All language subtitles for Aerial Asia Part 1 Singapore 20170308, 720p HDTV x264 CBFM.Eng

ADAM LIAW: Singapore...

..home to almost
5.5 million people...

..one of the world's
most densely populated countries.

It has no natural assets...

..almost no arable land....

..no minerals or water resources...

..just half a century ago,
a Third World nation.

Yet, it's a shining example
of future cities.

Ingenious solutions fuel
this modern marvel.

A land of architectural icons...

..industrial giants...

..and green wonders.

Join us as we find out

how innovative planning
crowned Singapore

the jewel of South-East Asia.

There's a dynamism about Singapore
as it powers into the 21st century.

Nothing is impossible.

This island nation is surviving
against all the odds.

With not enough land to go around,

Singapore creates it.

It's reclaimed
a massive 18% of its landmass

from the surrounding seabed
and swampland.

Hills have been levelled,
quarries dug, and sand dredged,

in the country's never-ceasing search
for reclamation materials.

Landfill is transported
to government dump zones like this

to be used for reclamation.

Trucks line up 24 hours a day

to unload the fill into barges

that deliver it
to sites around the country.

This soil is all destined
for the new mega-port

Singapore is building in the west.

It opens in 2027.

The new port,
built entirely on reclaimed land,

will handle twice the cargo tonnage

that the Port of Singapore
currently processes...

..future-proofing the expansion
of the island's economy.

(FOGHORN BLARES)

With industrial land
increasingly scarce in Singapore,

the government used reclamation
in 2009

to join seven small islands together
to form Jurong Island.

The ambitious project was designed

to boost
Singapore's petrochemical industry.

It's now a mecca

for the heavy hitters
of the petroleum industry...

..and home to the world's
third-largest oil refinery.

Chevron, BP, and Shell are all here,

manufacturing a vast range
of petroleum products.

And it's all done

without Singapore producing
a single drop of its own crude oil.

130 metres beneath the surface,

lies an even more extraordinary
industrial complex.

Singapore has built this massive
underground oil-storage facility.

It's about the size
of 600 Olympic swimming pools.

Jurong Island is now one of the
world's biggest petrochemical hubs.

Singapore hasn't let its lack of land
inhibit its economic growth.

If it hasn't got it, it makes it.

Here, at Marina Bay,
right in the heart of the city,

nothing short of a miracle
has occurred.

The Sands Corporation of Las Vegas
applied for a casino licence,

but the government struck
a tough bargain.

In return for the licence,

the developer had to build
a completely new commercial hub...

..the integrated resort precinct -
Marina Bay Sands.

It includes everything from a hotel
and a mall to a convention centre.

There's even a museum.

All sitting on reclaimed land,

the architecture that resulted
is breathtaking.

The three-towered, 55-storey
Marina Bay Sands complex

is the centrepiece
of the development.

It's a bold statement
on how a building can connect

the city and its people
in creative and dynamic ways.

Besides lacking land,

Singapore also lacks
natural sources of water.

A thirsty population demands
1.5 billion litres of it a day.

Necessity, as they say,
is the mother of invention,

and Singapore has been remarkably
creative to meet the demand.

One way it has been done
is by importing water from Malaysia.

These large white pipes on the side
of the Causeway,

linking the two countries,
are a liquid lifeline for Singapore.

For more than 80 years,

these pipes have supplied
60% of the country's water needs.

Singapore has also built a network
of 17 reservoirs around the country

to capture rainwater.

MacRitchie is the grand old dame
of the system,

opening in 1868.

It's not just a catchment zone,

it's also a place of beauty.

The government preserved

12 hectares of native forest
bordering the reservoir

and banned any further deforestation.

The reservoirs, though,
don't just store rainwater

that falls in their location...

..they are also the collection points
for rainwater flowing in

from a 7,000km drainage system
that crisscrosses the country.

Massive stormwater drains
connect to smaller ones,

which connect to roadside canals.

The extensive drainage system
is also an ingenious solution

to another water problem that
hampered Singapore for decades...

(THUNDER RUMBLES)

..tropical storms.

Singapore gets four times more rain
per year than falls in London.

Until the 1980s, widespread flooding
was a regular event,

especially in low-lying areas
like the city centre.

Now stormwater is captured
by the large drainage system

and fed into reservoirs, relieving
problem areas from flooding.

Today, the country's
canals and reservoirs

are not only sources
of drinking water,

they are also are places
of recreation,

becoming magnets for nature lovers
and runners, with hiking trails.

