You have this unhealthy habit of referring to me to do this and to do that in many of your unnecessary comments. What do you think I am? The government or "experts" like you? Have you ever considered that you are sticking out worse than a sore thumb?
Don't worry about such matters in Singapore. We have more knowledgeable people than you think. Otherwise we would not have survived so well after independence and made world headlines now and then.
Drain design:
I am not a chartered Engineer but have worked with many. Engineers design drains and roads based on a calculation called "Rate of Return".
Eg. drains and channels may be designed for 20 ,40, 200 year returns. A 20 year return means a drain large enough to discharge water at rainfall levels at the worst encountered every 20 years, 40 year for the worst in 40 years etc. If you design drainage to cater for the worst rainfall encountered in the last 200 years it will be large enough to be a river.
The same principle applies to road traffic, that's why all roads have reserves for future widening to cater for traffic increase or using airspace above in the form of flyovers.
Freak weather caused by intense downpours yet to be encountered in the last few decades can lead to slower discharge and flooding and bottlenecks, it could be caused by global warming, therefore the emphasis in Singapore for a Green Environment.KL had been hit by this problem a decade ago when the whole of Merdeka Square was submerged about a decade ago.
KL solved this problem by constructing a famous underground "Smart Tunnel " which could be used for traffic diversion, but in times of intense rainfall, the tunnel is closed to traffic and is used to discharge surplus water to the sea.I think anyone interested in the Smart Tunnel project can check out the "Sunway Group" website. The tunnel equipment I think were re-built from dismantled parts of the machines used in the England/France Chunnel.
What did someone once quoted about Henry Kissinger' Academic" criticism and not putting your money where your mouth is? I think watching football is more fun than mocking others.
Anyway flash floods in city centres are common enough I have seen enough in the UK when I lived there. Most of the time it could be overdevelopment and drainage systems not upgraded to suit new developments and is a very complex Town Planning and Environmental problem everywhere.
it is not about looking for scapegoats but upgrading of infrastructure.Do you blame the government everytime a quite narrow road gets jammed once in a while when there is an occasional gathering causing a traffic jam? Its about risk and safety factors in Town Planning and feasibility of solutions.
If you visit KL and stay in Jalan Sultan Ismail if you are unlucky you will find sometimes that the basement and the cars will be flooded once in a while. I think the area is far from the smart tunnel.
If you stay in Kuching, where the Sarawak river is below sea level everytime the tide is high the sea backflows into the river and floods the city.
Till today they have not worked out a solution other than abandoning the city. Maybe we can read some newpapers rather than consult experts and judge whether the government is to blame.
I'm not smart, its my line of work, I have been managing developments for decades in KL.
The smart tunnel acts like an alternate River Klang/Gombalk channeling water to the sea. River Klang is the only river discharging water from the Klang valley into the sea.
Smart tunnel is actually in 3 levels or storeys.
Anyone who wants to know more about never ending flooding problems has only to study a documentary on Venice.
Before you talk about pumps and jumping to conclusions, you haven't even studied the drainage system, is it a system of open channels, pipe culverts, box culverts or underground sewers? All different designs have different maintenance problems. It is not about pumping basements, LRT stations in KL are below the Klang river level but they have a series of gates to close the basements everytime there is a flood.
Basements designed below flood levels without gates to preventing flooding are archaic designs.
Here in this forum we have gods, better Engineers than Engineers.
Wow we have nonSingaporeans here more Singaporean than Singaporeans waiting for Chenhu to solve all their problems.
Whats that the Australian Minister of Innovation said about Australian businesses :
" Businesses like to Privatise their profits and Socialise their losses." Basements falling below flood level are always susceptible to flash floods, one solution is to redesign basements and at the same time improve public infrastructure.
I think Insurance companies will shy away from insuring owners from claims if their basements are not properly constructed.
What did Henry Kisisnger say: Academic criticism" and putting your money where your mouth is, say something constructive and credible.Your talents are all wasted you should join the football crowds shouting for their teams in the world cup.
The Chinese have a saying "Dui Niu Dan Ching".
