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Learn how Singapore will transform into a global city of sustainability with the Singapore Green Plan 2030.

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WWF Schools Programme Engage WWF-SG for school wide projects, thematic talks, outdoor learning programmes and career talks! As the national operator of the Eco-Schools Programme, a UNESCO recognised Environmental Education framework, WWF-Singapore equips students with essential knowledge and skills to spearhead environmental initiatives within their schools. WWF-Singapore strives to encourage Singapore schools to adopt more […]

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Debate Question:

“Is the current global climate crisis a result of human actions, or is it part of a natural cycle?”

2. The Science Behind Climate Change

Debate Question:

“Should governments rely more on scientific research or on public opinion when making decisions about climate change policies?”

3. The Role of Governments and Leaders

Debate Question:

“Is it more important for world leaders to focus on economic growth or to take immediate action against climate change?”

4. Climate Justice and Inequality

Debate Question:

“Should wealthier countries bear more responsibility for solving the climate crisis, considering they have contributed more to global pollution?”

5. The Power of Young People in Activism

Debate Question:

“Do young activists like Greta Thunberg have a moral obligation to lead climate movements, or should this responsibility lie with older generations?”

6. The Media’s Role in the Climate Crisis

Debate Question:

“Has the media effectively informed the public about the urgency of the climate crisis, or have they contributed to climate inaction?”

7. The Ethics of Climate Change

Debate Question:

“Is it ethical to prioritize economic development over the long-term health of the planet, even if it means damaging the environment in the short term?”

8. Global vs. Local Action

Debate Question:

“Should individual actions to combat climate change be emphasized more than global policies, or vice versa?”

9. The Role of Corporations

Debate Question:

“Are corporations doing enough to fight climate change, or are they more focused on greenwashing to improve their image?”

10. The Climate Crisis and Mental Health

Debate Question:

“Does the climate crisis contribute significantly to mental health problems, especially among young people, and should this be a bigger part of the conversation?”

11. Greta Thunberg’s Personal Experience and Leadership

Debate Question:

“Is it fair to place the burden of leading climate activism on one individual, or should the responsibility be shared more equally across society?”

12. The Future of Our Planet

Debate Question:

“If current climate change trends continue, what will be the most damaging consequence for future generations, and what can we do now to prevent it?”

These questions should spark thoughtful discussions and encourage students to engage critically with the material, both on an intellectual and emotional level.

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The Classwork Grade for SI  Classes 2023-24 (1)

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Singapore Green Plan 2030 to change the way people live, work, study and play

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The aim is to get the whole nation together as it seeks to transition into a more sustainable future. Read more at straitstimes.com.

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World Schools Debate | Explained | Vancouver Debate Academy

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This Michaelmas term, we are focusing on sustainable food and recognising its importance to planetary and human health.

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This Michaelmas term, we are focusing on sustainable food and recognising its importance to planetary and human health.

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Climate change protests and government accountability

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Climate change protests and government accountability

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The role of Indigenous communities in environmental protection

Eco-anxiety and how activism helps youth cope

Animal rights activism: Ethics and impact

Greenwashing: How companies use environmental activism as a PR tool

🧑🏾‍🤝‍🧑🏻 Social Justice Activism

Racial justice and the legacy of Black Lives Matter

Gender equality activism in the 21st century

The role of allies in social justice movements

The fight for Indigenous sovereignty and land rights

Activism against police brutality and mass incarceration

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‘I thought it was a speech by Kurt Vonnegut’: Baz Luhrmann on making Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen)

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‘Some kid had credited a column of life advice in the Chicago Tribune to the writer of Slaughterhouse-Five. It then spread on a new invention called the world wide web. I thought it would make a great spoken word song’

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Concept developped by an environmentalist

The objective was to make climate change accessible to everyone

This is a completely free activity

Since then other fresks have been created such as the plastic fresk, biodiversity, circular economy _

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The Climate Fresk NGO was created in December 2018 by Cédric Ringenbach in order to accelerate the spread of the tool, to train and upskill Climate Fresk facilitators who are the international community of Freskers.

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The Climate Fresk NGO was created in December 2018 by Cédric Ringenbach in order to accelerate the spread of the tool, to train and upskill Climate Fresk facilitators who are the international community of Freskers.

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Cédric RINGENBACH President and founding member of the association cedric.ringenbach@fresqueduclimat.org https://www.linkedin.com/in/cedringen/ Cédric Ringenbach has been President of the Board since 2018, with his current mandate running until 2025. As such, he nominates the Secretary General and the Treasurer. This year, ... Cédric Ringenbach Read More "

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Deforestation negatively impacts CO2 levels by reducing the amount of carbon absorbed by trees and releasing previously stored carbon into the atmosphere. When forests are cleared, less carbon dioxide is taken up by trees through photosynthesis, and the carbon stored in the trees and soil is released back into the atmosphere as CO2. This release of CO2 contributes to the greenhouse effect and global warming. 

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Deforestation negatively impacts CO2 levels by reducing the amount of carbon absorbed by trees and releasing previously stored carbon into the atmosphere. When forests are cleared, less carbon dioxide is taken up by trees through photosynthesis, and the carbon stored in the trees and soil is released back into the atmosphere as CO2. This release of CO2 contributes to the greenhouse effect and global warming. 

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Buildings (housing and commercial use) use fossil fuels and electricity. They account for 20% of greenhouse gas emissions.

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What is the average carbon footprint per person?

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What is the average carbon footprint per person?

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A carbon footprint is the total amount of greenhouse gases (including carbon dioxide and methane) that are generated by our actions. The average carbon footprint for a person in the United States is 16 tons, one of the highest rates in the world. Globally, the average carbon footprint is closer to 4 tons.

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A long-haul flight from Singapore to London, including the round trip, generates a significant carbon footprint, roughly 933kg of CO2.

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A long-haul flight from Singapore to London, including the round trip, generates a significant carbon footprint, roughly 933kg of CO2.

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Around 2.4% of global CO2 emissions come from aviation. Together with other gases and the water vapour trails produced by aircraft, the industry is responsible for around 5% of global warming.

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A return flight from London to San Francisco emits around 5.5 tonnes of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) per person – more than twice the emissions produced by a family car in a year, and about half of the average carbon footprint of someone living in Britain. Even a return flight from London to Berlin emits around 0.6 tonnes CO2e – three times the emissions saved from a year of recycling.

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Le simulateur de référence

Avec plus d'un million de tests complétés, nosgestesclimat.fr est le calculateur d'empreinte carbone personnel de référence.

L'empreinte climat, qu'est-ce que c'est ?

Le climat se réchauffe à cause des activités humaines, c'est un fait. Mais quel est notre impact, à notre échelle de citoyen ?

Pour estimer sa propre contribution au réchauffement de la planète (son "impact climat"), il est d'usage de calculer l'empreinte carbone individuelle de consommation.

Le principe est simple : pour chaque consommation (prendre sa voiture pour 10km, manger un steak, chauffer sa maison au gaz...), on décompte les émissions de gaz à effet de serre (les différents gaz qui réchauffent le climat terrestre) sur son cycle de vie. Par exemple, un bien acheté est fabriqué, puis utilisé, puis jeté et peut-être recyclé.

Au fil des questions portant sur tous les aspects de nos modes de vie, découpés en grands postes comme l'alimentation, le logement, ou le transport, le poids de chacune de vos consommations est ajouté pour constituer votre total, le bilan carbone personnel, à visualiser sur trois infographies.

Réduire son empreinte, dès maintenant !

Connaitre son empreinte c'est bien, savoir comment la réduire c'est mieux. Après 10 minutes de test, le parcours action vous permet de prioriser les éco-gestes pour réduire votre empreinte en faisant la part des choses entre les petits gestes pour le climat (remplacer nos ampoules, éteindre nos appareils en veille), et les grands gestes (manger moins de viande, électrifier nos usages...) qui ont un impact significatif.

Bien entendu, même s'il est incontournable de mesurer l'empreinte d'une consommation et d'en comprendre l'ampleur par rapport au budget climat, il arrive souvent qu'elle ne soit pas complètement de notre ressort personnel : par exemple, je suis locataire en zone tendue et mon propriétaire refuse d'isoler mon appartement.

