More taxpayers monies going down the drain? 
Feb 4, 2008
SM Goh gets a sense of Dubai's mega-projects
From world's tallest building to indoor ski resort, emirate dazzles and wows
By Lee Siew Hua
DUBAI - SENIOR Minister Goh Chok Tong has viewed the icons of the New Dubai skyline to sense the scale of this tiny emirate's mega-projects and global drive.
Over the weekend, Mr Goh also toured the Palm Jumeirah, a series of palm- shaped man-made islands where sports icons Tiger Woods and David Beckham have already picked up their own luxury villas.
He also viewed the sleek Burj Dubai, soon to be the world's tallest building.
And, paradoxically, he walked on snow inside an indoor ski resort in the desert.
At the Palm Jumeirah, Mr Goh was shown how the world's largest set of man- made islands was created from an old pearl village.
It started when the ruler of Dubai, Sheik Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, drew a traditional palm tree and realised its fronds would add beach frontage to Dubai.
The skills gained earlier from re-engineering the coast to build Jebel Ali Port were applied to the project, now the home and playground of the moneyed set who began moving in last year.
'That's the spirit of Dubai,' said Dr Yu Lai Boon, a Singaporean who is the group chief investment officer of Dubai World, the holding company that manages businesses and projects for the Dubai government. <-- This guy must have either run road or locked up in the emir's dungeons waiting to be sodomized a million times for the $50b fiasco!
On a mild winter day, Dr Yu also showed Mr Goh a 7,000-sq-ft villa priced at US$5 million (S$7 million) that came with a private beach facing blue water.
The Palm Jumeirah is the first of three islands being built in the Arabian Gulf and will add 1,000km of new beach frontage to Dubai.
The islands will have luxury homes, hotels, retail outlets, a monorail, an aquarium with 65,000 different types of fish and more. American tycoon Donald Trump is also building a hotel there.
Seagrass will be transplanted to balance the ecology.
Mr Goh also viewed the Burq Dubai, expected to be world's tallest building when completed next year. <-- perhaps PAP scums can move there in exile, since the Burq Dubai seem to attract lightning!
Said to be at more than 700m high, its final height is 'still a secret', said Mr Greg Sang, director of projects at Emaar Properties.
Finally, Mr Goh entered a ski resort at the Mall of the Emirates, the biggest shopping mall outside North America.
Skiers, many of them children, zipped down the gentle snow-covered slope of Ski Dubai. The temperature is kept at -1 to -2 deg C.
The resort is a testament to the surreal scale of Dubai's rush into modernity, even as it preserves its Arabic culture.
The planning of the New Dubai has been accelerated in recent years, as the emirate is quickly spending petro-dollars to diversify its economy.
It aims to cut dependence on oil revenues, and one economic goal is to heighten tourism.
This has in turn created superlatives like the Palm Jumeirah - all largely powered by the foreign talent who form 80 per cent of the workforce.
Today, the non-oil sector is responsible for about 95 per cent of Dubai's total GDP.
These changes were pushed by Sheikh Mohammed, whom Mr Goh met yesterday.
Mr Goh wrapped up his week-long visit to Qatar and Dubai to intensify links with the Middle East yesterday. He returns to Singapore today.
[email protected]
Feb 4, 2008
SM Goh gets a sense of Dubai's mega-projects
From world's tallest building to indoor ski resort, emirate dazzles and wows
By Lee Siew Hua
DUBAI - SENIOR Minister Goh Chok Tong has viewed the icons of the New Dubai skyline to sense the scale of this tiny emirate's mega-projects and global drive.
Over the weekend, Mr Goh also toured the Palm Jumeirah, a series of palm- shaped man-made islands where sports icons Tiger Woods and David Beckham have already picked up their own luxury villas.
He also viewed the sleek Burj Dubai, soon to be the world's tallest building.
And, paradoxically, he walked on snow inside an indoor ski resort in the desert.
At the Palm Jumeirah, Mr Goh was shown how the world's largest set of man- made islands was created from an old pearl village.
It started when the ruler of Dubai, Sheik Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, drew a traditional palm tree and realised its fronds would add beach frontage to Dubai.
The skills gained earlier from re-engineering the coast to build Jebel Ali Port were applied to the project, now the home and playground of the moneyed set who began moving in last year.
'That's the spirit of Dubai,' said Dr Yu Lai Boon, a Singaporean who is the group chief investment officer of Dubai World, the holding company that manages businesses and projects for the Dubai government. <-- This guy must have either run road or locked up in the emir's dungeons waiting to be sodomized a million times for the $50b fiasco!
On a mild winter day, Dr Yu also showed Mr Goh a 7,000-sq-ft villa priced at US$5 million (S$7 million) that came with a private beach facing blue water.
The Palm Jumeirah is the first of three islands being built in the Arabian Gulf and will add 1,000km of new beach frontage to Dubai.
The islands will have luxury homes, hotels, retail outlets, a monorail, an aquarium with 65,000 different types of fish and more. American tycoon Donald Trump is also building a hotel there.
Seagrass will be transplanted to balance the ecology.
Mr Goh also viewed the Burq Dubai, expected to be world's tallest building when completed next year. <-- perhaps PAP scums can move there in exile, since the Burq Dubai seem to attract lightning!
Said to be at more than 700m high, its final height is 'still a secret', said Mr Greg Sang, director of projects at Emaar Properties.
Finally, Mr Goh entered a ski resort at the Mall of the Emirates, the biggest shopping mall outside North America.
Skiers, many of them children, zipped down the gentle snow-covered slope of Ski Dubai. The temperature is kept at -1 to -2 deg C.
The resort is a testament to the surreal scale of Dubai's rush into modernity, even as it preserves its Arabic culture.
The planning of the New Dubai has been accelerated in recent years, as the emirate is quickly spending petro-dollars to diversify its economy.
It aims to cut dependence on oil revenues, and one economic goal is to heighten tourism.
This has in turn created superlatives like the Palm Jumeirah - all largely powered by the foreign talent who form 80 per cent of the workforce.
Today, the non-oil sector is responsible for about 95 per cent of Dubai's total GDP.
These changes were pushed by Sheikh Mohammed, whom Mr Goh met yesterday.
Mr Goh wrapped up his week-long visit to Qatar and Dubai to intensify links with the Middle East yesterday. He returns to Singapore today.
[email protected]
