Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Ghostly geographies of Singapore
One fragment of the urban landscape of Singapore has,
very uncharacteristically, remained empty and unkempt
over a long period of time. It was an excluded site, in a city
renowned for its economy of space and order, right through
until 2006. The site has a history connected with the infl ux
of female migrants from Guangdong in China to provide
cheap labour. They occupied what became known as the
'death houses' because of burial collectives and the conditions
under which they and many old people in the area lived.
The buildings were bulldozed in 1969, but the reluctance
to develop the site refl ected the heritage of burial places
and haunting. There is a more general issue of death and
haunting that permeates Singaporean landscapes and relates
to a programme to remove graves and transfer remains to
central locations. Offerings to the dead still appear in many
parts of the city, and the fear of haunting can affect both
development and the value of property. This particular site
remains an urban wound, something of a funereal landscape,
where the heritage of the past still affects a modern city. The
Hungry Ghost Festival in Singapore bears testimony to a
dimension that contested the use of space in the city.
a range of things that include earthquakes, volcanic eruptions,
fl oods, storms, and landslides. The event becomes a natural
hazard if it has an impact upon people or property. For example,
the Great Alaskan Earthquake of 1964 displaced 29 million cubic
metres of rock, and slid down the Sherman valley at speeds of
up to 180 kilometres an hour, but had no impact on people. In
contrast, the Aberfan slide of 1966 in Wales had 1% of that volume
and travelled one-twelfth of the distance at one-twentieth of
the speed, but killed 144 people. The latter was a natural hazard
that led to a disaster. We live on an unquiet Earth, as the 2004