Vous remarquerez également qu'atteindre au plus vite l'objectif de 2 tonnes de CO₂ₑ par personne est une tâche ardue. Mais n'oubliez pas vous ne serez pas seuls à cheminer vers un mode de vie bas carbone : il s'agit d'une transformation collective qui engage l'État, les collectivités, les entreprises, et la société dans son ensemble.

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Votre calculateur d'empreinte carbone personnelle - Nos Gestes Climat

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Connaissez-vous votre empreinte sur le climat ? Faites le test et découvrez comment réduire votre empreinte carbone sur le climat.

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Radiative forcing is a concept used in climate science to quantify the change in energy balance in Earth's atmosphere. It represents the difference between the amount of energy entering the atmosphere (such as solar radiation) and the amount leaving it (such as infrared radiation).

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Radiative forcing is a concept used in climate science to quantify the change in energy balance in Earth's atmosphere. It represents the difference between the amount of energy entering the atmosphere (such as solar radiation) and the amount leaving it (such as infrared radiation).

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Impacts:

Reduced Soil Fertility: Salinization can severely reduce the amount of nutrients available to plants, making it difficult for crops to grow.

Reduced Crop Yield and Quality: The accumulation of salts can negatively affect plant growth, reducing both crop yield and quality.

Soil Degradation: Salinization can disrupt soil structure and aggregate stability, leading to further degradation.

Environmental Damage: Salinization can harm other ecosystems, including freshwater ecosystems, and affect the overall health of the environment.

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What is the Paris Agreement goal for 2050?

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What is the Paris Agreement goal for 2050?

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Currently, the Earth is already about 1.2°C warmer than it was in the late 1800s, and emissions continue to rise. To keep global warming to no more than 1.5°C – as called for in the Paris Agreement – emissions need to be reduced by 45% by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050.

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The global average carbon footprint per person is around 4.8 metric tons of CO2 equivalent per year. This is equivalent to driving an SUV for 18 months or taking two round-trip flights between Singapore and New York. To have a good chance of limiting global warming to 2°C, this average needs to drop to under 2 tons by 2050. 

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The global average carbon footprint per person is around 4.8 metric tons of CO2 equivalent per year. This is equivalent to driving an SUV for 18 months or taking two round-trip flights between Singapore and New York. To have a good chance of limiting global warming to 2°C, this average needs to drop to under 2 tons by 2050. 

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The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change, adopted in 2015 by the UNFCCC. It aims to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels, with the goal of pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit). The agreement requires all countries to set emissions reduction pledges (Nationally Determined Contributions or NDCs) and to strengthen their commitments over time. 

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The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change, adopted in 2015 by the UNFCCC. It aims to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels, with the goal of pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit). The agreement requires all countries to set emissions reduction pledges (Nationally Determined Contributions or NDCs) and to strengthen their commitments over time. 

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Yes, Greta Thunberg is credited with starting the Fridays for Future movement. In 2018, she began a school strike outside the Swedish parliament, protesting the lack of climate action, and inspired others to join her. The movement quickly grew globally, with students and activists organizing strikes every Friday

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Yes, Greta Thunberg is credited with starting the Fridays for Future movement. In 2018, she began a school strike outside the Swedish parliament, protesting the lack of climate action, and inspired others to join her. The movement quickly grew globally, with students and activists organizing strikes every Friday

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Can Semakau Landfill's lifespan be extended with full capacity looming?

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More than half of Singapore's only landfill has been filled up. Read more at straitstimes.com.

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Singapore's domestic recycling rate stalls at 12%, the lowest in over a decade

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In 2023, each person in Singapore threw out 0.88kg of rubbish a day, down from the 0.9kg in 2022. Read more at straitstimes.com.

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15% is not much, but it varies a lot depending on the country and lifestyle. In Western countries, the share of transportation, especially air travel, can account for a significant part of people's carbon footprint. If you take one or more long haul flights a year, that's the bulk of your carbon footprint.

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The global average carbon footprint needs to drop significantly to under 2 tons per person by 2050 to avoid a 2°C rise in global temperatures. Individual footprints are often much higher, with the average in the US being around 16 tons. 

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The global average carbon footprint needs to drop significantly to under 2 tons per person by 2050 to avoid a 2°C rise in global temperatures. Individual footprints are often much higher, with the average in the US being around 16 tons. 

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LONGLISTED FOR THE ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE AND THE JOYCE CAROL OATES PRIZE

NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY TIME, TOWN & COUNTRY, KIRKUS, ELECTRIC LITERATURE AND BOOKPAGE!

"Stunning…epic…impressive…It is a pleasure to simply live alongside these characters.”—The New York Times

"A deep and powerful love story."—NBC The Today Show

"A beautifully written novel. I loved so much in this book: the richly imagined setting, the complicated love story, and the heartbreaking way history can tear apart a family." —Ann Napolitano, New York Times bestselling author of Hello Beautiful

Set against a changing Singapore, a sweeping novel about one boy’s unique gifts and the childhood love that will complicate the fate of his community and country

Ah Boon is born into a fishing village amid the heat and beauty of twentieth-century coastal Singapore in the waning years of British rule. He is a gentle boy who is not much interested in fishing, preferring to spend his days playing with the neighbor girl, Siok Mei. But when he discovers he has the unique ability to locate bountiful, movable islands that no one else can find, he feels a new sense of obligation and possibility—something to offer the community and impress the spirited girl he has come to love.

By the time they are teens, Ah Boon and Siok Mei are caught in the tragic sweep of history: the Japanese army invades, the resistance rises, grief intrudes, and the future of the fishing village is in jeopardy. As the nation hurtles toward rebirth, the two friends, newly empowered, must decide who they want to be, and what they are willing to give up.

An aching love story and powerful coming-of-age that reckons with the legacy of British colonialism, the World War II Japanese occupation, and the pursuit of modernity, The Great Reclamation confronts the wounds of progress, the sacrifices of love, and the difficulty of defining home when nature and nation collide, literally shifting the land beneath people’s feet.

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The Great Reclamation A Novel (books-here.com).pdf

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It is certain that land-scarce Singapore will press ahead with reclamation to meet the demands of its growing population in the foreseeable future. In the 2013 Land Use Plan, the Ministry of National Development has noted that there is a need to provide an additional 5,600 hectares of land by 2030. This is to accommodate the expected increase in population, rising from the present 5.7 million to between 6.5 and 6.9 million.

But there are limits to land reclamation – the rising cost of imported sand, the deleterious impact on the ecosystem and the encroachment of shipping lanes and territorial limits, among others. As an aggressive land reclamation programme is not tenable in the long term, Singapore is looking at other ways of maximising its land space; this includes the development of reserve land, intensifying land usage in new developments, and reusing and rezoning old industrial areas and golf courses for more productive purposes.52

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Over two centuries, Singapore expanded its land by 25% through reclamation, transforming its geography for urban development and addressing space constraints. The process began in the 1820s and escalated post-independence, significantly shaping residential, commercial, and industrial areas.

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Everything about the english version of La Fresque des Nouveaux Récits

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IPCC — Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

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IPCC — Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

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Equity and equality are distinct concepts:

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Equity and equality are distinct concepts:

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Equality means providing the same resources or opportunities to everyone, ensuring that everyone is treated the same.

Equity, on the other hand, involves recognizing that individuals have different circumstances and allocating resources accordingly to achieve fair outcomes.

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Until you start focusing on what needs to be done rather than what is

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Until you start focusing on what needs to be done rather than what is

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politically possible, there’s no hope. We cannot solve a crisis without

treating it as a crisis. We need to keep the fossil fuels in the ground and we

need to focus on equity

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Difference Between Paris Agreement And Kyoto Protocol for UPSC

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Paris Agreement signed during CoP-21 is not legally obligatory, while the Kyoto Protocol signed during COP-3 is a legal obligation for the signing parties.

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The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the leading international body for assessment of climate change. It is a key source of scientific information and technical guidance to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and Paris Agreement.

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The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the leading international body for assessment of climate change. It is a key source of scientific information and technical guidance to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and Paris Agreement.