Kayaking and canoeing
are also popular.

Perhaps the greatest example
of Singapore's water strategy

is the damming of the Marina Channel
to create the Marina Barrage...

..the country's
most urbanised reservoir.

A high-tech dam was built
across the Marina Channel

to separate the bay
from the Singapore Strait.

A feat of engineering

that cost the equivalent
of 226 million Australian dollars,

it separates the waters of the bay
from those of the sea.

It opened in 2008,

since then, inflows
from the catchment area have turned

what was a saltwater bay
into a freshwater reservoir.

The Marina Barrage complex
is also eco-friendly.

Its landscaped green roof
cleverly provides natural insulation

for the complex.

And solar panels generate

76,000 kilowatts of electricity
a year to power the site.

Marina Bay is also the stage

for Singapore's annual
Dragon Boat festival.

Contestants race 500 metres
to the finish line

to the beat of drums
in a fiesta of sweat and endeavour.

The Marina Reservoir, along with
other reservoirs in Singapore,

was originally built
for practical purposes.

Now it's also
a recreational paradise.

It's all part of the smart,
multi-purpose approach

of the country's planners
to the capture and use of water.

Ironically,
because of the lack of it.

However, Singapore,
the man-made miracle,

wasn't always so.

Two centuries ago,
it was a small fishing village

surrounded by swampland.

How it got to where it is today

is an extraordinary tale
of opportunity and vision.

Singapore derives its name
from a Sumatran prince who,

after landing on the island in 1299,

thought he saw a lion while out
hunting and named it 'Singa Pura' -

'Lion City' in Malay.

It's a country many doubted
would survive independence,

owing to its small size
and lack of natural resources.

So it made
every advantage it had count.

Singapore is strategically located

off the southernmost tip
of the Malay Peninsula,

enabling it to establish itself
as the main gateway to Asia

for American and European shipping.

(FOGHORNS BLARE)

Today, it is one of the world's
busiest ports.

Over 30 million containers
pass through every year.

If they were all lined up,

they would circle the globe
five times.

It wasn't always this way.

Almost 200 years ago,

Singapore was a small fishing village
located here at Boat Quay.

At the turn of the 18th century,
it was a mangrove swamp

and home to the Orang Laut people.

They were a nomadic fishing people
who lived in sampans on the river.

Today, Boat Quay is a thriving
restaurant and bar precinct.

The British Governor of Java,
Sir Stamford Raffles, arrived in 1819

and immediately saw the potential to
develop Singapore as a trading port.

(ISLAMIC CALL TO PRAYER RESOUNDS)

Raffles quickly negotiated
with the local sultan

to hand over control of the island
to the East India Company.

The sultan was
Hussein Shah of Johore,

and the Sultan Mosque here
in Kampong Glam is named after him.

Although he had no previous contact
with the British,

Hussein Shah had certainly heard
of the might of the Royal Navy.

In return for Singapore,

Raffles had to recognise,
on behalf of the British Crown,

the sultan as the rightful ruler
of nearby Johore in Malaya.

Hussein Shah had lost the throne
to his younger brother

because he was away in Pahang
getting married

when their father died.

Under the deal,

the British would pay him
and the governor of Singapore

an annual stipend.

The Sultan got
5,000 Spanish dollars a year,

a huge sum equivalent to hundreds
of thousands of dollars today.

He also demanded free land
to build the Sultan Mosque,

as well as a slice
of the customs duties from the port.

As trade boomed,
close to 11,000 immigrants flooded in

from the Middle East, India,
Malaya, and China.

The rich cultural diversity
and character

of modern Singapore
were emerging.

Raffles drew up
an ambitious town plan,

allotting specific residential areas
for each race.

They remain much the same today.

By the 1890s,

these banks of the Singapore River
had become the centre of commerce.

Warehouses, boat-building yards,
rice and animal farms,

all jostled for space.

Sawmills and shop-houses added
to the frantic energy.

More than 100,000 people
relied on the Singapore River

for employment and sustenance.

Ships would arrive from China,
Thailand, and Vietnam

with labourers and cargoes
of dried-goods and medicines.

They left laden with produce,

tin and gold
from the Malay Archipelago,

opium from India,
and English cotton goods and arms.

An influx of Chinese immigrants
during the 1800s

led to the construction
of the Thian Hock Keng Temple

in the now historic
Chinatown district.

Remarkably,
Singapore's oldest Hokkien temple

was built without using
a single nail!

