Making S'pore our best home: PM Lee

More green spaces and blue waters have been integrated into our surroundings
by Sumita Sreedharan, TODAY, 2 Jul 2012

It would have been easy for the Republic to "sacrifice long-term environmental objectives for short-term development", as Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong put it. But as he highlighted the challenges that Singapore faced in transforming itself into a liveable and sustainable city, Mr Lee reiterated yesterday that "efforts to make Singapore our best home will never end".

Speaking at the joint opening ceremony of the Singapore International Water Week (SIWW), World Cities Summit and CleanEnviro Summit, Mr Lee cited having the "right policies" as well as pricing resources such as electricity and water correctly as some of the challenges.

Mr Lee said: "It is not easy to transform a city and it requires long-term planning and careful execution."

He noted that as Singaporeans are exposed to cities abroad, they would have high expectations of what they want Singapore to be. At the same time, more interests would have to be balanced, Mr Lee said.

Over the years, policymakers have risen to the task of ensuring Singaporeans live "comfortably and pleasantly" in a densely populated city: Apart from new and upgraded housing estates, more MRT lines and buses to improve public transport, "more green spaces and blue waters" have been integrated in the surroundings.

He noted that these efforts strengthen the "social capital" by integrating Singaporeans and new immigrants, as well as preserving ethnic harmony and building a compassionate society.

Mr Lee added that Singapore's efforts to improve liveability have been recognised. The country was ranked 25th in Mercer's 2011 Quality of Living worldwide survey and ranked the highest in environmental sustainability in Siemens' Asian Green City Index 2011. "Rankings aside, Singaporeans and visitors can feel and enjoy this high-quality living for themselves."

Nevertheless, "we have much to learn from others who show how strong leadership and community participation can transform mature cities", he added, citing the example of New York, which won the 2012 World City Prize. The conferences being held here are "valuable platforms" for Singapore to learn and exchange views, Mr Lee noted.

Centre of Liveable Cities Deputy Executive Director Cheng Hsing Yao said yesterday that Singapore is a good place for such conferences - given that the country is an example of one that has been "forced by circumstance to innovate" and is a "living laboratory" for firms to develop, test and demonstrate solutions.

Singapore will continue to improve itself, says PM Lee
By Joanne Chan, Channel NewsAsia, 1 Jul 2012

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said Singapore will continue to improve, so that its people can live comfortably and pleasantly.

And more than just having better physical infrastructure, it's also about strengthening social capital.

Mr Lee said this at Sunday's official opening of three global events held in Singapore.

The World Cities Summit, the Singapore International Water Week and the CleanEnviro Summit are being held together for the first time - all with the common goal to promote sustainable cities of the future.

Building new housing estates and upgrading old ones, improving public transport with more train lines and buses, and introducing more green spaces in the city.

These are just some of the efforts made over the years to make Singapore a more liveable city.

But more than just infrastructure, a liveable city is also about its people.

"Integrating Singaporeans and newly-arrived immigrants and foreign workers, preserving ethnic harmony, building a more compassionate society... This is what we have to do to make Singapore the best home for us all, and this is what we will do year after year, continuing to improve as we raise our standards step by step," said Mr Lee.

Mr Lee said such efforts to make Singapore better will not end, as the country will need to meet the public's growing expectations.

He also noted that this transformation is not easy.

"Because it's easy to sacrifice long-term objectives, environmental objectives or urban planning objectives, for short-term advantage. And it's difficult to rally political support for the right choices. Enforcing planning norms is not easy, acting against polluters is equally hard, and pricing resources like water and electricity which affect the lives of millions of people is even harder," said Mr Lee.

Singapore's commitment to sustainable development makes it the ideal location to exchange best practices.

Some 15,000 people are expected to attend the five-day convention. What's on offer - the latest in water technology, high-level meetings to discuss sustainable urban development, and the sharing of best green practices from around the world.

Republic is 'the most future-ready Asian city'
By Cheong Suk-Wai, The Straits Times, 2 Jul 2012

FOR the second time running, Singapore has been named the Asian city best prepared for the future by international magazine FDI Intelligence.

Shanghai and Seoul were second and third.

FDI's biennial Asia-Pacific Cities Of The Future ranks 141 cities in the region.

The magazine is produced by the Financial Times Ltd, which also publishes the newspaper.

Singapore made the Top 10 list in six out of the seven categories, emerging as No. 1 for infrastructure and foreign direct investment strategy.

It was second for economic potential after Shanghai, third for a business-friendly climate after Dongguan and Shenzhen in China, fifth for human capital and ninth for quality of life.

Shanghai was one of the seven Chinese cities that dominated the economic potential category, while six Australian cities were champs of quality living, including Canberra.

Singapore, which also ranked tops in Asia in 2009/2010, fared less well for cost-effectiveness, a category topped by Cambodian capital Phnom Penh.

Minister of State for National Development and Trade and Industry Lee Yi Shyan accepted the award on behalf of the Republic yesterday at a lunch held in conjunction with the World Cities Summit.

Earlier, Mr Lee opened the summit's third World Mayors Forum, which this year drew a record 105 mayors from 98 cities, including Tomsk in Russia, Taoyuan in Taiwan and Tunis in Tunisia.