Jurong Ulu No More

Source : TODAY, Weekend, April 5, 2008

Suburb to become commercial, leisure lakeside heaven

DUSTY. Industrial. Out of the way.

Such words may spring to your mind when asked about Jurong. But come 2020, the home of the Bird Park and the Science Centre will evoke a whole new vocabulary.

Try on for size: Lakeside haven. Billion-dollar business buzz. Holiday hub.












This will be the new Jurong Lake District, after it undergoes an ambitious transformation into the largest commercial hub outside of the Central Business District (CBD) - complete with 2,800 new hotel rooms, a number which rivals that of the entire hotel belt at the Singapore River.

At the heart of the district - bounded by Yuan Ching Road, Ayer Rajah Expressway and the MRT line running through the Jurong East, Chinese Garden and Lakeside MRT stations - will be the 70-hectare Jurong Lake and its sprawling greenery.

Tourists will be enticed with a laidback experience at the lakeside F&B village and hotels. The lake itself will be deepened for water activities such as kayaking and dragonboating, and new waterways carved out and an elevated walkway built to “bring closer” the MRT station and bus interchange. Visitors taking the 10-minute “seamless” walk can stop and shop at retail and F&B outlets along the way.

Another old neighbourhood icon will be revamped, too - the Singapore Science Centre will be relocated next to the Chinese Garden MRT station.

This leisurely atmosphere will also have a cutting-edge buzz to it.

Equalling the size of Marina Bay, the new commercial hub is expected to attract investments worth billions of dollars. It incorporates the Jurong Gateway precinct, a high-rise commercial and a retail hub around the Jurong East MRT station that will boast offices, hotels, food and beverage outlets and entertainment venues.

Within the district, land to build 1,000 private homes will be available as well.

Describing Jurong as “a gem that has yet to be uncovered and refined”, National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan acknowledged that Jurong - earmarked from its birth in 1961 as an industrial estate - has struggled to shake off the unflattering associations.

“Many of us still see Jurong East as a suburban residential area, far away from the city centre - quite ‘ulu’ (remote), in fact. It is rarely thought of as a major leisure destination,” he said.

But in truth, it has plenty of potential, with a population catchment of more than a million residents, including those from nearby towns Clementi, Bukit Batok and Jurong West.

Moreover, the area is home to more than 3,000 companies. Its proximity to the tertiary institutions and research hubs means Jurong East is “an ideal place for businesses dealing with research and cutting edge technology”, said Mr Mah.

He announced the Jurong makeover on Friday as part of the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s (URA) Draft Master Plan. Since 1991, the URA has embarked on projects to build regional centres in areas such as Tampines and Woodlands, to ease congestion in the CBD. Plans are in the pipeline for Bugis and Kallang also.

Even as the Government has deferred $2-billion worth of construction projects, Mr Mah said the Jurong makeoever was given the go-ahead after taking into consideration the effects on the construction crunch.

Residents need not fear major disruptions to their daily routines, but there will be “some inconveniences”. “We are not going to close the entire lake to people but will do it in stages,” said Mr Mah.

They can also look forward, in the next few years, to the redevelopment of the Jurong East Entertainment Centre, which will house Singapore’s first Olympic-sized ice-skating rink.

Already, Propnex chief executive Mohd Ismail expects prices for both public and private housing in Jurong East to go up by five to 10 per cent in the next two years.

Traditionally, the area’s flats command prices similar to those in suburban Hougang and Choa Chu Kang, but pale in comparison to mature estates — a 5-room flat there costs $90,000 and $135,000 less than a similar flat in Bishan and Toa Payoh respectively.

Resident Liang Guet Keow, 49, said she looked forward to a more vibrant Jurong East offering the same facilities as estates such as Bedok and Ang Mo Kio. “It’s about time,” said the accounts executive.

Member of Parliament (MP) Halimah Yacob told TODAY that she and her fellow Jurong GRC MPs have been pushing for Jurong to be redeveloped.

She said: “It would greatly enhance the living environment. Jurong is in need of rejuvenation — that part is clear.”

And while some residents continue to worry about air quality down the road, Mdm Halimah reiterated that the air in Jurong is not hazardous to health. “It’s just that because Jurong has a lot of industries, people may have the sense that the air quality is poorer compared to other estates. But if you look at it from the safety point of view, it is not worse than other parts of Singapore.”

Be ‘Nimble’ In Uncertain Times

Source : TODAY, Weekend, April 5, 2008

Inflation may not yet have peaked, warns Finance Minister

Singapore’s inflation rate, already at a 26-year high, may not have peaked and policy-makers must be ready to respond to unexpected economic developments, Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said on Friday

“It’s too early to say that inflation has peaked,” Mr Shanmugaratnam told reporters at a meeting of finance ministers from the Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean) in Vietnam.

