Go ahead for Singapore F1 street circuit

THE F1 Singapore Grand Prix street circuit has received in-principle approval from FIA, the world governing body for motorsports, Minister of State for Trade and Industry S Iswaran announced on Friday.

Expressing delight at the speedy go-ahead, the Minister said: 'This approval has come quite quickly, within just four months since we announced the hosting of the F1 race.'

But the race promoters, Singapore Grand Prix, are still awaiting confirmation on whether it can stage a night race, which will be held exactly one year from now on Sept 28, 2008.

Mr Iswaran said the race promoters, with the strong support of government agencies led by STB, have made good progress and are on track to presenting a very special race to the world next year.

He described the Singapore's street circuit in Marina Centre as a compelling win-win proposition for Formula One and Singapore.

'It will be an attractive and exciting Formula One race venue on many counts,' he said and went on to highlight the track circuit.

The Singapore Grand Prix is Asia's first street race and it will run counter-clockwise, making Singapore one of only three circuits in the world to do so, along with Istanbul in Turkey and Sao Paulo in Brazil.

Spanning 5.067km, with 14 left hand turns and 10 right hand turns, the Singapore street circuit will present several thrilling straights and tight turns for dramatic action that will not only test the capabilities of the F1 drivers but also satisfy even the most avid race enthusiasts.


From a Singaporean perspective, the circuit will showcase Singapore's skyline in the heart of the city and many historic buildings.

It will take the F1 drivers and half a billion television viewers past some of our iconic landmarks like the City Hall, the former Supreme Court, the Padang and The Esplanade. As you can well imagine, the scene outside The Esplanade will be quite different one year from today.

The in-principle go ahead for the circuit from FIA will pave the way for road works to commence.

The Land Transport Authority will manage modifications to some existing infrastructure such as road kerbs and traffic islands as well as the construction of a new 1.2 km road alongside the pit building that forms the start and finish straight.

The FIA will make several inspections on the progress in the coming months and issue the full circuit licence after the final inspection on the week of the race itself.

Mr Iswaran said Singapore is awaiting confirmation from the FIA on whether the Sept 28 Grand Prix will be the first night race in F1 history.

STB and other government agencies are working closely with the race promoter to ensure the lighting trials run smoothly, he said.

Meanwhile, Singapore GP will launch the sale of corporate hospitality packages in November and the season passes in December.

Night racing has become the latest fad in Formula One, even though an actual race has yet to be held under floodlit conditions.

Whilst it would certainly be a spectacle to have F1 cars screaming around the city circuit against the night sky, the economic dimension of having the race at a more convenient time for viewers in Europe is just as crucial.

Malaysia, Japan, China, and India have all been said to be looking at possible night races to cater to European audiences, who would have needed to wake up at 3 or 4am to catch the season opener in Melbourne this year.

Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has already impressed upon Australian race organisers that night racing is imperative, with global viewership of the Melbourne leg falling from 339 million in 1999 to 82 million.

However, drivers have also been divided over the issue of safety, with some concerned about the possibility of a mid-race blackout, and blinding glare coming off puddles in the event of rain.

The organisers of next year's race in Singapore have given the assurance that safety is of prime concern, and a night race will only happen if the motorsports' governing body, the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), gives the go-ahead.

Recent trials of night-time racing in France were successful, and two more trials - one in Singapore and one overseas - are expected soon.
- The Straits Times

Toilets

Singapore's "magic monkey" trees inspire cult, cynics

SINGAPORE (Reuters Life!) - Buddha sat for years under one to find enlightenment, and scientist Isaac Newton had his epiphany in another's shade. But for many Singaporeans, trees are useful for a more prosaic quest -- lucky lottery numbers.

The discovery of two "monkey heads" poking out of the bark of an otherwise non-descript African Mahogany tree have sparked a minor craze in the southeast Asian state, as devotees seek numbers from what they believe to be a god living in the tree.

Bananas, peanuts and peaches have been left as offerings to please the monkey god, sacred in Chinese mythology and Hinduism. A wheel-like device which kneeling gamblers turn by hand in front of the tree to spit out numbered balls has helped fuel the mania.

"Most people come for lottery numbers", explained Madam Kang, who had traveled half way across the island to join a crowd of a hundred onlookers milling around the tree on a weekend afternoon.

"There were three car accidents by the tree but no one was hurt, so people believe it was the monkey god protecting them."

Not long after the monkey god reportedly aided a series of wins, another three trees bearing gnarls that resemble gods were discovered along the same -- now jammed -- road.

Cartons of milk and more joss sticks garnish a small shrine set up in front of the elephant god Ganesha on a nearby tree, where a nobbly "elephant" head juts from the trunk.

Meters away, more onlookers snap images of a bark outline of the Chinese mercy goddess, Guan Yin, while others pat an oval bark eruption on another tree, ringed with garlands and said to be a tiger-dragon god tree.

SPIRIT PANTHEON
Despite the sacred trees' popularity, not all are convinced.

"The uneven bark surface at the base of the tree trunk is the result of callusing, a natural reaction in which the tree grows new bark over injured areas", a spokeswoman for the National Parks Board told the official Straits Times newspaper.

Other skeptics say the concept is simply too good to be true.

"If the tree can give money, most of the people in Singapore are not going to work. They'd just go to the tree and ask for the number," laughed taxi driver Mahmud Sanusi.

"After a few months maybe somebody will find a rock, with Mickey Mouse on it," said another taxi driver Chan Chee Siong.

But for others, sacred and lucky trees are a reality.

Bamboo and wooden "wishing trees", where devotees pray and hang written wishes, are found in several Chinese temples. And small shrines, nestled into the trunks of the roadside trees, are a common sight on this verdant island.

Henry Yap finds nothing strange about worshipping each week at a yellow-painted shrine set up in the roots of a massive banyan beside a shopping mall. "When you come here you set your mind free. It's what you call a holy place. It's very different from an indoors place," he explained.

For lucky tree-devotees, winning is believing. In February, 26-year-old Han Weili won $2,000 in the lottery with what he said were numbers gained from a lucky tree outside his housing block.

"I'd never won before" he said. "After I won I said thank you to the tree and bought it some food and some small flowers. I didn't buy anything with the money."

Despite local protests, estate renovations have now fenced off the tree. Devotees say the god "moved" to another sacred tree -- a 120-year-old, 30 meter (98 foot) tall Bodhi that towers over a temple, and which is now mobbed at weekends.

Volunteers at the temple, who believe the tree is Singapore's oldest and most sacred, are perplexed at its new fan base. But they can not stop them.

"No one can explain it. God appears in different forms to suit the culture," said temple volunteer Alice Chua.

"Being greedy is against our precepts, in Buddhism we don't encourage gambling. But we can't stop their luck if they do win."

- By Gillian Murdoch