No matter what logic is applied the irrational person has only one agenda, to indulge in his favorite bashing.
We are talking about a different thing in New Orleans.Even in the smart tunnel we need several acres of lake to temporarily
store the water before it is slowly discharged into the sea. We call these lakes sedimentation basins which can also be used for recreation ,these basins are somewhere in Shah Alam. In the case of Singapore the baements are acting as sedimentation ponds.The situation looks as if Orchard road is simply low lying.
I neverknew until now that the Singapore is Government is so naive and thick, Drains blocked and vegetation growing and flooding year after year as claimed by their papers and they cannot clear the drains, kudos for enlightening me on that! Boooo!
I am sure even with the flood levels being low and shortage of land to create lake in Orchard road the Singapore government will invent Newton's 4th law of physics, "water NEVER always finds its own level"
KL is not sinking, it is a flat valley surrounded by hills discharging water downhill. most of it is channeled thru Gombak and Klang rivers to the sea. Development and man-made structures create a lot of obstructions slowing down the flow to the sea.
I do not know the topo of Singapore to be able to comment. Some experts claim that the newspapers they read claim that their government is very stupid in not cleaning the drains of debris and causing flooding every year.
Then they claim that the floods have been occuring yearly in recent times and not in the past and deny any correlation with climatic changes and development patterns.
Then the people the experts are fighting for are so smart they build structures below flood levels ,never barricade them and claim chenghu never does anything for them.Wow they probably never studied physics before!
WE are better in Malaysia we have first world infrastructure but as you can clearly see from this forum people
with 3rd world mentality with some sinister agenda. Shame on you Singapore, you must really have ill-treated older Malaysians when they were there so much so they laugh at you when you drown. What did you do ,make them drink soap water and then stomp on them?
Maybe they should be sent free copies of this video :
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Many environmental and engineering problems require a lot of research and expertise to solve .
The same applies to legal or management and business solutions, it takes more than reading newspapers and
internet articles to solve.if not every monkey could claim to be an expert and there will no longer be Engineers,
Lawyers,Management Gurus, etc etc everyone can be one.
The internet can be a very dangerous place to visit, it can be filled with many sources of misinformation
by irresponsible people who make statements without considering its impact on the wide spectrum of readers
exposed to the misinformation.
That is the reason why the internet is not recognised as a reliable or credible source of information by academic
researchers. That is why we see Loh quoting all the sources of his info to allow us to know whether his sources are
reliable.
Rational thinkers who are sincere in addressing and solving a problem usually do some of the things below :
1.Establish facts and figures (from reliable sources) 2. study the problem 3. Weigh the alternatives and solutions
4. Arrive at a decision and conclusion.
Politicians particularly poorly educated ones will skip all these and jump to conclusions based on hearsay and what they read. of course there are issues where there will be no facts and figures to support, but many issues such as engineering issues have facts and figures to be weighed first.
When replying to discussions it is important to know the agenda of the poster, if say, they are biased and eg.anti-lin Dan , no matter what you say, no matter what logic is used, they have only 1 motive, to undermine and discredit Lin Dan.
They want you to entertain them by spending your time explain issues to them,then go back to square one to affirm that Lin Dan is no good. These people claim to be able to solve problems but I think many people can do the same, especially the Kempetai and Gestapo with their interrogation tactics.I can solve many problems by being given the mandate to carry out a lot of investigations and arrive at solutions based on facts and recommendations given to me, then put my rubber stamp on it and then claim reward and credit on the service.Nowadays things don't work that way anymore you can save a lot of money by using qualified people with substance such as the Big Four.
After some time, and reading the trends, it is time to press the ignore button.There is no necessity to answer
many questions,when you know the background or intentions of the poster, who is likely yo use you for his personal entertainment instead of trying to help you to be a better person.Instead you should spend more time asking that poster to support his assertions and claims rather than answer him.In this respect Loh is doing all the right things.
Just imagine bumping into an insane or drunken person and he accuses you of your wife's infidelity
or the illegality of your business or the stupidity of your children,all your own private domestic affairs, would you want to bother to entertain him?
