Singapore’s dangerous trade-off: When progress erases the past

Authors

  • Celeste Ruth Chia Yu Xuan Nanyang Technological University Author

Keywords:

progress, time, memory, past

Abstract

I stroll peacefully along Punggol Promenade, admiring the beautiful sunset and the sound of waves crashing rhythmically against the rocks. The sound drowns out the city’s noise and distracts me from the creaking of the boardwalk beneath my feet. Occasionally, gusts of wind sweep by and carry children’s laughter from a distant playground. Just up ahead lay soft, natural-coloured sands filled with clusters of weathered boulders. These rough, jagged boulders stick out like ancient ruins, which contrast with the modern skyline behind them.

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Author Biography

  • Celeste Ruth Chia Yu Xuan, Nanyang Technological University

    Celeste Ruth Chia Yu Xuan is an undergraduate student of Nanyang Technological University Singapore, undertaking Mechanical Engineering.

References

Chan, M. Y. Y. (2018). Punggol: Waves of recreation. National Heritage Board. https://www.roots.gov.sg/stories-landing/stories/punggol-waves-of-recreation/story

Khoo, G. C. (2013). Of diminishing memories and old places: Singaporean films and the work of archiving landscape. Concentric: Literary and Cultural Studies, 39(1), 32-50.

Additional Files

Published

2025-08-26

Issue

Vol. 1 No. 2 (2025): Myth, Perception and Time

Section

Essays

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Simbolismo: Signs, Identities, Meanings

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-  NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0)

How to Cite

Singapore’s dangerous trade-off: When progress erases the past. (2025). Simbolismo: Signs, Identities, Meanings, 1(2), 1-7. https://simbolismo.org/index.php/ssim/article/view/65