What is heritage worth to you?

Efforts that use a numeric measure of the worth of ageing sites help create a more informed decision-making process regarding their maintenance or restoration.

Published Fri, Sep 6, 2019 · 09:50 PM

IF you were attending the National Day Rally, the Miss Singapore contest, a concert by the Bee Gees, or your university convocation ceremony back in the 1960s/70s, chances are you would make a trip to Singapore's first and largest National Theatre along Fort Canning Park.

Today, most young citizens would not have heard of the long-gone National Theatre. The little but unique Singapore heritage has gradually given way to growth and development over the decades. More recently, parts of Bukit Brown Cemetery have also made way for the Pan-Island Expressway (PIE), and the Ellison Building is also to be affected by the construction of the North-South Corridor.

Many have increasingly realised the importance of protecting Singapore's heritage amid economic development. Yet the disheartening question to the government remains. Which site is the next to go? The Golden Mile Complex? The People's Park Complex?

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