Claimed as the world’s largest
observation wheel, the Singapore Flyer took two-and-a-half years to
build following its groundbreaking ceremony in September 2005. It stands
165-metre-tall and has a diameter of 150 metres. It is about the height
of a 42-storey building and was built at the cost of S$240 million.
Features
This icon was designed by Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa and
DP Architects, Singapore, who were inspired by famous icons like the
Eiffel Tower in Paris and the London Eye in London.3 Each revolution of
the flyer takes approximately 30 minutes. The Singapore Flyer offers 784
passengers in 28 air-conditioned capsules a 360° panoramic view of the
Marina Bay skyline with a glimpse of neighbouring countries, Malaysia
and Indonesia.
Maiden turn and official opening
On 11 February 2008, which was the fifth day of Chinese New Year, the
Singapore Flyer hosted some 700 guests from 17 companies which paid
S$8,888 to put 26 guests into each of the flyer’s 28 capsules. The
guests tossed yusheng (Chinese for “raw fish salad”) and drank champagne
as the flyer did two rounds for its inaugural rotation. The Singapore
Flyer opened to the public on 1 March 2008.
The Singapore Flyer marked its official opening on 15 April 2008 with a
donation of S$28,000 to The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund and a
festival of fireworks, music and performances. Prime Minister Lee Hsien
Loong was the guest of honour. Families and senior citizens from
grassroots and social welfare organisations were among the invited
guests. They were treated to an impressive laser light show and
fireworks display choreographed to music and arranged by Singapore
composer Iskandar Ismail. There were also other performance highlights
by bands, stilt-walkers and unicyclists.
Turning in a different direction
A directional change was made to the Singapore Flyer on 28 July 2008
when geomancers pointed out that the flyer was “taking fortune away from
Singapore” with the direction of its rotation. The flyer was then
reconfigured at a six-figure sum to turn in the opposite direction. With
the change in the direction of the rotation, visitors now start their
flyer experience with views of eastern Singapore overlooking beaches and
housing estates and end off with the business district and Marina Bay
area.8 On 31 July 2008, the Singapore Flyer’s ticket sales crossed the
one million mark since it commenced operations five months earlier.
A mishap
On 23 December 2008, 173 passengers were trapped in the flyer’s capsules
for six hours due to a technical malfunction caused by an electrical
fire in the control room that caused the flyer to stop at 4.50 pm. Ten
passengers were rescued and lowered by ropes from as high as eight
storeys above ground.10 The remaining trapped passengers were able to
leave when the flyer resumed rotation at 11.10 pm that evening. Two
passengers – a 59-year-old woman and a 10-year-old boy – were
hospitalised, but were discharged the following morning.
Following the incident, the flyer was ordered to close by the police
pending investigations into the technical glitch. During the period of
closure, repair work was carried out along with construction of new
backup systems.13 The flyer reopened for business on 26 January 2009,
just in time for the Chinese New Year festive period. Tenants, whose
business was affected by the closure, were given a one-week rental
rebate by the flyer’s management.
In support of festive occasions and international campaigns
In December 2009, the Singapore Flyer celebrated Christmas by lighting
up with a Christmas tree that was 83-metre-tall and consisted of 91,000
LED lights.16 In February 2011, the Singapore Flyer was the venue for a
yusheng breakfast organised by the Kreta Ayer-Kim Seng Citizens’
Consultative Committee for 646 of its residents and new citizens. The
event made it to the Singapore Book of Records for the largest number of
people having yusheng in the air.
On 1 October 2011, the Singapore Flyer joined about 200 other global
landmarks such as the Empire State Building in the United States and the
Taj Mahal in India to put on illuminated pink lights in support of
Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
The fate of the Singapore Flyer
Barely five years after its opening, the Singapore Flyer has lost its
lustre with many of its retail, as well as food and beverage outlets
closing down or moving away due to poor business. Many people were of
the opinion that the tickets were too expensive, while others felt that
the flyer was not attractive enough to warrant a repeat visit.
The company operating the Singapore Flyer was placed under receivership
in May 2013. It put the flyer up for sale with advertisements appearing
in major overseas newspapers. In May 2014, Merlin Entertainments – the
British company behind the London Eye and Legoland theme parks –
announced that it had changed its mind about acquiring the Singapore
Flyer.
In July 2014, it was reported in the news that a Singapore company had
“emerged as the forerunner to buy the Singapore Flyer”. The founder of
popular nightspot Zouk was also interviewed as saying that the flyer
could be the “ideal new location” for the club.
Singapore has several memorials marking significant events in its modern
history, like the Kranji War Memorial and the Civilian War Memorial.
