Dec 29, 2013
By Chang Ai-lien Senior Correspondent
Civil engineer Wang Chien Ming was feasting on a steaming plate of chilli crab when he was inspired to build a floating crab restaurant.
Professor Wang, 56, who is the director of the engineering science and global engineering programmes at the National University of Singapore, is an expert in Very Large Floating Structures (VLFS) - a structural technology that includes the platform used in National Day Parade performances.
Describing his plans, he suggested that "it would be an act of global positioning since Singapore is world-famous for its chilli crab".
VLFS, characterised by their size and flexibility on water, harness the buoyancy of water to support themselves, and are unaffected by the water's depth or the nature of the seabed. They are also faster and cheaper to build compared with traditional land reclamation, and can be moved or dismantled with relative ease.
Although the science of such construction has ramped up only over the last 10 years or so, many such structures are already in place worldwide. Prof Wang's name is synonymous with VLFS technology in the region and he was the consultant for the Marina Bay floating platform.
He has collaborated with architects to draw up a blue print of the floating crab restaurant, complete with a claw-like extension into the sea that will serve as a mooring area for boats. Other features include a ramp linking the eatery to shore, function rooms and outdoor green areas.
With a gross floor area of 2,770 sq m (or the size of almost half a football pitch) and a seating capacity of 1,100, he believes that it could be the world's largest floating restaurant. He is now looking for investors.
Some notable examples of VLFS include a large floating ferry pier in Hiroshima, Japan; floating restaurants, convention and exhibition centres on the Han River in the South Korean capital Seoul; floating oil storage bases in Shirashima and Kamigoto in Japan; Norway's 1.2km Nordhordland Bridge, which lies over a 500m-deep fjord; and Seattle's Governor Albert D. Rosellini Bridge which, at 2.3km, is believed to be the world's longest floating bridge.
Prof Wang's studies have also shown that it is feasible to build floating petrol kiosks for ships at sea, and workers' quarters as high as six storeys. He believes that such options offer an attractive solution in land-scarce Singapore.
"There is a limit to land reclamation, especially since the process is getting more and more expensive due to lack of fill materials and large water depths," he said.
Structures such as a floating workers' dormitory would be very large, so people living there would hardly feel the motion of the waves, just like being on a very large ship moored in the harbour, he noted.
While going underground is viable for storage - such as the Jurong caverns for storing oil, VLFS could be ideal for residential and recreational purposes, he added.
"You can float anything, from flats, factories and container terminals to hotels and floating gardens. You can actually create an entire island using VLFS technology, and I believe this will be the next frontier for land-scarce Singapore," he noted.
"And the best part? You can dismantle it and move it anywhere you want."
Singapore is ideal for such projects as its seas are calm and it has the technology and skilled workforce to build such structures, he said.
Creative juices seem to be stimulated by Singapore's iconic chilli crab dish.
For instance, it was earlier reported that a safe, non-invasive method of surgery, using a new robotic device, was thought up by two professors here over a feast of chilli crab.
Agreeing, Prof Wang said: "It's only fitting that this dish inspires invention since it was dreamt up here too.
"As for the floating restaurant, the technology is there. We just need to implement it."
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
We're digging ourselves into a money pit
Dec 24, 2013
By Paul Krugman
THIS is a tale of three money pits. It's also a tale of monetary regress - of the strange determination of many people to turn the clock back on centuries of progress.
The first money pit is an actual pit - the Porgera open-pit gold mine in Papua New Guinea, one of the world's top producers. The mine has a terrible reputation for both human rights abuses (rapes, beatings and killings by security personnel) and environmental damage (vast quantities of potentially toxic tailings dumped into a nearby river). But gold prices, while down from their recent peak, are still three times what they were a decade ago, so dig they must.
By Paul Krugman
THIS is a tale of three money pits. It's also a tale of monetary regress - of the strange determination of many people to turn the clock back on centuries of progress.
The first money pit is an actual pit - the Porgera open-pit gold mine in Papua New Guinea, one of the world's top producers. The mine has a terrible reputation for both human rights abuses (rapes, beatings and killings by security personnel) and environmental damage (vast quantities of potentially toxic tailings dumped into a nearby river). But gold prices, while down from their recent peak, are still three times what they were a decade ago, so dig they must.
Monday, December 23, 2013
Nuclear Power: Policy U-turn; Nuclear Power in Japan; The future?
Dec 11, 2013
Nuclear Power: The U-turn in nuclear power policy
Vested interests are pushing South-east Asia to adopt nuclear power, when alternative energy sources are now available.
By Barry Desker For The Straits Times
AS 2014 approaches, South-east Asian states are moving ahead with plans to push ahead with nuclear power plants. In doing this, they are being supported by generous terms provided by the governments of South Korea, Japan, China, Russia and France, which will provide the technology.
Singapore, however, has concluded that the safety risks are too high and current technology is not advanced enough to embark on the use of nuclear power. In a parliamentary statement in October last year, the Government announced that it will not pursue the nuclear option at the present time. This makes Singapore an exception.
Nuclear Power: The U-turn in nuclear power policy
Vested interests are pushing South-east Asia to adopt nuclear power, when alternative energy sources are now available.