“We want to watch the situation carefully and be nimble in our overall economic strategy.”

Singapore’s consumer prices rose 6.6 per cent from a year earlier in January, the fastest rate since 1982, as costs of food and energy soared.

OCBC economist Selena Ling told Today she expected year-on-year inflation to hit 7 per cent within one to three months.

“In the next few months and quarters, things like airline surcharges and electricity tariffs will creep in. Food is a medium-term structural issue, so it is not going to go away overnight,” she said.

“A lot of Asian countries are imposing export limits and obviously we are going to feel the impact of food prices going higher.”

“The Government’s point is that there will be continued supply but we must be prepared to pay more.”

UOB economist Ho Woei Chen is more sanguine, expecting inflation to average 5.2 per cent this year, comprising a first-half average of 6.4 per cent and a second-half average of 4 per cent.

Mr Shanmugaratnam’s comments came less than a week before the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s semi-annual policy statement. In its last policy statement issued in October, it projected inflation of 3.5 per cent for the first half of this year and between 2 and 3 per cent for the second half.

The central bank faces conflicting needs, as inflation remains high and difficult to predict even as export-dependent Singapore is vulnerable to the weakness in the United States economy.

“The possibility of a deeper recession in the US and a more prolonged one is something that every prudent policy-maker should not rule out,” said the Finance Minister. “There is great uncertainty about how the credit cycle will evolve and what its impact will be on the real economy.”

However, Mr Shanmugaratnam said the likelihood of a US recession had already been factored into the Government’s economic growth forecasts. The Singapore economy is expected to grow between 4 and 6 per cent this year, slower than the 7.7-per-cent expansion recorded last year. The Government will issue an advance estimate for first-quarter economic growth next week.

“We will have to expect some slowdown in the second quarter and going beyond the second quarter in Singapore,” Mr Shanmugaratnam said.

On the expected slowdown, UOB’s Ms Ho said: “Even if there is a slight negative growth in the US in the first quarter, it’s not going to be very bad. The US government’s stimulus policy and fiscal spending will work through the system in the second half of this year.

“The Asian economies seem to be holding up quite well.”

Singapore's Very Own Lake District

Source : The Straits Times, Apr 5, 2008

Jurong is set to shed its industrial image with a stunning makeover

JURONG tends to conjure up unflattering images of factories and sleepy suburbia, but the area is slated for a stunning makeover that will transform it into Singapore's only lakeside destination.

National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan yesterday unveiled a vision for a revamped Jurong, starting with a new name: the Jurong Lake District.

POLISHING A 'GEM': Set around the Chinese Garden and Lakeside MRT stations will be new tourist attractions and parks, complemented by water activities. -- ST PHOTO: FRANCIS ONG

The ambitious plan, to be implemented over the next 10 to 15 years, involves building new waterways, 1,000 private homes, 2,800 hotel rooms and adding 750,000 sq m of office and retail space.

The Jurong Lake District, which at 360ha is the size of Marina Bay, will consist of two precincts.

One is the 70ha Jurong Gateway, which will boast swanky new offices, condos and entertainment features, including an Olympic-size ice-skating rink, all set around Jurong East MRT station.

The other is Lakeside, which is being targeted as a hang-out for young families.

It will feature a bold new science centre, tourist attractions and parks complemented by water activities, all set around the Chinese Garden and Lakeside MRT stations.

Mr Mah told a 500-strong audience at an Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) seminar yesterday that many Singaporeans saw Jurong as a suburban residential and industrial area 'located far away from the city centre'.

But he described it as a 'gem', with compelling reasons singling it out for redevelopment. It is near established towns, with a large labour force and a population catchment of more than one million residents.

It is also a thriving business hub, with more than 3,000 companies - from multinationals to tiny operations - two universities and research centres such as one-north in the vicinity. That made it an ideal business location for cutting-edge technology, said Mr Mah.

Existing transport links - the PanIsland and Ayer Rajah expressways and two MRT lines - also connect Jurong East to the city quickly.

Mr Mah pointed to another benefit of the plan: the proximity of jobs to homes in the area, which reduced the need to commute and eased pressure on transport services.

Jurong's rejuvenation is part of a broader URA decentralisation strategy to balance economic growth, reduce commuting and provide a high quality of life with many leisure options.

It will announce its plans next month to redevelop Paya Lebar. Both initiatives are part of its 2008 Draft Masterplan Review.

URA chairman Alan Chan said the ideas for Jurong were the result of consultation with a wide spectrum of public and private industry players.