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From 1995 and on, the UNFCCC Secretariat organizes an annual Conference of Parties (COP) toward the end of every year, under the terms defined by the Framework Convention. In each of these COPs, representatives from the ratifying nations (Parties) would gather for two weeks to negotiate and establish the international mechanisms and policies of tackling the runaway greenhouse gas emissions and the consequences, based on the scientific assessments and findings issued by IPCC.

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From 1995 and on, the UNFCCC Secretariat organizes an annual Conference of Parties (COP) toward the end of every year, under the terms defined by the Framework Convention. In each of these COPs, representatives from the ratifying nations (Parties) would gather for two weeks to negotiate and establish the international mechanisms and policies of tackling the runaway greenhouse gas emissions and the consequences, based on the scientific assessments and findings issued by IPCC.

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UNFCCC stands for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. It is an international agreement adopted by 197 Parties (196 countries and the EU). The UNFCCC is the foundation for intergovernmental action to address climate change. (1994)

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UNFCCC stands for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. It is an international agreement adopted by 197 Parties (196 countries and the EU). The UNFCCC is the foundation for intergovernmental action to address climate change. (1994)

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The Kyoto Protocol is an international treaty that builds upon the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It was adopted in 1997 and commits industrialized countries and economies in transition to limit and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

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The Kyoto Protocol is an international treaty that builds upon the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It was adopted in 1997 and commits industrialized countries and economies in transition to limit and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

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The Paris Agreement, a legally binding international treaty on climate change, aims to limit global temperature increases to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, with efforts to limit the increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius. It requires countries to regularly review and update their emissions reduction pledges, known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), every five years.

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The Paris Agreement, a legally binding international treaty on climate change, aims to limit global temperature increases to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, with efforts to limit the increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius. It requires countries to regularly review and update their emissions reduction pledges, known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), every five years.

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Let's be real, coral reefs are more than just pretty underwater postcards. They are our underwater cities, where over 250 species of hard corals and more than 100 species of reef fish have been recorded right here in Singapore. They buffer our shores from waves, sustain fisheries, and provide a unique window into the rich biodiversity of Singapore's marine life. But human activity is quickly tipping the balance.

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Let's be real, coral reefs are more than just pretty underwater postcards. They are our underwater cities, where over 250 species of hard corals and more than 100 species of reef fish have been recorded right here in Singapore. They buffer our shores from waves, sustain fisheries, and provide a unique window into the rich biodiversity of Singapore's marine life. But human activity is quickly tipping the balance.

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Closer to home, record high temperatures and even oil spills threatened Singapore’s reefs, with 2024 witnessing a harrowing 40% of coral reefs bleached across our Southern Islands. Coral reefs are only 1% of the sea, but home to 25% of

Coral reefs are only 1% of the sea, but home to 25% of marine life. Learn how corals support the ocean and people.

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"Angmoh" is a colloquial Singlish term used to refer to Caucasians, particularly those of Western origin. It's a shortened version of the Hokkien phrase "红毛" (hóng máo), which literally means "red-haired man". Historically, this term was used to describe Europeans with red hair, but it has evolved to encompass all Caucasians

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she says. “I wanted to write about how Singapore came to be the place that I grew up in, and what choices and sacrifices had been made along the way.”

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she says. “I wanted to write about how Singapore came to be the place that I grew up in, and what choices and sacrifices had been made along the way.”

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I’ve always been interested in land reclamation. I went to Ngee Ann Primary in Marine Parade, which is built on reclaimed land. And I remember being in probably Primary One, and the teacher saying, “This floor that we’re on right now – this used to be the sea.” This idea that the land didn’t used to be there until quite recently, or that you could make land where there wasn’t land seemed really exhilarating, but also a frightening thing for a child to hear. And I think that feeling kind of persisted throughout my life in Singapore, because you do see the landscape shift so much when you grow up here, and probably less so in my generation, much more so in the past.

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My mom grew up in one of the crowded wooden [shop]houses on the five-footway. And she said whenever someone on the street got an HDB flat, the whole street would go and look at the flat when they moved in. And she knew all these details, like [the flooring] comes with linoleum, but if you can, you should put tiles. Or like the windows were a certain way, but you could change them. And then people would put tarps on the kitchen window.

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My mom grew up in one of the crowded wooden [shop]houses on the five-footway. And she said whenever someone on the street got an HDB flat, the whole street would go and look at the flat when they moved in. And she knew all these details, like [the flooring] comes with linoleum, but if you can, you should put tiles. Or like the windows were a certain way, but you could change them. And then people would put tarps on the kitchen window.

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Back then I knew I wanted to write a historical novel that was about nation formation, how modern Singapore came to be. Thinking about the sand receding, it felt ironic. So much effort had gone into making this, surmounting the limitations of physical reality, only to be faced with the powerful force of climate change and rising sea levels.

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Back then I knew I wanted to write a historical novel that was about nation formation, how modern Singapore came to be. Thinking about the sand receding, it felt ironic. So much effort had gone into making this, surmounting the limitations of physical reality, only to be faced with the powerful force of climate change and rising sea levels.

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“Gah Men” is a Singlish corruption of “government”; Heng fancifully extends the lingo here, designating people in the civil service as “Gah Men” and “Gah Women.”

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6.9 million by 2030 (Singapore’s population)

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6.9 million by 2030 (Singapore’s population)

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None of these countries have zero emissions, however, they each have self-declared government data showing that they remove as much or more carbon from the atmosphere as they emit.

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None of these countries have zero emissions, however, they each have self-declared government data showing that they remove as much or more carbon from the atmosphere as they emit.

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Which countries will achieve zero carbon emissions by 2050?

As of May 2025, according to Net Zero Tracker, there are 15 individual countries that have written in law that they will become net-zero or climate neutral by (or before) 2050.

Canada

Germany

Denmark

Spain

Fiji

France

United Kingdom

Hungary

Ireland

Japan

South Korea

Luxembourg

New Zealand

Portugal

Sweden

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Insulating our homes and relying less on central heating. Adjusting our thermostats down by 2 degrees.

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Insulating our homes and relying less on central heating. Adjusting our thermostats down by 2 degrees.

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Switching from petrol and diesel cars to hybrid and electric cars or electric bikes.

Driving less and making more use of car pools, public transport - or walking and cycling where possible.

Using less hot water by taking shorter showers and washing laundry in cold water

Recycling and reusing whenever possible.

Turning off lights and electrical devices when not in use.

Buying energy-efficient and environmentally friendly products and appliances whenever possible.

Planting more trees.

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Insulating our homes and relying less on central heating. Adjusting our thermostats down by 2 degrees.

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Insulating our homes and relying less on central heating. Adjusting our thermostats down by 2 degrees.

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Switching from petrol and diesel cars to hybrid and electric cars or electric bikes.

Driving less and making more use of car pools, public transport - or walking and cycling where possible.

Using less hot water by taking shorter showers and washing laundry in cold water

Recycling and reusing whenever possible.

Turning off lights and electrical devices when not in use.

Buying energy-efficient and environmentally friendly products and appliances whenever possible.

Planting more trees.

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32K views · 710 reactions | Glacier collapse buries Swiss village | NHK WORLD-JAPAN

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The Great Reclamation was written in 2023

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The Great Reclamation was written in 2023

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Thanks to land reclamation, the tiny red dot has broadened its shores substantially. Lim Tin Seng discovers just how much Singapore has grown since colonial times.

Aerial photograph of ongoing reclamation work in Tuas. Photo by Richard W. J. Koh. All rights reserved, Koh, T. (2015). Over Singapore (pp. 108-109). Singapore: Editions Didier Millet.

Over the past two centuries, Singapore's land area has expanded by a whopping 25 percent - from 58,150 to 71,910 hectares (or 578 to 719 sq km). This gradual increase in land surface is not because of tectonic movements or divine intervention, but rather the miracle of a man-made engineering feat known as land reclamation.

The quest for land is as old as time immemorial; one of the reasons nations go to war is to gain new territory to support a growing population. Land-scarce Singapore, however, has elected to create new land by reclaiming it from the rivers and the seas.

Boat Quay: The First Reclamation Project

Many people think of land reclamation in Singapore as a fairly recent phenomenon, but in actual fact the earliest reclamation project took place in colonial times. When Stamford Raffles landed at the mouth of the Singapore River in January 1819, the lay of the land was vastly different from what we see today. The river was flanked by mangrove swamps and mosquito-infested jungle, and what is now Telok Ayer Street and Beach Road were coastal areas that hugged the sea.

