Chapter 10 The Freedom of No Longer Caring What People Think

Chapter 10

The Freedom of No Longer Caring What People Think

There is a particular kind of quiet that arrives, uninvited but welcome, somewhere past the middle of life. It doesn't announce itself with fireworks. It slips in during an ordinary afternoon, when you realize you haven't rehearsed a conversation in your head before having it, haven't chosen your words to please someone who wasn't going to remember them anyway, haven't dressed for anyone's eyes but your own. That quiet is freedom, and it takes a lifetime to earn.

For most of our younger years, we live as if on a stage we never auditioned for. Every choice — a haircut, a career, a way of laughing — gets filtered through an imagined audience. We flinch before we've even done anything wrong. We shrink ourselves to fit expectations that were often never spoken aloud, only felt, the way a plant knows which way the light falls without being told.

Old age, if we let it, undoes this. Not because we stop caring about people — we may love them more fiercely than ever — but because we stop needing their approval to know who we are. The opinions of strangers lose their grip. The judgment of acquaintances becomes background noise, no more urgent than weather in another city. What remains is something sturdier: our own sense of what is true and good, tested by decades of living, no longer borrowed from anyone else.

This freedom is not indifference. It isn't a hardened heart or a closed door. It is, instead, a kind of clarity. When you stop performing for an audience, you can finally hear your own voice. You can say what you mean without softening it into unrecognizable shapes. You can wear the ridiculous hat, sing off-key, cry in public, change your mind, admit you were wrong, ask for help, rest when you're tired — all without the old terror of being seen as less than perfect. Because you have already been seen, by yourself, in the unflattering light of your own memory, and you are still here.

There is grief tucked inside this freedom too, if we're honest. It came at a cost — the cost of years spent worrying, editing, apologizing for taking up space. We cannot get those years back. But we can spend what remains differently. We can let our opinions be unfashionable. We can let our joy be uncool. We can let our faces show exactly what we feel, wrinkles and all, without smoothing them into something more acceptable.

Old age, then, is not only decline — though it is that too, in ways that are real and sometimes hard. It is also arrival. It is the long-delayed permission to simply be, without translation, without apology, without the exhausting work of managing what other people think. That permission is worth almost everything it cost to get here.

Chapter 9 Fears I have outgrown fears I have gained

 Chapter 9

Fears I Have Outgrown and Fears I Have Gained

Growing old changes more than the colour of our hair or the number of candles on a birthday cake. It changes our fears too. Looking back, I realise that some of the things that once frightened me no longer matter. Other fears have appeared quietly with age. They are different from the fears of my younger years, but perhaps more meaningful.

When I was young, I worried about what people thought of me. I wanted to be successful, respected and accepted. A mistake could occupy my mind for days. I feared failure and worried about disappointing others. Today, I have largely outgrown these fears. I have learned that nobody lives a perfect life. We make mistakes, learn from them and move on. At my age, I am less interested in impressing people and more interested in being useful, kind and true to myself.

I have also outgrown my fear of getting older. When I was younger, old age seemed distant and almost frightening. I imagined it as a period of weakness and dependence. Now that I am travelling through it, I see that ageing is not simply about losing things. It is also about gaining perspective. We become more patient. We learn what is important and what is not. We become less troubled by small disappointments.

Some material fears have also disappeared. I no longer feel the same need to have the newest possessions or to keep up with others. Time has taught me that a peaceful evening, good conversation and the company of family and friends can be worth much more than expensive things.

But growing older has brought new fears.

One of the greatest is the fear of losing people I love. Friends and relatives who once seemed permanently part of my life are no longer here. Each loss reminds me that our time together is limited. I have learned not to take relationships for granted.

I also worry more about becoming a burden to my family. I want to remain independent for as long as possible. I know, however, that ageing may eventually require help. Accepting this possibility is difficult because we spend much of our lives learning to stand on our own feet.

Another fear is that of running out of time. When young, we think we have endless tomorrows. Growing older makes tomorrow feel more precious. There are still books to read, people to meet, places to see and things to contribute. I sometimes wonder whether I have enough time to complete all that I hope to do.

Yet perhaps the greatest lesson of ageing is that fear should not prevent us from living. Some fears disappear because experience teaches us they were never worth carrying. Others remain because they come from love, responsibility and the awareness that life is precious.

I cannot stop growing older. But I can choose how I grow older. I can face my fears with gratitude, humour and courage. And perhaps that is the final freedom of old age: knowing that while I cannot control the passing of time, I can still decide how I spend it.

Chapter 8 What I Know Now That I Should Have Known at age 80

 Chapter 8

What I Know Now That I Should Have Known at Age 30

Thirty felt like a deadline. A quiet, invisible clock ticking toward some version of "figured out" that I assumed everyone else had already reached. What I know now is that the clock was fiction. Nobody has it figured out — they've just gotten better at looking like they do.

Comparison is a tax you don't have to pay. At thirty, I measured my life against a highlight reel: other people's job titles, relationships, bank accounts, houses. I didn't know that everyone is running their own race, on their own terrain, at their own pace, and that the only useful comparison is to who I was last year. Chasing someone else's timeline just guarantees you'll always feel behind.

Most decisions are reversible. I treated career moves, relationships, and even where I lived like permanent verdicts on who I was. In reality, almost nothing is final. Jobs can be left. Cities can be changed. Relationships can end and begin again. Treating decisions as irreversible made me cautious in ways that cost me more than the mistakes I was trying to avoid.

Rest is not a reward you earn — it's a requirement. I believed exhaustion was proof of commitment. I wore busyness like a badge. What I didn't understand is that burnout doesn't announce itself; it creeps in disguised as productivity until the productivity stops. Protecting energy matters as much as spending it.

Financial habits compound quietly, and starting matters more than the amount. I waited for a "real" salary to start saving, not realizing that the habit itself — even small and imperfect — was the valuable part. Time in the market, time building any skill, beats waiting for perfect conditions.

People will forget your mistakes faster than you will. I replayed embarrassing moments for years after everyone else had moved on. Nobody's carrying your failures the way you are; they're too busy carrying their own.

Boundaries are not rejection. I said yes to things I didn't want to do because I equated boundaries with conflict. I didn't yet know that saying no clearly and kindly is a form of respect — for the other person's time and for your own.

Health is not a future project. I treated my body like an assumption. What I know now is that the habits you build in your thirties are the ones you'll be grateful for — or paying for — in your fifties.

You don't need to know your "purpose." I thought there was a singular calling waiting to be discovered, and that not knowing it meant I was failing. Purpose isn't found; it's built, slowly, through the things you keep choosing to do.