The temple's resident deity is Mazu,
protector of seafarers,

making it a go-to destination
over the years for visiting sailors.

Proclaimed a national monument
in 1973,

the shrine was almost lost
in the 1990s.

Termites had badly infested
the wooden structure,

threatening its very survival.

The government,

determined to preserve
heritage buildings in the area,

encouraged a major restoration
program to save the temple.

Up to 70 skilled Fujian craftsmen,

including wood carvers,
artisans, and stonemasons,

were recruited from China.

It took them two and a half years

to give the temple
a clean bill of health.

Singapore's legacy can also be seen

in some of the city's
most prominent landmarks,

such as the Raffles Hotel.

Opened in 1887,

the neo-Renaissance building
has hosted

many of the world's
most famous people,

from the Queen, to Charlie Chaplin,
to Michael Jackson.

Its Long Bar was popular
with writers,

from the young Joseph Conrad
in the early days,

to Ernest Hemingway in the 1930s.

The hotel has also entertained
some unusual guests -

in 1902,
a wild tiger came to tea.

It found its way
into the billiard room,

where it crouched menacingly
under a table,

scattering guests in all directions.

A member of Singapore's Rifle Team
was hastily summoned.

The marksman came still dressed
in his pyjamas.

After shooting the tiger,

he probably retired
to the dining room for breakfast.

The neo-classical Fullerton Hotel
on Marina Bay

is another historic building
that has borne witness

to the development of Singapore.

The Fullerton opened in 1928
as the General Post Office,

and also housed
the exclusive colonial retreat,

the Singapore Club.

During the Second World War,

the building was converted
into a military hospital.

Doctors worked around the clock

to treat wounded British soldiers

in operating theatres
set up in its rooms.

Then, after the British surrender
in February 1942,

the Fullerton became
the Japanese headquarters

for the rest of the war.

In 1997,
a private buyer bought the Fullerton

and spent hundreds of millions
of dollars refurbishing it

and restoring
its heritage architecture.

The Fullerton is now
a living museum,

and a symbol
of the Singapore government's plan

to protect its cultural heritage.

In 2015, it was gazetted
as a national monument.

The city skyline behind the Fullerton
is a long way from what it was

on August the ninth, 1965,

when Singapore went its own way after
a short-lived union with Malaysia.

At that time,
it was a developing country

with overwhelming
population pressures.

More than 50 years on,
Singapore is thriving.

Under the helm of its first
prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew,

who stayed in office for 31 years,

Singapore became an Asian powerhouse.

The Singapore River,
where it all began,

mirrors the dramatic changes
the city-state has seen.

For decades, it was a crowded
and heavily polluted waterway.

After a major
government-led makeover,

it has become a magnet for visitors.

As day turns to night
here in Clarke Quay,

hardworking Singaporeans
and tourists come to relax.

A vibrant entertainment precinct

awash with restaurants,
bars, and nightclubs,

it shows
how innovative urban planning

can overcome
even the greatest of odds.

Singapore,
now a dynamic modern metropolis,

is facing new challenges.

Housing a rapidly growing population
while staying creative

and keeping an eye on the future
is no easy task.

(FOGHORN BLARES)

Without the rich natural resources
that many nations are blessed with,

Singapore had to get creative.

Reclamation engineers
are hard at work

expanding Singapore's landmass.

An extensive freshwater collection
system supplies its people.

The transformation of Singapore
since independence has been amazing.

Innovative thinking has created
a city of the future.

The sprawling Suntec City complex
opened in 1997.

It's a Feng Shui masterpiece,

designed to bring its Hong Kong
investors fortune and success.

When viewed from above,

the five towers
and the convention centre

look like a man's left hand.

And in the centre,

the Fountain of Wealth
looks like a golden ring

in the palm of the hand.

As the fountain is made of bronze,
it is believed

that the balance of metal and water
will pave the way for success.

Hollywood has also come
to Singapore.

The Sandcrawler Building
is straight out of Star Wars.

It is the Asian headquarters
of Disney's Lucasfilm division.

Inspired by the Star Wars
desert vehicle, the Sandcrawler...

..the state-of-the-art film
and animation facility

features a 100-seat theatre,

eight floors of offices,

and lush greenery.

It's a modern icon,

and a tourist destination
unto itself.

Historically, much of what is now
the central business district

was run-down,
densely packed low-rise housing.

The transformation is startling.

Some of the city's
most dramatic residential buildings

are located downtown.

