue situation at the Upper Paya Lebar Road foreign workers' dormitories has worsened, with 21 cases reported so far.

Despite increased efforts to wipe out the Aedes mosquito breeding sites, workers are still falling ill.

A total of 13 workers came down with dengue in the last ten days.

To flush out the mosquitoes, they even sealed off rooms and burnt mosquito coils in their sleeping quarters.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) has advised the workers to look out for trouble spots like pails, plastic containers and canvases which can accumulate stagnant water.

Monitoring the situation closely, NEA has issued 11 summonses to residents, shophouse owners and factory operators found to have neglected areas in their premises, leading to the breeding of Aedes mosquitoes.

The Health Ministry said no dengue deaths have been reported in the first three months of this year, but Singaporeans are urged to stay vigilant by frequently checking and removing stagnant water in their homes.- CNA/so

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Best of our wild blogs: 5 Apr 08

Visit the new AsiaIsGreen Shop!
on the AsiaIsGreen blog

Sand mining and dumping next to Labrador Nature Reserve
on the wildfilms blog and cable laying off Changi

Learning about oil spills
on the wildfilms blog and families swimming at the East Coast get covered in sticky black oil

Malayan Whistling Thrush: Preparing to fledge
on the Bird Ecology Study Group blog

The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific
a new publication on the raffles museum news blog

Perils of plastic grass
used on children's playgrounds and sporting areas, some dangers outlined on the reuters environment blog

Read more!

Families swimming at East Coast end up covered in sticky black oil

A day at the beach... SPOILT
Families swimming at East Coast end up covered in sticky black oil
The New Paper 5 Apr 08;

THE children were frolicking in the water off East Coast Park and, along with some other unsuspecting beachgoers, they were in for an unpleasant surprise.

Siblings Siti Ramli, 5, and Ramadan Ramli, 8, found themselves covered in sticky black oil.

Except that they did not seem to find it all that unpleasant.

They proudly showed their oil-stained hands and feet to The New Paper at the beach yesterday.

After patches of oil were found off the East Coach beach two days ago, the National Environmental Agency (NEA) issued a press statement advising the public to stay away from the water.

But several beachgoers seemed unaware of the warning.

Apart from the children, a 42-year-old chef, Mr Hu Bai Chuan, had gone for a dip around 1.30pm in an area of the sea where the oil was still present.

'The oil can't be seen, it can only be felt. When I came out of the water, my body felt very slippery,' he said in Mandarin.

He then moved to a cleaner area of the beach.

A cleaner at East Coast Park, who wanted to be known only as Mr Ng, said: 'Yesterday, one woman went into the sea. When she came out, her legs were all black. She had a lot of trouble cleaning it off.'

When The New Paper visited the beach yesterday, we did not see any signs warning the public about the oil slick in the water.

Some school students participating in a beach clean-up were told to leave by an NEA officer who was collecting water samples.

One of their teachers said: 'We were here for about half an hour before the NEA guy told us to stay away from the water.'

SHOVELS

Cleaners trying to remove the oil used shovels to scoop up the oil-stained sand into green plastic bags.

The bags were then taken away in a lorry.

About five such workers were spotted along one stretch of the beach.

One of them, Mr Sharul, 36, said: 'Yesterday, we worked for more than 12 hours. We started at 7am and finished at 10pm. It is a very difficult job.'

He said the situation yesterday was much worse, with the water being much darker because of the oil.

The Maritime Port Authority of Singapore said it had surveyed the port waters and there had been no more sightings of oil.

'There have also been no reports of oil pollution from ships in our port. We will continue to closely monitor the waters,' it said.

The NEA is still looking into the cause of the oil slick.

Cheryl Teo, newsroom intern

Related articles and links

East Coast oil spill: 3km of beach cleared
Tania Tan, Straits Times 4 Apr 08;

Public advised to avoid swimming at beach affected by oil slick
Channel NewsAsia 3 Apr 08;

Mystery oil slick along East Coast Park beach
Channel NewsAsia 2 Apr 08;

Learning about oil spills
on the wildfilms blog

Looking for pollution at East Coast Park
on the wildfilms blog

Read more!

Plot ratios may change in certain local conditions: Mah

Business Times 5 Apr 08;

WILL plot ratios go up in the draft Master Plan 2008?

'There will be changes in certain places to reflect certain local situations, local conditions,' National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said yesterday without elaborating.

But there will 'not be a major review across-the-board' of plot ratios for the draft Master Plan 2008, he said. Plot ratio is the ratio of maximum gross floor area (GFA) to site area, so the higher a site's plot ratio, the more the GFA that can be built on it.

The draft Master Plan 2008 is expected to be unveiled in late May and exhibited for a month for public feedback before being finalised and gazetted by the year-end.

Mr Mah last year ruled out massive, across-the-board islandwide increases in plot ratios for Master Plan 2008 to cope with a long-term population planning parameter of 6.5 million. Yesterday, he said: 'We will do our Master Plan review every five years. As we go forward, as the situation changes, we will make the appropriate decision then.'

A study by Jones Lang LaSalle published by BT earlier this year said undeveloped state sites within walking distance of Circle Line MRT stations, particularly those that intersect with existing MRT lines, will be among the top candidates for higher plot ratios in Master Plan 2008.

The study highlighted areas near Paya Lebar MRT Station and Buona Vista MRT Station, where the Circle Line will intersect with the existing East-West Line, and HarbourFront MRT, where the Circle Line crosses the North-East Line.

National Development Minister responds to property issues
Straits Times 5 Apr 08;

On rental housing:

'Our strategy is two-pronged... We are looking to increase the supply from 43,000 today, to go up to about 50,000. So that's another 7,000 - an increase of about 20 per cent.

'We are also relooking the eligibility criteria to make sure they cater to the really needy.

'As an article mentioned today, a lot of people in the queue really shouldn't be in the queue. They already enjoyed a housing subsidy...and cashed out, and are now coming out to join the queue. So while they are eligible today, strictly speaking, there are other people much more in need of a rental flat.

'There are other alternatives in place - whether it's a studio apartment, smaller flat, or the lease buyback scheme that we will roll out next month. All these are ways to monetise their flats.

'Joining the rental flat queue is not the way and I think we have to relook our criteria.'

On withdrawing the deferred-payment scheme:

'It was a very carefully considered decision...The objective was twofold: remove excessive speculation from the market and make sure there is financial prudence so that people...don't over-commit.

'These are still relevant today. We don't see a need to change the decision.'

On City Developments chief Kwek Leng Beng's suggestion that the Government remain 'nimble' in a changing property market and review the land sales programme:

'It's a point of view a developer will take, but there are many players in the property market; they all have their own views... They represent different, conflicting interests.

'We can be nimble, but we have to bear in mind that we have to take a longer-term view about things...We should be careful about knee-jerk reactions.

'We can't adjust because something happens yesterday and we change things today.'

On increasing Singapore's population:

'We don't know what will happen, what the numbers will be in 10 to 20 years.

'But if we do need to increase our population to 6.5 million in the future...it is comforting to note that our physical resources, especially land, are able to support this.'

HDB reviewing application process
Jessica Cheam, Straits Times 5 Apr 08;

THE Housing Board is in the process of reviewing its current application process, National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan disclosed yesterday.

This follows recent public concerns that the thousands of applications that pour in for an HDB project bear little relation to the actual take-up rate of flats.

HDB's latest condo-like flats, City View @ Boon Keng, for example, sold only 250 or so out of 714 units, despite receiving 3,500 applications.

Eligible buyers pay $10 to enter a ballot for HDB's sales exercises. This assigns them a queue number to select a flat in a particular sales project.

Mr Mah acknowledged it was frustrating for some couples in the queue - who might have missed out on selecting a flat because of the high numbers - and said there was a need to address it.

'I've asked HDB to study this to discourage people from giving up their flats, or chance, so easily.'

The idea is to have a queue that ensures that when buyers get to the front, they book the flat, said Mr Mah.

'That will be fair to people in the queue, and good for HDB, to get some certainty about the supply and demand situation.'

More details on the review will come at a later date, he said.