This lithograph (c. 1850) by Lieutenant Edwin Augustus Porcher from the British Royal Navy shows the view as seen from South Boat Quay, where Singapore's first reclamation took place in 1822. Courtesy of the National Museum of Singapore, National Heritage Board.

It did not take long for the British to get down to business. Singapore was officially claimed by Raffles as a colony, and just four years later, the island witnessed the first of its many topographic transformations.

The first land reclamation project in Singapore took place in 1822 at the south bank of the Singapore River. Initially, Raffles had eyed the Esplanade-Rochor River beach front, north of Singapore River, as the commercial district. But as the area was unsuitable for shipping activities due to shallow waters and the surf, Raffles altered his town plan accordingly.

As the south bank occupied a lowlying marsh that was prone to flooding, a hillock near where Battery Road is located today was levelled to provide earth to fill the wetlands. About 300 coolies were hired to carry out the work and an embankment was built along the river's edge to prevent the water from overflowing into the land. The process took about four months and gave rise to a crescent-shaped area known today as Boat Quay. This, together with what was left of the hillock, became Commercial Square - and eventually, Raffles Place - the heart of the commercial district as mapped out in Raffles' 1822 town plan of Singapore.

Collyer Quay: Creating the Waterfront

Boat Quay and Commercial Square grew rapidly. By the late 1860s, the mercantile community had outgrown the site, spilling over to another reclaimed strip of land to the south. Known as Collyer Quay, this stretch - from Johnston's Pier to the old Telok Ayer Market - was reclaimed between 1859 and 1864. This was part of a scheme conceived by the Municipal Engineer, George Chancellor Collyer.

Named after George Chancellor Collyer, then Chief Engineer of the Straits Settlements, Collyer Quay was built on reclaimed land by convict labour and completed in 1864. Courtesy of National Archives of Singapore.

Collyer wanted to build a seawall to serve as a landing site and a road behind it so that merchants could have their establishments facing the waterfront. This would not only improve the "aspect of Singapore's waterfront", but also allow the merchants to keep an eye on the movement of ships carrying their goods. Indeed, some of the first buildings constructed along Collyer Quay were linked at the second storey by a verandah that faced the sea. Peons armed with telescopes would be stationed along the verandah to announce the arrival of their company ships.

As work on the foundation of the seawall could be carried out only when the tide was at its lowest ebb, an occurrence that took place once every fortnight, the reclamation proceeded at a glacial pace. It took three years for the seawall to be completed and another year to lay the road behind it.

First Reclamation at Telok Ayer: Redrawing the Coastline

This reclamation project was a complex one as the Public Works Department (PWD) had to blast out parts of Mount Wallich and Mount Palmer in order to create an opening into Tanjong Pagar. The earth from the excavations was then used as landfill to create Telok Ayer Bay. The work was tedious as the hills were rocky and the sides had to be cut and graded. In addition, the shoreline had to be drained while keeping a section of it accessible so that fishermen could continue their trade. By 1886, the stretch extending into Cecil Street was completed, allowing the colonial government to start leasing the reclaimed land to merchants.

Second Reclamation at Telok Ayer: An Unexpected Tidal Basin

As merchants moved into the reclaimed lands of Telok Ayer, commercial activities began to expand westward. This led to the development of Tanjong Pagar and the growing importance of New Harbour (renamed Keppel Harbour in 1900) as the main port-of-call in Singapore. However, many traders, especially those using smaller vessels such as prows and junks, still preferred to anchor near the Singapore River as it was closer to Commercial Square.

Between 1893 and 1903, the arrival of such vessels mushroomed from 7,062 to 10,974, causing the Singapore River to become congested and polluted. In October 1898, a Commission was appointed to address this problem. The report, issued in June 1899, recommended that a new harbour be built along Raffles Quay, precipitating the second reclamation project at Telok Ayer.

The plan for the new harbour, unveiled in 1902 and revised in 1904, was drafted by the engineering firm Coode, Son & Matthews, and entailed reclaiming an 88-acre tract with a 5,000-ft long seawall that stretched from Johnston's Pier to Tanjong Malang where Palmer Road stands today. The initial plans were more ambitious but, in the end, the authorities decided to scale back their plans due to budgetary constraints.

Work began smoothly at first but in 1910, problems began to surface when dredging operations commenced. When engineers discovered that the seawall was sinking, work was suspended. At the time, 65 out of the 88 acres of land had been reclaimed and 4,120 feet of the seawall erected. However, as the construction of the seawall had been carried out simultaneously on both ends, the engineers were left with an incomplete seawall and a gaping 880-ft space in between.

An aerial view of the Central Business District in the 1950s with the octagonal-shaped Telok Ayer Market (Lau Pa Sat) on the left and Clifford Pier jutting out into the sea on the right. In the foreground is Telok Ayer Basin where small vessels once anchored. The tidal basin was eventually reclaimed in the 1970s. © Urban Redevelopment Authority. All rights reserved.

Kallang Basin and Beach Road

The hefty cost of the Telok Ayer Tidal Basin project did not stop the colonial government from commissioning more reclamations. In August 1931, it unveiled a massive reclamation project at Kallang Basin for the construction of Kallang Airport. Costing 9 million Straits dollars, it involved the reclamation of 339 acres of mangrove swamp dubbed "the worst mosquito-infested land on the island". Due to the complexity and cost, the PWD was asked to lead the project. And perhaps to prevent the repetition of the Telok Ayer Basin fiasco, the PWD first carried out extensive soil surveys. It also allowed large areas of the basin to dry out completely first before filling it.

The filling operation started in May 1932 using a workforce of over 400 coolies. When completed in October 1936, the construction of the airport had already started. Comprising a terminal building, two hangars, a circular landing field and a slipway for seaplanes, it occupied almost three quarters of the 339 acres of reclaimed land. The remaining land was set aside for the airport's future expansion. Kallang Airport was declared opened in June 1937 by Governor Shenton Thomas, who declared it the "finest airport in the world". PWD Director Major R. L. Nunn said that it was an "audacious engineering achievement".

Even as Kallang Basin was being reclaimed, the authorities had embarked on another project in June 1932. This would add 47 acres to the Beach Road Reclamation site to create a foreshore that would stretch from Stamford Road to Rochor River. The site, also known as Raffles Reclamation Ground, was created by two earlier reclamations that took place in the 1840s and 1890s. The reclaimed land was used to build Alhambra and Marlborough cinemas, Beach Road police station, and the Singapore Volunteer Corps Headquarters and Drill Hall (the former Beach Road Camp). The open land also regularly hosted football matches and circus shows.

This latest reclamation plan would turn the Beach Road shoreline into a "new waterfront", with a bridge built over Stamford Canal to provide a "waterfront drive" from Anderson Bridge to Kallang. To complement this vision, a 6-acre reclamation project was commissioned in 1939 to enlarge the Esplanade along Connaught Drive to create a 600-yard tract linking Anderson Bridge to Stamford Canal.

The Beach Road and Esplanade reclamations were completed at a cost of about 1.2 million Straits dollars. However, the waterfront vision did not materialise until after World War II when Merdeka Bridge (now Nicoll Highway) was built and the Esplanade reclamation site was turned into a park known as Queen Elizabeth Walk (now Esplanade Park).

The Kallang Basin and Beach Road reclamations would be the last major land reclamation projects in colonial Singapore. It would take another 30 years before any more new land would be reclaimed from the sea. In total, about 300 hectares (3 sq km) were added during the colonial period. While this is not a figure to be sniffed at given the technology available at the time, it would be dwarfed by the island's post-Independence reclamation activities. Between 1965 and 2015, Singapore would reclaim an astounding 13,800 hectares (138 sq km) of land.

East Coast: The Great Reclamation

The first major post-Independence reclamation project was the East Coast Reclamation. Dubbed the "Great Reclamation", it added a 1,525-hectare tract along the southeastern coast of the island. The project was undertaken by the Housing and Development Board (HDB), one of three government agencies appointed to carry out land reclamation in Singapore. But first, before any work began, a pilot project was carried out by the HDB in 1963 to reclaim 48 acres in the Bedok area.

