TR EMERITUS

Well, almost never. For a flood to hit anywhere in Singapore, it takes a combination of high tides and about 100mm of rainfall within an hour. And Orchard Road is protected by its mighty rain drain — the Stamford Canal. Thanks to it, shoppers haven’t had to slosh through waist-deep waters since 1960s. But what makes a good drain? According to a Ministry of Environment (ENV) spokesman, it’s the flow capacity of a drain and not its storage capacity. In other words, it isn’t the size of the boat that matters, but the motion of the ocean. And Orchard Road’s supersucker had plenty of that. It can empty an Olympic-sized pool before your cup of latte has time to cool. It’s very handy around this time, with La Nina is expected to bring about more wet days in the next two months. La Nina is the weather phenomenon responsible for the heavier rains and cooler temperatures around the region. Already, it has increased rainfall by 25 to 30 per cent this year, noted a Meteorological Service spokesman. Singapore’s worst ever flood happened in 1978 when 512 mm fell in 24 hours. Seven people died in that flood. To prevent such disasters from recurring, the Government has spent some S$1.1 billion since 1984 on about 800km of drains all over Singapore. How can you do your bit to avoid doing your shopping in sampans? Simple. Just don’t chuck your rubbish in the drains. Let the rain drains do their work, and go with the flow. Singapore was hit by flash floods today, submerging many parts of the city-state — including Orchard Road. What happened to 'NEVER'? * This article first appeared in Singapore’s The New Paper on Jan 22, 1999.  Read More →

The usually meek opposition MP Low Thia Kiang has launched a tirade against PAP MP Grace Fu for "misleading Singaporeans to believing that the PAP Government is fair to all town councils." Ms Fu told the media last Sunday that the recently released Town Council Management Report which gave the two opposition wards of Potong Pasir and Hougang poorer grades than the PAP-run wards is "fair" and "objective." She claimed that the data collected for half the indicators came from the town councils themselves while others were collected by HDB officers during inspections. In response to protests from the opposition MPs that they do not receive funds from the PAP to upgrade their estates, Ms Fu said all town councils are provided funds including flats in the opposition wards which are eligible for the Lift Upgrading Programme. “The operating funds, the grants, are exactly identical…..There will be flats which are eligible for LUP, including the opposition wards. So all the divisions who are eligible for LUP will get their LUP done.  As for other upgrading, for example Neighbourhood Renewal Programme or Home Improvement Programme, that’s actually depending on our available resources, and then the allocation will also depend on the needs of the local areas,” she was quoted as saying in Channel News Asia. Mr Low disagreed, claiming that the upgrading funds can be used for maintaining the playgrounds and staircase railings. He added that PAP-run town councils may far better in the collection of arrears as they were able to write off the bad debts. "PAP town councils can do it (write off arrears) perhaps because they have more surpluses and are in a better financial position due to additional funding received through the upgrading programme?" he was quoted as saying in the Straits Times. Ms Fu could not be reached for comments while a spokesperson from the PAP Ministry of National Development reiterated that the report was never meant to be "compared" across all town councils.   Please join our Facebook page here and invite your friends to do so to create awareness of the current affairs affecting Singaporeans. Please use our online web form to contact us.  Read More →

Barely less than a year has passed and Bukit Timah is hit by "freak" floods again which occurred "once in fifty years" according to PAP Minister of Environment Yaacob Ibrahim. This time, not only Bukit Timah, but parts of Singapore's prime shopping district Orchard Road is flooded as well with many cars stranded by the flood water. An eye-witness claimed he saw a SCDF officer wading into the waters to help a driver out of his submerged vehicle, Channel News Asia reports. There were no immediate comments from the Ministry of Environment except an official statement from PUB that the morning downfall today is "more than 60 percent of June monthly downfall" in a desperate bid to exonerate the PAP from any blame. Back in December 2006 when heavy rain caused excess water from the MacRitchie and Upper Seletar reservoirs to overflow and flood the surrounding areas, Mr Yaacob said in an interview with Channel News Asia: “You can’t design for rainfall of this level, it is just too huge. The thing we can accept is that we can only design our canal of a certain size, and at the end of the day, we have to live with some of these occurrences which occur once in 50 years or so. I know it is inconvenient to some Singaporeans, but on the part of PUB and NEA, we’ll do our best to alleviate the problem as quickly as possible.” He used the same excuse during the Bukit Timah flooding in December last year, describing it as a "freak" event that occurs once in fifty years: “What happened was very unusual. The intensity was tremendous. We knew the diversion canal was not big enough to take this,” he added. (CNA, 20 Nov 2009) At the present frequency which the flooding occurs, Mr Yaacob may have to consider changing his definition of a "freak flood" as one which happens every year. Please join our Facebook page here and invite your friends to do so to create awareness of the current affairs affecting Singaporeans. Please use our online web form to contact us.  Read More →