Mah disagrees with suggestions on land sales, deferred payment scheme
Business Times 5 Apr 08;

NATIONAL Development Minister Mah Bow Tan yesterday disagreed with suggestions by property tycoon Kwek Leng Beng on the need for the government to review its first-half 2008 land sales programme and rethink its decision to scrap the deferred payment scheme.

Mr Mah said the government can be nimble on state land sales because the programme is reviewed every six months, depending on changes in the market.

But the H1 2008 programme will not be changed midstream, he said. 'We should be careful of knee-jerk reactions. You can't adjust it just because something is happening yesterday and then we change things today. We've got to take a longer-term view.'

Mr Mah was speaking at a media briefing after he delivered the keynote address at Urban Redevelopment Authority's Corporate Plan seminar at Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel.

In an interview published by BT this week, Mr Kwek had urged the government to review its H1 2008 land sale programme, which was fixed last year when the property market was buoyant compared with today.

On the decision announced in October last year to scrap the deferred payment scheme, Mr Mah said yesterday it was carefully considered, taken 'after a lot of thought, deliberation'.

'The objective was two-fold,' he said. 'One, to remove excessive speculation from the market. And two, to make sure there is financial prudence - that people make decisions and don't over-commit themselves.

'These are two very important objectives and they are still relevant today - in fact, probably more so in today's kind of market. I don't see any need for us to change our decision on that.'

Mr Kwek had suggested the deferred payment scheme could be revived, but this time with a higher initial payment of 30 per cent instead of 20 per cent previously. He also said that if a developer wants to extend a deferred payment scheme to a buyer, perhaps the developer's bank might be in a better position to assess viability, while keeping an eye on prudence.

Mr Kwek also made a suggestion he said could make housing more affordable for young Singaporeans, including singles. The government could build more public housing units and lease them to young first-time buyers with an option to buy the flats within 10 years at fixed prices, he said.

Responding yesterday, Mr Mah said he disagreed with the premise that young couples cannot afford to buy an HDB flat.

'The average amount of money they need to put up for monthly mortgage payments is well within their means, something like 20 per cent. This is quite affordable,' he said.

'If you were to rent, they will probably be paying as much, if not more, in rental, than to buy the flat. It doesn't make sense to rent when you can buy using your CPF. You rent, you can't use your CPF.

'When you buy, you actually buy a place you can call your own. It's an investment. When you rent, it's not yours.

'Our home ownership policy with all the generous housing subsidies that we have given actually allows most Singaporeans, young couples, to be able to buy their own homes.

'If you look at the numbers, you'll find that suggestion (by Mr Kwek) does not quite make sense.'

Minister Mah assures there is no shortage of housing in Singapore
Channel NewsAsia 4 Apr 08;

SINGAPORE : National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan has said there is no shortage of housing in Singapore.

He said, "Based on all the BTO (Build-To-Order) projects that we've had so far, (for) all of the projects, all of the developments for the last year - except one - there've always been flats left over, even after everybody in the queue has been offered."

But some home buyers often decline the opportunity to pick their flats, if the choices do not meet their expectations.

So the Housing and Development Board (HDB) is looking at new measures to limit this.

But Mr Mah assured that it is unlikely HDB will raise the administrative fee.

He said, "I don't think increasing it from S$10 to S$100 all round is going to work, because people will only say, 'Oh, you're now trying to collect more money, the government's trying to make more money from me'.

"I am asking HDB to study this, to find a way to discourage people from giving up their flats, or giving up their chance so easily. Yes, some people will say 'It's my prerogative to give it up, I don't want it, I can give it up'. Fair enough, but then you will have to suffer some penalties."

Mr Mah also responded to calls for the deferred payment scheme on property purchases to be brought back amid signs of a slowdown in residential property sales.

He said: "The decision to remove the deferred payment scheme was a very carefully considered decision. The objective of it was twofold. One was to remove excessive speculation from the market and two it was to make sure that there is financial prudence.

“These two objectives are still relevant today, probably more so in today's market, so I don't see any need for us to change our decision on that."

There have also been hopes for plot ratios to be increased but the minister said that changes will only be made when necessary.

For now though there won't be a major review across the board. - CNA/ms/vm

Read more!

Industry watchers hope new Singapore Master Plan will include higher plot ratios

Channel NewsAsia 4 Apr 08;

SINGAPORE : Higher plot ratios and integrated developments with greenery and other features are among the wish lists of industry players, who are anticipating significant changes to the government's new Draft Master Plan.

The master plan, expected to be released soon by the Urban Redevelopment Authority, will guide Singapore's land use over the next 10 to 15 years.

Buildings in Singapore may get even taller, if property players have their wish. Topping the industry's wish list is higher plot ratios from the upcoming Draft Master Plan.

A higher plot ratio means a more intensive use of land, which analysts say will go some way to supporting a larger population base and encourage existing building owners to redevelop their property.

Chua Chor Hoon, Senior Director of Research at DTZ Debenham Tie Leung, said: "Many people would hope for the master plan plot ratio to be increased, but I don't think that would be the case.

"I think there isn't really a need for the increase in plot ratio, unless there is some pressure for more space. If we intensify everything now, it will be very difficult to grow further in the future."

For now, industry watchers expect the Draft Master Plan 2008 to provide more details about growth areas that have been identified by the URA previously.

They are areas in Jurong, Paya Lebar, Kallang, Punggol and the Southern Ridges, which could support a range of residential, commercial and recreational activities.

Market players also hope to see more interesting urban form where features like greenery and canals are incorporated into the development plan.

Analysts expect the government to continue to grow the Marina Bay area. They say effects will also be made to enhance the Central Business District (CBD).

However, they are concerned that the parking problems in the CBD may be aggravated as old buildings make way for newer ones, which have fewer parking lots.

Other possible key areas include more spaces for tourism and recreation. Industry players say sustainable economic development and the conservation of old buildings may also be on URA's cards. - CNA/de

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Government announces plans for Jurong Lake District

Channel NewsAsia 4 Apr 08;

"It's just that because Jurong has a lot of industries, people may have the sense that the air quality is poorer compared to other estates. But if you look at it from the safety point of view, it is not worse than other parts of Singapore."

Nature Society president Geh Min said: 'I am happy to hear the mention of wetlands. I don't think there will be an issue with the loss of natural environment.'

SINGAPORE: Singapore is planning to have its very own lake district in Jurong, which will be a magnet for business and leisure.

The Jurong Lake District – made up of two precincts, Jurong Gateway and Lakeside – will offer a potential development area of 360 hectares or about the size of Marina Bay.

National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan announced this when he unveiled the government's Draft Master Plan 2008 on Friday. This plan will guide Singapore's land use over the next 10 to 15 years.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) said the Jurong Lake District is expected to attract investments worth billions of dollars.

Under the proposed plan, some 750,000 square metres of land will be set aside at Jurong Gateway for offices, hotels, food and beverage, and entertainment uses.

It is also expected to add about 2,800 hotel rooms, equivalent to the hotel belt at the Singapore River area. Land to build 1,000 new private homes will be available as well.

The URA said the Jurong Gateway is set to be the biggest commercial hub outside the city centre – nearly 2.5 times the size of the Tampines Regional Centre.

Lakeside, which is the other component of the Jurong Lake District, has been earmarked to be the next waterfront playground.

Urban planners said there will be plenty of leisure options there, including nature-themed and edu-tainment attractions.

But the centrepiece will be a new world-class Science Centre to be located next to the Chinese Garden MRT station.

Visitors can also look forward to lush greenery and water-based activities like kayaking and dragon boating at Lakeside.- CNA/so

Blueprint for Jurong unveiled
URA website 4 Apr 08;
URA plans to transform Jurong Lake District into a unique lakeside destination for business and leisure

As part of the Draft Master Plan 2008 Review, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) today announced the blueprint for Jurong Lake District. The vision for Jurong Lake District is to transform it into a unique lakeside destination for business and leisure in the next 10 to 15 years.

The blueprint for Jurong Lake District was unveiled by Mr Mah Bow Tan, Minister for National Development, at URA’s annual corporate plan seminar today attended by about 500 developers, architects, other industry players and URA staff at the Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel.