Work on the East Coast Reclamation site began officially in 1966 and would continue for a remarkable 30 years over seven phases. Phases I and II from Bedok to the tip of Tanjong Rhu took place between 1966 and 1971, resulting in 458 hectares of land as well as a 9-km stretch of sandy beach. Phases III and IV began simultaneously in 1971 at both ends of the newly reclaimed East Coast strip. When work was completed in 1975, Phase III had added 67 hectares of land to the foreshore fronting Tanjong Rhu and Queen Elizabeth Walk, while Phase IV added 486 hectares from Bedok to Tanah Merah Besar.

Phase V involved the reclamation of Telok Ayer Basin. Starting in 1974, it extended the already reclaimed foreshore by 34 hectares and expanded the basin.

On completion of this phase in 1977, the reclamation formed a new site known as Marina Centre and a massive lagoon. This was followed by another two phases in 1979 - Phases VI and VII - which extended the newly reclaimed foreshores of Tanjong Rhu and Telok Ayer Basin to create Marina East and Marina South respectively. Together with Marina Centre, these plots formed a 660-hectare reclaimed site called Marina City and later Marina Bay.

The total cost of the East Coast project was $613 million. Fill materials were obtained from multiple sources, including Siglap Plain and the hills in Bedok and Tampines, where the earth was cut by bucket wheel excavators before being transported by a conveyor belt to a jetty off Bedok. There, the earth was loaded onto barges and transported to fill the area to be reclaimed. The entire operation was carried out around the clock, with headlands constructed at regular intervals off the reclaimed coast to protect the newly formed shoreline.

The reclaimed lands were used largely for commercial and residential purposes. In the east coast, housing estates such as Marine Parade and Katong sprang up, providing accommodation for an estimated 100,000 residents. To link the housing estates as well as the commercial centres in Siglap, Joo Chiat and Bedok to the city, a major arterial road, the East Coast Parkway, was constructed along the newly reclaimed coast. Parallel to the expressway, a linear park was built to provide recreational space for residents. Today, East Coast Park comprises 185 hectares of parkland and a scenic 15-km beach.

The East Coast district of Singapore with Katong in the foreground. Marine Parade stretches from the flyover to the lagoon near Bedok Jetty. The strip parallel to Marine Parade Road with the highrises is land that has been reclaimed from the sea. Photo by Richard W. J. Koh. All rights reserved, Koh, T. (2015). Over Singapore (pp. 140-141). Singapore: Editions Didier Millet.

The other end of the reclaimed land around Marina Bay was to provide space in time to come for the expansion of the city centre. Amazingly, the idea of this new downtown core was conceived several decades before the first soaring skyscrapers arose here in the 21st century. Today, the Marina Bay area has become the new downtown with a stunning waterfront setting and a mix of office and commercial developments, a mega hotel and casino resort, high-rise luxury apartments, and gardens and parkland.

The East Coast Reclamation, which began in 1966, was carried out over seven phases spanning some 30 years. The project culminated in the creation of Marina Bay in the mid-2000s. In the background of this photograph taken in 1976 are the beginnings of the Marina Bay reclamation site taking shape, with the east coast in the far distance. © Urban Redevelopment Authority. All rights reserved.

To make this a reality, further reclamation was carried out around the bay between 1990 and 1992 to create an urban waterfront promenade. This 38-hectare project involved filling up Telok Ayer Basin as well as extending Collyer Quay and the shoreline of Marina South facing Marina Bay.

Other Reclamation Projects by HDB

While the east coast was being reclaimed, the HDB simultaneously carried out reclamation projects elsewhere on the island. In 1963, the reclamation of Kallang Basin began, with some 400 hectares of its swampland filled using earth taken from Toa Payoh. Completed in 1971, the site was used for public housing and industrial development.

Next, the HDB reclaimed a stretch along Singapore's west coast between 1976 and 1978 to create 89 hectares of land for the development of Clementi New Town. Along with it, the West Coast Highway was constructed to link Jurong with the eastern part of the island. The fill materials for this project were excavated from Clementi.

This was followed by several other reclamation projects: the addition of 44 hectares of land along the coast of Pasir Ris between 1979 and 1980, 277 hectares of swampland off Punggol between 1983 and 1986 as well as the reclamation of 685 hectares of foreshore and swampland along the northeast coast from Pasir Ris to Seletar between 1985 and 2001.

The latter included the reclamation of 155 hectares from the foreshore of Coney Island and Punggol. Fill materials for these projects were either imported or obtained from sites in Woodlands, Tampines, Pasir Ris, Yishun, Seletar and Zhenghua. Much of the new land was reserved for public housing and recreational purposes.

Additionally, the HDB embarked on reclamation projects for other government agencies. For instance, between 1990 and 1995, it reclaimed about 30 hectares of land in the north and northwest for the Ministry of Home Affairs to expand the Woodlands Checkpoint and construct the new Tuas Checkpoint respectively. The HDB also carried out reclamation works for the Singapore Tourism Board and Ministry of National Development on Pulau Ubin and the Southern Islands.

Between 1965 and 2015, the HDB reclaimed 3,869 hectares of land - roughly one third of the total reclaimed land on the island. The rest were overseen by two other government agencies, the Jurong Town Corporation (JTC) and the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore.

New Lands for Industries: JTC

The reclamation projects undertaken by JTC in the west of the island were mainly for industries. The earliest project took place in 1963 to reclaim 46 hectares of land for the Jurong Industrial Site. This was followed by a string of reclamations in the 1970s that added over 2,000 hectares in Jurong and Tuas. These lands were used for the expansion of the industrial estate as well as for the construction of shipyards to support the marine sector. In the late 80s, the Tuas site was further extended by 650 hectares, and a golf course and a park subsequently added to inject some greenery to an otherwise industrial area.

JTC's reclamation works also extended to the islands off the southwestern coast. From the late 1980s, Pulau Bukom and Pulau Busing were enlarged, while Pulau Ayer Merbau, Pulau Seraya and Pulau Sakra were merged with the surrounding islets to provide new land. Most of these reclaimed islands were used for the petrochemical industry.

As the industry grew, JTC embarked on a reclamation scheme of mega proportions in 1993, merging seven southwestern islands - Pulau Merlimau, Pulau Ayer Chawan, Pulau Ayer Merbau, Pulau Seraya, Pulau Sakra, Pulau Pesek and Pulau Pesek Kecil - into a single entity called Jurong Island. The massive project was carried out in four stages at a cost of $6 billion. When completed in 2003, Jurong Island gave Singapore a substantial 3,000 hectares of new industrial space. Today, Jurong Island is home to more than 100 petroleum, petrochemical and speciality chemical companies.

New Lands for Infrastructure and Recreation: MPA

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) - formerly Port of Singapore Authority or PSA - reclaimed land primarily to develop the Port of Singapore and Changi Airport. Its earliest project took place in 1967 when 23 hectares of land were reclaimed to build Singapore's first container terminal at Keppel Harbour. The Tanjong Pagar Container Terminal opened in 1971 with three container berths.

PSA's reclamation works for Changi Airport began in 1975 when it supervised the reclamation of 745 hectares of land along Changi coast for the construction of the airport. The adjoining seabed provided the fill material. In 1990, another massive reclamation was carried out for the expansion of Changi Airport as well as for mixed-use developments in the area.

Since the first reclamation works began in 1822, Singapore's land area has expanded by almost 25 percent from 58,150 to 71,910 hectares. The areas shaded in pink indicate how much has been reclaimed thus far. The areas in red show possible plans for future reclamation and indicate how much of the island's original coastline may change by 2030 if these plans come to fruition. Map source: https://blogs.ntu.edu.sg/hp331-2014-10/?page_id=7

The plans were updated in 1998 - by which time PSA had been renamed MPA - to reclaim over 2,000 hectares of land at Changi East. About 820 hectares were allocated for the development of a fourth terminal and a third runway, while 125 hectares and 639 hectares were reserved for the Changi Naval Base and industries respectively. The reclamation was carried over five phases from 1992 to 2004.