The twin towers of the Sail building
are sculpted to look like sails

with a huge canyon dividing them.

It's one of the most expensive
residential complexes in Singapore.

A one-bedroom studio apartment here
costs over $1 million.

Four-bedroom penthouses sell
for an extraordinary 21 million.

Minutes from the central
business district,

the mesmerising
Reflections at Keppel Bay.

Its designer - the celebrated
Polish-American Daniel Libeskind,

a master architect

who oversaw the reconstruction
of the World Trade Center

in Lower Manhattan after 9/11.

Apartments in Reflections
at Keppel Bay

command breathtaking views
of the waterfront and the city.

The double-curvature forms
of its six towers defy gravity

as they stretch up to the sky.

A 21st-century icon.

Towards the west of Singapore lies
The Interlace,

designed by star architect
Ole Scheeren.

31 six-storey-high apartment blocks

are designed
in a startling hexagonal pattern,

a radical rethink of old-school
concrete housing structures...

..and a lush vision
of communal living

and urban habitats in the future.

The ground-level vegetation
is echoed in extensive roof gardens,

landscaped sky terraces,
and other green areas.

An ambitious mega-structure
that defied its critics

and won Building of the Year at the
2015 World Architectural Festival.

Amongst Singapore's
greatest architectural achievements

is how it has revolutionised
public-housing design.

At 50 storeys,

The Pinnacle is the world's
tallest public-housing project.

Its seven towers are linked
by steel bridges,

creating a 500-metre-long sky garden
on the 50th floor,

as well as an 800-metre jogging track
on the 26th floor.

Everything engineered
to enhance the experience

of living at such a height.

Here at Punggol, a former swamp,

public housing blocks stretch
as far as the eye can see.

HDB flats, named after the
Housing and Development Board,

are a uniquely Singaporean solution

to housing millions of citizens
on a small island.

It is a far cry from 1959,

when over half a million Singaporeans
were living in squalid conditions

in the city centre
or squatting in the suburbs.

Nationwide, over 1 million
HDB units have now been built.

Even cemeteries are moved or modified
to make way for the living.

Here at the Choa Chu Kang cemetery,

35,000 graves will be reassigned
to accommodate new burial spaces.

But there's a catch -

you can only lease a burial plot
for 15 years!

With a staggering 82% of Singaporeans
now living in HDB flats,

they have evolved into mega-villages,

with all the shops, conveniences,
and facilities

a family would ever need.

This scale of government residential
planning and construction

is unmatched anywhere else
in the world.

And it has changed
the way Singaporeans live.

Despite its success
in revolutionising urban living,

Singapore envisions a future

that unites the concrete jungle
with the real one.

The country is on a unique mission -

to transform itself into
a 'City in a Garden'.

Singapore is one of the
fastest-growing cities in the world.

Unlike many other capitals,

it is actively melding
urban spaces with lush greenery.

Citizens are also encouraged

to cherish
previously forgotten paradises.

Not many foreigners realise
that Singapore's national territory

includes more
than 60 smaller islands.

Compared to the hustle and bustle
of the city,

the islands are like another world.

Some have been shaped and expanded
by the hand of man,

others are natural sanctuaries

for an astonishing collection
of animal and marine life.

Sisters' Islands,
2.5km south of the city,

are bordered by 32% of the hard coral
species found in the world.

The reefs play host
to over 200 species of sponge,

and an incredible line-up
of marine life.

Legend has it that Big Sister
and Little Sister Islands were formed

after a young girl was kidnapped
by pirates.

Her weeping sister dived into the sea
to swim after the pirates' ship,

but, sadly, drowned.

Her distraught sister freed herself
from her captors

and also jumped into the sea,
perishing in her turn.

A fierce storm broke,

and when it subsided,

two new islands were found at
the spot where the sisters had died.

In 2014,

Singapore's first marine park
was declared around the islands,

and the marine life in it
is thriving.

The park waters are home

to three of the five
Neptune's Cup giant sponges

known to remain in the entire world.

Tribes of crab-eating macaque monkeys
now roam the beaches.

All part of a dedicated
government effort

to ensure the natural heritage
is preserved for future generations.

Other islands, like Kusu, have been
expanded through land reclamation.

Originally just two rocky outcrops
on a reef,

Kusu has been transformed
through landfill

into a landmass
seven times its original size.

It got its name from a folktale
about a giant tortoise

that turned itself into an island
to save two shipwrecked sailors,

one Chinese and the other Malay.