Jurong Lake District

Jurong Lake District consists of two complementary precincts, Jurong Gateway and Lakeside. These refer to the areas around the Jurong East MRT Station and Jurong Lake in the west region of Singapore.

The key proposals for the Jurong Lake District are as follows:

• The area around the Jurong East MRT Station (to be known as Jurong Gateway) will be developed into an attractive commercial hub serving the west region, outside the city centre
• A new and unique leisure destination will be created around Jurong Lake (to be known as Lakeside) with edutainment attractions for the whole family
• Jurong Lake will be brought closer to Jurong Gateway through the introduction of possible new waterways and pedestrian linkages
• The sense of greenery will be heightened with new landscaped open spaces and park connectors at the street-level and skyrise greenery in buildings
• An integrated network of pedestrian walkways between buildings and public facilities will be created

“Jurong Gateway and Lakeside are precious gems which offer exciting opportunities for the development of leisure attractions and the biggest commercial hub outside the city centre. To realise this vision, the planners have developed strategies that capitalise on the wonderful assets these areas have. These include building upon the strategic location of Jurong Gateway which is well served by road and rail, and in the midst of a large population and customer catchment. The lake and its greenery are also unique features which can be enhanced. We would like to bring about a transformed image for this area. The Jurong Lake District will become a much sought after lakeside destination for business and leisure.” said Mrs Cheong Koon Hean, URA’s Chief Executive Officer.

The total potential area for development is 360 hectares, close to the size of Marina Bay.

Please refer to Annex 1 for the site plan and artist impressions showing the key plans for Jurong Lake District.

Jurong Gateway: Biggest commercial hub outside the city

Located around the Jurong East MRT Station, the new plans for the 70 ha Jurong Gateway is to develop it into a vibrant commercial hub with a good mix of office, retail, residential, hotel, entertainment, food & beverage and other complementary uses. It will be the biggest commercial hub outside the city centre.

Jurong Gateway is one of the three regional centres identified under the Concept Plan 1991, as part of a decentralisation strategy to sustain Singapore’s growth. While Marina Bay and the city remain as the main commercial centres, new commercial hubs like Jurong Gateway will also be developed outside the city centre to provide more choices of attractive business locations and bring jobs closer to homes. The other two regional centres are Tampines and Woodlands.

Jurong Gateway offers a highly attractive location outside the Central Business District for company headquarters, business services as well as companies in the science and technology sectors. Companies that set up their offices at Jurong Gateway will be able to:

• gain ready access to a large labour and customer pool from more than one million residents in the surrounding towns of Clementi, Bukit Batok, Jurong East and Jurong West

• enjoy the close proximity to a substantial cluster of multinational and global businesses of more than 3,000 companies around the International Business Park and the Jurong and Tuas Industrial Estates

• tap on a large talent pool from the many surrounding tertiary institutions and research hubs like the Nanyang Technological University, National University of Singapore, One-North and the Science Park

Jurong Gateway is already a major transport hub. The Jurong East MRT station is the interchange station for the East-West and North-South MRT lines. It is well served by three MRT stations and a bus interchange. Jurong Gateway is also well connected to the rest of the island by two major expressways. It is only about 20 minutes away from the city centre by car or train and just 15 minutes to the Second Link.

More new spaces to come

With more than 50 ha of vacant land available for development, Jurong Gateway will provide about 750,000 sq m of commercial space, more than two and a half times the size of Tampines Regional Centre today. The 750,000 sq m of commercial space consist of:

• 500,000 sq m of office space and
• 250,000 sq m of retail, food & beverage and entertainment space

About 2,800 hotel rooms will also be introduced at the fringe of Jurong Gateway, next to Lakeside, to meet the increasing demand for hotel rooms and to cater to the new leisure attractions and businesses that will be introduced around Jurong Lake and Jurong Gateway.

In addition to the commercial space, at least 1,000 new homes will be added around the Jurong East MRT station, providing more opportunities to live and work in the area.

Seamless connections, more greenery

Singaporeans and visitors can look forward to seamless connections and more greenery at Jurong Gateway.

From Jurong East MRT station, pedestrians can walk conveniently and comfortably to most developments and public facilities around the area through an extensive network of walkways. They can also stroll to attractions at Jurong Lake area through a new pedestrian walkway.

There will be an experience of lush greenery with new landscaped open spaces and park connectors introduced at the street-level. Skyrise and rooftop greenery will also be encouraged on many of the buildings in the area.

Key buildings will have scenic views of the lake. For example, buildings around the Jurong East MRT station will step down towards the lake, allowing most developments to have panoramic views of the lake.

Lakeside: New waterfront playground

Jurong Lake and the area around it, known as Lakeside, is the other area in the Jurong Lake District. Spread over 220 ha of land and 70 ha of water, Lakeside is envisaged to be developed into a major leisure destination for Singaporeans and tourists. The attractions at Jurong Lake will be differentiated from others located in Marina Bay, Southern Waterfront and Mandai.

Singaporeans can look forward to enjoy greater access to the lake with additional green spaces and new attractions around the lake for the whole family.

Bringing the lake closer

There will be greater access to the lake from Jurong Gateway. One idea is to create new waterways to bring the experience of the lake closer to the main commercial hub. Another idea is to create a landscaped walkway from Jurong Gateway to the Lakeside.

New green spaces, better access to the lake

A new public park will be developed at the western edge of Jurong Lake, next to Lakeside MRT station. The waterfront promenade along Jurong Lake will be enhanced as well, making it easier and more pleasant for residents and visitors to enjoy breathtaking views of the lake.

New water activities like kayaking and dragon-boating will be introduced in the lake by the end of 2008 as part of Public Utilities Board (PUB)’s Active Beautiful Clean programme. PUB will also be implementing more public amenities such as boardwalks, fishing points, wetlands and water features at selected stretches of the lake by the end of 2009 to allow people to enjoy more of the lake.

New attractions around the lake

Land is available for four to five attractions around the lake catering to families with young children. Possible attractions could be those with edutainment theme or nature-based attractions leveraging on the lake, or attractions with hotels, food & beverage and retail uses. They will complement the attractions that are already in Jurong, for example, the Jurong Bird Park, Science Centre and Singapore Discovery Centre. Blending in with the garden and lake settings, these new attractions will offer fresh recreational opportunities around the lake.

The first anchor attraction is the new world class Science Centre. It will be moved next to the Chinese Garden MRT station. The new Science Centre will not only be bigger and more accessible, the new location also provides exciting opportunities to extend the learning experiences beyond the centre to the lake and surrounding green spaces.

A new lakeside village will be created next to the Jurong Lake. Just 10 minutes walking distance away from Jurong Gateway, the village offers an alternative shopping and dining experience, with food & beverage, retail and entertainment uses and boutique hotels by the lakeside. This village will be connected to Jurong Gateway through a network of walkways, making it a natural gathering place for residents, visitors and people working nearby.

The existing Chinese and Japanese Gardens will have added new facilities and activities to make them more attractive for both residents and tourists to enjoy.

All the attractions around the Jurong Lake will be developed with a sensitive approach to the surrounding environment and natural greenery. Residents and visitors will continue to have access to the water body and enjoy the lush landscaping and serenity of the gardens.

About the Draft Master Plan 2008

The blueprint for Jurong Lake District is part of URA’s Draft Master Plan 2008. It includes feedback from prior consultation done by URA with key stakeholders, community leaders and industry players. The public and community can give their feedback on the draft plans during the Draft Master Plan 2008 exhibition in May 2008.

The Master Plan is the statutory land use plan that URA develops to guide Singapore’s development over the next 10 to 15 years. It is reviewed every five years, and translates the broad long-term strategies as set out in the Concept Plan into detailed plans for implementation.

The Draft Master Plan 2008 will continue to focus on providing Singaporeans with a good quality of life with more recreational choices and better living environments.

A key focus of the Draft Master Plan 2008 is also to continue to sustain Singapore’s economy with new growth areas like the Ophir-Rochor corridor and Jurong East. Beyond the Marina Bay and city centre as the main commercial centres for Singapore, more commercial hubs will be developed outside the city centre to accommodate new growth.

The full Draft Master Plan 2008 is currently being reviewed and will be unveiled in May 2008. The last review was done in 2003.