If I could hand my thirty-year-old self one sentence, it would be this: you are not behind, you are not broken, and the version of your life that feels unfinished is simply still being written.

Chapter 7 Perspective and Wisdom

Chapter 7

Perspective and Wisdom

Growing old has taught me that age is not simply the number of years we have lived. It is also the number of experiences we have collected, the mistakes we have made, the people we have met, the challenges we have overcome, and the lessons we have learned along the way.

When I was young, I often looked at life from a very narrow perspective. The problems of the day seemed enormous. A setback at work, a disagreement with someone, a missed opportunity or a financial worry could occupy my thoughts for days. With age, I have learned that most problems look different when viewed from a distance. Time has a way of putting things into perspective.

Perspective is one of the gifts of growing older. We begin to understand what is important and what is not. We become less concerned about impressing others and more concerned about living meaningfully. We realise that possessions can be replaced, money can be earned again, and opportunities can sometimes return. But time cannot be recovered, and relationships cannot always be repaired.

I have also learned that we should not take people for granted. Family, friends, colleagues and even casual acquaintances may influence our lives in ways we only appreciate much later. Some people remain with us for decades; others pass through our lives briefly. Each leaves something behind—a memory, a lesson, a kindness or sometimes even a warning.

Wisdom, I believe, is not knowing all the answers. It is knowing which questions are worth asking. It is understanding that we do not always have to be right. When we are young, we may argue to prove our point. As we grow older, we learn that sometimes it is better to listen, understand and let the matter go.

Age also teaches humility. We discover that despite our experience, we can still make mistakes. The world continues to change, and younger generations will often know things that we do not. Instead of resisting change, perhaps wisdom is accepting that every generation has something to teach the other.

Growing older has also changed my definition of success. Earlier in life, success might have meant career achievements, financial security, recognition or status. Today, I see success differently. It is having people who care about you, having the opportunity to contribute to society, remaining useful, and being able to look back without too many regrets.

Perhaps the greatest wisdom that comes with age is learning to appreciate the present. We spend much of our younger years preparing for tomorrow—education, career, family, retirement. Suddenly, we discover that tomorrow has become today. The years have passed quietly while we were busy planning for them.

I now understand that life is not measured only by its length but by the meaning we give to the years. Growing old gives us the opportunity to look back, learn from yesterday and live more thoughtfully today.

If I have gained any wisdom, it is this: do not wait until old age to appreciate life. The best time to value your family, your friends, your health, your community and the simple pleasures around you is now.

Old age may take away some of our speed, strength and youthful appearance. But if we allow it, it can give us something equally valuable—a wider perspective, a calmer mind and the wisdom to know what truly matters.

Chapter 6 The decades that helped shape me

Chapter 6 The Decades That Helped Shape Me, One by One

When I look back at my life, I realise that I did not become the person I am today in one dramatic moment. I was shaped slowly, decade by decade, by the people I met, the places I lived, the work I did, the mistakes I made and the experiences that stayed with me.

The 1940s – The Beginning

The 1940s were my childhood years, a time when life was simpler but not necessarily easier. Singapore was going through difficult times, especially during the Japanese Occupation. Those early experiences taught my generation the importance of family, discipline and making do with what we had. There was little waste because there was little to waste.

The 1950s – Discovering the World

The 1950s were my teenage years. Singapore was changing rapidly, and so was I. School, friendships and the excitement of a changing society opened my eyes to a much bigger world. I began to understand that education was not only about passing examinations. It was about learning how to think, communicate and find my place in society.

The 1960s – Finding My Direction

The 1960s brought independence and enormous change to Singapore. As a young adult, I was beginning my working life and discovering my interests and ambitions. Broadcasting and communications became an important part of my journey. I learned the value of teamwork, responsibility and doing a job well.

The 1970s – Building a Career

The 1970s were years of hard work and responsibility. Singapore was developing quickly, and there was a strong sense that everyone had a part to play. My career gave me opportunities to meet people from different walks of life. These experiences taught me that success is not measured only by position or money, but also by what we contribute to others.

The 1980s – Responsibility and Service

By the 1980s, life had become more demanding. With greater responsibilities came greater opportunities to serve. I became increasingly involved in public life and began to appreciate the importance of looking beyond myself. Issues such as the environment also began to interest me more deeply.

The 1990s – Giving Back

The 1990s brought another important chapter. Public service gave me a closer understanding of the hopes, worries and aspirations of ordinary Singaporeans. My interest in environmental matters grew stronger. I began to see that development and environmental protection must go hand in hand.

The 2000s – Reflection

The new millennium gave me more time to look back and reflect. Technology was changing the way we lived, communicated and worked. I realised that life was moving faster, but faster was not always better. I began to value relationships, memories and meaningful activities more than possessions.

The 2010s – A New Purpose

As I grew older, retirement did not mean stopping. It meant finding new ways to contribute. Volunteering, environmental activities and community work gave me a sense of purpose. I discovered that giving time can sometimes be more valuable than giving money.

The 2020s – Growing Older, Growing Wiser

Now, as I journey into old age, I see every decade as a chapter in one long story. Some chapters were happy, some difficult, and some I would happily rewrite. But all of them helped shape me.

Growing old, I have learned, is not simply about losing youth. It is about gaining perspective. The years have taught me to appreciate people, cherish memories, accept change and, above all, remain useful.

My journey is still continuing. The best part of growing old may be that I finally have the time to understand the journey I have taken.

My Giving Journey

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Giving Back: A Journey of Volunteering and Service

Giving back to society has always been important to me. I believe that we all have something to contribute, regardless of our age or position in life. Giving does not always mean donating money. It can mean giving our time, sharing our knowledge, helping someone in need, or simply doing something useful for the community.

One of the activities closest to my heart is volunteering with the Waterways Watch Society, where I have helped to pick up litter from Singapore’s waterways, including Punggol Waterway, Marina Bay and the Singapore River. Seeing the amount of rubbish collected from our waterways was an eye-opening experience. It reminded me that environmental protection is not only the responsibility of the Government. Every individual and every household has a part to play.

I have also volunteered to deliver food to St Andrew’s Day Care Centre, which serves autistic youths. Such experiences have taught me that giving is not only about what we do for others, but also about what we learn from them. A small act of kindness can make a meaningful difference to another person’s day.

Over the years, I have also participated in volunteer activities involving NEA, NParks and PUB. These experiences have allowed me to contribute to Singapore’s environment and learn more about the work being done to keep our country clean, green and liveable.