See what i mean, they never learn,they don't listen,they have only one motive.Chinese say "dui niu dan ching".
This specimen has behaved exactly as predicted in our laboratory.
Some people in Singapore actually complain that the weather is too hot and Chenghu is doing nothing about it.
Why can't Chenghu do something about the weather? Other people are doing something like promoting green technology
and sustainabilty.
By the way people what's your favorite poison, tequila, cognac or cheap wine or beer?
Our lab specimen seems to be demonstrating the behaviour of
ex-Kempetai supporters or Chin Peng guerilllas who were banished from Singapore and Malaysia .
they probably escaped to evade imprisonment or execution and are now firing salvos from afar.
But take heart, some 50 % of people in Msia are still in this genre, living in denial , obstinate people with poor learning abilities, you are not alone.
I have heard that the people of Hong Kong are so clever they have invented an anti-typhoon screen
that is capable of deflecting all storms to Japan. All one needs to do is to plant bamboo stakes along the coast
and they will bend with the typhoon, and the resultant spring effect will blow the storm back to the sea.
a very cheap and ingenius solution, who needs Engineers?
to Loh ;
Seriously there is a lot of mumbo jumbo on the internet that sea levels around Singapore are rising
and the island is slowly sinking.As usual just unsubstantiated internet thrash.
If true,in Engineering terms the effects may only be felt in decades maybe, but
the signs are there when floods become too common.it is behaving more like Kuching.
This problem has been happening in Sibu and there are plans to relocate Sibu. Orchard road problems
may be a sign of more things, and a longterm study and monitoring of the situation may be on the cards.
It could be a result of environmental and development problems.
It is already common knowledge that a rise in global temperatures is causing the ice caps to melt in the poles
and himalayas, result being sea levels are rising.
The outflow of water to the sea will decrease and unable to cope with freak downpours.
it may be true/untrue that the cause is as simple as a blocked culvert but in view of changes in climate that past designs
have to be upgraded in the long term.
it is amazing that a blockage can only be detected after several years, but I think it is wise public relations on the part of
any government.Rising levels don't only affect one place, everyone is affected, there is no point causing panic among the
donkeys when they don't want to learn about long term solutions but start pressing the panic button.
One is reminded of uneducated Sakais who catch a cold and demand instant treatment, when the only remedy is
building up natural resistance and recovery over a period of days.I think the Singapore government as a whole knows
what it is doing and I think ,Loh, that we should say no more and trust them.
Wow, i thought Msia only has Yo Yos, first they condemn some government, them they
turn around 360 degrees and praise them. Never mind it is typically Malaysian.
I base all my comments on objective comments and technical know-how , not what I read from the internet
and newspapers or tabloids. Loh has already made his comments on what he thinks of people, so have I.
I am addressing Loh or Ants not some noisy ignorant uneducated bigot banished from his country trying to fire salvos
using blanks with no ammunition.I might as well "dui niu dan ching".
I will continue to rectify misinformation, bigoted views, expose hidden agendas etc because that is why I rejoined the forum.if you dont like my objective inputs and technical info which is intended to educate just"ignore".
And in case people forget, this is a DISCUSSION forum, not a place to restrict people from giving their views
or giving further info.This is not a political blog to give one-sided views in order to "nail" people, that would be uncivilised and is more like the childish bickering on whether LD is better than LCW.
To other forum members, if you cannot keep an open mind and learn and listen to others, please press the ignore button,
I am not interested in you.
Does this qualify as "Independent Thinking ?"
Careful Ants, some nut may call you Pancho Sanchez . In case some of you are unaware Don Quixote and Pancho Sanchez
are characters from the novel"Man of La Manca". It is the story of a nut who thought he was a medieval knight and set out
on a journey with Pancho and donkey on adventures to revive past glories and days of chilvary and old values.
Anyway all my talk about global warming is part of the big picture of future problems caused by present symptoms in
isolated floods.It s like seeing the doctor and complaining about a headache, he has to study you to see the big picture
and see if there are related ailments and defects, he would be myopic by giving you aspirins and taking your money.It is
what holistic education is all about nowadays, it is very difficult for Don Quixotes to understand.