Should Singapore have a Structure of Real national pride?

branzzz SG

i realised that all over the asia pacific, towering structures have been going up. taipei has the taipei 101, currently the world's tallest building, shanghai will have the world financial center, soon to be the world's tallest, KL has the petronas tower, was the world's tallest and hong kong has the 2IFC.
to put it short, 8 out of the 10 tallest buildings in the world are in asia's upcoming capital cities. Singapore currently only has one(to me) building of true international fame and of national pride, and that is the esplanade. i personally feel that we need something that is known worldwide to the people at home, not to sailors(keppel harbour) or travelling businessmen(changi airport).

with the new city extension at marina bay, i feel a new world's tallest, or at least within the top 5 should be built in singapore. we are one of world's greatest financial centers(second richest at the last time i checked). such a structure would also imbue incredible national pride.(realistically, other than arts savy people, who are truely proud of the esplanade anyway?)

please offer your opinions.

branzzz SG

forgot to add. according to http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0001338.html singapore only has the 44 45 and the 46th tallest in the world. these are due to current height limits, which i wonder what is the rationale?

greengoblin SG

How does it help the economy??? If it helps in my rice bowl I don’t mind. If not…what for…

SibeiSuayKia SG

Dude, don't forget..with so many terrorists activity in S.E.A..

i don't think u wanna copy taipei 101 or beijing 102..

u want to make a september 11 and bring singapore the headlines ar?

Eh...Taipei,HK,ShangHai,Beijing are one of the world's leading financial centers..

but KL's Petronas has been criticized as a $900 million poor investment =/

you need to have no corruption, powerful efficiency, and an effective government to make that tower works as a "Icon" for your country

yoongf SG

Buildings are built for a purpose. There is already a oversupply of office space in CBD area. Building for the sake of building is not good policy. Take for example KL.. till today, the Petronas Towers has never been fully occupied.

Simply going high is not that easy. Imagine the footprint required for carpark + the traffic scheme around that area.

Take a look at the Suntec Area.. traffic situation is quite bad already.

If want a "pride" structure.. Me think.. the Istana.. should be retrofitted into a theme park while still serving as the CEO office. With people mover systems that allow ppl to peek into the cabinet meeting rooms.. This.... then really first in the world.

fudgester SG

Anyway, if I’m not wrong, the proximity of the CBD to Changi Airport forbids the building of extremely tall structures. Apparently there’s a limit to how tall buildings can be before they start to affect the airspace for aircraft.

Xenthar SG

I think the government should use the money to create more jobs for people without degree than to waste it on a stupid structure. Shocked

vito_corleone SG

correction* singapore is not a leading world financial center. in fact even in asia alone we are ranked behind hong kong, tokyo, shanghai. in the world? don't need to say, singapore isn't even listed as a DEVELOPED country. instead of wasting money on stupid buildings i'd rather the money be spent on our people, be it providing better education, free health care or upgrading old structures.

laurence82 SG

i agree, its time to get rid of pride boosting programs and get down to the core of the problems...

SibeiSuayKia SG

Well, Singapore is still better then ASEAN...

IMHO, if singapore didn't have a military force and have 8 million population..and just like HK...we would be much more successful then those honkies

vito_corleone SG

hongkies have had a long tradition of business and commerce and innovation. they've produced billionaires like li ka shing. singapore has had no tradition in the field of business and innovation, hence our inability to sustain our own economy without foreign investments and expertise, all sinaporeans know is to "study hard" and work for "gahmen"...if this continues we may jolly well see the demise and collapse of our country. if we're gonna stay ahead in this century we had better come up with some good ideas and produce some mega corporations like japan to help prop up our economy and reduce reliance on foreign companies.

Gackt247 SG

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agreed.. i'm working my way to tt dream..

anyway..such pride boosting towers should also be accompaied with functionality..

LazerLordz SG

Space Adventures was previously looking at one of our outlying islands to build a spaceport.

branzzz SG

the only airspace limitations would be that an approach to paya lebar is somewhere nearby… not saying that th govt should invest lots of money, but maybe at least relax the rules to allow these buildings to be built. gone were the days when i told tourists about the world’s tallest hotel in singapore, the stamford…

SnowFlag SG

national pride in what? That we have the money to spend on getting foreigners to design n build it? I believe such pride will be very expen$ive too Cool

branzzz SG

interesting that PM lee made a similar comment which appears in today’s straits time’s headlines. at least they are considering letting the height rule go. anyway, not necesarily do these buildings need to be funded by the govt. the world financial centre in shanghai is funded by a businessman. the tallest buildings in singapore now are owned by banks. maybe at most the new building might be a new home for temasek holdings, where from the top they can literally look on the world…like an evil empire…

fymk SG

I think national pride in local singaporeans are low enough- being overseas- I frequently (over)hear singaporean students asking each other about how to get permanent residency in australia. If I am to open a migration consultancy - probably I would make alot of money from singaporeans in Australia who are eager to get the prized pr ship here.

Jobs are scarce. So do we add another building to boost local pride? No. Money should be injected into the economy to help singaporeans find a job. Policies should be changed to protect the jobs of fellow singaporeans. Help should be given instead of saying one is responsible for the whole family when one cannot help it. Elitism should be lessened but now we all know it is a fallacy if we are talking about abolishing elitism.

fudgester SG

The bottom line is, we shouldn't be focusing on mere SYMBOLS of national pride. We ought to be focusing on more significant and important aspects such as improving the standard of living, more jobs for everyone, greater innovation and enterprise on the part of the people, and so on.

What's the point of having the tallest building on earth.... if the Singaporeans living on the ground level can't live good lives?

Xenthar SG

well said. i agree

burntan SG

Build the largest Casino in Asia will be both having pride and help in economy development!