Jurong ulu no more
Suburb to become commercial, leisure lakeside heaven
Loh Chee Kong, Today Online 5 Apr 08;

DUSTY. Industrial. Out of the way.

Such words may spring to your mind when asked about Jurong. But come 2020, the home of the Bird Park and the Science Centre will evoke a whole new vocabulary.

Try on for size: Lakeside haven. Billion-dollar business buzz. Holiday hub.

This will be the new Jurong Lake District, after it undergoes an ambitious transformation into the largest commercial hub outside of the Central Business District (CBD) — complete with 2,800 new hotel rooms, a number which rivals that of the entire hotel belt at the Singapore River.

At the heart of the district — bounded by Yuan Ching Road, Ayer Rajah Expressway and the MRT line running through the Jurong East, Chinese Garden and Lakeside MRT stations — will be the 70-hectare Jurong Lake and its sprawling greenery.

Tourists will be enticed with a laidback experience at the lakeside F&B village and hotels. The lake itself will be deepened for water activities such as kayaking and dragonboating, and new waterways carved out and an elevated walkway built to "bring closer" the MRT station and bus interchange. Visitors taking the 10-minute "seamless" walk can stop and shop at retail and F&B outlets along the way.

Another old neighbourhood icon will be revamped, too — the Singapore Science Centre will be relocated next to the Chinese Garden MRT station.

This leisurely atmosphere will also have a cutting-edge buzz to it.

Equalling the size of Marina Bay, the new commercial hub is expected to attract investments worth billions of dollars. It incorporates the Jurong Gateway precinct, a high-rise commercial and a retail hub around the Jurong East MRT station that will boast offices, hotels, food and beverage outlets and entertainment venues.

Within the district, land to build 1,000 private homes will be available as well.

Describing Jurong as "a gem that has yet to be uncovered and refined", National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan acknowledged that Jurong — earmarked from its birth in 1961 as an industrial estate — has struggled to shake off the unflattering associations.

"Many of us still see Jurong East as a suburban residential area, far away from the city centre — quite 'ulu' (remote), in fact. It is rarely thought of as a major leisure destination," he said.

But in truth, it has plenty of potential, with a population catchment of more than a million residents, including those from nearby towns Clementi, Bukit Batok and Jurong West.

Moreover, the area is home to more than 3,000 companies. Its proximity to the tertiary institutions and research hubs means Jurong East is "an ideal place for businesses dealing with research and cutting edge technology", said Mr Mah.

He announced the Jurong makeover on Friday as part of the Urban Redevelopment Authority's (URA) Draft Master Plan. Since 1991, the URA has embarked on projects to build regional centres in areas such as Tampines and Woodlands, to ease congestion in the CBD. Plans are in the pipeline for Bugis and Kallang also.

Even as the Government has deferred $2-billion worth of construction projects, Mr Mah said the Jurong makeoever was given the go-ahead after taking into consideration the effects on the construction crunch.

Residents need not fear major disruptions to their daily routines, but there will be "some inconveniences". "We are not going to close the entire lake to people but will do it in stages," said Mr Mah.

They can also look forward, in the next few years, to the redevelopment of the Jurong East Entertainment Centre, which will house Singapore's first Olympic-sized ice-skating rink.

Already, Propnex chief executive Mohd Ismail expects prices for both public and private housing in Jurong East to go up by five to 10 per cent in the next two years.

Traditionally, the area's flats command prices similar to those in suburban Hougang and Choa Chu Kang, but pale in comparison to mature estates -- a 5-room flat there costs $90,000 and $135,000 less than a similar flat in Bishan and Toa Payoh respectively.

Resident Liang Guet Keow, 49, said she looked forward to a more vibrant Jurong East offering the same facilities as estates such as Bedok and Ang Mo Kio. "It's about time," said the accounts executive.

Member of Parliament (MP) Halimah Yacob told TODAY that she and her fellow Jurong GRC MPs have been pushing for Jurong to be redeveloped.

She said: "It would greatly enhance the living environment. Jurong is in need of rejuvenation -- that part is clear."

And while some residents continue to worry about air quality down the road, Mdm Halimah reiterated that the air in Jurong is not hazardous to health. "It's just that because Jurong has a lot of industries, people may have the sense that the air quality is poorer compared to other estates. But if you look at it from the safety point of view, it is not worse than other parts of Singapore."

The West also rises with Jurong East makeover
360-hectare Jurong Lake District will marry offices and retail outlets with waterfront playground
Kalpana Rashiwala, Business Times 5 Apr 08;

(SINGAPORE) With malls, hotels, offices and entertainment outlets, the sleepy charms of the area around Jurong East MRT Station are poised for a stunning makeover. The place - called Jurong Gateway - will be turned into the biggest regional centre on the island.

Add to this the land and water development around the nearby Jurong Lake - with kayaking, dragon boating and a lakeside village - and the transformation that melds business opportunities with leisure pursuits will be complete.

Jurong Gateway will provide 5.4 million sq ft gross floor area of new office space and 2.7 million sq ft of retail, F&B and entertainment area - more than 2.5 times the current size of Tampines Regional Centre, Minister for National Development Mah Bow Tan announced yesterday.

The time frame for development will be about 10-15 years and sites in the location are likely to be tendered out for private sector development based on market demand and pace of take-up.

The 70-hectare Gateway will also have at least 1,000 new private homes as well as 2,800 hotel rooms - roughly the same quantum as the Singapore River hotel belt.

Meanwhile, the Lakeside precinct around the Jurong Lake has been earmarked as a new waterfront playground spread over 220ha of land and 70ha of water. It is envisaged as a major leisure destination for Singaporeans and tourists, with about four or five proposed new attractions.

Jurong Gateway and Lakeside together make up Jurong Lake District, the blueprints for which were revealed by Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) yesterday.

The 360ha total potential area for development is close to the size of Marina Bay.

In his speech at URA's corporate plan seminar, Mr Mah stressed the importance of decentralisation as a key planning strategy to maintain balance between supporting economic growth and a high-quality living environment.

While Marina Bay and the city remain Singapore's main commercial centre, new commercial hubs like Jurong Gateway will be developed outside the city centre to provide more choices of attractive business locations and bring jobs closer to homes. URA has also earmarked the area around Paya Lebar MRT Station for development into an alternative business hub.

URA said Jurong Gateway will be ideal for company headquarters, business services as well as companies in the science and the research and development (R&D) fields. Such companies will be able to tap a large labour pool from a one million-population catchment in Jurong East and West, Clementi and Bukit Batok, enjoy proximity to a cluster of over 3,000 companies in the International Business Park and Jurong and Tuas industrial estates. Jurong Gateway is also a major transport hub, with Jurong East MRT Station and a bus interchange. The area around the MRT station is designated for development into an integrated commercial and transport hub with white use - allowing office, retail, residential and hotel use. A short distance away, at Jurong Town Hall Road, sites have been designated for high-rise office use.

The tallest buildings in Jurong Gateway will be 35 storeys high but building heights will step down towards Jurong Lake, allowing most developments to have panoramic views of the lake.

A new big-box retail format incorporating consumer electronics, furniture and hypermarket being developed by TT International will add about 34,000 sq m of retail space when completed by end-2009.

Mr Mah also stressed that Singapore's long-term approach to planning - encompassing the Concept Plan and Master Plan process - is a fundamental part of the republic's sustainable development effort. He noted that Singapore's physical resources, especially land, are able to support a long-term population planning parameter of 6.5 million.

The minister also touched on how the influx of foreigners is making some Singaporeans uneasy. 'They find the competition for jobs and school places tough. They see themselves priced out of the housing of their choice.'

Highlighting the contribution of foreigners to various tiers of the Singapore economy and society, Mr Mah said: 'We must . . . convince our people that at the end of the day, if we want to have a good life, we must learn to accept the foreigners in our midst.'

Jurong Lake will be transformed into waterfront playground
Business Times 5 Apr 08;

4-5 new attractions planned; Science Centre site to be developed

THE area around Jurong Lake has been earmarked as a waterfront playground lined with four or five new attractions.

As part of the revamp, the Singapore Science Centre will also be relocated next to Chinese Garden MRT Station and its present site carved into a third island within Jurong Lake and developed into Lakeside Village.