The sailors were so grateful
that they each built a shrine,

one Taoist and the other Muslim,
to the tortoise's memory.

Legend eventually became reality,

and the island is now home
to a Chinese temple

and three Muslim shrines,

attracting thousands of pilgrims
every year.

Not all of Singapore's
surprising archipelagos

are sanctuaries
for faith and wildlife.

At the tip of southern Singapore
is Sentosa Island,

home to some of the country's
prime real estate

and the multi-billion-dollar
playground -

Resorts World Sentosa.

It contains a casino, hotels,
retail outlets, and an oceanarium.

Right next door is South-East Asia's

first and only Universal Studios
theme park.

An extensive bus, car,
and tram network

transports more
than 19 million tourists

to Sentosa every year.

And for those
with no fear of heights,

a cable car ride back to the city
promises spectacular views.

Away from the islands,
in the north-west of Singapore,

lies the country's
first wetlands reserve -

Sungei Buloh.

Originally slated
for agricultural development,

these mangroves are now preserved.

They provide a unique habitat
for a vast range of wildlife species.

The 130-hectare park

is a resting-point for birds
migrating from Siberia to Australia

for the northern winter.

With herons, kingfishers,
and even fish eagles

calling Sungei Buloh home,

it is a mecca for birdwatchers
from all over the world.

The jewel in the crown
of Singapore's prized green spaces

is undoubtedly the Botanic Gardens -

82 hectares right on the fringe
of the main shopping belt.

Listed as a
UNESCO World Heritage site in 2015,

the Botanic Gardens are
over 150 years old.

Their rainforest long predates
the surrounding city.

A reminder of its colonial beginnings
is Burkill Hall,

an Anglo-Malayan plantation house
built in 1868 and now restored.

It is named after the father and son
Isaac and Humphrey Burkill,

who both served as directors
of the Botanic Gardens.

Eldred Corner, the assistant director
of the gardens before the war,

devised a novel means
of gathering specimens of flora.

He trained
coconut-collecting macaques

to collect plant specimens for him.

All went well until war approached,

and he was about to join
the Singapore Volunteer Force.

Then he was attacked
by one of his own monkeys,

and he failed the army medical!

The perils of research.

One of the main attractions
in the gardens

is the National Orchid Garden.

A treasure-trove of more
than 1,000 different species,

it has helped make Singapore
a world pioneer

in the cultivation of orchid hybrids.

But to be a true 'City in a Garden'

will require more than
conserving islands and public parks.

Singapore must build green lungs
into the DNA of the city itself.

The Parkroyal Hotel downtown

is a modern-day
Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

Sky-gardens fill its terraces,

and green spaces pepper
the structure.

Another eye-catching innovation
is this remarkable animal bridge,

clothed in native plants
and covering a busy expressway.

The Eco-Link is designed
to encourage wildlife

to take a walk on the wild side
while crossing the road in safety.

It also extends
their natural habitat.

And here, in central Singapore,

is the latest and, perhaps,
boldest environmental initiative...

..the 101-hectare nature park,
Gardens by the Bay.

All built on reclaimed land,

this spectacular green space
opened in 2012.

A botanic garden of the future,

its landscape is dominated
by the Super Grove...

..which features
these amazing Supertree structures.

These 18 concrete replicas
of rainforest giants

are dressed in a vibrant array
of vines, ferns, and plants

that grow up and around them.

Reaching up to 50 metres in height,

the Supertrees use technology

to mimic
the ecological functions of trees.

Photovoltaic cells in the Supertrees
harness solar energy to light up,

just as real trees photosynthesise
light and convert it to energy.

The futuristic Supertrees
are rivalled only

by these two
glass-covered conservatories.

In a country that lies
one degree north of the equator,

the conservatories had to install

advanced shading
and climate control technologies

to keep plants from different regions
around the world alive.

At night, Gardens by the Bay
comes alive

in a spectacular show
of lights and music.

During the Mid-Autumn Festival,

thousands of visitors enjoy
not only the light shows,

but displays
depicting Chinese legends.

Gardens by the Bay aptly symbolises

just how far Singapore has come
in little over half a century.

Through hard work and innovation,

Singapore has transformed itself
from a Third World country

into a dynamic First World nation

at the centre
of a rapidly growing Asian economy.

The city has grown
without destroying its historic,

cultural and natural heritage.

Singapore, a city soaring
effortlessly into the future.

Captions by Red Bee Media
(c) SBS Australia 2019