Following up on the post on ‘pssible spaces for art‘ in a heated rental market that’s necessitated quite a few independent , ‘artsy’ outfits to shift from their current space, an article in the Straits Times’ arts pages on the new location(albeit a temporary one, for what I understand is going to be a one-off initiative) for a local arts group caught my attention.
Pulau Ubin- long designated as an offshore weekend refuge for conservationists before conservation of nature became fashionable, is now the venue for the new art initiative by TheatreWorks. An excerpt of the article from Straits Times below:
Pulau Ubin, an island north-east of Singapore, doesn’t immediately come to mind as a suitable showplace for art.
But that is exactly where 22 artists are headed next week, as part of The Flying Circus Project (FCP) art camp. They will be presenting their work not in a gallery space, but under moonlight on the island.
At the event organised by TheatreWorks, artists will wander around the island gathering herbs. Later, they will make lunch from their pickings.
In the evening, they will give one-hour presentations each, ranging from a short dance or a lecture to video projections and talk about their creative processes and their works.
Full article can be read here:
And meanwhile, Singapore’s forays into neighbouring territory is being construed as a quest for lebensraum.
Art in marginal spaces, or art re-appearing in unexpected forms- such as a tour of a re-creation of a favela that debuted as an entry in the Venice Biennale during a luxury tour of Brazil or a hotel as a patron of art or dining your way through establishments that double up as social commentary during a luxury tour of Lebanon.
Mirroring a 1995-1996 move, the government, despite all press releases to the contrary, seems to signal that apartment prices might be getting too hot.
Govt withdraws Deferred Payment Scheme for property purchases
By Ng Baoying, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 26 October 2007 1853 hrs
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SINGAPORE : The government has withdrawn the deferred payment scheme for property purchases.
This applies to all residential, commercial and industrial properties.
This is seen as the clearest move yet to cool the property market.
Amid the strong growth in the property sector, there have been calls on the government to step in.
Analysts say the latest move did not come as a total surprise.
Tay Huey Ying, Research and Consultancy Director, Colliers International, says: “Just as the government has been watching the market, the market has also been watching the government very closely to see when they will be implementing measures to cool down the market. So I would say that this is something that the market is expecting. It’s just a matter of time.”
Under the Deferred Payment Scheme, developers could offer buyers of uncompleted private properties the option to defer part of their payment for the units they buy.
When the scheme first started, buyers had to pay an initial 20 percent downpayment in full.
They were allowed to defer payment on the remaining 80 percent of the purchase price.
But subsequently, they were allowed up to half of the downpayment.
These deferred payment plans have been seen as key to driving growth in the property market.
Property watchers say withdrawing the scheme will keep speculation in check but they expect the market to remain buoyant.
Mr Tay says: “Genuine purchasers are likely to continue to carry on with their purchases. And since demand fundamentals remain healthy, I think the level of activity will remain active especially since sub-sale currently accounts for only 12 per cent of total transactions. And in the mass market, sub-sales currently only account for only 5 per cent of total transactions.”