Like HDB, the MPA has been helping other government agencies to reclaim islands around Singapore. Using dredged materials from ongoing reclamation projects, which would otherwise be dumped into the sea, public beaches and recreational waterfronts were created at the foreshore of the Southern Islands. On St John's Island, Lazarus Island, Sisters' Island and Kusu Island, facilities such as landing jetties, chalets, beach shelters and sanitary facilities were built on the reclaimed land. Over in Sentosa, reclaimed land has been used to build hotels and a golf course, and to create new beaches.

The Future

It is certain that land-scarce Singapore will press ahead with reclamation to meet the demands of its growing population in the foreseeable future. In the 2013 Land Use Plan, the Ministry of National Development has noted that there is a need to provide an additional 5,600 hectares of land by 2030. This is to accommodate the expected increase in population, rising from the present 5.7 million to between 6.5 and 6.9 million.

But there are limits to land reclamation - the rising cost of imported sand, the deleterious impact on the ecosystem and the encroachment of shipping lanes and territorial limits, among others. As an aggressive land reclamation programme is not tenable in the long term, Singapore is looking at other ways of maximising its land space; this includes the development of reserve land, intensifying land usage in new developments, and reusing and rezoning old industrial areas and golf courses for more productive purposes.

LAND RECLAMATION: HOW DOES IT WORK?

The proposed site for reclamation is first investigated to determine seabed conditions, availability of fill materials as well as the shape and alignment of the reclaimed area. Environmental studies are then carried out to assess the impact on water quality, water level, tidal flow, sedimentation and marine life.

Work proper begins with the erection of containment dykes made of sand and rock around the perimeter of the area to be reclaimed. Materials such as cut-hill soil, sand and clay are then transported from other sites to fill the enclosed area. The newly reclaimed land must be allowed to settle naturally over time before any structures can be built. In most cases, however, the process is speeded up with soil improvement methods.

Reclamation work taking place at Pasir Panjang. With rising costs and restrictions on sand exports placed by neighbouring countries, Singapore has turned to technology to try reduce the amount of sand needed for reclamation work. Photo by Ria Tan. Courtesy of WildSingapore.

Since the first reclamation project carried out in 1822, fill materials have traditionally comprised soil excavated from inland hills and sand dredged from surrounding seabeds. By the mid-1980s, however, these resources began to run out and Singapore had to import sand from neighbouring countries. This soon became a problem when the cost of foreign sand skyrocketed from less than $20 per sq m in the 1970s to $200 per sq m in the 90s. The situation hit crisis levels when Malaysia and Indonesia banned the export of sand to Singapore in 1997 and 2007 respectively.

Although Singapore had to turn to other countries for sand, it recently developed a more sustainable method that has reduced the amount of sand needed for reclamation works. Called empoldering, it has since been successfully deployed by the HDB for the on-going reclamation of Pulau Tekong.

Lim Tin Seng is a Librarian with the National Library, Singapore. He is the co-editor of Roots: Tracing Family Histories - A Resource Guide (2013); Harmony and Development: ASEAN-China Relations (2009) and China's New Social Policy: Initiatives for a Harmonious Society (2010). He is also a regular contributor to BiblioAsia.

NOTES

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Thanks to land reclamation, the tiny red dot has broadened its shores substantially. Lim Tin Seng discovers just how much Singapore has grown since colonial times.

Aerial photograph of ongoing reclamation work in Tuas. Photo by Richard W. J. Koh. All rights reserved, Koh, T. (2015). Over Singapore (pp. 108-109). Singapore: Editions Didier Millet.

Over the past two centuries, Singapore's land area has expanded by a whopping 25 percent - from 58,150 to 71,910 hectares (or 578 to 719 sq km). This gradual increase in land surface is not because of tectonic movements or divine intervention, but rather the miracle of a man-made engineering feat known as land reclamation.

The quest for land is as old as time immemorial; one of the reasons nations go to war is to gain new territory to support a growing population. Land-scarce Singapore, however, has elected to create new land by reclaiming it from the rivers and the seas.

Boat Quay: The First Reclamation Project

Many people think of land reclamation in Singapore as a fairly recent phenomenon, but in actual fact the earliest reclamation project took place in colonial times. When Stamford Raffles landed at the mouth of the Singapore River in January 1819, the lay of the land was vastly different from what we see today. The river was flanked by mangrove swamps and mosquito-infested jungle, and what is now Telok Ayer Street and Beach Road were coastal areas that hugged the sea.

This lithograph (c. 1850) by Lieutenant Edwin Augustus Porcher from the British Royal Navy shows the view as seen from South Boat Quay, where Singapore's first reclamation took place in 1822. Courtesy of the National Museum of Singapore, National Heritage Board.

It did not take long for the British to get down to business. Singapore was officially claimed by Raffles as a colony, and just four years later, the island witnessed the first of its many topographic transformations.

The first land reclamation project in Singapore took place in 1822 at the south bank of the Singapore River. Initially, Raffles had eyed the Esplanade-Rochor River beach front, north of Singapore River, as the commercial district. But as the area was unsuitable for shipping activities due to shallow waters and the surf, Raffles altered his town plan accordingly.

As the south bank occupied a lowlying marsh that was prone to flooding, a hillock near where Battery Road is located today was levelled to provide earth to fill the wetlands. About 300 coolies were hired to carry out the work and an embankment was built along the river's edge to prevent the water from overflowing into the land. The process took about four months and gave rise to a crescent-shaped area known today as Boat Quay. This, together with what was left of the hillock, became Commercial Square - and eventually, Raffles Place - the heart of the commercial district as mapped out in Raffles' 1822 town plan of Singapore.

Collyer Quay: Creating the Waterfront

Boat Quay and Commercial Square grew rapidly. By the late 1860s, the mercantile community had outgrown the site, spilling over to another reclaimed strip of land to the south. Known as Collyer Quay, this stretch - from Johnston's Pier to the old Telok Ayer Market - was reclaimed between 1859 and 1864. This was part of a scheme conceived by the Municipal Engineer, George Chancellor Collyer.

Named after George Chancellor Collyer, then Chief Engineer of the Straits Settlements, Collyer Quay was built on reclaimed land by convict labour and completed in 1864. Courtesy of National Archives of Singapore.

Collyer wanted to build a seawall to serve as a landing site and a road behind it so that merchants could have their establishments facing the waterfront. This would not only improve the "aspect of Singapore's waterfront", but also allow the merchants to keep an eye on the movement of ships carrying their goods. Indeed, some of the first buildings constructed along Collyer Quay were linked at the second storey by a verandah that faced the sea. Peons armed with telescopes would be stationed along the verandah to announce the arrival of their company ships.

As work on the foundation of the seawall could be carried out only when the tide was at its lowest ebb, an occurrence that took place once every fortnight, the reclamation proceeded at a glacial pace. It took three years for the seawall to be completed and another year to lay the road behind it.

First Reclamation at Telok Ayer: Redrawing the Coastline

This reclamation project was a complex one as the Public Works Department (PWD) had to blast out parts of Mount Wallich and Mount Palmer in order to create an opening into Tanjong Pagar. The earth from the excavations was then used as landfill to create Telok Ayer Bay. The work was tedious as the hills were rocky and the sides had to be cut and graded. In addition, the shoreline had to be drained while keeping a section of it accessible so that fishermen could continue their trade. By 1886, the stretch extending into Cecil Street was completed, allowing the colonial government to start leasing the reclaimed land to merchants.

Second Reclamation at Telok Ayer: An Unexpected Tidal Basin

As merchants moved into the reclaimed lands of Telok Ayer, commercial activities began to expand westward. This led to the development of Tanjong Pagar and the growing importance of New Harbour (renamed Keppel Harbour in 1900) as the main port-of-call in Singapore. However, many traders, especially those using smaller vessels such as prows and junks, still preferred to anchor near the Singapore River as it was closer to Commercial Square.

Between 1893 and 1903, the arrival of such vessels mushroomed from 7,062 to 10,974, causing the Singapore River to become congested and polluted. In October 1898, a Commission was appointed to address this problem. The report, issued in June 1899, recommended that a new harbour be built along Raffles Quay, precipitating the second reclamation project at Telok Ayer.

The plan for the new harbour, unveiled in 1902 and revised in 1904, was drafted by the engineering firm Coode, Son & Matthews, and entailed reclaiming an 88-acre tract with a 5,000-ft long seawall that stretched from Johnston's Pier to Tanjong Malang where Palmer Road stands today. The initial plans were more ambitious but, in the end, the authorities decided to scale back their plans due to budgetary constraints.