Another area of volunteering has been with SASCO, where I have helped distribute pamphlets to households and participated in gardening activities. These may appear to be simple tasks, but community work often depends on people being willing to do the small things that collectively make a difference.

I have also supported fundraising efforts for the GCTEnable Fund under SG Enable, helping to encourage contributions for people who need support. Giving to a worthy cause is one way of building a more caring and inclusive society.

My writing and publishing projects are another form of giving. I am working on a book about climate change, sustainability and what households can do to reduce their environmental impact. My aim is to make the subject practical and easy to understand, so that ordinary families can take action in their own homes. I have also worked on books documenting the history of broadcasting in Singapore, preserving memories and stories for future generations.

Looking ahead, I hope to continue this journey. From around 2027 to 2029, I would like to give sustainability talks at libraries, community clubs and schools. I also hope to help establish a Toastmasters club for autistic youths, giving them opportunities to develop confidence and communication skills.

Finally, I hope to encourage Toastmasters Clubs (TMCs) to do more giving and volunteering within their communities.

My philosophy is simple: we should leave something useful behind when we leave this world. It need not be wealth or fame. It can be cleaner waterways, a greener environment, a helping hand, a book, a lesson shared, or a person whose life has been made a little better.

Giving is not a one-time activity. It is a way of life. And there is always more we can do.

Chapter 5 What I tell my grandchildren about getting old

 Chapter 5

What I Tell My Grandchildren About Growing Old

My dear grandchildren,

One day, you will notice that your grandparents are getting older. You may see more grey hair, more wrinkles and perhaps a slower walk. You may even wonder why we take so long to get up from a chair!

But I want to tell you something about growing old. It is not something to fear. It is simply another stage of life, just as childhood, school and adulthood are stages of yours.

When I was young, I thought growing old was something that happened to other people. I never imagined that one day I would look into a mirror and wonder who that older person was looking back at me. Yet here I am!

Growing old teaches you that time is precious. When you are young, a year seems very long. When you are older, years seem to pass like months. So do not keep saying, “I will do it tomorrow.” If there is something worthwhile you want to do, start today.

Do not be too worried about your appearance. Your face will change. Your hands will change. You may gain a few wrinkles and lose a few hairs. But those wrinkles are not just signs of age. They are records of laughter, worries, hard work, love and experience.

Your hands tell a story too. They may become less smooth, but they have probably held babies, shaken hands, written letters, cooked meals, repaired things and comforted people. Do not be ashamed of the marks of a life well lived.

Growing old also teaches you that possessions are not as important as you once thought. A big house, an expensive car or the latest gadget may give temporary pleasure. But memories of family gatherings, friendships, journeys and simple moments together stay much longer.

So take care of your health, but do not become obsessed with trying to remain young forever. Eat sensibly. Keep moving. Laugh often. Stay curious. Learn something new. And most importantly, keep your friendships alive.

Never think that you are too old to make a difference. Age may slow your body, but it does not have to slow your mind or your heart. You can still teach, encourage, volunteer, create, help others and contribute to your community.

And please remember this: spend time with people you love. One day, you may discover that the most valuable thing you ever gave someone was not money or a present, but your time.

When I tell you about growing old, I am not asking you to feel sorry for me. I am asking you to understand that ageing is a privilege denied to many.

So when my hair turns whiter, my steps become slower and my stories become longer, be patient with me.

I have lived many years to collect those stories.

And perhaps, one day, they will become part of your story too.

Chapter 4 Letter to my younger self

 Chapter 4 A letter to my younger self

Dear Younger Me,

If I could sit beside you today, I would not begin by giving you advice. I would simply look at you for a while and smile.

You are in such a hurry.

You think life is a race. You want to achieve things, make a name for yourself, be useful, and prove that you can make a difference. You worry about whether you are making the right decisions. You spend far too much time thinking about what other people think of you.

Relax. You are doing better than you think.

There will be disappointments. Some plans will fail. Some people you trust will let you down. There will be moments when you wonder whether all the effort is worth it.

It is.

But you will eventually learn something important: life is not measured only by the things you achieve. It is measured by the people you touch, the friendships you keep, the kindness you show, and the memories you leave behind.

So, younger me, don't be afraid of making mistakes. You will make plenty of them. Some will embarrass you. Some will cost you time and money. A few will keep you awake at night.

But mistakes are not wasted experiences. They are life's rather expensive teachers.

Listen more.

You often think you have to have the answer. You don't. Sometimes the wisest thing you can say is, "I don't know." Give other people a chance to teach you. You will discover that wisdom does not always come from books or classrooms. It can come from an old colleague, a cleaner, a taxi driver, a neighbour, or a child asking an innocent question.

Look after your friendships.

As the years pass, you will discover that friends become more precious. Careers change. Positions disappear. Titles are forgotten. But a good friend who remembers you, laughs with you and stands beside you when things are difficult is worth more than any business card.

And don't postpone happiness.

You keep telling yourself that you will have more time later. Later, when work settles down. Later, when the children grow up. Later, when you have achieved this or that.

Be careful.

Later has a habit of becoming today.

Take the holiday. Make the phone call. Visit the old friend. Watch the sunset. Have the meal. Laugh at yourself. Spend time with the people you love.

You will also learn that getting older is not necessarily a tragedy.

Your face will change. Your hands will show the years. Your body will remind you that it is no longer twenty-five.

But age also gives you something youth cannot provide: perspective.

You begin to understand that many things which seemed terribly important were actually not important at all.

You learn to worry less about impressing people and more about being useful.

You learn that success is not standing at the top of the mountain alone. Sometimes it is helping someone else climb.

And perhaps most importantly, you learn that you never really stop being young inside.

So keep your curiosity.

Keep asking questions. Keep learning. Keep trying new things. Don't allow age to become an excuse for becoming old in your mind.

There is still much to discover.

If I could give you only one piece of advice, it would be this:

Don't rush through your life while waiting for it to begin.

It has already begun.

Enjoy it.

Be kind.

Stay curious.

And when you eventually look back, I hope you will realise that the journey, with all its mistakes, surprises, disappointments and joys, was far more valuable than you ever imagined.

With affection,

Your Older Self

Chapter 3 what my hand and face tell me about my life

 Chapter 3 What my hand and face tell me about my life

When I look at my hands and face today, I sometimes wonder when they started telling stories I never intended to share.

My hands were once smooth and strong. They could work for hours without complaint. They carried books, shook hands, held a pen, turned pages and, perhaps most importantly, got things done. Today, they look different. The skin is thinner, the veins are more prominent, and there are lines and marks that were not there before. My hands have become a kind of personal history book.

