Pedra Branca

[malcontent]

I’ve always had a certain fascination with Singapore’s offshore islands, the most distant being Pedra Branca. Christmas Island used to hold that distinction, but during the British handover the territory was transferred to Australia for a sum of $20m. The residents of Christmas Island today still resemble that of Singapore, and apparently they still have old HDB style low rise flats on the island.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_Island

Now that the dispute with Malaysia over Pedra Branca is settled, Singapore is finally executing a plan that has been on hold since the 70’s to do reclamation work which will add 7ha to the current 0.9ha, almost a 9 fold expansion!

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/ ... s-year-mnd

[Lisafuller]

Excited to see the completed result. The dispute was pretty pointless in my opinion, considering Malaysia’s claims which were baseless. Even their own officials rescinded their claim on the island.

[malcontent]

The other big development that still appears to be proceeding is the huge bridge project between Batam and Bintan.

It’s also very much possible to connect Batam and Singapore either by bridge or tunnel. Singapore seems to be in no hurry to entertain that idea. I like being able to drive to Desaru for a weekend getaway, being able to do the same for Bintan would be a great option.