The village, surrounded by a new waterway, will offer alternative shopping and dining, with food & beverage, retail and entertainment outlets and boutique hotels on the lakeside. It will be connected to the new commercial hub at Jurong Gateway through a network of walkways.

The existing Chinese and Japanese gardens - which occupy the two existing islands in the lake - will have added new facilities and activities to boost their attraction.

The plans were revealed in the Urban Redevelopment Authority's (URA) draft Master Plan for the area, released yesterday. The plan will guide development over the next 10-15 years.

The four or five new attractions will cater to families with young children. They could include edutainment that rides on proximity to the new Science Centre, nature-based activities that leverage on the lake, as well as attractions with hotels, F&B and shopping.

URA said the new attractions will complement those Jurong already has, such as Jurong Bird Park, the Science Centre and Singapore Discovery Centre.

'The attractions at Jurong Lake will be differentiated from others at Marina Bay, Southern Waterfront and Mandai,' URA said.

URA will work with the Singapore Tourism Board to encourage investors to develop the attractions, National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said yesterday.

A new public park will be developed on the western edge of Jurong Lake next to Lakeside MRT Station. Water activities like kayaking and dragon-boating will be introduced on the lake by end-2008. And boardwalks, fishing points and wetlands will be introduced along selected stretches by end-2009.

URA chief executive Cheong Koon Hean said URA may include its plans for Jurong Lake District in its overseas marketing efforts.

The authority's draft Master Plan for the district - comprising the Lakeside precinct as well as the area around Jurong East MRT Station, dubbed Jurong Gateway - has drawn kudos from industry players.

Park Hotel Group director Allen Law said a business hotel could work in the Jurong Lake District. 'A tourist hotel will depend on the phasing of the new attractions,' he added.

Nature Society president Geh Min said: 'I am happy to hear the mention of wetlands. I don't think there will be an issue with the loss of natural environment.'

UOL Group chief operating officer Liam Wee Sin said of URA's plans for the district: 'I'm quite impressed. There's a big opportunity to do an eco-city, not just sky gardens and terraces - but with conscious planning, policy, design and usage.'

DP Architects' Tai Lee Siang reckons the Jurong Lake District will have an edge over Tampines Regional Centre because it has the lake as a natural asset.

Colliers International said URA's blueprint for the district will boost the popularity and value of property there in the mid to long term.

'It's exciting because it will inject a new lease of life to an area that has struggled for many years to shrug off its image as an industrial location,' said Colliers' director Tay Huey Ying.

- With additional reporting by Arthur Sim

URA's Jurong Gateway plan draws mixed response
Consultants and developers hail alternative hub, but fear over-supply in medium term
Kalpana Rashiwala, Business Times 5 Apr 08;

PROPERTY consultants and developers have given a mixed reception to the Urban Redevelopment Authority's (URA) plan for Jurong Gateway, which will have about 5.4 million sq ft of gross office area over 10-15 years.

While they welcome an alternative commercial hub that will provide lower-cost office space, some are worried about the timing that yesterday's announcement - made at a point when there is sufficient confirmed mid-term supply - will have on sentiment.

Others are worried the announcement may scare foreign investors from the local office market because of potential over-supply in the not-too-distant future.

First, the positive views.

Jones Lang LaSalle's Singapore country head Chris Fossick welcomed URA's plans for the new commercial hub around Jurong East MRT Station, comparing it to Changi Business Park in the east, which has attracted backroom offices of financial institutions.

Both locations are similar - close to transport hubs and a substantial labour pool, Mr Fossick noted. 'Singapore is in need of such facilities to provide an alternative to more highly-priced real estate in the CBD (central business district) for companies that don't need to be in the CBD.

'From a macro perspective, we can be more competitive as a country when it comes to office space. We can go to banks, IT firms or any MNC and say: 'You have two choices in Singapore: CBD office space or good-quality office space in Jurong or Changi.' We can say Singapore has office space that is expensive as well as space that's inexpensive.'

Another advantage of decentralisation is preventing congestion in the CBD from getting worse, Mr Fossick said.

Giving a more cautious view, CB Richard Ellis executive director Moray Armstrong said: 'The launch of the vision for the area comes at a time when there seems to be ample supply of office space catered for.

'I wonder how strong interest will be in developing the new office space in Jurong because there is already quite a healthy level of confirmed office supply on the island, the bulk of which is a product of the government's policy reaction in the past two years of releasing greater volume of land.

'Office space in the Jurong Gateway location is untested, but if the government is taking a long-term view, it's not unreasonable to envisage this location emerging as a Tampines equivalent.

'Nonetheless, the target they have set looks pretty ambitious in terms of the overall quantum of space, even for a 10-15 year time-frame. After all, Tampines has existing and new office developments in the pipeline with a total net lettable area of about two million sq ft, and that would be over a span of 12-13 years.'

City Developments group general manager Chia Ngiang Hong also voiced concern about the timing of the release of office sites at Jurong Gateway.

'Hopefully, the government will study the market situation carefully before it starts tendering out new office sites,' he said. 'Otherwise, it won't be healthy to cause a massive over-supply in the market again.'

Jurong's massive makeover
Area the size of Marina Bay will be transformed with homes, hotels, shops, eateries and offices linked to MRT via walkways and waterways
Jessica Cheam, Straits Times 5 Apr 08;

EXTREME makeovers do not come more dramatic than this.

In an ambitious plan unveiled yesterday, a large swathe of Jurong will be redeveloped and rebranded the Jurong Lake District.

The 350ha area affected is similar in size to Marina Bay, and will boast all the elements of a vibrant mini-metropolis.

That means new high-rises, hotels, apartments, shops, food places and offices as well as no end of water-related recreational pursuits, with everything linked to MRT stations via walkways and waterways.

Unveiling the plans yesterday, National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan described Jurong as somewhat under-recognised, 'a gem yet to be uncovered and refined'.

Among Singapore's public housing estates, Jurong has been something of an ugly duckling, its factories giving the place a decidedly industrial-town feel. This is an image it will shed in the next 10 to 15 years as the new plans come to life.

Reinventing Jurong is a challenge, Mr Mah acknowledged. 'But we want to show that this is not pie in the sky, it's something real,' he said.

Singapore's very own Lake District
Jurong is set to shed its industrial image with a stunning makeover
Jessica Cheam, Straits Times 5 Apr 08;

JURONG tends to conjure up unflattering images of factories and sleepy suburbia, but the area is slated for a stunning makeover that will transform it into Singapore's only lakeside destination.

National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan yesterday unveiled a vision for a revamped Jurong, starting with a new name: the Jurong Lake District.

The ambitious plan, to be implemented over the next 10 to 15 years, involves building new waterways, 1,000 private homes, 2,800 hotel rooms and adding 750,000 sq m of office and retail space.

The Jurong Lake District, which at 360ha is the size of Marina Bay, will consist of two precincts.

One is the 70ha Jurong Gateway, which will boast swanky new offices, condos and entertainment features, including an Olympic-size ice-skating rink, all set around Jurong East MRT station.

The other is Lakeside, which is being targeted as a hang-out for young families.

It will feature a bold new science centre, tourist attractions and parks complemented by water activities, all set around the Chinese Garden and Lakeside MRT stations.

Mr Mah told a 500-strong audience at an Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) seminar yesterday that many Singaporeans saw Jurong as a suburban residential and industrial area 'located far away from the city centre'.

But he described it as a 'gem', with compelling reasons singling it out for redevelopment. It is near established towns, with a large labour force and a population catchment of more than one million residents.

It is also a thriving business hub, with more than 3,000 companies - from multinationals to tiny operations - two universities and research centres such as one-north in the vicinity. That made it an ideal business location for cutting-edge technology, said Mr Mah.

Existing transport links - the PanIsland and Ayer Rajah expressways and two MRT lines - also connect Jurong East to the city quickly.

Mr Mah pointed to another benefit of the plan: the proximity of jobs to homes in the area, which reduced the need to commute and eased pressure on transport services.

Jurong's rejuvenation is part of a broader URA decentralisation strategy to balance economic growth, reduce commuting and provide a high quality of life with many leisure options.

