Singaporeans not atas enough

[Mis-teeq - Scandalous]

It's a (very bad) habit of mine to write something half-way, only to finish it up and publish it under the date that I wrote it. As a result, these entries always gets buried under the pile of fresh entries. So, I've decided that I should put a halt to this habit of mine. I wrote this 2 weeks ago when the results of the winning bidder for Sentosa's Integrated Resort was released. Now, I'm going to touch up on the entry and publish it today.

Just checked the "Which attraction are you most likely to visit at Genting's Resorts World at Sentosa?" poll on Channel NewsAsia and found out the following:
Slightly under 150 visitors voted for "Hotels, Spa and concept shops";
Nearly 300 visitors voted for "Maritime Xperimental Museum and Marine research centre" (probably most of them from Singapore Reef Club);
Just over 1,800 visitors voted for "Universal Studios Singapore".

Seriously. Is Universal Studios so attractive? So damn attractive even to the widely travelled heartlanders of sunny Singapore? Or would that elevate Singapore to a level where we can compete with Hongkong, where besides also being a food and shopping paradise, has a Disneyland as a strategic edge? I can't help but look down on the decision makers and the people who voted for Genting's bid to win.

What we need is not yet another (boring) tried and tested model that Genting's bid was proposing. Yes, it will be great to attract 15 million visitors but the idealistic me is more concerned with aesthetics and attracting lesser but the right kind of visitors. Perhaps Eighth Wonder and Kerzner CapitaLand's bids were too atas for our fellow citizens. Although it would be good to attract many rich and atas people from around the globe, but on the other hand, the mass middle income Singaporeans would be left out. But I still think it would have been a good opportunity to upgrade the standard of living here. Sometimes, it's beyond spending power.

Take wine for example. There are more affordable wines (like the ones that you and I can easily afford), there are also the $1000 a bottle ones which you probably need a vault cum cellar to store 'em. Yes it's about the aroma, taste, vintage blah blah blah. But what really matters is the effort in appreciating the wine. Ask any sommelier and they'd tell you that there are cheap but good wines out there. If you think there's isn't much difference between a Sauvignon Blanc and a Chardonay (because after all, they are both white), then seriously, why do you choose Heiniken from Tsing Tao? Branding? Image? Taste? Or you think Tsing Tao would go perfectly well with the Seafood at No Sign Board while the Heiniken is excellent with your atas Pan Pacific Blutwurst?

Same goes for our dear Sentosa. Of course I'm very damn sure that all of us (fellow Singaporeans) will have plenty of laughter at Genting's Resorts World but I would want to have an iconic Frank Gehry structure on Pulau Balakan Mati. Many have argued that Eighth Wonder and Kerzner CapitaLand's proposals doesn't appeal to the general public. So what? You see, that's the problem with Singaporeans. Every single damn thing must cater to the general public. Like that all-encompassing NTUC and Popular, yes they cater to the general public but it's parasites like these that mould the heartlanders. Not that a global citizen must buy grocies from Jasons or Meidi-Ya and stationaries from Kinokuniya but if these giant parasites grow larger, who's going to expose our dear Singaporeans to finer things?

We want Singaporeans to be more arty-farty so we built a fucking huge atas Esplanade. So atas is this structure that for a start, we can't even decide on the pronunciation of the place. While we have cheap (or even free) and good performances every now and then, most of the world-renown performances still cost a great deal. Yet, many of them are still sell-out performances. Students and NSF regularly get discounts at performances too thus encouraging the exposure to the finer arts.

Why can't we do something similiar with our integrated resort? Have anybody ever realise the increase in luxury performance cars in Singapore? From the ah-beng WRX-STI and EVO to the yuppie Ferrari and Porsche. So who says Singaporeans are not willing to spend? Even the stupid GAP and ZARA (both of which are like Giordano in America and Spain respectively) have their huge fan bases in Singapore. Maybe the Vera Wang's wedding pavillion is a bit not practical but such proposals can always be amended what. For example, Eighth Wonder was quoted (by International Herald Tribune) that they "might eventually allow Wang to design the entire hotel". Do you people know how cool is that?

Seriously, theme parks are passe. As with my theory, "the minute you see everyone is wearing the same thing, THAT fashion style is passe and you need to look for new ideas". What is IN is not everyone is doing it but a few leaders are doing it. The minute it is copied by the masses, it just becomes generic, NOT IN. Same goes. We need fresh new ideas. I think Eighth Wonder and Kerzner CapitaLand's proposals are fresh. And to be a leader, we need to be bold and daring. If we keep sticking to the conventional proposals, then, we will always be coping others. Fucking Japan and Korea don't know got how many theme parks. One fucking Gold Coast already got 3 very successful theme parks. And our dear garmen also want theme park. WTF lah seriously. So I think, it's not about Singaporeans willingness to spend how much. It's what they want to spend on. Universal studios are an easy bait but I'm sure had Eighth Wonder and Kerzner CapitaLand thought it through, they can come up with fresher ideas that will put Singapore on the world map yet still cater to Singaporeans' taste buds. It's just a pity that there's no synergy in their proposals. Had there been more punch, it'd be so exciting to see how Sentosa will be like when I return from Australia for good.

I totally agree that Genting's proposal is a sure-win combination but I'm saying that we need a catalyst to encourage growth.