Every line seems to have a story behind it. They remind me of the years I spent working, writing, travelling, helping others and simply getting on with life. They have held the hands of people I cared about. They have applauded successes, wiped away tears and pointed the way forward. They have also made mistakes. Hands, after all, are not just tools. They are witnesses.

My face tells an even more obvious story.

The mirror is remarkably honest. It does not care how young I feel inside. It shows the wrinkles around my eyes, the lines on my forehead and the changes in the shape of my face. Once, I might have regarded those lines as signs of ageing. Now I see them differently.

Some wrinkles are probably the result of worrying. Others came from years of smiling and laughing. There are lines caused by concentration, tiredness and perhaps a few sleepless nights. If my face could speak, it might say, "You have been through quite a lot."

There is something strangely comforting about that.

We spend much of our lives trying to hide the evidence of ageing. We use creams, treatments, hair colour and all sorts of tricks to persuade the mirror that we are still younger than we really are. But perhaps we should not be so embarrassed by the evidence.

A wrinkle is not a failure.

It is a receipt.

It says that I have lived long enough to earn it.

My hands and face also remind me that growing old is not simply about losing things. There are things I have gained. Experience. Patience. Perspective. Memories. I have learned that not every argument needs to be won and not every problem needs an immediate solution. I have learned to appreciate ordinary moments that I once took for granted.

When I look at my hands, I see the years of doing.

When I look at my face, I see the years of feeling.

Together, they tell a story that no photograph from my younger days could capture. They show the passage of time, but they also show that I have participated in life rather than merely watched it go by.

Perhaps that is the real meaning of growing old.

The mirror may tell me that I am older.

My hands may confirm it.

But neither tells me that I am finished.

They simply remind me that I have another chapter to write.

Making Peace with my Body

 Chapter 2 Making Peace with My Body

I lost my prostate in 2010 and half my left ling in 2018. Over the years I learnt to live comfortably with my body. I am now 80.

There's a particular kind of grief that arrives before loss actually does. It shows up in the stiffness that wasn't there last year, in the extra beat it takes to stand up from the floor, in the way my knees announce the weather before the forecast does. I've started calling it what it is: making peace with a body that is quietly, steadily growing old.

I used to think aging would announce itself — one clear morning where everything was suddenly different. It doesn't work that way. It arrives in inches. You almost miss it, until one day you're catching your reflection in a shop window and don't immediately recognize the posture, the softness, the face that's a little more lived-in than the one in your head. I've been quietly grieving the body I used to have for longer than I realized, without saying so out loud.

There's a temptation to fight this. To will myself young again through sheer refusal — pushing through pain that used to be normal, chasing a version of strength that isn't coming back, treating every ache as a problem to be solved rather than a fact to be lived with. I understand that instinct. It comes from the same place as all the love we have for the selves we used to be. But I've learned, slowly, that making peace isn't about pretending nothing has changed. It's about changing alongside my body instead of against it.

So the runs got shorter, but I started noticing more on them — the light, the breath, the strange relief of not needing to prove anything. I used to see that as decline. Now I wonder if it's something closer to wisdom. I'm not slower because I've lost something. I'm slower because I've finally stopped rushing past the parts of being alive that were always worth noticing.

I think what actually needs to age, more than my body, is my expectation of it. I have to stop measuring today against the body I had at twenty-five, at thirty, at thirty-five. That body isn't entirely gone — it's still in there, in the way I still want to move, still feel young in flashes, still forget for a second that anything has changed. But I'm also this body now, the one with the gray hairs and the joints that need warming up, and both of those things get to be true without one erasing the other.

Making peace, I've realized, doesn't mean feeling okay about it all the time. Some nights I still do math I don't want to do — years, decisions, the unbearable arithmetic of a body with a limit. But peace was never about the absence of that ache. It's about not letting the ache steal the time that's still here. It's choosing, on ordinary Tuesday afternoons, to be in this body instead of mourning some other one. To let it set the pace sometimes. To notice, really notice, what it can still do instead of cataloguing what it can't.

I'm not who I was. And somewhere in that unglamorous, ongoing aging, I've found something that looks less like loss and more like a kind of loyalty — the kind that doesn't need this body to stay young to be worth caring for, exactly as it is, right now, aches and all.

The First Time I noticed Growing Old

*Chapter 1*

The First Time I Noticed I Was Growing Old

The first time I realised I was growing old was not when I found my first grey hair. That one was easy to blame on stress. It was not when my grandchildren started calling me "Grandpa" either. It was when I made a strange sound just getting out of a chair—and nobody else in the room seemed surprised!

As the years passed, little clues kept appearing. I discovered that my arms had somehow become too short to read a restaurant menu. Every time I wanted to read the fine print, I had to stretch the menu as far away as possible. My grandchildren thought I was showing them the menu. I was actually trying to find the words.

Then there were the mirrors. They seemed to become less flattering every year. I don't know whether the mirrors changed or I did, but I definitely preferred looking at old photographs. In those pictures, I had hair, fewer wrinkles, and a waistline that didn't arrive five seconds before the rest of me.

Technology also became a reminder of my age. My grandchildren could operate a new mobile phone without reading the instructions. I, on the other hand, needed the instruction manual, a magnifying glass, and occasionally the grandchildren. They would fix the problem in ten seconds and then say, "Grandpa, you just have to tap here." They made it sound so simple!

Another sign was my conversation with friends. We no longer discussed golf or football scores or the latest movies. Instead, we compared cholesterol levels, blood pressure readings, and which doctor gave the shortest waiting time. Someone would proudly announce, "My knee replacement is working wonderfully," and everyone else would nod with admiration. We had become members of a very exclusive club.

Shopping also changed. When I was young, I bought fashionable clothes. Now I buy comfortable shoes. The most exciting part of a shopping trip is finding socks that don't slide down and trousers with an elastic waistband. Fashion may come and go, but comfort lasts forever.

Despite all these amusing changes, growing older has its advantages. I no longer worry about impressing people. I can laugh at myself without embarrassment. I have learned that life is too short to waste on unnecessary arguments or impossible diets. If I want an extra slice of cake, I simply call it "quality of life."

The truth is, growing old is rather like driving an old car. It may creak a little when it starts, it needs more regular servicing, and sometimes the engine takes a while to warm up. But it is still full of wonderful memories and has many enjoyable journeys left.

