in developed countries, alot of historical buildings are preserved, unlike SGP.
because they are the soul of the country's growth..
The Singapore river may look picturesque and romantic with its bumboats, but as can be seen in the video, it was already choked with the amount of trade at that time - worse than the traffic jam on road. Singapore will never be the busiest port in the world handling if it continues to handle that amount of trade at the present time! Do you know the river water was black in colour at that time? But we still have those run-down two-story shophouses and dusty, dilapidated godowns renovated and put to creative and commercially-viable use in one of the most expensive piece of land in Asia - or the world for that matter.
Similarly if all those "historical" buildings are preserved, how is the city going to cater to all the commercial activities of the present day or house the 4 million people living on this tiny island? Space was really a pressing issue in the early 1970s as the economy was transforming - and there was no reclaimed land to talk of.
RI with its large field and 2-storey brick and wood buildings stood where Raffles City is now - used only by schoolboys. Could we have preserved the field and buildings in place of Raffles City which house one of the tallest hotels in the world? That's a moot question.
However, thanks to the pragmatic and enlightened government, some of the buildings of significance are gazetted and preserved now - never too late. And there are more trees and parks.
The "5 big trees" of the Esplanade are still there and people still go there to pak tor! And the waterfront has been extended many times. The City Hall - the seat of the government - has been turned into a museum.
It's human to be nostalgic but at the same time we must be pragmatic and evolve with the times. Otherwise our children will think that we have fossilised!