Work began smoothly at first but in 1910, problems began to surface when dredging operations commenced. When engineers discovered that the seawall was sinking, work was suspended. At the time, 65 out of the 88 acres of land had been reclaimed and 4,120 feet of the seawall erected. However, as the construction of the seawall had been carried out simultaneously on both ends, the engineers were left with an incomplete seawall and a gaping 880-ft space in between.

An aerial view of the Central Business District in the 1950s with the octagonal-shaped Telok Ayer Market (Lau Pa Sat) on the left and Clifford Pier jutting out into the sea on the right. In the foreground is Telok Ayer Basin where small vessels once anchored. The tidal basin was eventually reclaimed in the 1970s. © Urban Redevelopment Authority. All rights reserved.

Kallang Basin and Beach Road

The hefty cost of the Telok Ayer Tidal Basin project did not stop the colonial government from commissioning more reclamations. In August 1931, it unveiled a massive reclamation project at Kallang Basin for the construction of Kallang Airport. Costing 9 million Straits dollars, it involved the reclamation of 339 acres of mangrove swamp dubbed "the worst mosquito-infested land on the island". Due to the complexity and cost, the PWD was asked to lead the project. And perhaps to prevent the repetition of the Telok Ayer Basin fiasco, the PWD first carried out extensive soil surveys. It also allowed large areas of the basin to dry out completely first before filling it.

The filling operation started in May 1932 using a workforce of over 400 coolies. When completed in October 1936, the construction of the airport had already started. Comprising a terminal building, two hangars, a circular landing field and a slipway for seaplanes, it occupied almost three quarters of the 339 acres of reclaimed land. The remaining land was set aside for the airport's future expansion. Kallang Airport was declared opened in June 1937 by Governor Shenton Thomas, who declared it the "finest airport in the world". PWD Director Major R. L. Nunn said that it was an "audacious engineering achievement".

Even as Kallang Basin was being reclaimed, the authorities had embarked on another project in June 1932. This would add 47 acres to the Beach Road Reclamation site to create a foreshore that would stretch from Stamford Road to Rochor River. The site, also known as Raffles Reclamation Ground, was created by two earlier reclamations that took place in the 1840s and 1890s. The reclaimed land was used to build Alhambra and Marlborough cinemas, Beach Road police station, and the Singapore Volunteer Corps Headquarters and Drill Hall (the former Beach Road Camp). The open land also regularly hosted football matches and circus shows.

This latest reclamation plan would turn the Beach Road shoreline into a "new waterfront", with a bridge built over Stamford Canal to provide a "waterfront drive" from Anderson Bridge to Kallang. To complement this vision, a 6-acre reclamation project was commissioned in 1939 to enlarge the Esplanade along Connaught Drive to create a 600-yard tract linking Anderson Bridge to Stamford Canal.

The Beach Road and Esplanade reclamations were completed at a cost of about 1.2 million Straits dollars. However, the waterfront vision did not materialise until after World War II when Merdeka Bridge (now Nicoll Highway) was built and the Esplanade reclamation site was turned into a park known as Queen Elizabeth Walk (now Esplanade Park).

The Kallang Basin and Beach Road reclamations would be the last major land reclamation projects in colonial Singapore. It would take another 30 years before any more new land would be reclaimed from the sea. In total, about 300 hectares (3 sq km) were added during the colonial period. While this is not a figure to be sniffed at given the technology available at the time, it would be dwarfed by the island's post-Independence reclamation activities. Between 1965 and 2015, Singapore would reclaim an astounding 13,800 hectares (138 sq km) of land.

East Coast: The Great Reclamation

The first major post-Independence reclamation project was the East Coast Reclamation. Dubbed the "Great Reclamation", it added a 1,525-hectare tract along the southeastern coast of the island. The project was undertaken by the Housing and Development Board (HDB), one of three government agencies appointed to carry out land reclamation in Singapore. But first, before any work began, a pilot project was carried out by the HDB in 1963 to reclaim 48 acres in the Bedok area.

Work on the East Coast Reclamation site began officially in 1966 and would continue for a remarkable 30 years over seven phases. Phases I and II from Bedok to the tip of Tanjong Rhu took place between 1966 and 1971, resulting in 458 hectares of land as well as a 9-km stretch of sandy beach. Phases III and IV began simultaneously in 1971 at both ends of the newly reclaimed East Coast strip. When work was completed in 1975, Phase III had added 67 hectares of land to the foreshore fronting Tanjong Rhu and Queen Elizabeth Walk, while Phase IV added 486 hectares from Bedok to Tanah Merah Besar.

Phase V involved the reclamation of Telok Ayer Basin. Starting in 1974, it extended the already reclaimed foreshore by 34 hectares and expanded the basin.

On completion of this phase in 1977, the reclamation formed a new site known as Marina Centre and a massive lagoon. This was followed by another two phases in 1979 - Phases VI and VII - which extended the newly reclaimed foreshores of Tanjong Rhu and Telok Ayer Basin to create Marina East and Marina South respectively. Together with Marina Centre, these plots formed a 660-hectare reclaimed site called Marina City and later Marina Bay.

The total cost of the East Coast project was $613 million. Fill materials were obtained from multiple sources, including Siglap Plain and the hills in Bedok and Tampines, where the earth was cut by bucket wheel excavators before being transported by a conveyor belt to a jetty off Bedok. There, the earth was loaded onto barges and transported to fill the area to be reclaimed. The entire operation was carried out around the clock, with headlands constructed at regular intervals off the reclaimed coast to protect the newly formed shoreline.

The reclaimed lands were used largely for commercial and residential purposes. In the east coast, housing estates such as Marine Parade and Katong sprang up, providing accommodation for an estimated 100,000 residents. To link the housing estates as well as the commercial centres in Siglap, Joo Chiat and Bedok to the city, a major arterial road, the East Coast Parkway, was constructed along the newly reclaimed coast. Parallel to the expressway, a linear park was built to provide recreational space for residents. Today, East Coast Park comprises 185 hectares of parkland and a scenic 15-km beach.

The East Coast district of Singapore with Katong in the foreground. Marine Parade stretches from the flyover to the lagoon near Bedok Jetty. The strip parallel to Marine Parade Road with the highrises is land that has been reclaimed from the sea. Photo by Richard W. J. Koh. All rights reserved, Koh, T. (2015). Over Singapore (pp. 140-141). Singapore: Editions Didier Millet.

The other end of the reclaimed land around Marina Bay was to provide space in time to come for the expansion of the city centre. Amazingly, the idea of this new downtown core was conceived several decades before the first soaring skyscrapers arose here in the 21st century. Today, the Marina Bay area has become the new downtown with a stunning waterfront setting and a mix of office and commercial developments, a mega hotel and casino resort, high-rise luxury apartments, and gardens and parkland.

The East Coast Reclamation, which began in 1966, was carried out over seven phases spanning some 30 years. The project culminated in the creation of Marina Bay in the mid-2000s. In the background of this photograph taken in 1976 are the beginnings of the Marina Bay reclamation site taking shape, with the east coast in the far distance. © Urban Redevelopment Authority. All rights reserved.

To make this a reality, further reclamation was carried out around the bay between 1990 and 1992 to create an urban waterfront promenade. This 38-hectare project involved filling up Telok Ayer Basin as well as extending Collyer Quay and the shoreline of Marina South facing Marina Bay.

Other Reclamation Projects by HDB

While the east coast was being reclaimed, the HDB simultaneously carried out reclamation projects elsewhere on the island. In 1963, the reclamation of Kallang Basin began, with some 400 hectares of its swampland filled using earth taken from Toa Payoh. Completed in 1971, the site was used for public housing and industrial development.

Next, the HDB reclaimed a stretch along Singapore's west coast between 1976 and 1978 to create 89 hectares of land for the development of Clementi New Town. Along with it, the West Coast Highway was constructed to link Jurong with the eastern part of the island. The fill materials for this project were excavated from Clementi.

