My office is located at Outram. I experience the tremor at around 11+ am, my whole cubicle was shaking. I thought I was sick but my colleagues also felt the tremors. Later, my whole office building was asked to be evacuated. I only went back to the office at 2pm after SCDF declared the office building is safe.

For the two IR. The results are finalise.

Now is who will be the main-contractor for structual work? Any ideas? Its important we don't wish to have any mishaps any of the IR where tourist and local are invited to this special resort of Singapore.

Main-Contractor will be Singapore based company as discussed. But who will be reputable to do that?

The reason why we are worried about Sentosa IR becomes another GENTING HIGHLAND is because GENTING highland is the winning bidder and the equity owner of the project. Universal Studio, etc are only subcontractor and employee, majority Singaporean, are only employed by GENTING. It is the owner as well as the ultimate management to decide how ambitious they are and how deep the pocket they are willing to spend. So, don't just blame other operators and Singaporean employee if GENTING fails to be creative and ambitious. This is the case of GENTING HIGHLAND. Do we blame Malaysian employee? Not absolutely.

"Whats so fabulous about a theme park? When you have seen one Universal Studio, you have seen them all."

How many of the 1.5billion people in India and South East Asia have been to a theme park like Universal studio?

Who is the typical Malaysian visitor to Singapore? Easy, it is the Malaysian family with kids who visit Singapore mainly for the shopping, the zoo, the bird park, Sentosa. Put up a world class theme park with movie themes, and yes, they will make repeat visits.

For those who are concern that Genting Sentosa will be as run down as Genting highland, I think they have heard your concern, long time ago, which is why they are the first to commit $200m per year to keep the resort fresh. $200m is alot of money!

Without a family oriented theme park or here we ably termed it as IR then Sentosa is as good as taking few steps further back and not reinventing itself as a premier tourists’ attraction.

To be a top draw, look at Walt Disney, they have so far sprouted around with very much focus on mass appeal. Like it or not, the theme or characteristics of Walt Disney are still the similar, whether you are in HK, Tokyo, Paris or Anaheim-USA.

What is the magnetic elements that draw visitors by the millions to Walt Disney very much attribute to the staffs who run and operate the park daily, and of course, more essentially, the management (or owner) of the park able to inject marketable promotions to draw in the visitors in doves.

Universal Studios would be the same if not better. First, they are famed for the high-tech gadgets and very much in-tune with current trendy or past classic movies themes.

The failures of Singapore’s very own theme parks (eg, Haw Par Villa) were much due to the inept management skills and sterile products which had not appeal to the mass. Hence Haw Par, Volcanicland or what have you-failed miserably and dissipated mythically.

Give Genting a chance before we prematurely draw a conclusion that the Sentosa IR would be a big failure. It is not as bleak as most thought.

Whats so fabulous about a theme park? When you have seen one Universal Studio, you have seen them all.

Its wasting a piece of our prime land to built a run-of-the-old-mill on it!

We had several amusement parks that went bust over the years. People will get tired of theme park sooner rather than later.

I have only recently viewed the proposals for the Sentosa I and I must first laud the efforts put in by all 3 bidders in making Sentosa a world-class tourist destination. I am also pleasantly surprised that the Genting Management won the bid as it fostered even closer relations with our immediate neighbours.

However, having viewed all artist impressions, I am equally dismayed by the overall package that Genting has to offer, especially in terms of aesthetics. I am no architect major, but I must say that the design of the buildings and the layout of the adjacent landscape seemed rather mediocre when compared to the designs put forward byb the other 2 bidders. If I may add, in my humble opinion, tropicana is so passe.

My point is: why recreate an artificial tropical paradise on a tropical island? I was disappointed that the futuristic and less-conventional designs by Eighth Wonder and Kerzner did not survive the cut. Having incorporated those designs with the overall concept by enting, I believe it could instantaneously place Singapore on the map of architectural wonders! As such, the management would have succeeded in killing 2 birds with one stone.

Nonetheless, having said that, I respect and believe that the authorities have made the right decision, having weighed the pros and cons and keeping the best interest of all Singaporeans at heart.

I personally don’t see why we should be so worried about Sentosa IR become another Genting Highland (GH). Reasons as follows: -
a) Universal Studio will be managed and operated by Universal Studio, while GH is managed by Genting Bhd

b) Quest Marine Life Park is going to be managed by Dophin Quest, while GH has no such attraction.

c) HardRock Hotel is going to be run by Singapore HPL Group who also own Hilton Hotel Singapore.

d) ESPA Hotel is going to be managed by ESPA International not Genting Bhd.

e) Michael Hotel is a 6 stars hotel design by Michael Graves especially for the high rollers, while there are no such hotels in Genting Highland

f) Maritime Museum is going to be design by Ralph Appelbaum Associates, the largest interpretive museum design firm in the world, who have design many famous museum in America

g) Equarius Water Park is going to be design by Forrec Limited from Canada, a company that has work with all major theme park operators around the world.

At the end of the day, majority of the people working at Sentosa IR will be Singaporeans, if there is lousy or bad services, it is the Singaporeans that has to be blame, not Genting. Beside that, it is the software within the themepark that will make the difference, not the hardware.