But it does not have one to tell the story of how it became what it is
today, and bring to life the “ideals, impulses, and the spirit” that
drove its founding leaders, Mr Lee HL explained.
“Now, almost 60 years after Separation, and 80 years after World War II,
the time has come for us to build one,” he added.
Slated to open in 2028, the Founders’ Memorial will commemorate the
values and ideals exemplified by Singapore’s first generation leaders,
as well as other key personalities who played important roles in
Singapore’s path to independence, and in the early years of Singapore’s
nation-building process.
The Memorial’s narrative will take a values-driven approach, which
continues to be informed through engagement with Singaporeans.
Envisioned as an integrated gallery and gardens experience at the Bay
East Garden, the Memorial aims to both commemorate how independent
Singapore came to be, and inspire Singaporeans to commit themselves to
building the nation’s future, together.
A founders’ memorial
need not be a
grand structure, but it must stand for our ideals, our values, our hopes
and aspirations.
It must belong to all Singaporeans and mean something significant to us
all. It should be a place where we and future generations can remember a
key period in our history, reflect on the ideals of our founding
fathers, and pledge to continue the work of nation building.
Parliamentary Statement by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, 13 Apr 2015
Bay East Garden sits on reclaimed land along the Marina Reservoir and
overlooks the city skyline, speaking powerfully to how our founding
leaders overcame land and water constraints to build one of the most
liveable cities in the world through their boldness and vision for
Singapore, and how we can continue to turn challenges into
opportunities.
The ‘Garden City’ and ‘Water’
story is weaved into the Bay East Masterplan. The Garden charts
the evolution of Singapore from a Garden City to a City in Nature
through the years, underscoring the greening of Singapore that improved
our quality of life and our commitment to nature conservation. Water
bodies flowing through the Garden and connecting to the Marina Reservoir
create waterways that strengthen the ecosystem and enhance biodiversity.
In a speech delivered at Gardens by the Bay’s Flower Field
Hall, Mr Lee touched on the contributions of Singapore’s
founding leaders.
Apart from rallying the nation through variouscrises
and growing the economy, they established “fundamental
values and ideals” that set the long-term direction of
Singapore, he added.
These were democracy, justice and equality, meritocracy and
a drive for excellence, and an unwavering commitment to
honest, clean government.
Mr Lee said that the founding leaders were determined that
every race would have an equal place in Singapore and this
was due to a few reasons.
"Having had such recent bitter experience of being a racial
minority, the founding leaders resolved never to place
independent Singapore’s majority race, language, and culture
above others, and never to allow our minority communities to
be disadvantaged and marginalised," he explained.
"Secondly, while Singapore was a Chinese majority and Malay
minority society, all our neighbours were Malay majority and
Chinese minority societies. Racial politics in Singapore
would have made our position in Southeast Asia untenable."
In addition, the founding leaders had a "profound,
unshakeable conviction" in multiracialism, said Mr Lee. They
"passionately believed" this was how Singapore should be,
and had to be, for the sake of all its citizens, he added.
A "UNIQUE ORIGIN STORY"
Mr Lee said that Singapore has a unique origin story,
different from other newly independent countries during the
post-war era.
Not many countries successfully shifted from the
“independence struggle to nation building, from rousing
revolutionary mobilisation to the patient slog of improving
people’s lives. Singapore did,” he added.
With
a vista of the city skyline and Marina Reservoir, the Founders’
Memorial will be a testament to the bold vision of our founding
leaders and generations in overcoming land and water constraints and
the values they stood for. (Photo:…see more
Singapore’s founding leaders took the nation from the third
world to first, Mr Lee pointed out.
“There were difficult choices to make, painful trade-offs to
weigh, and different views to reconcile, especially in the
first decade,” he added.
“The founding leaders did not get everything right. But on
the most important issues, they made the right choices,
Singaporeans responded, and Singapore succeeded beyond their
wildest dreams.”
And out of a “shared experience” of crises and successes as
well as sacrifices and celebrations, a Singaporean identity
and a recognisable national ethos emerged, Mr Lee said.
“We became a society that is open to the world, resilient
and united in the face of crises, and bold and courageous in
our dreams,” he added.
WHAT THE MEMORIAL WLL LOOK LIKE
The design of the memorial was selected through an
international architectural design competition launched in
January 2019.
The winning submission by Kengo Kuma &
Associates, in collaboration with K2LD Architects, is
one which represents a “bold and imaginative” memorial which
“rises out of the landscape”, said NHB and Gardens by the
Bay.
The Founders' Memorial “rising out” of the landscape. (Photo:
Founders' Memorial)
The design depicts a path, which represents a journey that
traces the legacy of Singapore’s founding leaders and
generation.
The memorial will feature two two-storey buildings above
ground as well as a common basement with an ascending
amphitheatre linked to the first storey.
