It has been a strange summer. On the one hand, making the most of our final days here at Seletar has been motivating some residents to continue with nature walks, art festivals and bonhomie. On the other hand, as the clock ticks louder, a strange apathy is enveloping us.

Some of our neighbours have moved out in anticipation of the eviction deadline of 31st December 2008. The rest of us have plans that do not include Singapore in the long term, so moving out will be goodbye in many aspects. Right now, the logistics of moving out are keeping us busy. We do not yet know how Postcards from Seletar will morph after January 2009, except that it will continue to have a life. Your suggestions, as always, will be appreciated.

Suffice to say that as we watch the F1 race in Singapore right now, recent analysis of its genesis point to some potential similarities with Seletar Aerospace Hub Park. As the Financial Times reports:

The government predicts that F1 will increase tourism spending by $100m a year, with half of the 100,000 people attending the event coming from abroad…… However, only three of the 11 trackside hotels are fully booked in spite of predictions that demand would be strong.

Accountability, wherefore art thou?

While the affluent are partying on Singapore’s Gold Coast in the south, increasing numbers are seeking food aid in the towering public housing projects that dominate the landscape in the northern half of the island.Ngiam Tong Dow, an influential former senior civil servant, has criticised the government for helping finance the F1 event. The government will assume 60 per cent of the S$150m annual cost to host the race for the the next five years and he says the money would be better spent helping the poor.

Indeed.