So yes, I am growing older. I may move a little slower, forget a few names, and make funny noises when I stand up. But I have earned every grey hair and every wrinkle. After all, growing old beats the only alternative—and that's something worth smiling about.

...,............

My Journey to Old Age

I am going to pen some essays on the subject of  My journey to Old Age.  The following are the likely topics to write on.

Here are some topic ideas for "My Journey to Old Age" essays:

1. The first time I noticed I was aging

2. Making peace with a changing body

3. What my hands/face tell me about my life4. 

4.  Letters to my younger self

5. What I'd tell my grandchildren about growing old

6. The decades that shaped me, one by one

7. On perspective and wisdom

8. What I know now that I wish I knew at 30

9. Fears I've outgrown, fears I've gained

10. The freedom of no longer caring what people think

11. Watching my parents age, then becoming them

12. Friendships that lasted, friendships that faded

14. Love in the later chapters of life

15. On mortality and meaning

16. Making peace with the idea of an ending

17. What legacy means to me now

18.  Small joys that matter more with age19. 

19. Who I was vs. who I've become

20. Retirement: loss of purpose or rediscovery of self

21. Reinventing myself after 60

22. Is Sex relevant anymore?

Hope you will read and comment.

Green Your Home

 We are going to publish a book Green Your Home -Guide to a eco friendly Household...to be out by Chinese New Year.  It is a community not for profit project. Here is a brief description 

50 essays written by members of toastmaster clubs across Singapore. All have a common interest in the love the environment and are passionate about climate change and sustainability. Each chapter describes a different aspect of how to reduce GHG in households.

You will find clear actionable strategies for cutting waste, saving energy, and making smarter choices for a eco friendly home.From the kithen (eg composting) to the bathroom(eg water-savin fixtures) to the living room and beyond (eg energy saving lighting, pastics, furniture) this book breaks sustainability and decarbonisation itno simple achievable steps.

This book also includes the work of the Govrnment through the National Environment Agency and other institutions in achieving zero emission by 2050. .It also highlights the Government s Green Plan andprojects such as climate conscious Gardens By the Bay.

It is a must-read for all who love the cenvironment and are keen to save the Earth from the effects of green house gases.

It is the first local book on Climate change and sustainability targeting households.

This project is under the purview of the High Impact ( Sustainability )Toastmasters Club of Singapore - a club where members are dedicated to talk and write about climate change.

Talk on Battling Cancer

 

 I gave a talk on Battling Cancer at a recent 100 <Voices event .The event was held at the Great Eastern Building in Pickering Street.

I spoke to a group of seniors how I overcome my prostate cancer and lung cancer illness. And how it did me good by embracing Giving and Volunteering besides ageing active through exercises and volunteering in a few activities.

COT50

 Message from Philip Tay JT former MediaCorp Chief Engineer/Group CTO 1967 - 2010

email: tay.philip@gmail.com

*Support COT50: Empowering Lives with $50*

Dear friends,

I’m launching *COT50*, a campaign inviting Caldecott Hill Old Timers, Mediacorp colleagues, and friends to donate *$50* to the *Goh Chok Tong Enable Fund (GCTEF)*.

GCTEF works with SG Enable to help persons with disabilities gain skills, employment, and a more integrated role in society. As an SG Enable-approved campaign, all donations are secure and go directly to impact.

If you’re able to contribute, you can donate here:

https://www.gctenablefund.sg/support-us/event-2/

Thank you for your generosity and kindness

(Please remember to key COT50 in the reference field if you are using PAYNOW)

---

Book Launch 26 Feb 2025

There was a book launch of Mun Chor Seng 's book A Pictorial of Radio and Television in Singapore. About 80 MediaCorp and Caldecott Hill old timers attended the event held at the New Campus ,Star Avenue. It was a successful launch and all books were sold out. You can view some of the pictures taken by MediaCorp cameraman Layna at this link 

 http://layna.quickconnect.to/mo/sharing/kj1WGrX45

Book launch at MediaCorp Photos Nov 2024

 

