J.R. Logan's 1846 observations on Pulau Ubin, Singapore: Their significance for landscape interpretation

J.R. Logan was an amateur naturalist who migrated to, and lived his working life in, the Malay Peninsula during the mid-nineteenth century. His taste for travel was insatiable and he made perceptive observations from which he derived significant general conclusions concerning the granite landforms of the Singapore area. In particular, he recognized what are today called unequal activity and reinforcement effects – the suggestion that, once in train, contrasts in activity are maintained and enhanced. But probably he did not appreciate the significance of the conclusions he had drawn and the concepts he had anticipated, with the result that when they were independently discovered or rediscovered Logan received no credit.     

Beyond the spectacle of property windfalls in Singapore: Lefebvrian spaces of home against profit-making

In Singapore, owners of private housing estates reaping windfalls through collective sales have been subject to the news media's sensational coverage of the topic. While collective sales will give rise to new developments that regenerate the country's landscape to reflect the image and identity of an entrepreneurial city, efforts to resist this wealth generating urbanism are subject to erasure. Instances of minority owners disinterested in profit-making using the courts to save their homes from the collective sale juggernaut are certainly emblematic of the inherent tension between one's home as housing and home as investment repository. Drawing upon ethnographical experiences from a housing estate built for public officials in Singapore, this article's use of the Lefebvrian theory of spatial production sheds light on how minority owners unmotivated by monetary windfalls (re)produce spaces of their homes that are overtly inimical to the impulses of majority owners to monetize their homes at high premiums.     

Sea level anomalies in straits of Malacca and Singapore

This paper studies sea level anomaly (SLA) behaviour in Malacca and Singapore straits which serve part of a major maritime trade route between Indian and Pacific Ocean using both observed data and numerical model. Spatio-temporal behaviour of SLA in the region is analyzed based on 15 years of in-situ and remote sensing data. Results show that SLA signatures can be distinctly different in the two straits, with vastly opposite behaviours during certain months. By further analyzing spatial dependency of observed SLA in the region, SLA in Malacca and Singapore straits are found to be under the influence of Indian Ocean and South China Sea, respectively. Based on this insight, a numerical model is built with the appropriate non-tidal forcing derived from meteorological model and satellite dataset to properly represent SLA in Malacca and Singapore straits with Root Mean Square Error of less than 10 cm. With this well calibrated model, the effect of different types of forcing on volume flux through the straits is investigated. Combined tidal and non-tidal forcing in the model gives 4 to 7 × 10¹¹ m³ of annual net westward volume flux through the straits which is four to seven times higher than that of tidal forcing alone. Furthermore with this combined forcing, a distinct seasonal trend with westward net flow during northeast monsoon (November to March) and eastward net flow during southwest monsoon (May to September) can be observed through the straits in the model which is not observed with tidal forcing. The findings of this paper highlight the importance of these non-tidal forcing in the model to obtain accurate SLA and flow representation in the straits that is vital to environmental fate and transport modelling during operational forecast.     

Manoeuvring the middle ground: Social mobility and the renegotiation of gender and family obligations among Chinese Singaporeans

The article examines Singaporeans' experiences of upward social mobility and how traditional gender roles within the family are renegotiated and reinterpreted in Singapore. When the former British colony gained independence in 1965 its post-colonial government embarked on an ambitious modernization programme, under which villages were demolished and residents relocated to new high-rise estates, farmland gave way to factories, the education system was reformed, and women entered the workforce. The transformation has been accompanied by a rapid upward social mobility, whereby Singaporeans born in the midst of the transformation, in the period 1960s – 1980s, lived remarkably different lives compared with preceding generations. The article is an ethnographic analysis of how Singaporean middle-class women and men, who have experienced rapid upward social mobility, handle and negotiate changing expectations regarding gender and intergenerational support. The analytical framework is constructed around the concepts of social mobility, modernity, and spaces of contestation and negotiation. The ethnographic data illuminate how traditional family values, such as filial piety, are contested and renegotiated. The data also show how social mobility intersects with other forms of mobility, such as the spatial movement involved in urbanization. Women entering the labour force have to spend their days away from home and can no longer fully attend to their elderly family members and/or young children. However, spatial movement in the sense of increased access to transportation and communication has also enabled members of extended families to maintain their ‘urban kinship network’ without having to live together.     

