Contractor predicts:
'SINGAPORE BUILDING BOOM WILL LAST
UP TO FIFTEEN YEARS'
LEADING Singapore contrac- tor, Mr. Loke Yat Sen, has predicted that the building boom which the State is now enjoying will continue for another ten to fifteen
years.
He is convinced that this will happen because of the many public and private projects which are pro- ceeding or are being planned.
"The development by the Jurong industrial estate, expansion of allied industries, private housing development. Government housing projects and international hotels are proofs of my statement (that the boom will continue)," he said, in a recent talk to the Lions Club,
led
a
Mr. Loke, who earlier this year 22-man survey mission of Singapore contractors to Sabah and Sarawak, speaks from 35 years' ex- perience as a building contractor. Mr. Loke is president of the Singa- pore Contractors Association, and head of the civil engineering and contracting firm of Loke Hong Kee.
current
He estimates that the building boom is keeping 10,000 to
15.000 workers in
in the building trade busy.
He said that contractors by their work were contributing to the econo mic development of Singapore. "Much remains to be done and with the assistance of the Singapore Gov. ernment and the understanding and co-operation of the public. I feel sure that our building contractors will continue to do their bit in the future of Singapore.”
Speaking of the mission of con- tractors, which he led to Sabah and Sarawak, Mr. Loke said: "I am happy to tell you that it was a suc-
cessful trip. In the next five years there will be about $34 million dol- lars' worth of Government projects. such as Government offices, staff quarters, schools, hospitals, wharfs and roads."
He said that some Singapore con- tractors had tendered for the Tawau hospital job which would iost an es- timated $2.000.000.
"This trip was sponsored by the Singapore Government's
Government's Ministry of National Development and
were
We
invited by the Minister of Communication and Works, Sabah, Dato Khoo Siak Chew.
"Sabah is our sister state and with the help and co-operation of our Singapore Government. I believe Sabah will have a very bright fu-
ture.
Mr. Loke disclosed that students of the polytechnic in Singapore were working hard. in collaboration with the Government, importers of build- ing materials and local manufactur- ers, to form a building centre in the
state.
The purpose of such a centre is to display building materials, either imported or locally, to help contrac tors obtain more easily from agents or manufacturers the materials which are specified for their jobs.
He said that when a contractor did not know the local agent for some material he required, he had some- times to telephone five or six firms before he found what he wanted. "Once the building centre is form- ed, all these difficulties will be over-
he added.
come,
Drawing from his experience of 35 years in the trade, Mr. Loke went on to speak of the work of building
THE HONG KONG & FAR EAST BUILDER--VOLUME 18. NUMBER 6
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contractors and to dispel the com mon belief that contractors made money fast.
"Most of you might think that contractors make money hand over fist. I can assure you that such is not the case. Let me tell you some facts.
"All Government jobs are given by public tender and in most cases the lowest tender will be accepted.
"Private architects may invite ten contractors to tender for a job but again the lowest tender will be re- commended to his client. In rare cases a client may wish to offer the job to a reputable contractor al- though his tender might not be the lowest.
"Most professional men are paid for work done. but contractors usually work for nothing, because out of ten contractors who tender for a job there will be only one successful tenderer. All of us who have to pay blue print fees, do es timates late into the night, and even send hundreds of dollars as tender deposits, get nothing out of all this trouble."
was
Mr. Loke said that the building uade in
was very pre-war years slow in progressing. There then no modern machinery and equipment, such as large and fast concrete mixers. hoists, derricks. portable travelling cranes, bulldoz- ers, monorails and
and many other types of mechanical plant used today.
In those days, a four-storey build- ing was considered very high. The work of concreting and hoisting was done by manual labour.
In comparison, bulk excavation and levelling for a large building site could now be done in six months. It would have taken months in pre-war years.
18
See
"Nowadays we don't call a 10 to 15-storey building a tall building,” he said. "With modern machinery and equipment, we can save half the time in completing such a building as compared with pre-war years. lor yourselves how the Housing and Development Board have built and are building their multi-storey build ings from 1960 to 1963. They have completed 32,000 units of flats. In
1964 they expect to complete least another 12,000 units."
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