Live without TV

Life without TV

by Lesley Ong
>
> On 1 Nov 2022 around 7.30pm, I turned on my TV. Two words jumped out from the screen. “NO SIGNAL”.
> I panicked. The Hong Kong series “Dynasty”, which I was following, would be starting soon at 9. It was very exciting and I don’t want to miss it. I straightaway called the telco company.
> After asking me to check the connection, click here, click there, re-booth etc, the signal came back. What a relief!
> This got me thinking, “How did I survive the days when there was no television?”
> You see, TV was only introduced in Singapore on 15 February 1963.
>
> At that time, I was staying at 134-B Dorset Road, a SIT estate located next to Farrer. A small drain separate the estate and the park. The 8 blocks of three storey flats was build by the Lim Yew Hock’s government. Each block had 18 units with 2 units facing each other.
>
> My first childhood friend was my neighbour, a Indian girl called Jamma. I was around 4 years and she was year my senior. As both of us were not of school going age then, we played everyday from morning to night with dolls and masak masak (crockery, forks & spoon made of plastic). Our doors were never closed. We walked in and out of each other house, ate in eat other’s house and that is why up to this day I love curry!
>
> My father was a movie bluff. Almost every weekend, he would pack the whole family in 2 taxis and off to the theatre we go. Cathay, Capitol, Odean, Alhambra, Sun, Sky, Globe, Galaxy, King to name a few. After the movie, If we watched the movie at Cathy, Capitol, Odeon and Alhambra, father would bring us all to the satay club at Beach Road for dinner. We sat on low benches around the stall, earring satay, washed down with freshly grind sugar cane juice admist the smoke and dust as the Tay Koh Yat buses roared by. Tay Koh Yat bus depot was just across the road!!
>
> During that time there was no film classification. So father brought us to see whatever film he loved to see. I still remembered watching all the Dracula (played by Christopher Lee) films. Christopher Lee with his bloodshot eyes and fangs. After that, I was always afraid when night fall!
> Then there were the cowboys and Red Indians films. Being young and innocent, I cheered the cowboys on (usually played by actors such as John Wayne, Richard Widmark, Robert Mitchum) as they killed the Red Indians (Sioux, Cheyenne and Apaches) and burned down the whole settlement!
> However the movies I enjoyed most were musicals, movies with Christmas themes and Cineramas. Cineramas were 3D films and were only shown at the Sky Theatre.
>
> If my father was a movie bluff, my mother was a wayang bluff!
> There was a temple at Truro Rd, near my place. Several times a year, they would celebrate the birthday of the deities with 2 days of wayang. Then there was the 7th moon festival and there would be wayang almost the whole month.
> Mother would make us eat an early dinner as the show starts at 7pm. Then each of us would carry a stool and rush to the wayang site so that we could be nearer the stage. Teochew/Hokkien wayang, it did not matter. Because of the popularity of the cinema show “Tan Sar Gnor New” (the story about a poor scholar who fall in love with a rich maiden), every wayang troupe would put up this performance!
> Frankly I love wayangs not because of the shows but because of the many stalls selling a variety of food and drink and the tikam - tikam stalls.
> The most popular drink stall was the one selling the bird nest drink. The hawker would position his tricycle right in the midst of the crowd watching the show! The so called bird nest was actually strips of agar agar! But it did not matter as the drink was cold and sweet with the fragrant of pandan leaves.
> The Tikam Tikam stalls were game stalls. They had board games similar to roulette. I loved to play the game where I was required to pull a pair of metal rods from a bamboo container. The tip of the rods were paintedd either black or red. If you pulled a pair of the same colour, you won a prize. If you pulled a pair of different colour, you “died”! However the stalls which drew the most crowd were the one selling cockles and siput (a kind of snails where the hawker clipped off the tip of the shell and you dipped the snail in the chilli sauce and suck it out!). These hawkers hawked their food on 2 baskets tied to the end of a pole. Their favourite spot was under the wayang stage. There they put down the 2 baskets and patrons sat around the stalls on small stools enjoying the delicacy, with the footsteps of the performers thumping above them!
>
> Opposite my house was a Teochew family. They were quite poor as the father was a cloth merchant with more than ten mouths to feed. Every morning he would piled bales of cloth on his tricycle and cycle to the market to sell. In the evening he would come home and carried the cloth upstairs. Why do I mentioned this particular neighbour? Because going to wayang was a big occasion for them, like attending a grand dinner! They would not only be heavily make up but dressed up to the Ts with matching costumes jewellery., shoes and handbags!
>
> In the evening, the air in the estate would be filled with children’s laughter, screaming and shouting as we come down to play. We played games like “bola humtan” (a game similar to baseball), chapteh (a rubber disc topped with brightly coloured feathers which one kicks with the heel of one leg), spin tops, hit each other’s marbles out of a circle drawn on the pavement (the person who hit the most marbles out of the circle wins and get to keep the marbles!), paper balloons, five stones, hopscotch, kutik kutik. We learned to ride bicycle on adult bicycles. We flew kites, the poorer boys making their own kites out of newspaper and sapu lidi. These kites had difficulty taking off as they were heavier than the normal kite. After sometime, some of the children would go the drain between our estate and Farrer Park to catch guppies or to the bushes to catch spiders. We carried the spiders around in match boxes, ready to fight anytime! The spiders fed on hibiscus leaves.
>
> Every Sunday, we would follow father to Farrer Park to watch football. There are many football pitches and all the pitches would be occupied. My eldest brother and his friends love football. Father bought them a ball. Soon they were playing against other teams at the pitch! It was then that they decided to form a proper team with their own jersey. They called themselves D’ Starlight. Father was their main sponsor. After the game, father would bring us to the nearby Race Course Road to eat Indian Rojak. There were many hawker stalls selling mainly Muslim food such as mee goreng, nasi goreng, soto ayam, roti prata and soup kambing. Not to be forgotten are the kachang puteh stalls. It was a must to munch on kachang puteh while watching football!
>
> Father was trying to produce shampoo. His shampoo was so thick that when you dip a wire with a loop at its end into the shampoo, you could blow out bubbles. So his shampoo ended up with us, the children in the estate. We would go to Farrer Park each with a bottle of the shampoo and a looped wire before the football games start to blow bubbles! The whole park would be full of rainbow coloured bubbles, floating into the sky. It was a beautiful sight!
>
> Next to Dorset estate was Cumberland Estate. The houses there were cute little cottages, separated by hibiscus hedges. They were occupied mostly by Europeans and some high ranking civil servants. Most of them were Christian and during Christmas, all the houses were beautifully decorated with colourful twinkling lights, wreaths, poinsettias, Santa Claus, reindeers and snowman!
> As children, we loved to go there during this season. We walked along the cobblestone lane, see the family preparing dinner in the cottages and the beautifully decorated Christmas tree inside the house. Most house would have a Christmas tree!
>
> The happiest times for us was Chinese New Year and the Mooncake Festival.
> During Chinese New Year, we drank Red Lion fizzy drinks and played with fire crackers and fireworks, day and night, for fifteen days! The whole estate was very noisy and smoky and the ground covered with red paper!
> Then during the Mooncake Festival, all of us would carry lantern. The lanterns came in many shape and sizes, fish shape, aeroplane, butterfly, starfruit, rabbit, flower basket. The most common ones were the paper lanterns, which opened up like an accordion . The children from poorer families made their own lantern out of newspaper and sapu lidi.But this did not deter their fun! They children would form two lines and one of the older boy would beat a drum as we chanted “Ya!Ya! Tom Tom Chen” over and over again. We would marched to Farrer Park as it was very dark and our lanterns shone very bright,y and beautifully.
> Mother would lay the table with chicken, meat, fruits and flowers to pray to the Moon Goddess or “Gay New Mah”. This practice was stopped only when America landed on the moon!
>
> Looking back, it was an enjoyable childhood “Without TV".

New Photo book by Mun Chor Seng

 

The new photo book A Pictorial of Radio and TV in Singapore by Mun Chor Seng contains about a 1000 pictures of radio and TV personalities and events over many years at the broadcasting station on Caldecott Hill. This book is a limited edition and not available in bookstores. If you wish to buy one please email to author at munchorseng@gmail.com

The price is $35 self collect or $40 by post.

Senior stories Lim Yao Ching

 Caldecott Hill Broadcasting Center 

 Facility Management-Little-known Anecdotes        

by Lim Yao Ching

Introduction

 I joined Mediacorp in 1997. The following are some little-known anecdotes that I personally experienced on the Hill and some tidbits of the entire project relocation, to share with you.