By Barry Desker For The Straits Times
AS 2014 approaches, South-east Asian states are moving ahead with plans to push ahead with nuclear power plants. In doing this, they are being supported by generous terms provided by the governments of South Korea, Japan, China, Russia and France, which will provide the technology.
Singapore, however, has concluded that the safety risks are too high and current technology is not advanced enough to embark on the use of nuclear power. In a parliamentary statement in October last year, the Government announced that it will not pursue the nuclear option at the present time. This makes Singapore an exception.
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Little India - home away from home
Dec 14, 2013
With the spotlight on Little India after last Sunday's riot, Insight speaks to foreign workers about its place in their hearts, and asks what life in this enclave says about Singapore's management of its foreign workforce.
Robin Chan, Maryam Mokhtar and Charissa Yong report.
CHILDHOOD friends Karthick Muthuraman and Sundaraj Arumugam are leaning against two traffic bollards along Kerbau Street in Little India having a chat on Wednesday night.
It is three days after a riot broke out in the area, in which an estimated 400 people, most of them foreign workers from South Asia, threw stones, rubbish bins and beer bottles lit like fire bombs at police cars and ambulances. The mob left a trail of destruction in the largest display of civil unrest in Singapore since the 1960s.
With the spotlight on Little India after last Sunday's riot, Insight speaks to foreign workers about its place in their hearts, and asks what life in this enclave says about Singapore's management of its foreign workforce.
Robin Chan, Maryam Mokhtar and Charissa Yong report.
CHILDHOOD friends Karthick Muthuraman and Sundaraj Arumugam are leaning against two traffic bollards along Kerbau Street in Little India having a chat on Wednesday night.
It is three days after a riot broke out in the area, in which an estimated 400 people, most of them foreign workers from South Asia, threw stones, rubbish bins and beer bottles lit like fire bombs at police cars and ambulances. The mob left a trail of destruction in the largest display of civil unrest in Singapore since the 1960s.
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Vitamins are a waste of money, studies find
17 Dec 2013
WASHINGTON — There is more disappointing news about multivitamins: Two major studies found popping the pills did not protect ageing men’s brains or help heart attack survivors.
Millions of Americans spend billions of dollars on vitamin combinations, presumably to boost their health and fill gaps in their diets. But while people who do not eat enough of certain nutrients may be urged to get them in pill form, the government does not recommend routine vitamin supplementation as a way to prevent chronic diseases.
The studies released yesterday (Dec 17) are the latest to test if multivitamins might go that extra step and concluded they do not.
WASHINGTON — There is more disappointing news about multivitamins: Two major studies found popping the pills did not protect ageing men’s brains or help heart attack survivors.
Millions of Americans spend billions of dollars on vitamin combinations, presumably to boost their health and fill gaps in their diets. But while people who do not eat enough of certain nutrients may be urged to get them in pill form, the government does not recommend routine vitamin supplementation as a way to prevent chronic diseases.
The studies released yesterday (Dec 17) are the latest to test if multivitamins might go that extra step and concluded they do not.
Who will pay off US debt?
TODAY
5 Dec 2013.
By Joergen Oerstroem Moeller
By Joergen Oerstroem Moeller
It is hard to believe one’s ears these days. Prudent economic policies are being claimed as destabilising for the global economy; the “good guys” are made out to be those borrowing and spending, using other people’s money.
At least, that is if we are to believe the United States’ criticism of China and Germany for running an economy where you cut the coat according to the cloth.
It is worth remembering that the Chinese and the Germans actually work hard, turn out manufactured goods and channel their savings — their own money — into infrastructure and investment enhancing their competitiveness. Strikingly, the calamities in the US economy arise from the fact that the Americans do more or less the exact opposite.
Since 1961, the federal budget has been in deficit 47 times out of 52 years; the balance of payments 31 times out of 33 years since 1981.
At least, that is if we are to believe the United States’ criticism of China and Germany for running an economy where you cut the coat according to the cloth.
It is worth remembering that the Chinese and the Germans actually work hard, turn out manufactured goods and channel their savings — their own money — into infrastructure and investment enhancing their competitiveness. Strikingly, the calamities in the US economy arise from the fact that the Americans do more or less the exact opposite.
Since 1961, the federal budget has been in deficit 47 times out of 52 years; the balance of payments 31 times out of 33 years since 1981.
World War I deja vu
TODAY
5 Dec 2013
By Martin Wolf
Will we sustain an open global economy while also managing tensions between a rising autocracy and democracies in relative economic decline?
That was the question posed by the arrival of imperial Germany as Europe’s leading economic and military power in the late 19th century.
It is the question posed today by the rise of communist China. Now, as then, mistrust is high and rising. Now, as then, actions of the rising power raise risks of conflict. We know how this story ended in 1914. How will the new one end, a century later?
5 Dec 2013
By Martin Wolf
Will we sustain an open global economy while also managing tensions between a rising autocracy and democracies in relative economic decline?
That was the question posed by the arrival of imperial Germany as Europe’s leading economic and military power in the late 19th century.
It is the question posed today by the rise of communist China. Now, as then, mistrust is high and rising. Now, as then, actions of the rising power raise risks of conflict. We know how this story ended in 1914. How will the new one end, a century later?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)