IT WAS an honour for Singapore to welcome Mrs Anna Tibaijuka,
the highest-ranking African woman officer in the United
Nations.
But to have her stand on the top floor of the Ritz-Carlton hotel
and declare the city to be 'spectacular', as Tuesday's article
reported ('Political will and good policies 'key to a city without
slums'' comes across as a bit of a lead balloon.
One could just as well stand on top of a posh hotel in many
cities and get the same spectacular view. But in how many cities
could one extract that same exclamation if one took a visitor, as I
did, to a subsidised housing locality?
Mrs Tibaijuka will be familiar with low-cost housing in many of
the world's cities, and she would have expressed the same amazement
in parts of Ang Mo Kio, Toa Payoh or even long-settled Tanglin
Halt, never mind the newer and more creatively designed public
housing estates.
She would have seen the trees and widespread greenery, the
sheltered walkways and the generally well-kept appearance, to say
nothing of bougainvillea cascading over the sides of the newer
multi-storey carparks.
The world is awash with luxurious city centres, but Singapore
has few competitors when it comes to the housing arrangements for
those who cannot afford the private market.
An opportunity was missed.
Ann Wee (Mrs)
