Suntec Lights

[Em Eye]

What happened to the lights that out lined Suntec???

[Carpe Diem]

Looks like they are switched off

[banana]

Boom boom!

[Wild Rover]

What happened to the lights that out lined Suntec???

Thank goodness somebody else has noticed!! I have been asking taxi drivers and locals alike without success, mostly they react as if they didn't realise they normally did have the lights on, and certainly none seemed particularly concerned about it. It's funny, I was saying to friends this weekend I should post on the forum to see if anyone knows why, Em Eye you beat me to it. So anyone????

[Mary Hatch Bailey]

Trivia question: the towers of Suntec City were designed and built to resemble what? (keep it clean.... )

[Carpe Diem]

A hand

[Mary Hatch Bailey]

A hand

Well done, CD!

[Carpe Diem]

OK, what about Ngee Ann City?

[Mary Hatch Bailey]

Never heard that one, but it always reminded my of an imperial palace like you'd find at the Forbidden City.

[Carpe Diem]

It was built on a old cemetery that is why it has the shape of a tomb. This way the people buried there can rest in peace.

Yes, as you can see, besides posting silly comments and jokes, I have learned a bit about this fine city...

(where are your B52s? Still servicing them? )

[Mary Hatch Bailey]

Goodness no! Just stockpiling....

[dot dot dot]

Trivia question: the towers of Suntec City were designed and built to resemble what? (keep it clean.... )

Built according to the principles of Feng Shui, Suntec and its fountain of wealth (symbolically it is the ring in the palm of the hand, guaranteeing the retention of wealth).
The flowing water from the fountain is also a potent symbol as water is the essence of life in almost every culture, (and in Feng Shui).

Ngee Ann city:

For many Chinese immigrants, in this case the Teochew community, the journey through stormy seas to Singapore was not easy. Once on shore they sought comfort at temples, giving thanks to the gods for their safe passage and praying for blessings in their new country. Religion and the after-life were important to the immigrants, and the dialect associations of the Chinese played a big religious role. Make-shift altars were quickly set up along the sea front. The Teochews put up one of earliest shrines in 1826, the previously mentioned Wak Hai Cheng Bio temple, along what is known today as Philip Street.

The shortage of burial grounds for Chinese immigrants catalysed the formation of the 'Ngee Ann Kongsi'. In 1845, Mr Seah Eu Chin led a group of 12 prominent Teochew merchants to found the Ngee Ann Kongsi. Ngee Ann was the name of Teochew County in Canton (Guangdong) at that time; Kongsi means 'company' in Chinese.

Mr Seah was a successful merchant long before Ngee Ann Kongsi's founding. It is believed he was the first to plant gambier, or white cutch, on a large scale in Singapore. By 1839, his gambier plantation was said to have "stretched for eight to ten miles, from the upper end of River Valley Road to Bukit Timah Road and Thomson Road". Mr Seah's holdings earned him the moniker, 'King of Gambier'.

As a founder, he was responsible for buying parcels of land for the Kongsi. From revenue generated by the rental of these properties, the Kongsi contributed and continues to contribute to society.

Established as at Teochew institution, its management was under the control of Mr Seah Eu Chin and his descendants from 1845 to about 1930, In 1933, the Ngee Ann Kongsi (Incorporation) Ordinance was drawn up. It was passed by the Government of the Straits Settlements, formally incorporating the Kongsi as a charitable organization.

The passing of the Ordinance allowed the Kongsi to thrive under an elected management structure. It spelt out clear rules for the management of the Kongsi. The management committee was elected from amongst prominent Kongsi members for a two-year term. The committee consisted of 17 to 25 members, including ex-officio members who are Teochew President or Vice President of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry and two Vice Presidents of the Teochew Poit IP Huay Kuan, and a representative of the family of Mr Seah Eu Chin. The Kongsi continues to be managed by a council elected from amongst the Teochew community.

The Kongsi focussed on Education, Health and also for investments on property.

The property arm of Ngee Ann Kongsi is managed by its subsidiary, Ngee Ann Development Pte Ltd. In the past, the Kongsi owned various parcels of land, shophouses and residential bungalows throughout Singapore. Most of the properties are outside the city area, land which was originally intended as sites for temples or burial grounds for migrant Teochews. Among them were sites in the Toa Payoh/Thomson Road area, Bukit Timah, Changi, Seletar and Upper Serangoon Road. It also owns shop houses along Balestier Road and residential bungalows on Grance Road.

The income generated from Ngee Ann Kongsi's property ventures and rental is used to fund its various charitable activities and contributions. Among the Kongsi's properties, the most prestigious is Ngee Ann City. It is a commercial project conceptualized by leaders of the Kongsi jointly with Orchard Square Development Corporation (OSDC) in the late 1980s as a focal point of the Orchard Road shopping belt. The $520 million complex, with Takashimaya Department Store as its anchor tenant, has a gross built-up area of more than 2 million square feet. Situated at the heart of Orchard Road, it is Singapore's premier shopping landmark.

The complex sits on land owned by the Kongsi, part of a land know as Tai Shan Ting, bounded by Orchard, Paterson and Grange Roads. Tai Shan Ting was one of the several burial grounds owned and managed by the Kongsi. The cemetery was cleared in 1957 and parcels of land were leased for 99 years to Mandarin Hotel, Cathay Cineleisure Orchard and Wisma Atria. The remaining land was acquired by the Government for a teachers' training college on Paterson Hill, the Orchard MRT station and several road-widening projects. A 10-storey Ngee Ann Building stood on the land for a while before it made way for the current complex. Today, the shopping complex is leased to Takashimaya through its subsidiary, Toshin Development Company Limited.

Had to learn all this when doing my Singapore tourist guide course here...

Eric

[Vaucluse]

Had to learn all this when doing my Singapore tourist guide course here...

Is this something you still use now? Interesting stuff to learn.

[dot dot dot]

Yep, I do use it, I do occasionally guided tours for Dutch tourists here, am recently shifting from the marketing area to tourism industry here. Highend customized packages for SE Asia (honeymoons in most cases) for Europeans.

That course is absolutely interesting, it gives you so much more backgound on this little islands' history. Sometimes we drive around here and I tell my Singaporean misses about her country... Needless to say we get into interesting 'discussions'...

Eric

[Wham]

When i arrived in 2001 and first heard of "NEON" city i thought "coool name - must be some sort of futuristic shopping complex with lots of bright lights..."