where thoughts materialise.

So we're into the sixth version of my blog after the last version hung around for a year or so.

Now, a bit of info on this image. This photo was taken one lovely spring afternoon, featuring the iconic Old Well from the UNC Chapel Hill campus. I would like to think of this image as a tribute to my time in UNC Chapel Hill, the awesome friends I made and the memories I now hold dear.

A milestone in my life indeed.

I've dropped the tagboard cos its useless and taking eons to load. But thanks to Angela who helped me set it up, I still do like and will miss the pink interface.

So yeah, it's the sixth one you fellas!

Yours.

27 April 2008

you know you miss my older entries

October 2004 November 2004 December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008 August 2008

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

So it finally has a name.

The Orchard Turn development has finally been christened Ion Orchard. And with Orchard Central hot on its heels, the retail landscape, the way I see it, is going through a significant overhaul, into an era of new generation malls led by the completion of Vivocity.

The last time we saw such a change goes way back to the likes of Ngee Ann City, and before that, Marina Square. Now malls are far more intelligent in their layout, and more so, in their branding. Ideas aside, it would now be more pertinent to see how these new generation malls live up to their promises of a "whole new retail experience". Seriously, I wonder how the 11 level Orchard Central is going to turn out, that would take a colossal amount of planning of layout and accessibility.

In all, the developments in Singapore these days is enough to keep an urban/social geographer like me at the edge of our seats, quite excited like a child eagerly anticipating the release of an up-and-coming xbox game. Marina Bay and Orchard Road are where I am (and most people are) going to fix my/our eyes on for the next three years, the change would be astounding I am sure.

But what I am more concerned with, as with any other urban/social geographer would be, is the issue of social justice. I wonder if you have ever thought about this, but these developments are signs of the hegemonic re-scripting of Singapore's landscape to reflect the aspirations of the dominant class, the class you and I would eventually ascend into. Of course, we are too clever to ignore the fact that the Singaporean social strata is not homogeneous and developments like these, however grand and cutting edge, inevitably becomes and space of exclusion for people who cannot integrate into it.

How ironical and paradoxical isn't it, that the public space becomes a place of exclusion, rather than an idealized democratic space where people can exercise their rights of citizenship.

Is it truly inevitable? Practically, it really seems so. I can agree with the fact of how as a government or a prime real estate developer, I wouldn't want my grand plans to be somehow "stained" (for a lack of a proper word, please note the scare marks) with the homeless and the uncouth. Yet, every Singaporean counts, you say.

So what I am really saying here is, developments are going on really fine and pleasing to my ear, but the real issue remains unresolved. The issue of creating an all-inclusive space where all Singaporeans can be proud of and can utilize. The consequences of such an exclusion is yet to be seen, for I suspect it might cause a widening social gap resulting in a lost of rootedness amongst the neglected. But then again, the future beckons, for the ruling powers almost certainly have a way of curbing this somehow.

That being said, I am still, like that child, ardently waiting for the developments to take shape. Living in Singapore today is an urban geographer's dream, when all around you learn on the job and the country's your classroom.

No, I do not want to be a teacher.
Yes, I majored in geography by my own choice.
No, we do not learn airy-fairy stuff, it is in fact very real.
Yes, we are the ones who live life with a passion and sincerely seek the betterment of lives for all.
And finally yes, shut up you detractors.

nimgnoy let the night fall at 11:14 AM

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