SINGAPORE: Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong said having prime space at downtown Marina Bay to expand the Central Business District gives Singapore a "significant competitive edge" to grow the financial sector at a time when opportunities in Asia abound.
He added Marina Bay is a great example of how the country has risen from "mudflats to metropolis".
Speaking at the 10th
anniversary celebration of the Fullerton Hotel, Mr Goh said the
Fullerton Heritage development is part of efforts to transform Singapore
into a distinctive and dynamic global city.
The event also saw the launch of a book which pays tribute to the historical significance of the Fullerton area.
Known
as the "Fullerton Heritage", the area which spans 1.4 million square
feet along the waterfront, comprises a mixture of dining and hospitality
options.
The Fullerton building, opened in 1928, was home to public offices like the General Post Office and Finance Ministry.
Mr Goh started his civil service, shipping and political careers at the building.
"Here,
I had the privilege of working for and learning from the first
generation political leaders like Dr Goh Keng Swee and Mr Lim Kim San,
and top public officers like Joe Pillay and Ngiam Tong Dow.
"I
had worked in offices on the second floor, fifth floor and also the
small space up on the sixth floor. You can say that I literally worked
my way up in Fullerton Building.
"Not many people may know this
but Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) was incorporated in Fullerton Building
with borrowed space from my office on the sixth floor. Later, NOL moved
out to its own premises. I joined it a few years later.
"In 1976,
I stood for elections and was appointed Senior Minister of State for
Finance a year later. Like a homing pigeon, I returned to Fullerton
Building where the Finance Ministry was," said Mr Goh.
He added
when the decision was made to turn the building into a hotel, it showed
the government had "learned about the value of location".
- CNA/fa/wk