SINGAPORE — Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong spoke of “investing heavily” in Singaporeans and “remaking” the city of Singapore, citing the outstanding Jewel Changi Airport as an example of a successful project and announcing five new exciting endeavours to come.
In his National Day message on August 8, PM Lee talked proudly about Singapore’s successes and its ability to meet challenges and difficulties head on, saying that the past has given Singapore “confidence” and encouraging the nation to keep on re-inventing and remaking itself.
“Each time the world changed, we were able to survive. Each time, we re-invented and renewed our economy, our people and our city, and we thrived again. And this is what we must keep on doing,” said PM Lee.
Delivering his message from Jewel Changi Airport, PM Lee said that Jewel has mesmerised the world with its beauty and ingenuity, noting that Singapore is “very proud of our new gateway to the world”.
“As you might expect, other cities and airports are already planning to emulate Jewel, and perhaps even do it bigger and better. But we dared to attempt the new and we did it first.
It reminds us what makes this country special. It shows that Singaporeans not only have the creativity and daring to re-invent ourselves, but also the passion and the competence to turn dreams into reality, said PM Lee.”
He announced that the re-invention of Singapore will still continue. Five new projects are on the horizon, and they will involve Changi Airport Terminal 5, Tuas Megaport, the Greater Southern Waterfront, the redevelopment of Paya Lebar Airbase and the Jurong Lake District.
“All these projects will keep us busy, and create new opportunities for Singaporeans for decades to come,” remarked PM Lee, speaking of the benefits of the upcoming projects to Singapore’s citizens.
Changi Airport Terminal 5
Slated to be completed by 2030, Terminal 5 will boost Singapore’s competitiveness as an air hub, will lead the way in automated processes such as no-people check-in kiosks and bag drops and will make great use of renewable energy technologies.
The terminal, which is going to be super huge, is being built on 1,000 hectares of land, comparable to the size of 2.5 Marina Bays or Tampines new town. It will increase Changi’s annual capacity by 50 million passengers initially and can accommodate up to 70 million if needed.
Changi could potentially serve 150 million passengers a year, almost 70 million more than the current capacity of 82 million.
Jurong Lake District
Keith Tan, chief executive of Singapore Tourism Board, spoke of the future of Jurong Lake District. It is set to undergo huge changes, and by 2026 will be a fully-integrated tourism development with hotels, tourist attractions, restaurants and the like.
The completion date for the entire district, which is sized at 360ha, is set for 2040 and will provide more than 100,000 new jobs and 20,000 homes.
The district was being groomed as Singapore’s second Central Business District (CBD), but underwent a setback when the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High-Speed Rail (HSR) project was postponed.
However, that has not stopped the vision and plans for Jurong, which has been halved into two—Lakeside, where the HSR terminus was slated to be located and Jurong Gateway, where redevelopment has already begun.
Tuas Megaport
The Tuas mega port, scheduled to open in phases beginning 2021, will be twice the size of Ang Mo Kio new town and will be able to hold 65 million twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEUs) of cargo. That is a considerable upgrade from the 50 million TEUs the existing terminals can hold yearly.
While other countries in the region have also been upgrading their port capabilities, Singapore’s maritime sector should be at the forefront of the game with the advent of the Tuas terminal, which will also rely on automated technologies.
The Greater Southern Waterfront
The project for the Greater Southern Waterfront is set to begin in 2030, but there has already been much hype about the plans. In 2018, it was announced that Pulau Brani would be developed and that Sentosa would be merged with the southern waterfront.
The waterfront’s location is the space that will be vacated by the port at Tanjong Pagar, which will relocates to the Tuas mega port.
The Greater Southern Waterfront promises to be an island of nature, play and tourist attractions, and nature, an extension of the CBD providing access to Singapore’s green pathways.
Plans for an eco-corridor, which would connect the Gardens by the Bay to the island-wide network of green walkways, including the Rail Corridor and Southern Ridges, were also announced.
Paya Lebar Airbase
The Paya Lebar Airbase is getting ready for a big move—its relocation to the expanded Tengah Airbase. Along with the move to a bigger area, more living and working spaces, such as homes, parks, offices and factories, will be established.
The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) reported that the space being cleared is five times the size of Toa Payoh town and will be a “highly liveable and sustainable new town” while keeping its rich aviation heritage intact.
With those new projects on the horizon for Singapore, PM Lee urged citizens to “continue to work together as one united people to thrive in an uncertain world, challenge ourselves to explore new horizons, and commit our hearts and souls to Singapore and its future.”
/TISG