Will extreme makeover fix Sentosas image problem?
SENTOSA’S extreme makeover will be a thing to watch. Hopes are that, along with the Southern Islands around it, the island Singaporeans love to underestimate will emerge from its decade-long surgery to much ooh-ing and aah-ing. The sheer amount of money involved is already a talking point. Sentosa’s facelift and contouring will cost $6 billion, with additions of a yachting marina, a rail artery from the HarbourFront area to the island, as well as a $24 million water-and-laser show to play nightly in the works. Another $1 billion will go towards developing the Southern Islands, where a white-sand beach, 170-room beachfront hotel, a 70-unit chalet resort and a 290-room hilltop hotel are being planned. ‘The mass planning committee has already approved the three resorts and chalet,’ revealed Mrs Pamelia Lee, managing director of the Southern Islands Development. ‘It could be ready for land sale very quickly, as land reclamation there is already 98 per cent completed.’ Several accommodation