Courage under fire: Seagrass persistence adjacent to a highly urbanised city–state

Due to increasing development Southeast Asia’s coastlines are undergoing massive changes, but the associated impacts on marine habitats are poorly known. Singapore, a densely populated island city–state, is a quintessential example of coastal modification that has resulted in the (hitherto undocumented) loss of seagrass. We reconstructed the historic extent and diversity of local seagrass meadows through herbarium records and backwards extrapolation from contemporary seagrass locations. We also determined the current status of seagrass meadows using long-term monitoring data and identified the main threats to their presence in Singapore. Results show that, even though ∼45% of seagrass has been lost during the last five decades, species diversity remains stable. The main cause of seagrass loss was, and continues to be, land reclamation. We conclude that strict controls on terrestrial runoff and pollution have made it possible for seagrass to persist adjacent to this highly urbanised city–state.     

A historical review and assessment of urban heat island research in Singapore

This historical review of 20 studies since the 1960s examines the influence of urban development on the thermal environment in Singapore, a fast growing tropical island city‐state. Past observations are critically assessed with regard to experimental controls and station metadata. Given the availability of historical climate and developmental data spanning almost 50 years, changes in urban heat island (UHI) intensity and spatial coverage can be traced temporally. Rapid urban expansion in Singapore is clearly reflected in spatially and temporally changing air and surface temperature patterns. The nocturnal canopy‐layer UHI intensity – measured as the difference between the commercial urban core and undeveloped areas close to primary or secondary rainforests for example – doubled in magnitude between 1965 and 2004. At the same time, the spatial extent of the nocturnal UHI has also expanded with the development of new housing and industrial districts. The influence of the growing city is also reflected in surface temperature. Two satellite images dated 13 years apart demonstrate the encroachment of areas with high surface temperatures into previously cooler areas during daytime corresponding with new public housing estates and low‐rise residential areas or facilities being built. The results from our study contribute to the growing body of tropical heat island research. They provide baseline data for future research and urban development in the Singapore context and, more generally, offer important cues for urban planners to make tropical cities more sustainable.     

Renaissance City Singapore: a study of arts spaces

The study of 'arts spaces' has generally focused on physical spaces for the arts in the form of arts districts, cultural infrastructure and museum spaces. Apart from the provision of such physical spaces, we argue that the study of the arts should also focus on such aspects as the social environments and the creative spaces in which artists operate. Such a holistic approach not only facilitates an understanding of the myriad challenges artists face in society, but also opens greater research opportunities to geographers interested in the arts. Our case study of Singapore as a 'Global City for the Arts' provides insights into physical spaces of the arts as well as the social and creative environments in which the arts operate.     

The Interpretation of Segregation Indices in Context: The Case of P in Singapore

The article argues that the interpretation of segregation indices has been deeply conditioned by U.S. and U.K. studies. Using an empirical example of the P index on data pertaining to Singapore's public housing residents, the article investigates the “exposure” dimension of segregation for Singapore's three main ethnic groups: Chinese, Malay, and Indians/Others. While the figures yielded are low in comparison to those in Western studies, the article demonstrates that low index values are nonetheless sociologically significant. The figures generated for Malay isolation in higher–quality public housing were argued to be qualitatively different from those for Indian isolation in lower–quality public housing. The former demands an appreciation of household structure and kinship ties, while the latter involves atomized individuals in a highly urbanized setting. Blind application and interpretation of indices run the risk of coming to erroneous conclusions. A contextual approach is needed for a better appreciation of the diverse ways in which segregation is manifested and experienced.     

Spatial distribution,variation and trend of five-day antecedent rainfall in Singapore

ABSTRACT

This paper presents the spatial distribution, variation and trend of 5-day antecedent rainfall in Singapore based on rainfall data from 22 meteorological stations. The effect of climate was analyzed by dividing the study period into three decades i.e. Decade 1: 1982–1991, Decade 2: 1992–2001 and Decade 3: 2002–2011. Kriging interpolation was used for rainfall mapping. The results show that spatial distribution of 5-day antecedent rainfall does not coincide with that of the annual rainfall. The maximum annual rainfall occurred in the northwestern side of Singapore. On the other hand, the maximum 5-day antecedent rainfall occurred in the north and northeastern sides. The results of this study suggest that the climate change has increased the amount of 5-day antecedent rainfall quite significantly, i.e. from 420.5 (1987) to 592.9 mm (2006), thus affecting the vulnerability of the area with respect to rainfall-induced slope failure. The analyses also showed that most of slope failures were located in the north and northeast of Singapore between December and earlier March. More slope failures were observed in Decade 3 as compared to Decades 1 and 2. In other words, the analysis confirmed that 5-day antecedent rainfall had affected the slope stability in Singapore.