It will announce its plans next month to redevelop Paya Lebar. Both initiatives are part of its 2008 Draft Masterplan Review.

URA chairman Alan Chan said the ideas for Jurong were the result of consultation with a wide spectrum of public and private industry players.

Market watchers welcomed the news, saying it would inject new life into Jurong, which has struggled for years to shed its industrial image.

Colliers International's director of research and consultancy Tay Huey Ying said the plan 'would lift the popularity and value of property in the mid- to long-term'.

PropNex chief executive Mohamed Ismail predicted that home prices could increase by five to 10 per cent in the next two years.

Madam Halimah Yacob, an MP for Jurong GRC, said the rejuvenation was a welcome move.

The Chinese and Japanese gardens, for example, were under-utilised and could do with a makeover, she said.

Residents are also excited.

Manager David Lim, 49, who owns a four-room HDB flat at Lakeside, said he hardly stays in Jurong for his weekend recreational activities.

'But to have all these amenities so close to home will really be a bonus,' he said.

FUN: New waterfront playground
Straits Times 5 Apr 08;

THE Lakeside area will be transformed into a major leisure destination in the next 10 to 15 years, with existing attractions enhanced and new ones added.

First up is the new 'world-class' Singapore Science Centre, which will involve expanding the existing attraction and relocating it next to Chinese Garden MRT station. This will allow it to make use of the nearby Jurong Lake and surrounding green spaces to extend the learning environment, said National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan yesterday.

New facilities will also be added to key attractions in the area, like the Chinese and Japanese Gardens.

Jurong Lake itself will be spruced up, turning the area into Singapore's new 'waterfront playground' and bringing it closer to the new Jurong Gateway office hub.

The Government is also exploring ways to make the lake more accessible, such as by building new waterways or a landscaped walkway.

By the end of the year, the lake will host new water activities such kayaking and dragon-boating, thanks to the PUB. By the end of next year, the agency will also set up more public amenities around the lake, such as boardwalks, fishing points, wetlands and water features. To cap it all, a public park and a lakeside village will be built along with four or five other attractions near the water targeted at families with young children.

These may have 'edutainment' or nature themes, and could even include hotels, restaurants, or shops.

The lakeside village will offer more shopping and dining options. It will be linked to Jurong Gateway by a network of walkways, making the two precincts just a 10-minute walk apart.

BUSINESS: Largest commercial area outside town
Straits Times 5 Apr 08;

MOVE over, Tampines. Jurong is set to be the next big suburban commercial hub.

About 70ha around the Jurong East MRT station have been set aside for the new Jurong Gateway, which will be the largest business district outside of town.

Offices, shops, homes, hotels, restaurants and entertainment centres are just some of the facilities earmarked for the site, said National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan yesterday.

Jurong Gateway will provide about 8.1 million sq ft of office and retail space - more than double Tampines' and more than three times Novena's, Mr Mah said.

About two-thirds of the space will be set aside for offices, while a third will be for retail, restaurant and entertainment outlets. There will be a mix of large, modern malls and low-rise shops in a 'village setting'.

Jurong Entertainment Centre, part of CapitaLand's CapitaMall Trust, is also being revamped and will house an Olympic-size ice-skating rink next year.

Mr Mah also said more than 1,000 new private homes will be added around the MRT station, and up to 2,800 hotel rooms in the area.

The spate of development will make Jurong Gateway 'an attractive location for company headquarters, especially those from the business services and science and technology sectors', he said, adding that Jurong East is 'already a thriving business hub today', with more than 3,000 companies in Jurong and Tuas.

Property consultants welcomed the plans. 'Making plans now would prevent a possible repeat of the supply crunch we are experiencing,' said Ms Tay Huey Ying of Colliers International.

HOUSING: Over 1,000 private homes to be built
Straits Times 5 Apr 08;

PROPERTY hunters looking to buy a stake in the newly revamped Jurong Lake District will be happy that more than 1,000 private homes will be built there.

But no more new Housing Board flats are planned for Jurong, said National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan yesterday.

This is also partly because the focus is on building up Sengkang and Punggol towns, said Mr Mah.

'There is sufficient public housing in Jurong so the next phase will be... on private housing,' he added.

However, if demand is strong for the private homes, more land can be re-allocated for condominiums.

That is why the sites around the MRT stations are mostly white sites, said Mr Mah.

'But all this ultimately has got to depend on the market and how it responds, whether the emphasis is more on office or housing.'

The Urban Redevelopment Authority said yesterday that the residential buildings at Jurong Gateway are likely to be 35 storeys at most, and building heights will gradually step down towards the lake to enable good views.

Colliers International's director of research and consultancy, Ms Tay Huey Ying, said it was timely for the Government to make early plans to accommodate and tap on any spillover in demand from the Central Business District.

This could occur from the office, hotel and residential sectors when mega projects, such as the two integrated resorts and Marina Bay Financial Centre, are completed and up and running, she said.

Read more!

Food situation for families in Singapore and across Asia

A FAMILY IN SINGAPORE: House brands and online shopping help them save
They cut $200 off their monthly food budget, eat out less and reduce wastage
Joanne Lee, Straits Times 5 Apr 08;

NO MORE Ben & Jerry's ice cream, Barilla pasta, Kraft cheddar cheese, Starbucks ground coffee and other brand-name items.

The first thing business development manager Shahrany Hassan, 32, did when rising food prices made headlines in December was to sit down with her husband and downsize their grocery budget.

She had just switched jobs and taken a pay cut to spend more time with her two children, five-year-old Dany and three-year-old Dyna.

Over the last four months, despite the surge in food prices, the family of four managed to cut their weekly food expenditure by 20 per cent - mainly by switching to house brands and eating out less often.

'It was shocking to realise how much we were spending on unnecessary luxuries,' admits Madam Shahrany, who used to enjoy two bottles of Linton Park distilled water every week.

She now drinks boiled tap water like the rest of the family - much to the relief of her husband Jahshruzzman Mohammad Imran, 33, a staff sergeant with the Singapore Armed Forces.

They also switched supermarkets from Cold Storage to NTUC FairPrice in Hougang, which is closer to their five-room HDB flat in Sengkang.

Next, a switch to housebrands for essential items such as sugar and butter. 'It makes such a difference. Now, we buy a branded item only if it's sold at a discount,' she says.

On average, their weekly food bill now comes up to $280. About $120 is spent on groceries, $60 on milk formula, and another $100 on a weekly family outing and inexpensive lunches in their respective workplace canteens.

Previously, they spent over $330 a week on food - which means monthly savings of $200.

With a household income of $7,500, this sum may not seem significant. But Mr Jahshruzzman says the reallocation of the family budget to spending on other things makes a big difference to his young family.

'If buying a lower grade of rice or fewer cans of tuna means a new box of crayons for the children, it's definitely worth it,' he says.

Their new thrift has resulted in other lifestyle changes. Instead of eating out five to six times a week at Swensens and McDonald's, these outings are restricted to once-a-week treats.

They eat more often at hawker centres. They also spend more time together around the dining table eating meals cooked by their Filipino maid.

Another upside: Less wastage. 'We used to cook extra in case my parents popped by to see the kids. But I'm very aware of not cooking too much now,' she says.

Buying frozen meats and fish also helps reduce wastage as items go bad less quickly. Economising has also reduced their weekly trips to the wet market and fortnightly supermarket jaunts. Now, they buy mostly from FairPrice Online.

'I'm an impulse shopper so walking around in the supermarket is very dangerous,' she says. 'Online shopping helps me be more disciplined because I buy only what we really need.'

It helps that since December, NTUC FairPrice - the largest supermarket chain in Singapore - has been offering a 5 per cent rebate on 500 house- brand essentials. Such items are usually 10 to 15 per cent cheaper than brand-name goods. For some products, the difference can be 50 per cent.

According to the Consumer Price Index figures for February, food prices went up 6.7 per cent year on year - one of the largest drivers behind the overall 6.5 per cent figure.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong suggested that consumers beat rising food prices by opting for cheaper, 'no-frills' house brands and frozen meats, commenting that there was 'no need to buy branded bread' since 'bread is bread, rice is rice'.

