Archived Pressident’s Messages

In early April, the Singapore government reacted swiftly to the sudden explosions of virus infections among the more than 250,000 foreign workers. It had to isolate the healthy from their infected co-workers in their dormitories. Foreign workers are crucial not only to Singapore’s economy but also to the health infrastructure as they keep our housing…

Rice is the staple food of more than half the world’s population. “Rice is Life.” Unfortunately, with climate change and global warming this important food source is under threat, by drought on the one hand and floods on the other. These twin havoc affects the life not only of the consumers but more devastatingly of…

The Singapore economy must be responsive to the rapid shift from the Third Industrial Revolution to the Fourth. Mega floats can be a useful tool to fast-track the process. Too much land is used to support industries of the last three decades. Of these, three of them take up about 10% of the total land…

November 21 marked a significant milestone in the Society’s short history; our two-year old society held its first dinner event at the Churchill Room of the prestigious Tanglin Club. We have reasons to celebrate. Our membership strength more than triple in the past twelve months to sixty. In fact, in the past week alone about…

Is a floating structure in Singapore waters a building or a ship? Is it subject to statutes of the Building Control Authority (BCA) or the Maritime and Port Authority (MPA)? The law deems it a building. The Building Control Act applies. Specifically, the Act defines a “building” to include “a floating structure, not being a…

This month we have the distinct pleasure to welcome on board two eminent persons, one an engineer and the other an architect, as our Honorary Fellows. It marks a significant milestone in our short history. Professor Torgeir Moan spoke at our Wold Conference on Floating Solutions 2019. He a Professor of Marine Technology, and former…

Time passes swiftly. The present council will have served its 2-year term in less than 3 months from now and will make way for a new one. It has been an eventful term and one that has impacted on engineers, architects, urban planners, developers and environmentalists. No longer do they need to be confined to…

The Society has had a busy year as you can surmise from my previous messages.  The world-class speakers we have attracted to Singapore include thought leaders and researchers in the field from the US, UK, Norway, Netherlands, China, Japan and South Korea. In fact, the World Conference on Floating Solutions 2019 (WCFS 2019) which we…

I am delighted to announce that the above three very eminent experts in floating structures have joined the Society’s Council during the month. They were nominated by Vice President Professor CM Wang and duly approved by the existing Council Members. Associate Professor Ang Kok Keng received his B.Eng from the University of Singapore, M.Eng from…

The months of July and August were busy ones. 2nd VP Dr Koh Hock Seng and I visited various government authorities as mentioned in my preceding message (No. 24). On July 10, I gave a talk on the quest for land in Singapore at the HEAD Foundation. On the same evening I was invited to…