Market watchers welcomed the news, saying it would inject new life into Jurong, which has struggled for years to shed its industrial image.

Colliers International's director of research and consultancy Tay Huey Ying said the plan 'would lift the popularity and value of property in the mid- to long-term'.

PropNex chief executive Mohamed Ismail predicted that home prices could increase by five to 10 per cent in the next two years.

Madam Halimah Yacob, an MP for Jurong GRC, said the rejuvenation was a welcome move.

The Chinese and Japanese gardens, for example, were under-utilised and could do with a makeover, she said.

Residents are also excited.

Manager David Lim, 49, who owns a four-room HDB flat at Lakeside, said he hardly stays in Jurong for his weekend recreational activities.

'But to have all these amenities so close to home will really be a bonus,' he said.

Jurong's Massive Makeover

Source : The Straits Times, Apr 5, 2008

Area the size of Marina Bay will be transformed with homes, hotels, shops, eateries and offices linked to MRT via walkways and waterways

EXTREME makeovers do not come more dramatic than this.

In an ambitious plan unveiled yesterday, a large swathe of Jurong will be redeveloped and rebranded the Jurong Lake District.













The 350ha area affected is similar in size to Marina Bay, and will boast all the elements of a vibrant mini-metropolis.

That means new high-rises, hotels, apartments, shops, food places and offices as well as no end of water-related recreational pursuits, with everything linked to MRT stations via walkways and waterways.

Unveiling the plans yesterday, National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan described Jurong as somewhat under-recognised, 'a gem yet to be uncovered and refined'.

Among Singapore's public housing estates, Jurong has been something of an ugly duckling, its factories giving the place a decidedly industrial-town feel. This is an image it will shed in the next 10 to 15 years as the new plans come to life.

Reinventing Jurong is a challenge, Mr Mah acknowledged. 'But we want to show that this is not pie in the sky, it's something real,' he said.

Jurong Lake District Plans Timely But Timeline May Be Too Short

Source : Channel NewsAsia, 04 April 2008

The government's plans for the Jurong Lake District have been widely well-received by market watchers.

They noted that it is important to re-brand Jurong away from its industrial estate image to a more vibrant one. However, on the other hand, there are concerns that the government may be moving too fast for the market.

Some analysts said the proposed 10- to 15-year time frame may be a little tight, especially given the amount of projects in the pipeline, and a dampened global economic climate.

It is going to take some effort imagining the Jurong area as a bustling entertainment, business and residential area.

Analysts said that is one of the main challenges the government will face.

Grace Ng, Deputy Managing Director, Agency and Business Services, Colliers International, said, "Jurong has been known as an industrial area, so it has been less successful in attracting commercial and residential activities in the area compared to newer towns like Tampines.

"We need to erase the industrial image of Jurong and convince Singaporeans to make it their workplace and place of residence. As for developers, we need to convince developers to actively participate in the tender of the sites."

Ku Swee Yong, Director, Marketing and Business Development, Savills (Singapore), said, "The government authorities, Singapore Tourism Board, Urban Redevelopment Authority, Jurong Town, will still have to put in a little bit more effort to shake off the long-held views that Jurong has been a industrial area."

However, analysts said that once this hurdle is cleared, the potential is vast.

They pointed out that some investors have already starting sniffing out opportunities in the area.

Mr Ku said, "We are very positive about it. (We've) been saying for the past two years that the West side of Singapore has been neglected by the investment community. We see very strong growth in household income and wealth, given the high growth in electronics, pharmaceutical, oil and gas industries, and there are households there that are actually doing a lot better than what may appear on the surface.

"We have been seeing quite a strong take up from home users, plus some investors who are buying units to rent out to academics, engineers and expatriates."

Vacancy levels for office space in Jurong has been tight, so the promise of more commercial space in the area will be welcome.

But even with so much going for it, many said the government might need to temper their growth plans for the area, and work on building up even more demand to match its planned dramatic increase in capacity.

Over the past few months, the government has delayed several public projects to help rein in rising construction costs.

And property watchers said the plans for Jurong Lake could further stretch resources.

Mr Ku said, "I think that it is rather ambitious to try to put all this work together to build a 5 million square foot of office space, another 2 million of retail and F&B space. All this in next 10-15 years may be a little fast. But (if it is) 15, 20 or even just a little beyond 20 years, I'm sure the market can absorb it."

Ms Ng said, "It's scheduled to have 2,800 hotel rooms which seems like quite a high number given that Jurong has not been established as a tourist area."

But from the 'big picture' point of view, analysts agreed that these plans will put a sheen on the property market in Jurong.

Prices can be expected to start inching upwards over the next two to five years when developers start actively tendering for the sites. - CNA/ms