In the wake of last week's surge in rice prices, Singaporeans have been stocking up on the staple, wiping out entire shelves at supermarkets.

Officials have given the assurance that domestic inventories are more than sufficient. Twice this week, Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry S. Iswaran said the national rice stockpile is enough to see the population through three months.

Food price inflation, however, is something Singaporeans will have to live with. 'It's a global phenomenon and as a small importing country, we have to accept the higher prices,' he said on Thursday. 'And we're not going to control the price because that would harm our importers and affect our supply of rice.'

Meanwhile, hawkers and restaurant owners have switched to cheaper sources to cope, using lower-grade meats and substituting Thai grain with rice from Myanmar.

But Alexandra Hospital's chief dietitian Gladys Wong thinks all this scaling back is just a temporary 'knee-jerk reaction'.

'I don't think we're going to see marked changes in the way Singaporeans eat at the end of the day. We are a food paradise after all and people are still going to pay for good food. Trust me, the obesity rate won't be coming down anytime soon.'

Biting deep into the pockets of foreign workers
Many say price hikes have added between $20 and $50 to their monthly food bills
Braema Mathi, Straits Times 5 Apr 08;

GROCERY shopping here has become an excruciating ordeal of comparing, haggling and imploring for Mr M. Samy, 39, a work permit holder from Chennai, India.

Since December, his twice-weekly marketing sessions at Serangoon Road's Tekka Market have taken twice as long. The air-conditioner technician first spends half an hour scouting for the best prices among the various stalls, does his mental sums, then homes in on the cheapest fish stall to bargain for the best deal.

There, he spends a good 10 minutes asking for the prices of different-size prawns, then repeats the process for crabs and fish. He then asks sheepishly for a 50-cent discount.

Finally, he walks away with his catch - 1kg of prawns for $7.50 and 1kg of ikan tongkol for $10. He casts a final longing look at the crab, his favourite, but walks away. The price - $12 to the kilogram - is too high.

Three months ago, he would have paid $5 for the prawns, $7 for the fish and $8 for the crab. In spite of his savvy shopping and self-denial, he and his flatmate now fork out $150 each for groceries every month, up from $100 last year.

Rising food prices are not easy to stomach given that his salary over the last six years of working here has barely inched up - from $1,100 in 2002 to $1,200 today. Meanwhile, the rental on his two-room flat has risen from $1,200 to $1,600. He and his flatmate pay $240 each, up by $70 over the years. Their company picks up the rest of the bill.

He counts himself one of the 'more fortunate' among the almost 700,000 foreign work permit holders here who mostly work as cleaners, construction workers or technicians. He draws a monthly salary, while the majority are daily-rated workers, typically earning $14 to $20 a day.

A check with 15 work permit holders - seven Indians, four Bangladeshis, three Myanmar nationals and a Thai worker - in Little India this week showed that price hikes have added between $20 and $50 to their monthly grocery bills.

Many say they have cut down on phone calls home, liquor, cigarettes - even chocolate - to make ends meet. Others toil over the weekend or work overtime to make up the difference as living costs here rise, while their pay and family commitments back home remain the same.

For many like construction worker S.Suresh, 27, it is now harder to save enough to support his farmer parents and four school-going siblings back home in Chennai.

He no longer watches Tamil and Hindi movies at the Jade cinema in Beach Road. Neither does he buy 'expensive vegetables' such as carrots and French beans, which have gone up by a dollar each to $6 and $3.50 per kilogram respectively.

He needs to make up for the extra $50 that he now spends monthly on food. This way, he is still able to send home $200 out of his $600 monthly pay packet every month.

Others who are less disciplined, or who arrived here more recently like construction worker Chinniah Rasoo, 40, have steadily fallen back on remittances.

The Tamil Nadu native arrived here four months ago and is still paying off a $5,000 debt in $200 monthly instalments, to the agent who found him a job here.

Squeezed by rising transport and other costs, he manages to send only $200 to his wife and three children, instead of the targeted $300.

'When I do my sums, it is really sad. We work hard but everything is going up. Soon, we might eat just chicken as it is cheaper than fish for a big group. What to do? We are caught in this situation,' he says in Tamil.

Compassionate stallholders at Tekka Market like fishmongers Lee Keng Seng, 45, and P.Jaraposs, 45, say they try to charge the foreign workers less and absorb the increases themselves.

Mr Nur Nabi, who sells frozen chicken, even lends money to foreign workers whom he 'feels sorry for'. Most of them, the 40-year-old notes, make good on their promise and return to repay him the 50 cents or $1 that they owe.

'What to do? My prices have gone up. I already have fewer customers among the foreign workers. Now, it sometimes takes three days to sell what we used to sell in two days,' he says.

Civil society groups like the Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (Home) are concerned over how foreign workers are coping.

Noting that some get catered food through their employers at the worksites or in their dormitories, Home executive director Jolovan Wham says: 'They deduct between $100 and $150 monthly from their salaries. With the rise in food prices, I hope they will not increase these deductions or cut back on the food.'

Another group, the Archdiocesan Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, has been distributing food to newly arrived foreign workers at three to four construction sites thrice a week.

Since last month, advocacy groups Transient Workers Count Too and One Singapore have been providing free breakfast to foreign work permit holders, especially those whose claims of non-payment, workplace injuries or exploitative agents are under investigation by the authorities.

Their volunteers have been helping to serve up uthappam (a thick pancake of fermented rice and lentils) and hot drinks to about 60 foreign workers every morning at a Cuff Road restaurant. They are currently raising more money to provide more meals for the workers.

Mr Michael Sitow, co-founder of One Singapore, which seeks to eliminate poverty, says: 'Many of the foreign workers came in good faith. They have large debts and they need food. If they do not have enough to eat for various reasons, we must do something for them.'

A FAMILY IN CHINA: Eating out is now a luxury they can't afford
Pizza meal wipes out half of family's weekly grocery budget
Vince Chong, Straits Times 5 Apr 08;

ELEVEN-YEAR-OLD Ma Xingyu has been to Pizza Hut only once in her life, and she is unlikely to return any time soon.

With grocery bills adding up to half her family's income these days, they have stopped eating out altogether.

Her mother, Ms Xu Fenghe, 34, a government emp, says: 'As it is, we cannot even afford to save and we are worried that we might one day not be able to make ends meet.'

An average pizza meal for three costs more than 200 Chinese yuan (S$39) - more than half of the Ma family's current weekly grocery spending.

Xingyu's father, Mr Ma Jiang, 37, a property management executive, recently spent 350 yuan during a weekly supermarket trip, on which The Straits Times accompanied the family.

This is about 100 yuan more than he would have spent on a week's groceries last year, and 200 yuan more than in 2005 before inflation of food prices became a real problem in China.

He says a 5-litre bottle of oil now costs about 120 yuan - up from about 50 yuan in May last year.

It has pained him to tell his daughter they can no longer afford her favourite potato chips and beef jerky. The latter now costs more than 20yuan a packet, up from just 5 yuan in 2005 and 10 yuan last year, he says.

Both husband and wife each earn about 1,500 yuan a month, and have considered taking on second jobs but lack the 'time and energy'.

'We are already so tired from working Mondays to Fridays, and we have to spend the weekends with our daughter and take her to tuition classes,' says Ms Xu.

In December, the government added 200 yuan to MsXu's monthly pay in an attempt to offset rising costs. But she says it is too little to make a difference.

A sharp jump in food costs, which soared 23.3 per cent year-on-year in February, has hit ordinary Chinese like the Mas hard in a society where families typically spend up to half their income on food.

This has prompted concern that it could blight attempts to showcase China as stable and prosperous during the upcoming Olympic Games.

Last month, the government announced that it will pay farmers as much as 9 per cent more to raise production and output of rice and wheat. This is its latest move to increase supply and rein in prices, together with freezing retail prices of rice, cooking oil and other basic goods.

Food costs started spiking sharply last year after China ran short of grain and pork, the country's staple meat.

This was caused partly by increased rural-urban migration as more farmers left the plough for the city in search of better lives.

Further exacerbating the shortage were devastating snowstorms in the south that wrecked crops and animal husbandry earlier this year.

