Urban Links

I am delighted to see that the urban planners of Singapore are going to the trouble of linking together the heritage sites, museums and walkways, as explained in the video above.

As one who regularly enjoyed these places I remember only too well trying to hug whatever shade was available when strolling in the tropical sun.

For the most part the signage to these buildings and heritage sites is very good. However there are some parts that are not shown so well on the map and unless you are a 'local' are difficult to navigate - the shortest route between two points of interest in such a climate is usually the best.

Imagine how unpleasant it must have been to work on the Singapore River in times gone by. This photo from the reign of George VI shows how congested it used to be. No urban walkways and very few green spaces.

The Singapore River - in the reign of George VI (1937-1952)

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The Singapore Memory Project

I was delighted to receive an invitation to participate in the Singapore Memory Project and to pledge this Blog to the cause.

Harnessing the collective memory is an excellent initiative and the National Library deserves full credit for getting it under way. I am only too aware that those who can contribute the most to are often the ones that feel the less motivated to do so.

The Singapore Memory Project

According to their site the project is a national initiative started in 2011 to collect, preserve and provide access to Singapore’s collective knowledge base. In other words telling the Singapore Story through the eyes of its citizens and those fortunate enough to live and work there.

"It aims to build a national collection of content in diverse formats (including print, audio and video), to preserve them in digital form, and make them available for discovery and research.

The SMP aims to collect 5 million personal memories as well as a substantial number of published materials on Singapore by 2015."

I hope that all Singaporeans will support this project. Once memories pass with the generations they are gone for good; they need to be captured before this happens.