from the ground Up

by Jessica Cheam, The Straits Times, April 25 2009
Award will recognise those who contribute to creation of liveable cities
WHAT does it take to become a world- class city? Innovative planning projects, policies and solutions that display foresight and good governance, it seems.
These are the qualities that Singapore is looking for in a new award it [...]

by Jessica Cheam, The Straits Times, Jan 20 2009
Talks under way for firms to be involved in futuristic Masdar City
ABU DHABI: Singapore’s expertise in water technology and energy could give local firms a head start for contracts to help build an ambitious eco-city in the United Arab Emirates.
Talks are already under way for Singapore firms [...]

My jatropha story is not published yet so I can’t write too much about it. But leaving where I left off yesterday, on day 2, we left that desolate yet beautiful resort in Ngwe Saung and drove about two hours along bumpy roads to get to the Mawtin plantation near Pathein.

The broken bridge

The road was even bumpier than the main roads, mainly because it was mostly just a dirt track. At one point we had to get off the car, while the 4×4 drove across the river (thank goodness it was low tide) because the bridge had broken from when the cyclone hit and could not longer take the weight of a car. It was the only time I’ve ever appreciated the merits of a 4×4. But I was happy to get out to stretch my legs. If it weren’t so hot, I would have put on my asics and ran all the way to the plantation. Good marathon training.

When we reached the plantation, rows and rows of jatropha plants as far as our eyes could see greeted us. The green expanse before me stretched out forever, marked only by the different shades of green, gradients of the undulating hills. It wasn’t magnificently striking, but I was overwhelmed with a sense of serenity. And for once I really appreciated the peace and quiet it offered.

I wondered if National Geographic ever got the chance to film any of Myanmar’s wildlife - because I can bet my life on the amazing biodiversity they would discover. Come to think of it, although I watch that channel regularly, I have never once seen a documentary on Myanmar. I can imagine it must be extremely difficult to get permission. But it’s such a shame, because its countryside is so beautiful, untouched, and so vast, you wonder why there’s no mention of Myanmar’s forests as a major carbon sink in climate change talks. Its always Indonesia’s trees and the Amazon that’s mentioned and that needs to be saved.

The model eco-farm

Apparently in the surrouding forest there are wild elephants who come out at night, drawn out by the smell of beans that the farm grows on the plantation. The idea that wild elephants might just “visit”, somehow, struck me as a very romantic. Although, I don’t think the pigs thought so - because apparently the night before we visited, an elephant came in the middle of the night and the pigs got so scared they had a mini stampede and one piglet died from getting trampled on.

If you’re wondering why they had pigs there, it’s because the whole farm/plantation was planned like a model eco-farm. Some 650 local Burmese farmers and workers live in quarters built by the company and they are completely self-sufficient in that they even grow their own food, vegetables, rear their own animals for meals. They even ran the farm on electricity generated by burning biomass - rice husks. Part of their plantation is used to grow rice in padi fields. The bamboo they harvest from clearing the land is also made into eco-bamboo products by the workers in their spare time.

Thinking about it, it only made sense the farm should be self-sufficient, being in the middle of nowhere. Even Pathein - the nearest town, and Myanmar’s fourth largest city - was a bit of a drive away. Anyway, I have to admit I went there with my eyes open, as a naturally skeptical and impartial observer (job pre-requisites), but I left with a good sense that things were being done right and that they were really going about the planting in a responsible manner.

I had such an amazing time, touring the plantation, looking even at boring things like warehouses and tractors. The farm even had a clinic with its very own doctor in it. Malaria cases were tracked on a chart on a chalkboard and pills were neatly lined up on the side of the doc’s desk. The farmers’ families are also invited to live on site with them, such that the attap houses form a village with three generations from grandparents to grandkids. I spotted an old woman staring at me with curiousity, sitting in the doorway, with that pondering-about-life look and I gathered it mustn’t be a bad life, being able to live so close to nature, with your family around you. The kids run around, chasing the black kampung chickens, faced smeared with something the Burmese call “tan nah kah” which essentially is tree bark which they harvest from a local tree and smear on their cheeks as sun lotion. The locals I spoke to swear by it - it shields the sun’s harmful rays plus apparently has firming qualities. It’s true many of the locals have great skin. Shame I didn’t manage to secure bring some back. They tell me it’s only a matter of time before “tan nah kah” overtakes SKII as the leading Asian skin product.

More on the plantation will come later - I will only say that if I do get some time off in the near future, like a sabbatical of sorts, I would even go back to the plantation to live for a month, work up a good tan, plant some jatropha trees, mix with the locals, and just enjoy the nature around me. It was refreshing to be surrounded by trees instead of cars and urban concrete, where water was pumped from underground from a tank, and the eggs we ate were from free-range chickens chased around by carefree kids.

During the summits held last week of June, a lot of issues were debated and I wrote some stories, some published, some not, and others still in point form in my notebook.

Here is a write-up of a brief interview I had with urban planning expert Marilyn Taylor of the US-based Urban Land Institute.

[Singapore, 26 June] AS THE world’s urban population rises rapidly, it is crucial that cities learn from each other in order to combat the challenges ahead.
Even a forward-looking country like Singapore cannot stand alone in the face of the global impact of urbanisation and the “trans-border” challenges it triggers, said urban planning expert Marilyn Taylor at the start of the two-day World Cities Summit yesterday.
Ms Taylor, citing an example used by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in his opening speech at the conference yesterday, pointed out that haze pollution is something Singapore cannot control but can work closely with other countries to prevent.
Singapore also has much to offer from its own experience in urban planning, added the former chairman of the United States-based Urban Land Institute in an interview with The Straits Times.
Ms Taylor is also a member of the International Panel of Architects and Urban Planners, set up in 2001 to advise Singapore’s Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on international best practices and trends in planning and urban design.
“Even with the rapid development of Singapore, the Government was very aware of the limitations of land,” said Ms Taylor.
“There was an ability to balance high density with open, green spaces, which adds to the quality of life, as opposed to making it feel like an imposition.”
Singapore’s successful urban planning is also a result of planners who recognised the importance of seeking constructive criticism.
“Singapore has a willingness to offer itself up to go under the microscope, for others to scrutinise, and that has helped it to develop successfully,” she added.
The country shares with other Asian cities an excitement and optimism of the future, yet also has an international orientation similar to London and New York, said Ms Taylor.
But what sets Singapore apart is this “belief in the public realm, which allows many people to occupy the same space together and enjoy a quality of life”, she added.
Singapore has an ability to invest ahead of demand, she said, something that comes down to having a responsible government.
Other experts speaking at a seminar on “planning for a distinctive and vibrant city” yesterday also underlined this point.
An attractive city requires a public sector that can take responsibility for the effective use of resources, and for building sustainable infrastructure – which will lead to a healthy economy.
Achieving this, however, is is only one part of the story, added Ms Taylor.
Top cities must also define a distinct and authentic identity to be able to retain its people and talent.
Singapore in the 1980s used to bulldoze many old landmarks and this was a worrying trend, said Ms Taylor, who has worked here occasionally over the last two decades as an architect and urban designer.
This has improved since the 1990s, with URA’s conservation drive, she added. About 6,800 buildings here have now been conserved.
“People tend to respond positively to a mix of old and new. Some beautiful cities have a sense of ‘messiness’, with very old elements which turn out to be places that people enjoy, as part of the city’s identity,” she said.
This is one area Singapore could learn from other cities – how to mix the old with the new, the traditional with the modern.
“What may be visual chaos might be the key ingredient in building a distinctive, vibrant city,” she added.