Private home prices have risen almost 23 percent so far this year. – CNA/ch
Original story here:
| Oct 12, 2007 |  |
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Renewed call for condo lifeguards |
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| By Teh Joo Lin | ||
A LIFEGUARD at the Ridgewood Condominium in Mount Sinai recently pulled a resident out of the pool after he suffered a fit, saving his life. In another case, a lifeguard at the same estate was on hand to attend to a guest who had mistakenly dived into the shallow end of the pool and cut his brow. Recounting both incidents, estate resident and MP for Bukit Panjang Teo Ho Pin again made the case for all condominiums to have lifeguards. The chairman of the National Water Safety Council told The Straits Times: ‘Two lifeguards on rotating shifts had rescued quite a number of people over the years.’ It was money well spent, he said, responding to some condominium managers and residents who felt that hiring lifeguards was too costly. Their grouses: Pools are not used for the greater part of the day. The fewer the number of units in a condominium, the more residents have to pay for a lifeguard. Dr Teo first suggested that condominiums and clubs hire lifeguards after a 10-year-old boy drowned in the pool of the Palm Gardens condominium in Choa Chu Kang last month. Yesterday, Dr Teo again urged them to think of ‘life and death, not dollars and cents’. Lifeguards can perform many other tasks as well, including pool maintenance, testing water hygiene and educating residents and guests. ‘They don’t just sit there and do nothing,’ he said. Smaller condominiums could also consider cross-training their facility managers or security guards in water skills. Since 1998, more than 350 people have drowned and the council, set up in April, is hoping that, in time, everyone will be able to swim and even save someone in difficulty in the water. Its members recently returned from the World Water Safety 2007 conference in Portugal. Next week, they will fly to Perth in Australia to learn how various agencies there deal with water safety. The council’s latest initiative: distributing 5,000 water safety posters to pool operators both private and public, grassroots groups and agencies with water bodies under their charge. ‘We hope they will be displayed prominently in places where people can take a look at them,’ he said. Requests for posters can be directed to contact@watersafety.sg |
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Register the comments here:
And as expected, the reaction from the agents interviewed has been less than welcoming.
I understand that there’s a practice of building managers opening up doors for potential tenants (not in Singapore) but personally disagree with the idea of having security guards(who are,technically, supposed to be patrolling the compunds and manning the security post) open the doors. Let it be a live-in representative from the Management Corporation. As it is, security guards now are already being expected to double up as a condominium lifeguard following the spate of mishaps in lifeguard-less condominiums.
Unless the MC’s alluding that the security guard’s task is largely ceremonial….
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Unusual deal for condo owners proposed |
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| Richmond Park’s MC seeks powers to co-broke sale, rental of units; discount on monthly contributions for those who don’t opt out | |||
| By Lin Xinyi | |||
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AN UNUSUAL proposal is being pitched at apartment owners at Richmond Park: Its management corporation (MC) is seeking the power to co-broke the sale and rental of their units in return for half the commission from the transactions, which will go into the management fund. Owners who let the MC play co-broker will get a 20 per cent discount off what they pay to the management fund for up to 12 months. Those who want no part of this scheme will need to opt out, and pay 20 per cent more in their monthly contribution. However, it is not clear how this will apply to an owner who is selling his unit. These are among the by-laws which the condo’s MC chairman, Dr David Tan, will propose at its seventh annual general meeting (AGM) tomorrow. Noting that about a third of Richmond Park’s apartment owners were living in Indonesia or Hong Kong and were either absentee landlords or absentee home owners, he said: ‘It is primarily in their interest that we have conceptualised this by-law.’
Its objective, said the 69-year-old retired eye surgeon, is to generate revenue for the maintenance fund so contributions to the fund can be kept low, since raising contribution rates always meets with resistance. Not everyone is thrilled with the idea – the resident-owners, for instance. A resident who has lived there for seven years said: ‘Why should I give up my sole right to sell or lease my unit? This narrows my choices of agents who are willing to help me market my apartment, since they get only half the commission.’ Located in the heart of Orchard Road, Richmond Park has 159 units, each paying between $330 and $660 in monthly maintenance fees, depending on unit size. Industry experts say the by-law is unusual. Knight Frank Estate Management – which manages the condo and 90 other estates – went as far as to say it was unheard of. Lawyer S. K. Phang of Phang & Co, saying an MC had no right to be a broker, explained that such a function fell outside the roles and powers of an MC as defined by the Building Maintenance and Strata Management Act. He added that even if all attendees at tomorrow’s AGM are fine with the proposed by-law, it does not follow that it would pass muster with the Strata Titles Board. Chesterton International’s head of research and consultancy, Mr Colin Tan, added: ‘People don’t realise that they can challenge certain by-laws. If they are unreasonable, they may not stand in the court of law.’ Real estate company PropNex’s chief executive, Mr Mohamad Ismail, said no one had so far proposed this to his agents, and that PropNex would ‘keep the option open at this juncture’. Dr Tan is also proposing that security guards and staff be paid to show the units to prospective buyers and tenants. He said: ‘We know our property better than anybody else. We know the market value and the rentals charged by all units.’ Mr Ismail, however, said real estate agents had a better idea of market changes and demand. He, too, sees resident-owners losing out in the scheme, because the agent working with the condo management may not want to co-broke with other agents, which would further divide up the commission pie. It might thus take longer to find buyers and tenants, and resident-owners may lose a month’s rental waiting for the deal to close. Dr Tan, saying he expected resistance as he was ‘going into uncharted waters’, added: ‘I don’t see why this by-law will not be passed. It benefits everyone all round.’ |
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The original link here:
| Oct 2, 2007 | |
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Over 200 more buildings in Katong area may be conserved |
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| By Tan Hui Yee, Housing Correspondent | ||||
THE rich heritage of Katong and Joo Chiat district will get more protection from the wrecking ball with a further 228 buildings earmarked for conservation status. The buildings include landmarks such as St Hilda’s Church, the Bethesda (Katong) Church and the former Grand Hotel in Still Road South. Three bungalows – in Marine Parade Road, Chapel Road and Joo Chiat Road – have also been selected. The buildings were selected to serve as markers of the area’s heritage. St Hilda’s Church, for example, was built in 1949 and is designed in a simple English parish church style while the former Grand Hotel building was built in 1917 in the ornamented Victorian style with a slight Indian influence. There are already about 700 buildings under conservation orders in the East Coast area, traditional home of Singapore’s Eurasian and Peranakan communities and a haven for food-lovers.
The plan was announced by National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan yesterday at the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s (URA) Architectural Heritage Awards ceremony. The URA has told the building owners about the conservation plan. Its final decision will be made after feedback. Conservation orders mean owners cannot demolish the building or make major alterations to structures or facades. But the URA noted that most can be redeveloped to their full economic potential even if conserved. One owner, Ms Lyn Lee, 34, wants the certainty a conservation order would bring. Ms Lee, who owns the Awfully Chocolate cakeshop chain, lives in a pre-war, three-storey shophouse in Tembeling Road, one of a row of 10 houses. She and her husband bought the ageing freehold property for $880,000 six years ago and have spent about $500,000 renovating it into a home for themselves and their three children. They do not intend to move. ‘It’s very important that someday, somebody won’t come and mow down three houses and build a pink-tiled monstrosity,’ she said. Some of her neighbours are considering upgrading the neighbourhood if it is eventually conserved. The 228 buildings proposed for conservation were chosen from about 1,000 buildings in the area that are more than 30 years old. More than 6,500 buildings have been conserved in Singapore. The announcement was bittersweet for interest group Historic Architecture Rescue Plan, which has been lobbying the Government to conserve various properties in the district. One – a 95-year-old Amber Road bungalow – could only be partly conserved. Earlier this year, its developer agreed to build a hybrid apartment block incorporating some elements of the old building, but it plans to tear down its much vaunted crescent-shaped section. Mr Mah told the ceremony guests that Singapore had to strike a constant balance between redevelopment and conservation. Six projects were singled out in the URA awards yesterday for sensitive or innovative restoration work, including the National Museum and Chek Jawa Visitor Centre in Pulau Ubin. Mr Mah also announced the URA would be enhancing various districts next year. These include a 4.9km waterfront promenade from Punggol Point to Sungei Serangoon and a coastal promenade in Woodlands. It will also improve roadside infrastructure in Siglap and Upper Serangoon Road. |
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I’d always been wowed by the remains of the Grand Hotel and when a client approached me for a site to build a boutique hotel with ’suitable character’, I’d approached the owner of the hotel. Am glad to see it on the list. For video news on the conservation of Katong, refer here:
Conservation similarly has an overlap with tourism- with many historied buildings receiving a second lease of life as a hotel. There’s the one in Colombo where Bandaranaike was shot, the hotels which combines socially responsible tourism by giving jobs to artisans and keeping alive an artisanal culture in Nepal, Pakistan and Egypt and the ones which are, well, famous just as hotels in Syria and an eagerly-anticipated re-opening in Turkey.