To Pond or not to Pond. Where is the question.

Much has been said and very little useful action actually done with regards to this problem. The experts have been called in, those in the hot seat have covered their collective asses from further responsibility. After all what more can they do? Pick up changkuls and start digging?

There are two ways footpaths can be built. One (the usual way) is to let the urban planner dictate it. The other way is to let the path users decide. They will create the bare earth track through constant use and that is the path that should be paved over. Which do you think is the better way?

Nature has shown which parts of Orchard Rd it wants to flood. And it has done so repeatedly. Why fight it? If any water retention ponds are to be built to manage the occasional flood, then that is where it should be built.

Liat Towers and Lucky Plaza are old buildings with no architectural features worthy of conservation. Just demolish them. Straight of, problem solved. No more shopkeepers will be affected by floods EVER. Orchard Rd as it is is already over supplied as far as retail space is concerned. Removing some will help stabilize rents for the remaining malls and increase business for their tenants. A win-win solution.

Landscape the cleared area into green spaces. Plant a few nutmeg trees around the ponds as a nod to Orchard Rd's historical origins and maybe even make it into a tourist destination or at least something to point out to from the Hippo bus tours.

If the residents of Rochor can be moved en masse out of the area for MRT/Road development, I don't see any obstacle to doing this. With the flooding problem, the government should also be able to acquire the land at much lower prices too.

Perhaps someone living in the constituency that Orchard Rd falls under should write a letter to their MP or the Minister in charge. It's amazing what a single letter can do in certain cases. Just ask Mr Allan Tan. Doing just that, his MP, Mr Chia Shi-Lu managed to pre-emptively grab some KTM railway land to convert into carparks...