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November 27, 2006
The Amnesiac City
I've always had great respect for the famed local architect, reading about his thoughts on Singapore's amnesia make me respect him all the more. I don't know how much impact such voicing out has on the policy-makers in Singapore (having met some of them made me lose faith and utter confidence in whatever they can come up with) but I do hope voices get heard.
Lately, I've been having conversations (or are they rants?) to the Boy about what a whore Singapore seems to be. And I guess Mr Lim voiced it out in a more civilised manner.
"I'm not sure they [preserving areas like Tanglin Camp and Changi Village] add up to anything. Because heritage memories are for your own people, not for tourists.
If you focus on what interests tourists and you package it as such, it is fine, but it's not heritage.
It is tokenism. Nothing wrong with the Singapore Tourism Board promoting this. But in terms of heritage for the own people, it can't be like the National Library or the Bidari Cemetery.
In Singapore, the tourist board has a key role of deciding what should be preserved. But heritage is a building up of collective visual memories of the community.
Take the Newton Hawker Centre for example. Is this makeover necessary? Why not just patch up the leaks rather than tear down the old structure, as there are certain collective memories people have of that place?"
Posted by lainey at November 27, 2006 10:26 PM