This was followed by several other reclamation projects: the addition of 44 hectares of land along the coast of Pasir Ris between 1979 and 1980, 277 hectares of swampland off Punggol between 1983 and 1986 as well as the reclamation of 685 hectares of foreshore and swampland along the northeast coast from Pasir Ris to Seletar between 1985 and 2001.

The latter included the reclamation of 155 hectares from the foreshore of Coney Island and Punggol. Fill materials for these projects were either imported or obtained from sites in Woodlands, Tampines, Pasir Ris, Yishun, Seletar and Zhenghua. Much of the new land was reserved for public housing and recreational purposes.

Additionally, the HDB embarked on reclamation projects for other government agencies. For instance, between 1990 and 1995, it reclaimed about 30 hectares of land in the north and northwest for the Ministry of Home Affairs to expand the Woodlands Checkpoint and construct the new Tuas Checkpoint respectively. The HDB also carried out reclamation works for the Singapore Tourism Board and Ministry of National Development on Pulau Ubin and the Southern Islands.

Between 1965 and 2015, the HDB reclaimed 3,869 hectares of land - roughly one third of the total reclaimed land on the island. The rest were overseen by two other government agencies, the Jurong Town Corporation (JTC) and the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore.

New Lands for Industries: JTC

The reclamation projects undertaken by JTC in the west of the island were mainly for industries. The earliest project took place in 1963 to reclaim 46 hectares of land for the Jurong Industrial Site. This was followed by a string of reclamations in the 1970s that added over 2,000 hectares in Jurong and Tuas. These lands were used for the expansion of the industrial estate as well as for the construction of shipyards to support the marine sector. In the late 80s, the Tuas site was further extended by 650 hectares, and a golf course and a park subsequently added to inject some greenery to an otherwise industrial area.

JTC's reclamation works also extended to the islands off the southwestern coast. From the late 1980s, Pulau Bukom and Pulau Busing were enlarged, while Pulau Ayer Merbau, Pulau Seraya and Pulau Sakra were merged with the surrounding islets to provide new land. Most of these reclaimed islands were used for the petrochemical industry.

As the industry grew, JTC embarked on a reclamation scheme of mega proportions in 1993, merging seven southwestern islands - Pulau Merlimau, Pulau Ayer Chawan, Pulau Ayer Merbau, Pulau Seraya, Pulau Sakra, Pulau Pesek and Pulau Pesek Kecil - into a single entity called Jurong Island. The massive project was carried out in four stages at a cost of $6 billion. When completed in 2003, Jurong Island gave Singapore a substantial 3,000 hectares of new industrial space. Today, Jurong Island is home to more than 100 petroleum, petrochemical and speciality chemical companies.

New Lands for Infrastructure and Recreation: MPA

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) - formerly Port of Singapore Authority or PSA - reclaimed land primarily to develop the Port of Singapore and Changi Airport. Its earliest project took place in 1967 when 23 hectares of land were reclaimed to build Singapore's first container terminal at Keppel Harbour. The Tanjong Pagar Container Terminal opened in 1971 with three container berths.

PSA's reclamation works for Changi Airport began in 1975 when it supervised the reclamation of 745 hectares of land along Changi coast for the construction of the airport. The adjoining seabed provided the fill material. In 1990, another massive reclamation was carried out for the expansion of Changi Airport as well as for mixed-use developments in the area.

Since the first reclamation works began in 1822, Singapore's land area has expanded by almost 25 percent from 58,150 to 71,910 hectares. The areas shaded in pink indicate how much has been reclaimed thus far. The areas in red show possible plans for future reclamation and indicate how much of the island's original coastline may change by 2030 if these plans come to fruition. Map source: https://blogs.ntu.edu.sg/hp331-2014-10/?page_id=7

The plans were updated in 1998 - by which time PSA had been renamed MPA - to reclaim over 2,000 hectares of land at Changi East. About 820 hectares were allocated for the development of a fourth terminal and a third runway, while 125 hectares and 639 hectares were reserved for the Changi Naval Base and industries respectively. The reclamation was carried over five phases from 1992 to 2004.

Like HDB, the MPA has been helping other government agencies to reclaim islands around Singapore. Using dredged materials from ongoing reclamation projects, which would otherwise be dumped into the sea, public beaches and recreational waterfronts were created at the foreshore of the Southern Islands. On St John's Island, Lazarus Island, Sisters' Island and Kusu Island, facilities such as landing jetties, chalets, beach shelters and sanitary facilities were built on the reclaimed land. Over in Sentosa, reclaimed land has been used to build hotels and a golf course, and to create new beaches.

The Future

It is certain that land-scarce Singapore will press ahead with reclamation to meet the demands of its growing population in the foreseeable future. In the 2013 Land Use Plan, the Ministry of National Development has noted that there is a need to provide an additional 5,600 hectares of land by 2030. This is to accommodate the expected increase in population, rising from the present 5.7 million to between 6.5 and 6.9 million.

But there are limits to land reclamation - the rising cost of imported sand, the deleterious impact on the ecosystem and the encroachment of shipping lanes and territorial limits, among others. As an aggressive land reclamation programme is not tenable in the long term, Singapore is looking at other ways of maximising its land space; this includes the development of reserve land, intensifying land usage in new developments, and reusing and rezoning old industrial areas and golf courses for more productive purposes.

LAND RECLAMATION: HOW DOES IT WORK?

The proposed site for reclamation is first investigated to determine seabed conditions, availability of fill materials as well as the shape and alignment of the reclaimed area. Environmental studies are then carried out to assess the impact on water quality, water level, tidal flow, sedimentation and marine life.

Work proper begins with the erection of containment dykes made of sand and rock around the perimeter of the area to be reclaimed. Materials such as cut-hill soil, sand and clay are then transported from other sites to fill the enclosed area. The newly reclaimed land must be allowed to settle naturally over time before any structures can be built. In most cases, however, the process is speeded up with soil improvement methods.

Reclamation work taking place at Pasir Panjang. With rising costs and restrictions on sand exports placed by neighbouring countries, Singapore has turned to technology to try reduce the amount of sand needed for reclamation work. Photo by Ria Tan. Courtesy of WildSingapore.

Since the first reclamation project carried out in 1822, fill materials have traditionally comprised soil excavated from inland hills and sand dredged from surrounding seabeds. By the mid-1980s, however, these resources began to run out and Singapore had to import sand from neighbouring countries. This soon became a problem when the cost of foreign sand skyrocketed from less than $20 per sq m in the 1970s to $200 per sq m in the 90s. The situation hit crisis levels when Malaysia and Indonesia banned the export of sand to Singapore in 1997 and 2007 respectively.

Although Singapore had to turn to other countries for sand, it recently developed a more sustainable method that has reduced the amount of sand needed for reclamation works. Called empoldering, it has since been successfully deployed by the HDB for the on-going reclamation of Pulau Tekong.

Lim Tin Seng is a Librarian with the National Library, Singapore. He is the co-editor of Roots: Tracing Family Histories - A Resource Guide (2013); Harmony and Development: ASEAN-China Relations (2009) and China's New Social Policy: Initiatives for a Harmonious Society (2010). He is also a regular contributor to BiblioAsia.

NOTES

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Land From Sand: Singapore's Reclamation Story

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Thanks to land reclamation, the tiny red dot has broadened its shores substantially. Lim Tin Seng discovers just how much...

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ADAM:

How has Singapore’s approach to land reclamation evolved since its start?

Do eco-friendly land reclamation technologies exist?

Could Singapore eventually run out of sea space to reclaim, and what then?

Could Singapore export its land reclamation expertise as a service to other coastal cities facing similar space constraints?

PAUL:

Thank you for reminding me, my question was “does land reclamation cause a rise in sea levels?”

LOUIS J:

In your line of work, how do you cope with the destroyal of coral reefs in Singapore?

What does Singapore implement to make the coral reefs grow back to keep the biodiversity rich and varied, so important for the survival of the island?

Erwan:

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Before the Gah Men, there were the Ang Mohs. Pale freckled white ghosts who smelled of baby formula, with bleached hair and eyes drained of color. They wore impractical outfits for the 30-degree heat and 90-percent humidity: long-sleeved shirts and pleated trousers, charcoal blazers that ended at the hip, ties knotted around flabby necks. It was said they founded the island in the nineteenth century. Founded, as if it had not been there before.

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