I need no crystal ball to foresee that Hsien Loong will be planning for some huge vanity projects....again this GE year. He has a habit of using these building constructions as a means to portray his "vision".
Again and again.
There was already the Marina Bay Sands, the Gardens by the Bay, the Marina and then Jewel, the High Speed Train (on-going still?) and now there is this plan to build 3X the size of current Marina Bay at Tanjong Pagar, The Greater Southern Waterfront (GSW).
It is all about building, building and more building. Building a nation is simply not about the buildings. A vision that is determined by the number and size of the vanity projects that he can pull together is only a construction plan, a vision of architectural landscape? But for a nation, for a home, for our homes, that does not suffice.
There is no doubt of the aesthetic
values of these constructions and everyone appreciates beauty, however, at the end of the day, what purpose
does it serve for a peasant like me? These constructions are indeed
useful for me to showcase the wealthy side of Singapore. To boast. But
how many times a year do I need that for? Ultimately, it serves only to intensify the hollowness of my own vanity. And to put it into the current situation where the peasants are overwhelmed by a huge sense of insecurities, Hsien Loong's "vision" appears a little too empty and a total lack of a sense of proportion.
The hardtruth is, I can't rely on these pompous projects for my job security, retirement security, healthcare security and even transport security.
On the contrary, cosmetics like the GSW that serve to beautify our landscape may very likely to increase living costs as it will boost the land value in and around the area in the form of higher rentals, housing prices and higher profit possibilities for some groups of people.
So what is Hsien Loong really chasing after?
The well-being of the peasants? Or more playgrounds for a specific strata of the population?
Vision serves as the framework for all necessary policies and ideas to be put in place. Does not necessarily involve constructions at all. And my vision for a nation, must serve to better as many stratum of our society as possible. Not the other way round of using isolated constructions and scenic areas to fill up that vision.
What does Hsien Loong seriously want? I can't see his SG100 vision or even SG75's amid these bricks and cement. For bricks and cements do not translate into the care, security and trust that make a home, that enrich your presence. He wants to make Singapore a special place. But all such doings of his only make Singapore dull and shallow.
Lastly, these mega plans will only furher impoverish the already shallow pockets that I have.
