Singapore is Not Green Enough

I was walking along Orchard Road today, and I was surprised at the developments that are going on there already. Ion Orchard is being built, and some other construction projects are ongoing, so there's this sense of development, that yeah, things are moving, and hopefully, are being improved. In the past, I would have been excited at the developments. But like I said, that would have been in the past. Right now, I'm concerned about the environmental impact of all of these and I'm concerned about whether new sustainable technologies are being used, whether environmental considerations are being factored in the construction of these new projects. The thing now is that we are merely going after the aesthetics - that the building should JUST look nice. But here's the deal, looking nice ain't enough no more. We can't just keep putting concrete blocks arranged in some nice way. If Singapore really wants to be a leading global city, if it really wants to be a world-class city, then, it should take that Garden City concept, and push it to the next level - really becoming a Garden City, not just in terms of aesthetics, but in thinking and in outlook. The question today is, how do we continue our growth, and at the same time, how do we do it in a green fashion, that doesn't add to our ecological impact?

The technologies are all available today. We need only today to look at the TED presentations, and look, for example, at the innovative architectural designs established for 12 Chinese cities that are being built along ways that are designed to limit the impact to the environment. Gardens on rooftops, closed-loop cycling of waste products, using our sewage to feed methane-producing bacteria, using incentives to implement wider recycling schemes. If we can have dish out Baby Bonus, why we can't we dish out a Green Bonus? More importantly, we need to invest more in greentech, not just in terms of researching on alternative sources of energy, but how to make our daily lives more energy efficient in terms of usage. Every little bit will count.

Making Singapore the foremost green city in the world is only the beginning. We need to share this know-how with the region, with India, Indonesia, the rest of Asia, with the rest of the world. I hope I'm wrong, but I believe its already too late for climate change. I believe its now a matter of sustainability, of how we can survive and grow despite climate change, despite diminishing resources - all these without killing each other and ourselves. This is the foremost challenge for all of us - to survive the 21st Century.

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