Sara Grosse Channel NewsAsia 21 May 12;
SINGAPORE: Two million dollars is being invested in educational materials for park visitors to Gardens by the Bay.
The sponsorship by ExxonMobil is the single-largest community investment in Singapore.
The money will go towards the development and installation of state-of-the-art educational resources around Dragonfly Lake.
These will include high-tech interactive media and educational programmes about aquatic life and horticulture.
Dragonfly Lake serves as a natural filter system for the gardens and the connecting reservoir.
Mr S. Iswaran, Minister (Prime Minister's Office), Second Minister for Trade and Industry, says the opening of Gardens by the Bay next month is expected to enhance Singapore's tourism industry.
Mr Iswaran said: "It means an emphasis not merely on the number of visitors but perhaps even more importantly, on the quality of the visitor experience and how they remember their experience here.
"But perhaps most importantly is the partnerships that STB (Singapore Tourism Board) and the government of Singapore seeks to forge, in developing new and differentiated world class attractions, which will attract both business and leisure events to Singapore."
- CNA/de
$2m boost for Gardens by the Bay
Straits Times 22 May 12;
AS GARDENS by the Bay gets ready to open next month, a third company - ExxonMobil Asia Pacific - has stepped in, with a $2 million sponsorship.
The sum, which represents the oil major's single largest community investment here, will fund educational resources at the Dragonfly Lake. These include special binoculars that will allow visitors to better zoom in on aquatic life and horticulture.
Visitors can also use their handheld devices such as smartphones and tablets to scan barcodes on storyboard panels located around the lake to download information.
At the sidelines of the event to mark ExxonMobil's sponsorship yesterday, chief executive of Gardens by the Bay, Dr Tan Wee Kiat, said sponsorships enhance the basic infrastructure provided for by the development budget.
OCBC Bank is contributing $8 million for an aerial walkway and a light-and-sound show, while Kikkoman's $1 million will help build features such as a mini-waterfall and spring-water system for the Kingfisher Lake.
Sponsors are being sought for the Children's Garden, which is scheduled to open at a later date.
'If we're fortunate, we should be able to have a sponsor on board (and) we can complete the main infrastructure work by the end of the year,' Dr Tan said.
As the end-June opening looms for the Bay South Garden, Dr Tan said it is mostly ready, except for the planting. There are about 130,000 plants and each has to be planted by hand, he added. To date, more than half the work has been done in this area.
The Bay South Garden is expected to attract five million visitors yearly. Highlights include its cooled conservatories - the Flower Dome and Cloud Forest - and supertrees from 25m to 50m tall.
Gardens by the Bay has other parts - Bay East and Bay Central - which will be developed later.
CAROLYN KHEW