Beijing hopes to hold this year's overall inflation at 4.8 per cent - equal to last year's rate - but economists say a more realistic figure is 6.5 per cent.

Meanwhile, whatever the Mas save on eating out goes to Xingyu's tuition classes and books, which cost over 300 yuan every month.

'We want the best for our only child so we cut back on our own needs like clothes,' says Ms Xu.

'We have to remain optimistic that things will get better. What else can we do?'

A FAMILY IN INDONESIA: Even staple food items have become luxury buys
With sharp price rises in basic foodstuffs, the Suradis subsist on rice, tofu and tempe
Salim Osman, Indonesia Correspondent In Jakarta
Straits Times 5 Apr 08;

SALTED fish, eggs and vegetables have become 'luxury items' for construction worker Suradi's family.

His meagre wage of 30,000 rupiah (S$4.50) a day is now barely enough to feed his family of six living in Manggarai, South Jakarta.

The 45-year-old usually gives his wife Muji, 41, half of his daily earnings to go to the market and saves the rest for a 'rainy day'.

For 15,000 rupiah, she used to take home a basket piled high with tofu, tempe (fermented soya bean cake), vegetables, eggs, chillis and salted fish every day.

The family spent another 3,000 rupiah on 2kg of rice, and 3,000 rupiah more for kerosene and cooking oil every week.

But since the middle of last year, the family has mostly subsisted on rice, fried tofu and tempe - the basic staple of most Indonesians. Eggs and vegetables show up on the dinner table only on special occasions.

'Prices of basic foodstuff have gone up so much that we have to cut down on what we can buy daily,' says Mr Suradi grimly.

For example, a 2kg bag of rice has more than doubled in price from 3,000 rupiah to 8,000 rupiah, eggs from 9,000 rupiah a kg to 13,000 rupiah, tofu and tempe from 5,000 rupiah a packet to 14,000 rupiah, and salted fish from 5,000 rupiah a packet to 10,000 rupiah.

These days, he spends 8,000 rupiah on rice and another 11,500 rupiah on cooking oil every week. 'We can't give up tofu and tempe because these items are important for our health,' he says of the protein-rich food.

'We also have to ration how much we eat as it is barely enough for all six of us,' adds Madam Muji as she cuddles two-year-old son Wisnu, who gets to drink milk only occasionally.

Her older son Sigit, 23, does odd jobs, earning about 20,000 rupiah a day. Daughter Dewi, 18, is in high school while another daughter, Ratna, 14, is in Primary 6.

But Mr Suradi, an average working-class Indonesian, maintains that he is lucky because he owns his own home - the size of an HDB bedroom - for his family of six.

'At least I don't have to pay rent,' he says.

To supplement the family's income, he now offers joyrides after work to children in the kampung on an ondong-ondong - a bicycle with multiple seats. 'With the extra money, we can buy eggs and vegetables once a week,' he says.

Even so, gone are the days when he and his family could eat out, treating themselves to a bowl of mee bakso or noodle soup, which costs around 3,000 rupiah. 'We just can't afford it any more,' he says.

The Suradis are among millions of Indonesians feeling the pinch of rising prices of basic foodstuffs. Last month, some of his neighbours joined demonstrations in downtown Jakarta to demand that the government bring down prices.

According to official statistics, in the past year alone, cooking oil prices have surged nearly 40 per cent, rice at least 25 per cent and tofu about 50 per cent.

In January, the government was forced to cut import taxes for soya beans - the basic ingredient for tofu and tempe - after thousands of people took to the streets in protest. It now has plans to provide food subsidies for the poor.

The World Bank estimates that half of Indonesia's population of 220 million live in poverty, on around US$2 (S$2.75) a day. Rising prices have raised fears that even more will slip into poverty.

An Indonesian newspaper reported that a schoolboy in East Java, who lived with his elderly grandmother in Magetan district, hanged himself in February because he could not bear the pain of starvation.

News portal Detikcom said that in Sulawesti last month, a pregnant woman who lived in a rented room with her three children died after three days without food.

'People have died of hunger, babies are suffering from severe malnutrition because they can't get proper treatment,' says Mr Muhammad Ismail Yusanto, a spokesman for Islamic group Hizbut Tahrir during a demonstration last month.

'How is it possible that in an agricultural nation that has been independent for more than 60 years, many people have died of hunger?' he asks.

There has also been concern that the high price of basic foodstuffs could trigger social unrest similar to that in 1998 when former president Suharto was toppled.

A FAMILY IN INDIA: Junking junk food helps them cut their bills
Fewer packaged foods help this family cope with rising food prices
P. Jayaram, Straits Times 5 Apr 08;

WITH prices of almost every food item hitting the roof, Mr Atul Jain, a 44-year-old importer of food processing machines, and his wife Vandana made some hard decisions.

Out went Domino's pizzas and Coke, Pepsi and Sprite, without which the world looked bleak initially for their school-going son Dheemnt, 15, and daughter Sumedha, 10.

'We had to cut down and we decided to junk the junk food,' says Mrs Jain, a 40-year-old housewife. 'I started making pizza at home and now the children love it because I give them plenty of their favourite toppings.

'We also stopped buying soft drinks. I now make nimbu pani (fresh lime juice) and no one misses Coke and Sprite.'

Ice cream, potato chips, packaged cereals, pre-

cooked paneer chilli (spicy cottage cheese) and fruit juice are also out of the family's grocery basket.

The only item the Jains, who are vegetarians, have not scrimped on is milk. 'We all take milk and we didn't want to cut down on it. You can't neglect your health,' says Mrs Jain.

Prices of almost every kitchen essential - from vegetables to cooking oil, wheat and rice - have gone up steeply in the past year. According to Mrs Jain, her weekly grocery and vegetable bill has jumped from about 700 to 800 rupees (S$24 to S$28) last year to more than 1,000 today, despite her austerity measures.

'How much more can you reduce?' she asks. She adds that she has even stopped buying plastic cling wrap. 'Now I use cloth, which can be re-used.'

Like many middle-class Indian families, the Jains are inconvenienced and concerned by rising food prices.

But harder hit are the poor, as food accounts for up to two-thirds of their income. This hunger could soon turn to anger if the trend of price rises continues.

This is bad news in a country where nearly one-third of its 1.1 billion population live on less than 80 rupees a day. According to independent estimates, there has been a 30 to 50 per cent increase in the prices of basic foods since last year.

The government realises this could seriously affect the fortunes of the Congress Party and its partners in the ruling coalition in state legislature elections due this year and national elections next year.

It also realises that even the goodwill generated by the massive 600 billion rupee farm loan waiver announced in the budget and the recommended 40 per cent increase in wages of government employees would be offset by this rising anger.

With inflation hitting a 13-month high of 6.68 per cent in mid-March, the government on Monday announced a slew of measures, including a ban on non-basmati rice exports and cuts in import duty on edible oils and maize to check inflation.

But this failed to satisfy even its allies.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPI (M), which extends vital parliamentary support to the minority government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, criticised the measures by the government to control spiralling prices as half-hearted.

The CPI (M) is now discussing with other parties about launching a joint nationwide agitation on the issue of price rises.

It has also demanded a ban on future trading in all essential commodities, scrapping legislation allowing foreign direct investment in the commodities market, strengthening the public distribution system, lowering taxes on petroleum products and a drive against food hoarders.

The main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also criticised the measures announced by the government as short-

sighted.

BJP vice-president M. Venkaiah Naidu said the party will organise protests across the country next week to pressure the Congress Party on the issue of price hikes.

The measures to check inflation announced by the government after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Prices last Sunday amounted to nothing, he charged, adding that there is no shortage of food grain and essential commodities in the country but the government has failed to 'manage prices and curb blackmarketeers'.

Finance Minister P. Chidambaram has assured Indians that the 'government is determined to take all measures, fiscal, monetary and supply side, to moderate inflation and if that means we have to live with slightly lesser growth, so be it'.

He said rising inflation is not due to policy mistakes, but worldwide demand for commodities.

But agriculture experts say, while there are many reasons for soaring food prices, the main factor is that India no longer grows enough food to feed its huge population - due to stagnating agricultural production on the one hand, and growing demand on the other.

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