 The Caldecott Hill Broadcasting Center(CBC) covers an area of about 7 hectares. The following buildings were constructed in different periods:

  a. Old Broadcasting House: Built in the 1950s (1st to 2nd floors)

  b. TV Building (TV Building): Built in 1964 (four floors) in 1972 and expanded in 1986.

  c. Radio Building: Built in 1983 (sixth floor)

  d, East Wing (East Wing): Built in 1982 (single floor with three underground floors)

  e. West Wing: Built in 1983 (5 stories underground)

  f. Annex Building: Built in 1995 (5 stories underground)

  g. Media Academy: Built in 1984 (three floors)

  h. Multi-storey car park building (MSCP Building): Built in 1990 (5 floors, 4 underground floors)

 The original CBC started from the old broadcast building and consisted of separate buildings, as follows:

 Blk A (Building A)

 2-story wooden structure used as outdoor production office (drama/variety show)

 Blk D (Building D)

 This single-storey building on the edge of the TV building is dedicated to storing wardrobe supplies. It contains clothing, headwear and footwear from different eras and races.

 Blk E (Building E)

 Although the appearance of this single-story wooden structure is old, it is neat and tidy. It is one of the unforgettable places for artists who often come here for makeup and haircuts.

 Blk F (Building F)

 The single-story wardrobe collection and distribution center is also frequently visited by entertainers and extras. Provide various clothing-related services, including clothing modification, laundry, matching and retrieval of clothing used for shooting.

 Blk G (Building G)

 This single-story building is an audio station responsible for dubbing services, audio/music mixing, etc.

 25.12.02 The old radio room fire incident

  On December 25, 2002, a prop storage room behind Building F caught fire due to an electrical short circuit.

  When I arrived at the Radio Gate (one of the gates of Broadcasting Center), I was shocked to see thick smoke rising from the building behind the makeup building of Building F in the old broadcast building. At that time, I was so shocked that my hands and feet were cold, and I couldn't make a smooth call even when I tried to call my boss.

 At that time, the security guard on duty had tried to control the access to the fire scene. When I entered the fire scene, I saw many people rushing into the audio room of Building F to rescue the equipment and tapes in the recording room. Suddenly I was worried about their safety. I tried to prevent them from entering, they ignored my appeal.

  Although firefighters were spraying water on the roof at the time, dense fog appeared on the roofs of several single-story wooden buildings due to the high temperature. The scene was frightening. Fortunately, the closet storage room was only a single floor, and the firefighters quickly controlled the fire.

 Due to the timely control of the fire, the fire did not spread to neighboring buildings. After the fire was brought under control, James Tan, then director of the Civil Defence Agency of Singapore, personally visited the fire scene.

 3. Build a new item warehouse

  After the fire in the old broadcasting building destroyed the storage building, as part of the insurance claim conditions, we built a new warehouse for prop storage. The figure below shows the building during the construction phase.

 

 Studio production facilities

 The Caldecott Hill Broadcasting Center contains 6 studios, Studio A (located in the Broadcasting Building), the overall design is an auditorium, movie studio (located in the old Broadcasting Building for TV/film production) and a TV theater (located in the multi-storey parking lot) Inside the building)

 Studio 1 is used for English drama/sitcom production

 Studio 2 for Chinese news/current affairs

 Studio 3 was produced by Caldecott Mountain of Gary Valley (made for external clients)

 Studios 4 and 6 are produced by Chinese theater

 Photo studio 5 is used for temporary production and production company reservations.

 In the center of all studios there is a temporary set hall for storing props for the studio.

 Street scene

 At the beginning of drama production, part of the old broadcasting building was used to construct street scenes for drama production.

 However, when the amount of drama production increased, the new street scene called "TV World" was built as a production place for local dramas of the old period. It is located next to the checkpoint of the second passage in Malaysia and Tuas.

  "TV World" occupies a land area equivalent to four football fields and was completed in 1992. It has two wings, the local street scene in the 1950s and 1960s and the old Chinese street scene. The buildings built are old cinemas, railway stations, fire stations, churches, buildings and traditional shops.

  There is also an artificial river for shooting in the television world.

  New Media uses nostalgic props and backgrounds from the TV world to produce many memorable Chinese TV series for Channel 8. Some of the TV series that have been filmed here are: "Adventure 3" (released in 1995), Tofu Street, Tofu Street (1996), "The Price of Peace" (1997), "The Pot of Life" Fuman Renjian (1999) and Hainan Kopi Tales Qiongyuan Coffee Fragrance (2000).

  In 2001, due to high maintenance costs and low utilization, New Media decided to abandon the Tuas TV World. If required by the plot, the crew will shoot in Malaysia, China or Calgary Valley Broadcasting Center.

 TV building catches fire

 Another minor fire (smoke) incident in the TV building (unknown year and month-probably around 2003/2004?) caused the users of the TV building to evacuate. The fire was contained in the AHU room, and was contained before any damage could be caused.

 After subsequent investigations, it was found that the cigarette butts were inhaled into the air inlet and contacted with the AHU pre-filter material, causing the flame to slowly burn and emit a large amount of smoke.

    

 Buildings in disrepair (water seepage in the TV building)-Digital Media Center (DMC)_April 24, 2004, due to water seepage, interrupted the transmission of Channel 5

   A staff member noticed that water seeped in from the ceiling of the Digital Media Center (DMC) near the power switch cabinet around 2.45 pm that day. The manager of the live broadcast room took emergency rescue measures and protected the equipment with plastic sheets around the area where water seepage was found.

 When the staff cleaned up the chaos at the scene, the channel 5 signal was interrupted. Later, it was discovered that other parts of the ceiling of the Digital Media Center (DMC) and Satellite Operations Center (SOC) (the satellite operations center next to the Digital Media Center) also had water seepage problems, affecting the racks that house the fifth channel equipment. Due to the failure of the audio equipment, the fifth channel has intermittent audio interruption when playing.

 Channel 5 was interrupted for about 19 minutes and resumed before 3.10 pm. No other channels are affected.

  

 Wall reinforcement of TV building

 The TV building is constructed using a traditional beam-slab system. The TV Building was built in 1964 and expanded in 1972 and 1986.

 Some parts of the TV building are covered with a steel roof, while the substation is covered with a reinforced concrete structure RC flat roof. The steel roof is supported by steel bars, which in turn are supported by steel trusses. These anchored on reinforced concrete structural columns were visually inspected by professional engineers for 5 years.

 The structural inspection was carried out by a professional contractor from September 20, 2010 to November 30, 2010.

 The report recommends more comprehensive core testing and regular maintenance work, because low concrete strength is generally found in TV buildings, so repair and reinforcement should be carried out according to the recommendations of the first report.

 Three carbonization test samples were carried out. All samples were from the first floor and were tested immediately after core extraction. The test results show that the possibility of steel corrosion is very high.

  -Monitoring of 100 pillars per week 5 times a week, these pillars cannot be reinforced with fiber wrapping.

