Feature Future

So. The future. What do we have ?

The race will never end. The giants are waking. We are to be poised to ride the growth of several economic powerhouses. There is strength in networking – as many of the bloggers would realise. The same fundamental force binds this world. What happens in one part of the world, affects the rest. The advent of technology has made this once-a-huge world, that small a place.

With so much hype and gusto that pervades our government’s every decision in the news, I believe every self-respecting Singaporean would have already known about integrated resorts by now. The culmination of the Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa projects brings with it a thousand repurcussions. Some will be negative, but mostly, financially positive. The financial centres are already raking in the dough, so are the property developers. The tourism industry is poised to benefit the most, presumably. Its spillover effects are tremendous and far-reaching.

The country is also planning for an increase in population. Just when we thought that the queues at Mc Donald’s are already as long as ones for free balloons or NDP tickets of yesteryears, we are to welcome 2 million more fellow dwellers – most notably in the form of foreign workers.

“Welcome brothers, come and take our jobs.”

Yet, looking at it on a more objective view – one will realise that it is of pertinent inevitability. We will eventually have 6.5 million people, whether we plan for it or not. It comes back to our basic, primary tool for survival. Singapore’s only resource is its people. We have 4.5 million people now. In simple terms, a country that produces 1 million barrel of oil one year, has to either produce more than 1 million, or charge higher per barrel, or cut costs in production per barrel in order to continue posting a growth in profits. In a starkly different yet fundamentally similar fashion, since we have only people as our resource – we will need more people to cater to more diverse industries, we have to create more jobs to make more money. It will eventually has to come to this, especially so as our birth rates are not increasing, despite the monetary carrots that the government departments have dangled out to us.

Thus, in order to anticipate that growth – the plans to double the rail network in Singapore has been approved. Plans for more lush green gardens are in the pipeline to give us more breathing space, both in the heartlands and the perimeter of the CBD; Singapore River and Kallang Basin as well. Older housing estates will be rejuvenated and their capacity increased. Jurong and Paya Lebar have been designated as new business hubs in a bid to bring businesses out of the overcrowded CBD. East Coast Park will undergo a huge makeover. The Gardens by the Bay will be bigger than Botanical Gardens – their preliminary designs are already making waves of impressionable statements from the international landscaping world.



Having won the contract to hold the Formula One races for the next five years with another five years on option – Singapore is personifying its mettle and commitment in boosting its tourism industry. Sometimes, I wonder whether that aggressive desire to succeed is any different from the ‘fear of failure’ mentality that we used to have just a generation ago. It appears that some things remain the same. We have to succeed to survive. There is no other way. Although no one can be certain that the world’s only night F1 race will be a hit, it looks like it has all the right ingredients to date.

The competition has been and will always be stiff.

Despite their age, we still have the world’s busiest port and Changi is still the world’s best airport. But, the world is catching up. As Changi is running out of space, Seletar will be developed into an Aerospace Park to cater to the burgeoning aircraft maintenance, repairs and overhaul (MRO) industry. Research found that Asia is set to double its fleet of aircraft by 2015 and requiring 76,200 additional pilots by 2024. The aeropark thus, will help Singapore to position itself strongly to ride this growth. Channelnewsasia reported that the 140-hectare park is expected to contribute S$3.3b annually in value-add or about one percent of the GDP by 2018, whilst creating 10,000 new jobs.

In Changi however, a new Terminal 3 will officially commence its operations on 9th January 2008. Its construction had been purposely delayed due to the September 11 incident, which had stalled the growth of air passengers momentarily. The new terminal will help add a handling capacity of another 20 million, bringing about a handling capacity total of 64 million passengers per annum.

Another interesting development in Changi is the proposed US$115 million spaceport by Space Adventures. It was said that the spaceport will “service the Space Adventures Explorer suborbital tourist rocketplane. It will also provide astronaut training facilities and a public education and interactive visitor centre.”

In another quote, "Singapore is one of the best-connected countries in the world. It is home to one of the world’s busiest air and sea ports. Singapore, with its superior geographical and economic infrastructure, is primed to be the hub of a new, revolutionary form of travel – in space."



Those two quotes should be enough to tickle your interest buds.

On a lesser attention grabbing news to the public, one may take solace that many other industries are also expanding rather forcefully as well. Singapore will be poised to be a Centre for bio-energy production, Shell will be building a multi-million cracker plant in Pulau Bukom, rock caverns will be built underground on Jurong Island to boost the fast growing chemicals and petrochemicals sector. There is of course, a lot more developments than I could care to write about.

What about developments in other parts of the world ?

Again, there are too many to be discussed. China’s markets are expanding at such a monumental rate that the legislators intervened to slow it down; so that the growth can be sustained instead. There are currently 380,000 millionaires at least, in Shanghai. India too, is expected to follow the trend too. Property developers, airlines, traders, businesses of all sorts wish to have a slice of the burgeoning pie. Other than these two giants, we could also see Vietnam, Brazil, Russia and the Middle East growing exponentially too.

United Arab Emirates for example, is taking ‘modernisation’ to an unprecedented level. It has undertaken quite a number of adventurous construction plans. The Burj-Arab, a seven star hotel and the Palm Jumeirah are just amongst some of them. Another one coming up will be The Burj-Dubai. It shall claim the tallest building and structure of any kind in the world by a huge margin. It shall house shopping malls, a hotel, offices and also residential apartments. The height is still kept a secret by the developers.

What is remarkably phenomenal however, is the fact that it may be twice the height of the Petronas Towers. Interestingly enough, it’s nearest future competitor may also be from Dubai. Or perhaps, in Kuwait in 20 years time. The title for Earth's tallest structure shall be restored to the Middle East — one which they had not recovered since the Lincoln Cathedral upset the four millennial reign of Egypt's Great Pyramid of Giza in 1311 AD.




So. What’s the moral of the story ?

That perhaps, knowing that the world is moving at such a pace brings a thousand splendid opportunities. It is a known fact that there will be a global shortage of 15 million skilled workers by 2010. Singapore notwithstanding. In order for these places to thrive, they require skilled, knowledgeable individuals. Their doors shall open to those whom assiduously keep themselves relevant and marketable. So, be a global citizen. Go out there and explore the world. Develop our niche skills, and seize our opportunities the world has to offer.

ps. But of course, I may be wrong. Do not mind me, I’m just talking to myself :)