"Singaporeans wish to honour our founding leaders, tell the
stories of those who lived through those turbulent times,
and inspire future generations with the values that gave
birth to independent Singapore and its development," said
Founders' Memorial Committee co-chair Lee Tzu Yang.
"It remains important going forward to continue this
engagement because the Founders’ Memorial is envisioned as a
space owned by every generation, including future
generations of Singaporeans."
With the Founders' Memorial’s unique integrated gallery and gardens
setting, visitors can enjoy outdoor performances and activities at
the amphitheatre, as well as trails and programmes at its outdoor
spaces. (Photo: Founders' Memorial)…see more
It will house exhibition galleries, a viewing gallery that
overlooks the city skyline, multi-purpose rooms for
conducting workshops and programmes, and other outdoor
spaces in the gardens.
Multiple paths will intertwine and extend from the
memorial’s two buildings, connecting them to the larger Bay
East Garden.
As a “living memorial” that will “honour the past and
inspire the future”, the landscape will feature plant
species that were planted in the early years of Singapore's
journey to become a green city.
Ultimately, the memorial will honour Singapore’s founding
leaders and its nation building journey, said Mr Lee.
It will focus on key leaders in Singapore’s first two
decades of national building from the 1950s to 1970s,
including Mr Lee Kuan Yew and his core team, as well as
other important leaders in the public, private and people
sectors, he added.
“It will tell the story of how they overcame the odds to
build a strong, united, and independent Singapore; how they
led the people of Singapore through successive battles first
against colonialism, then communism, and finally
communalism; and how they then built a nation based on the
values and ideals embodied in the pledge, launching us on
the journey that has led to the Singapore that we see
today,” Mr Lee said.
“I hope this Founders’ Memorial will become a space where
Singaporeans reflect on our ongoing nation-building journey;
appreciate our precious inheritance from the founding
generation; and resolve to continue building a harmonious
and successful Singapore, based on our foundational values
and ideals, for generations to come.”
++++++++++++++++++++++
Singapore Olympic Park: A brilliant blend of art and
sports》Cuǐcàn jiāoróng
In Singapore's Marina Bay, there is a unique and charming place, the
Singapore Olympic Park (Olympic Walk). It is not only a commemorative
trail, but also Singapore's first permanent art park, carrying rich
historical significance and diverse cultural connotations.
The park was named after the first Youth Olympic Games held here in
2010. It was established to celebrate the good achievements of
Singapore's sports development and vigorously promote the Olympic
spirit.
As Singapore's first art park, the Youth Olympic Park has a unique
mission and value. Its development is committed to cultivating a sense
of community ownership and cleverly building a close connection between
people and Marina Bay. Located on the waterfront at the junction of
Raffles Street and Harbour Street, the park has become the pride of the
city since its grand opening in 2010.
The park is home to the hard work of 27 young Singaporean artists. These
works are like shining stars of art, exuding endless charm.
The park is not only a place to celebrate the spirit of sports, but also
a place for tourists and local residents to enjoy the view of Marina
Bay. If you are looking for a place that combines history, culture and
beauty, Singapore Olympic Park is a choice not to be missed.
The first thing that comes into view on the large stone steps leading to
the entrance of the spiral bridge is Amanda Chong's poem "Lion Heart".
The beautiful verses add a poetic touch to the park.
The maze is even more unique. In the center of the maze, there stands a
4.5-meter-high rockery sculpture, as if on a wonderful artistic
adventure, feeling the perfect fusion of art and space.
The stone wall is a stage for local teenagers to fully display their
creativity. It is carefully painted with famous landmarks of Singapore
such as the Merlion, the Bay Esplanade Theater and the HDB flats. It has
become a beautiful landscape in the park.
"Emotional Lightscape", a magical "hopscotch" interactive brick. When
people step on it lightly, it will glow instantly.
"Ribbon Chair", with its unique shape and color matching, not only
provides a comfortable resting place for tourists, but also becomes an
indispensable artistic embellishment in the park.
In addition, the torch and medal winners list of the first Singapore
Summer Youth Olympic Games and the photographs of people from various
countries are also presented in the park. They witness the glorious
moments of sports and cultural exchanges, allowing people to appreciate
art while reminiscing about those exciting sports events.
Open 24 hours a day, free admission, visitors can use sports facilities
to exercise, or relax in the green space and enjoy nature. Whether it is
getting up early to exercise or strolling at night, visitors can go at
any time.
_resize.jpg)
_resize.jpg)
Marina Barrage _resize.jpg)
_resize.jpg)
_resize.jpg)
_resize.jpg)
_resize.jpg)
.jpg?itok=PvPRViER)