  -Fiber wrapped to strengthen 20 columns accessible. 20 pillars that can be sprayed with anti-carbon coating

 According to the first structural research report, the decrease in the strength of concrete tested in the first batch of core tests indicates that the strength of concrete in key structural members is consistently low.

 It can be clearly seen from the test results that this 47-year-old TV building has been adversely affected by the environment and suffered carbonization damage for at least 15 years. As a result, the strength of the concrete was reduced by nearly 50%, and signs of concrete deterioration, such as cracks, flaking, and rust, appeared.

 The weak and porous condition of concrete will accelerate the penetration of concrete by atmospheric carbon dioxide and water-based chloride ions from the environment, and make the concrete deteriorate at a faster rate. In the next 5 to 10 years, the concrete strength may decrease from the current level to the range of 8 N/mm2 to 10 N/mm2. It is expected that there will be more concrete signs of deterioration during this period.

 Therefore, it is essential to repair those severely deteriorated concrete components as soon as possible to prevent further deterioration. Considering the availability of repair work, repair as many unsatisfactory columns as possible. The column after maintenance work will be safe under the existing loading conditions.

 Taking into account that the building will not be occupied for more than 5 years, we will also limit the maintenance work to the 20 pillars mainly located in the square, carry out reinforcement works on the pillars, and continue to monitor the rest of the columns every other month.

 In the end, we used unidirectional glass fiber epoxy resin to repair the undesirable column to enhance the structure of the column

 9. Develop a master plan for the Gary Valley Mountain Broadcasting Center

 a. Redevelopment of the old broadcasting room and renovation of other buildings

 After several fire incidents and major water seepage incidents, the complex obviously needs a major comprehensive renovation or renovation project that will be carried out long ago.

 According to the records I found, in the early days of the Singapore media company MCS, the company has conducted extensive research on the possibility of developing a new campus to replace the existing Cale Valley Broadcasting Center. In fact, a site at No. 6 Bukit Batok West Street was purchased in 1994 as an alternative site for the Calgary Hill Broadcasting Center. I don't know the reason why the redevelopment plan of Bukit Batok has not been carried out, but it may be related to cost feasibility.

 According to our 2005 research, in fact, it is more cost-effective to redevelop part of the Gary Valley Mountain Broadcasting Center and remodel existing buildings.

 I was the main facilitator in the development of a master plan that aims to upgrade the building of the Gary Valley Mountain Broadcasting Center and redevelop the old broadcast room with new buildings. I personally drafted the tender documents to appoint consultants to develop the master plan for the Gary Valley Mountain Broadcasting Center.

 A consortium consisting of the following companies was appointed as the conceptual master plan for the Gary Valley Mountain Broadcasting Center in September 2005.

 DP Architects Pte Ltd was appointed as architect

 Beca Carter Hollings&Ferner (S.E.Asia) Sdn Bhd was appointed as civil, structural and electromechanical engineer

 KPK Quantity Surveyor Pte Ltd was appointed as Quantity Surveyor

 The master plan proposal was completed and subsequently submitted to the MediaCorp management in March 2006, but the final decision was to build a new complex on Bukit Batok land. There are obvious advantages to building a house on green space. It is very difficult and inconvenient to upgrade an existing building because it will affect operations, and the studio is very sensitive to noise to cope with the construction process. The supporting theater and entertainment production facilities of the old broadcasting room must also be relocated. It is also much easier to construct a completely new broadcast infrastructure framework in a new building.

 After MediaCorp management made a decision, an internal project management team then appointed a project management consultant to oversee the construction of the new complex at Bukit Batok site. In order to understand the requirements of all stakeholders, a comprehensive seminar and discussion were carried out, and a comprehensive technical requirements, specifications and space rationalization plan were developed for the new complex.

 However, the project was aborted due to the Great Recession in 2007 before the invitation of the multidisciplinary consulting team.

 In 2011, MediaCorp finally decided to purchase a piece of land in One North and build a new site to replace the Gali Valley Mountain Broadcasting Center. The new site is located in Mediapolis, a business park created for the rapidly growing information and communications, media, physical sciences and engineering sectors. One One's 19-hectare hub is supported by a strong IT infrastructure.

 The new building has many advanced facilities, including two large studios, post-production facilities, news gathering and broadcasting facilities, a 1,500-seat performing arts theater and office space. There is a comprehensive news editing room that can accommodate 700 reporters from its digital, television, radio and printing units.

 I want to share the initial master plan of the Gary Valley Mountain Broadcasting Center developed by the consultant team, which also includes some preliminary design ideas shown below, because some people may be curious to understand it. These points of view are only preliminary descriptions of the design, no further development.

    

 b. The area of the proposed building on the Bukit Batok site is shown below. These are just working drafts at the preliminary stage.

               

 10. I will end this narrative with photos of the cornerstones of two TV stations that I took.

 11. The future of the Gali Valley mountain block

 On October 14, 2020, Channel News Asia reported that the Galle Valley Mountain Broadcasting Center website had been sold by the owner, Mediacorp. The 75,2015 square foot site is marketed by real estate consultants-CB Richard Ellis Real Estate Consulting and Showsuite Consultancy. The property was sold through an open tender, and the deadline for the tender is December 9, 2020.

 The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) has approved Mediacorp to redevelop the site into a two-story villa with a land area of at least 800 square meters (8,611 square feet) per house.

 In contrast, this is a relatively small land scale. Usually, the minimum land requirement for first-class villas is 1,400 square meters. However, compared with ordinary villas, the area requirements for first-class villas of this specification are double theirs.

 The subdivision plan designed by MediaCorp Architects that can accommodate 67 villa plots must be approved by the relevant authorities.

 The land is currently zoned for use by citizens and community institutions and will have to be re-planned as residential land; this will require payment of a premium to the state.

 The amount of the premium depends on the developers proposal, the time of application, and the evaluation by the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) and the Office of the Chief Appraiser.

 In addition, this 99-year leasehold land on the island has a remaining lease term of 73 years. This means that the developer also needs to pay the Singapore Land Authority (Singapore Land Authority) a lease difference to renew it for 99 years.

 By: Lim Yao Ching Lin Yaoqing

 Yao Qing joined Singapore Television in 1997 and is responsible for its property services department, which includes the maintenance of necessary electrical and mechanical infrastructure. Subsequently, he participated in project management and formulated the overall redevelopment plan. He left MediaCorp in 2012 and is currently working as a project management consultant in a consulting firm for infrastructure development.

 Disclaimer:

 My narration is based on my documentary record, knowledge and information obtained at the working level and on a personal basis. It does not represent the official version of events.